On March 25-26, the IAAEU hosted the 13th edition of the Workshop on Labour Economics (WLE). Though no one at IAAEU had any experience with hosting such large online conferences, "Everything went surprisingly well" as Jonas Feld put it, head of organization. Usually, the WLE takes place on the premises of the IAAEU, on Trier University's Campus II. But this year, for the first time, it was converted into a virtual format.
The opportunity to attend a conference even with current travel restrictions explains why there were such a large number of attendees compared to previous versions of the annually held WLE. More than 130 people had registered for the event, as many as never before. Together they listened to 57 presentations listed on the program this year, also a record high.
Another reason behind the gradually growing interest in the WLE is surely the broad spectrum of topics touched on, and the increasing scientific reputation of this conference. Several presentations depicted Germany's job market situation, specifically focusing on the general development of wages, as well as the differences in wages between the public and private sector and the influence of the Hartz-reforms. Other presentations featured topics such as temporary employment, education, or job satisfaction – many also from a cross-country comparing perspective. Meeting the interests of many participants, presentations and subsequent discussions also acknowledged subjects such as the influence of digitalization or gender pay gaps between women and men.
Similar to previous years, the main emphasis was put on the research interests of the employees at the IAAEU and the employees of the chair of personnel economics at Trier University: There were many lectures on the current standing and the influence of trade unions and also on the labor market integration of immigrants. To conclude the conference's first day, Professor Guido Friebel from Goethe-University Frankfurt gave a keynote lecture on personnel economics experiments, highlighting associated methodological challenges.
The 2021 WLE Best Paper Award was conferred to Yajna Govind, a doctoral student at Paris School of Economics, for her job market paper entitled "Is naturalization a passport for better labor market integration? Evidence from a quasi-experimental setting ".
As summed up by Jonas Feld, representing the IAAEU, "the interest in our workshop is increasing year by year. We are delighted to have met these growing needs by hosting a virtual conference even in these particularly unusual times." Nevertheless, the WLE-Team hopes to welcome all attendees in person at the premises of IAAEU at Campus II from next year on again.
The opportunity to attend a conference even with current travel restrictions explains why there were such a large number of attendees compared to previous versions of the annually held WLE. More than 130 people had registered for the event, as many as never before. Together they listened to 57 presentations listed on the program this year, also a record high.
Another reason behind the gradually growing interest in the WLE is surely the broad spectrum of topics touched on, and the increasing scientific reputation of this conference. Several presentations depicted Germany's job market situation, specifically focusing on the general development of wages, as well as the differences in wages between the public and private sector and the influence of the Hartz-reforms. Other presentations featured topics such as temporary employment, education, or job satisfaction – many also from a cross-country comparing perspective. Meeting the interests of many participants, presentations and subsequent discussions also acknowledged subjects such as the influence of digitalization or gender pay gaps between women and men.
Similar to previous years, the main emphasis was put on the research interests of the employees at the IAAEU and the employees of the chair of personnel economics at Trier University: There were many lectures on the current standing and the influence of trade unions and also on the labor market integration of immigrants. To conclude the conference's first day, Professor Guido Friebel from Goethe-University Frankfurt gave a keynote lecture on personnel economics experiments, highlighting associated methodological challenges.
The 2021 WLE Best Paper Award was conferred to Yajna Govind, a doctoral student at Paris School of Economics, for her job market paper entitled "Is naturalization a passport for better labor market integration? Evidence from a quasi-experimental setting ".
As summed up by Jonas Feld, representing the IAAEU, "the interest in our workshop is increasing year by year. We are delighted to have met these growing needs by hosting a virtual conference even in these particularly unusual times." Nevertheless, the WLE-Team hopes to welcome all attendees in person at the premises of IAAEU at Campus II from next year on again.
