IZA COMPACT Shaping the Future of Labor www.iza.org March 2013 IZA Celebrates 15 Years of Success in Labor Market Research and Policy Advice On the occasion of its 15th anniversary, network, the vital role of the IZA Discussion IZA celebrates and reviews its manifold ac- Paper series, now comprising over 7,000 1 15 tivities in scientific research and empirically studies, underlines the leading role of IZA in 99 based policy advice. In line with its mission, international labor economics. 8-2013 the institute takes a pioneering role in both of these areas on the national and interna- Thanks to a solid funding base provided tional level. Prominent labor economists by the Deutsche Post Foundation, comple- >> In This Issue from all over the world sent their best wish- mented by other sources of funding from es for IZA’s anniversary and underscored its all parts of the world, IZA is independent ANNIVERSARY EVENTS IN strong influence on the global debate. IZA from commissioned research and faces no WASHINGTON AND BERLIN Director Klaus F. Zimmermann, who founded restrictions concerning its research topics Many friends of IZA joined the cel- the institute 15 years ago, emphasized the and advisory activities. Members of the IZA ebration of its 15th anniversary with exceptional performance of the worldwide network are responsible for their own fund- events in the capitals of the U.S. and IZA network and announced new initiatives ing. Consequently, IZA’s research output re- Germany. page 2 for the future. flects the broad knowledge base of today’s labor economics with all its facets, regardless 10 YEARS OF AGENDA 2010 “I congratulate IZA on its splendid accomplishments of scientific approach IZA Compact summarizes the contri- over its first fifteen years. It has created a major fo- or social policy orienta- butions of the institute to supporting rum for the study of labor economics, the economics tion. and evaluating the German labor of human resources and the economics of the family market reforms. page 5 and of human development. IZA supports and sustains The IZA research agenda dialogue among scholars with competing visions of how to fosters our knowledge in do labor economics. It has fostered the development and the field by posing new ADVICE AND COOPERATION exchange of new knowledge. It has created a world com- research questions and For many years IZA has provided munity of scholars. Its working paper series, conferences bringing together leading top-level advice to the European and and workshops have greatly advanced the scientific study experts from its fellow German policymakers. page 7 of the workforce.” network to study these James Heckman (University of Chicago) questions in order to MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION provide answers based Numerous studies, research reports In 1998, when IZA was founded on the ini- on cutting-edge research. The continually and books on migration topics tiative of Deutsche Post, Germany’s largest expanded range of topics now covers such underscore IZA’s calls for an eco- employer, labor economics in Germany was diverse areas as labor market policy evalua- nomically motivated migration and largely marginalized. Science and practice tion; migration and integration; behavioral integration policy. page 8 were marked by helplessness in the face of and personnel economics; employment and constantly rising unemployment. Since then development; and the labor market aspects a lot has been achieved: IZA has greatly ad- of environmental policies. The main theme IZA POLICY PROGRAM vanced labor market research in Germany, behind all this research is “shaping the future A regular contributor to the Ger- Europe and the world. Committed to the of labor.” The causes and consequences of man labor market policy debate, highest scientific standards, IZA is indepen- labor migration flows; the interplay between IZA calls for continuing on the dently minded and concentrates on the most jobs, poverty reduction and economic devel- reform path towards an “Agenda pressing questions of our time. Supported opment; scientifically founded evaluation of 2020”. page 9 by the world’s largest network in econom- labor market programs – these are the high- ics comprising more than 1,200 fellows and lights of IZA’s research agenda. affiliates, IZA was able to quickly establish TESTIMONIALS an excellent reputation both nationally and IZA also puts great emphasis on bridging the Read what our network members say internationally. In addition to the dynamic gap between academic science and political about IZA. page 11 Institute for the Study of Labor | I Z A COMPACT | March 2013 15 YEARS OF IZA practice. Numerous national governments Supported by the World Bank, IZA is also Looking back on the past 15 years, IZA and international organizations, such as working on the upcoming launch of an is particularly indebted to the Deutsche the European Commission, the OECD ambitious online encyclopedia – the “IZA Post Foundation