TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Caliendo, Marco
AU  - Künn, Steffen
AU  - Mahlstedt, Robert
        TI  - The Intended and Unintended Effects of Promoting Labor Market Mobility
        PY  - 2022/Jan/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 15011
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp15011
        AB  - Subsidizing the geographical mobility of unemployed workers may improve welfare by relaxing their financial constraints and allowing them to find jobs in more prosperous regions. We exploit regional variation in the promotion of mobility programs along administrative borders of German employment agency districts to investigate the causal effect of offering such financial incentives on the job search behavior and labor market integration of unemployed workers. We show that promoting mobility - as intended - causes job seekers to increase their search radius, apply for and accept distant jobs. At the same time, local job search is reduced with adverse consequences for reemployment and earnings. These unintended negative effects are provoked by spatial search frictions. Overall, the unconditional provision of mobility programs harms the welfare of unemployed job seekers.
        KW  - unintended consequence
KW  - labor market mobility
KW  - active labor market policy
KW  - job search
KW  - search frictions
        ER  -