August
22

Hybrid

The Labor Market Consequences of Political Imprisonment in the Former GDR

Karsten Hank (University of Cologne) & Nicole Gürtzgen (IAB & University of Regensburg)
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), August 22, 2024

The presentation is based on findings from their joint project “Political imprisonment in the former GDR and its consequences for labor market and health outcomes”, which was funded by Fritz Thyssen Stiftung.

The event begins at 2 pm CEST on August 22, 2024.

Abstract

Barely any quantitative research has been devoted yet to the labor market consequences of incarceration for political offenses, which seems particularly unfortunate against the background of Europe's history of state persecution in the 20th century. Drawing on the example of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), our paper seeks to gain a deeper understanding of how the experience of political imprisonment affected individuals' subsequent career outcomes. In our empirical analysis, we exploit a one-percent sample drawn from a unique large-scale administrative data set (BASiD). To the best of our knowledge, our study provides unprecedented evidence on the labor market effects of political imprisonment, by (1) exploiting information on political imprisonment using administrative records; (2) differentiating between possible short and long-run consequences of political imprisonment; and (3) measuring outcomes before and after the transition from a centrally planned towards a market economy, thereby permitting us to distinguish the consequences of incarceration under different political and economic regimes.

About the Speaker

Nicole Gürtzgen is head of the department “Labor market processes and institutions” at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg. She also holds a professorship in economics with a focus on labor market research at the University of Regensburg. Recent publications include articles in the European Economic Review, Labour Economics, and – with Karsten Hank – in Demography.

Karsten Hank is Professor of Sociology at the University of Cologne, Fellow at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), and – most importantly – MPIDR Alumni. He is Co-PI of the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA). Recent publications include articles in the Journal of Marriage and Family, Journals of Gerontology: Series B, and – with Nicole Gürtzgen – in Demography.
 

Participation

Please register via this survey for online participation. The Zoom link will be sent to you afterwards. The event begins at 2 pm CEST on August 22, 2024.

Registration

Talk@MPIDR

"The Labor Market Consequences of Political Imprisonment in the Former GDR"
Karsten Hank and Nicole Gürtzgen

Date: August 22, 2024
Time: 2 pm (CEST)

Please register via this survey to participate online. The Zoom link will then be sent to you.

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The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.