for its continuous sup- and the World Bank, regularly seek IZA’s World of Labor”. IZA’s pioneering role in port, which keeps IZA’s work indepen- advice, as does the wider public in many data technology is best reflected by its dent from outside funding and influ- countries. Since the demand for scientifi- International Data Service Center (IDSC), ence. Special thanks are also due to all cally founded policy advice is growing in which collects, explores, develops and fa- active and former employees, as well as the light of increasingly complex labor cilitates access to the most relevant data- the highly dedicated network members, market processes, independent science is sets for labor economists. The IDSC has who have contributed greatly to making more important than ever. With five newly developed its own software for secure re- IZA what it is today – the major driving established open-access online journals mote data processing, which is also used force behind international labor market IZA aims at stimulating and accelerating by other institutions. research. the scientific debate on key labor topics. IZA Research Fellows and Affiliates: IZA Discussion Paper Series: World’s largest network of economists Shaping the debate in labor economics 1400 8000 1203 7120 1200 7000 1075 6268 996 6000 1000 932 5418 828 5000 4680 800 739 669 3917 4000 602 3271 600 526 3000 2537 397 400 1910 312 2000 1449 255 192 975 200 1000 681 128 413 238 44 27 100 0 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Celebrating and Reviewing 15 Years of IZA: Anniversary Event in Washington With its many research fellows from the Giulietti (IZA), also chaired the first panel. In of the Rural-to-Urban Migration in China Washington metro area and strong institu- her introduction, she emphasized the long (RUMiC) dataset and various co-organized tional partners, including Georgetown Uni- and intense research relationships that IZA workshops. versity and the World Bank, IZA is exception- Director Klaus F. Zimmermann has had over ally well connected in the U.S. capital. It was the years with each of the panelists, who are Martin Kahanec (Central European University therefore not a coincidence that IZA’s anni- all part of the IZA family and carry the shin- and IZA) gave an overview of the important versary celebrations were kicked off with a ing IZA torch in several parts of the globe. role IZA’s research has played in the grand one-day event in Washington, DC. In front of They testified from their personal experi- EU enlargement experiment, analyzing the over 100 invited guests from research, policy- ence on the Director’s strong research his- migration and labor market consequences of making and society, a number of prominent tory, the novelty of subjects studied, IZA’s EU enlargement, as well as IZA’s ties with the economists and IZA network sound research and policymak- emerging countries. Rainer Winkelmann (Uni- members gave short presenta- ing, and the impact of IZA out- versity of Zurich and IZA), who was among tions on labor market issues put on the wider community. the very first researchers at IZA, commented ranging from past and ongoing Nikos Askitas (IZA) presented on the pioneering role of IZA in building an IZA collaborations and projects the innovative use of new data international research network, encouraging to key topics of future research sources, including Google In- its young scholars to publish in high-quality in labor economics. The day sights data to show unemploy- journals, and making new data accessible for was rounded off with a keynote ment trends and truck toll data labor market research. Michael R. Veall (Mc- speech by U.S. Undersecretary to “nowcast” industrial produc- Master University and IZA) emphasized the of State Robert D. Hormats on tion. Ulf Rinne (IZA) explained role of IZA in capacity building, elaborating Robert D. Hormats the future of transatlantic co- that the recent labor market on how an early project with Zimmermann operation. reforms in Germany played an on the measurement of econometric good- essential role for the country’s remarkable ness-of-fit in nonstandard situations had Panel I: IZA Research Collaborations resilience to the economic crisis and for provided useful training for students and what is now widely perceived as the German influenced research in other disciplines as Amelie F. Constant (George Washington Uni- “job miracle”. Corrado Giulietti reported on well. John P. Haisken-DeNew (University of Mel- versity, Temple University and IZA), who IZA’s collaboration with Chinese research bourne and IZA) reminisced about the early welcomed the guests together with Corrado institutions, including the development years of his collaboration with the Director 2 Institute for the Study of Labor | I Z A COMPACT | March 2013 15 YEARS OF IZA and underlined the unique opportunity of project with Georgetown University, which ics about which parts of the private sector having IZA collaborating with Australia in gives Ph.D.