Fifth Workshop on Spatial Dimensions of the Labour Market

The 5th Workshop on Spatial Dimensions of the Labour Market focuses on a broad range of topics related to regional labour markets. This year, a special focus is on aspects revolving around the Covid-19 crisis. Covid-19 is hitting local labour markets at a time when megatrends related to globalisation, digitalisation and technological change are reshaping the way we live and work. The pandemic causes enormous economic and social disruptions which might affect regional labour markets in various ways in the short and long term.

The two organising institutions, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, aim to bring together frontier research of labour economists, regional economists, sociologists, geographers and scholars from related fields. Theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented contributions are very welcome. The workshop provides a forum that allows scientists to network while fostering the exchange of research ideas and results.

Topics of interest

The workshop has a special focus on the spatial dimension of the consequences of the pandemic and changing economic activity. Apart from this interest, a non-exhaustive list of topics is:

• Covid-19 pandemic, its impact on local labour markets
• Telecommuting
• Spatial distribution of activities, disparities and inequalities
• Spatial mismatch, unemployment and spatial job search
• Mobility of labour and imperfect labour markets
• Location decisions and urban amenities
• Neighbourhoods, proximity, and urban density
• Regional dimensions of wage determination
• Evaluation of regional labour market policy and urban or regional policy
• Effects of globalisation and technological change
• Methodological and data-driven innovations (e.g. use of geo-coded data)