Assessing the interrelationship between atypical work and net migration in the EU: Evidence from 17 Countries (2004–2019)

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Laurène Thil and Stella Sophie Zilian

wiiw Working Paper No. 263, June 2025
46 pages including 12 Table and 14 Figures

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This paper studies how atypical work, alongside other labour market conditions, affect intra-EU migration and vice versa in 17 EU countries from 2004 to 2019. Relative increases of part-time and self-employment shares in sending countries increase net migration, whereas relative increases in short fixed-term shares reduce net migration. Net migration shocks persistently reduce part-time share differentials, initially reduce self-employment share differentials and increase short fixed-term share differentials. Atypical work explains about one-fifth of net migration fluctuations five and ten years after a shock. The findings highlight the trade-off between internal (employment flexibility) and external (migration) labour market adjustments.

 

Keywords: atypical employment, intra-EU mobility, pVAR, labour market adjustment

JEL classification: C33, F22, J21

Countries covered: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Research Areas: Labour, Migration and Income Distribution


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