The impact of September 11th, 2001 on the job prospects for foreigners with Arab background: evidence from German labor market data

Research output: Working paperWorking papers

Authors

This paper examines whether the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001 have influence on the job prospects of Arabs in the German labor market. Using a large, representative database of the German working population, the attacks are treated as a natural experiment that may have caused an exogenous shift in attitudes toward persons who are perceived to be Arabs. Evidence from regression-adjusted difference-in-differences-estimates indicates the 9/11 did not cause a severe decline in job prospects. This result is robust over a wide range of control groups and several definitions of the sample and the observation period. Several explanations for this result, which is in line with prior evidence from Sweden, are offered.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLüneburg
PublisherInstitut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg
Number of pages34
Publication statusPublished - 2007

Documents