Dr. Axel Lindner (p)

German reunification represents a unique natural experiment in economic history. Because comparable events are rare, the extent to which East Germans have been successfully integrated into the West German economy remains a matter of debate. We use the integration of German refugees from the former eastern territories after World War II as a historical benchmark. An analysis of microcensus data shows that, 25 years after reunification, the relative income position of East Germans that stayed in East Germany after unification compared with the West German population was significantly weaker than that of refugees a quarter of a century after their arrival in West Germany. This is particularly striking given that, after 1990, a substantially larger share of GDP was devoted to rebuilding East Germany than had been spent on integrating the postwar refugees. The comparatively weak distributional position of East Germans may best be explained by the fact that the policies enacted after 1990 to facilitate the integration of East Germany as a region were less effective than the support for the refugees in the post-war period. Thus, the fact that most East Germans remained in their home region instead of integrating into the established West German economy likely hindered long-term income convergence.

Dr. Simone Piras (p), Ms Isabel Wiliams

Rural depopulation is a long-term phenomenon that has been attracting increasing attention from researchers and policymakers due to its negative implications for the viability of the rural social fabric, often resulting in discontent and populist reactions. Within this context, achieving a more balanced population distribution across territories can preserve viable rural communities on the one hand, and alleviate pressure on urban services and housing markets on the other.
Among European countries, Scotland is noteworthy for its high population concentration, counterbalanced by large sparsely populated rural, remote, and island (RRI) areas. Consequently, the Scottish Government’s 2021 National Population Strategy (NPS) identified the promotion of a more evenly distributed population as a key objective. Achieving this will require the voluntary relocation of people from urban to RRI areas. While often desirable from an environmental point of view, the latter are characterised by lower accessibility to services, forcing individuals to make difficult trade-offs. Understanding individuals’ preferences and willingness to accept different place characteristics thus becomes crucial for designing appropriate incentives.
In this paper, we use discrete choice experiments to investigate Scottish residents’ willingness to move (or not) to places that differ in terms of various attributes. An online survey was disseminated first (2023) to a sample of 250 rural dwellers generally concerned with the issue, and then (2025) to a sample of 1,007 respondents representative of the Scottish population by age and gender, covering the whole urban–rural continuum and a variety of household types. Half of the respondents in the second sample, randomly selected, were shown excerpts from the NPS as an information treatment prior to making their choices.
We found that, ceteris paribus, the quality of the natural environment and of digital connectivity had strong positive impacts on preferences. Distances from family, workplaces, schools, hospitals, and grocery shops yielded negative effects, although with different intensities, but were not statistically significant among the rural sample, suggesting habituation to longer distances. Controlling for these characteristics, a place’s population size and remoteness mattered only for the rural sample. While an overwhelming majority of respondents stated that they agreed with the objectives of the NPS, the information treatment had no significant impact on preferences, although we would have expected reduced sensitivity to distance.
While our results suggest that there is scope to achieve a more balanced population distribution, an intention–behaviour gap persists, and substantial improvements in service accessibility are needed to enable its realisation.

Dr. Filippo Di Pietro (p), Dr. Andrea Conte, Dr Erik Haustein, Dr Stefano Fusaro

This paper examines the intersection between intergenerational social mobility and geographic mobility in Europe, focusing on how regional migration dynamics shape opportunities for economic advancement across generations. The research integrates two complementary perspectives: macro-level demographic and economic forces driving regional migration across the EU, and micro-level causal mechanisms through which neighborhoods and local contexts influence intergenerational income mobility.

The study is motivated by the European Commission's recognition of demographic transition as a structural threat to EU competitiveness and territorial cohesion. Using bilateral migration flow data between NUTS3 regions, gravity models reveal that emigration from poor to rich regions is substantially higher than flows in other directions, with economic responsiveness peaking among 25–29 year-olds. A 1% increase in the GDP ratio between destination and origin regions increases migration flows of this age group by approximately 0.42%, confirming that "brain drain" is most pronounced precisely when young adults would contribute most to local economic vitality.

To measure intergenerational income mobility, the study employs rank-rank specifications following Chetty et al. (2014) and applies Bayesian hierarchical modeling to the Spanish Opportunity Atlas 2.0, linking over 1.5 million parent-child pairs across 25 years. Results show strong geographic variation in upward mobility, with Northern Spain and major metropolitan areas like Madrid and Barcelona acting as "mobility engines," while Southern regions exhibit persistently low mobility. A mover's design identifies significant causal neighborhood effects on long-term economic outcomes.

The findings demonstrate that regional economic decline drives selective out-migration, depleting human capital and creating self-reinforcing cycles that constrain mobility for those who remain. The paper concludes that effective EU territorial policy must simultaneously address demographic decline, labor market conditions, education access, and housing affordability to break the vicious cycle linking geographic and intergenerational immobility.

Prof. Anna Tobolska (p)

The paper entitled “The Inclusive City – Local Strategies in Response to Migration Challenges. The Case of Poznań” focuses on analysing the role of municipal government in shaping integration policies in the context of increasing human mobility. It is based on the assumption that contemporary migration processes – economic, educational, and forced alike – significantly affect the functioning of cities by transforming their social structure, labour markets, education systems, and demand for public services.
The paper attempts to identify the key factors determining local approaches to migration, as well as the development of strategies that foster integration and social cohesion. Particular attention is paid to the changing nature of migration processes over time, which requires flexibility and adaptive capacity on the part of local authorities.
The case study is Poznań, which in recent years has been developing tools and programmes to support foreign residents, striving to build a model of an open and diverse city. An analysis of the measures undertaken in Poznań demonstrates how local strategies can respond effectively to migration challenges while simultaneously strengthening social capital and urban development.