Successful DFG application

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved Prof Dr Kamila Cygan-Rehm's application on the topic of "Labor Markets in Central Europe in Challenging Times (LaMaCE)".

The research project is funded as part of the Weave Lead Agency Agreement between the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Czech partner agency (GACR). The project has a duration of 36 months.

Applicants:

•     Kamila Cygan-Rehm (Dresden University of Technology)
•     Klara Kaliskova (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic)

The following cooperation partners are also involved in the project:

•     Tomáš Lichard (Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic)
•   Alena Bičáková (CERGE-EI Prague, Czech Republic)
•     Ewa Gałecka-Burdziak (Warsaw School of Economics, Poland)
•  Robert Pater (University of Information Technology and Management, Rzeszow, Poland)

Research priorities

Labor Markets in Central Europe in Challenging Times (LaMaCE)

Recent years have brought several challenges to the stability of economies and labor markets, which particularly affected Central Europe. First, the Covid-19 pandemic posed a severe shock to employers and employees in terms of substantial restrictions for in-person meetings and large insecurities about the future. The immediate increase in flexible work arrangements (in terms of time and space) has potentially left persistent imprints on the way how individuals work and what skills they need to successfully adjust to the new working conditions. Second, the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in an unprecedented influx of Ukrainian refugees to Central Europe. This caused the necessity to absorb and integrate into local labor markets a substantial number of potential workers in a very short time.

In this project, we evaluate how local labor markets in Central Europe dealt with these challenges and how these challenges transformed them. We propose three closely related lines of research.

First, we study the effectiveness of policy measures aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on firms and workers.

Second, we estimate the long-run effects of the sudden increase in remote work on labor market trajectories and human capital accumulation of the affected workers.

Third, we evaluate the impact of Ukrainian refugees on the labor market outcomes of incumbent workers in several heavily affected countries (the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia).

Beyond the mere scientific interest, each of the subprojects deals with highly relevant issues from social, economic, and policy perspectives. The project aims at providing strong policy implications by using credible research designs that allow for a causal interpretation. For this purpose, we combine modern econometric techniques with high-quality data from administrative records and large-scale surveys.