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Klaus F. Zimmermann
Former Editor, Migration and ethnicity

UNU-MERIT, The Netherlands

IZA World of Labor role

Author, Former Editor

Current position

Co-Director of POP at UNU-MERIT, The Netherlands

Research interest

Labor, migration, policy

Website

https://www.merit.unu.edu/about-us/profile/?staff_id=2357

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina; Academia Europaea

Past positions

Full Professor, Bonn University; Full Professor of Economic Theory, University of Munich, Germany

Qualifications

Dr. rer. pol., University of Mannheim, 1985; Dr. rer. pol. habil., University of Mannheim, Germany, 1987

Selected publications

  • International Handbook on the Economics of Migration. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013 (Editor with A. Constant).

  • “Tackling the European migration problem.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9 (1995): 45–62.

  • “Ethnosizing immigrants.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 69 (2009): 274–287 (with A. F. Constant and L. Gataullina).

  • “Another economic miracle? The German labor market and the great recession.” IZA Journal of Labor Policy 1 (2012): Article 3 (with U. Rinne).

  • “How skilled immigration may improve economic equality.” IZA Journal of Migration 3 (2014): Article 2 (with M. Kahanec).

article(s)

  • Circular migration

    Why restricting labor mobility can be counterproductive

    Klaus F. Zimmermann, May 2014
    In the popular immigration narrative, migrants leave one country and establish themselves permanently in another, creating a “brain drain” in the sending country. In reality, migration is typically temporary: Workers migrate, find employment, and then return home or move on, often multiple times. Sending countries benefit from remittances while workers are abroad and from enhanced human capital when they return, while receiving countries fill labor shortages. Policies impeding circular migration can be costly to both sending and receiving countries.
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