This thesis investigates the impacts of labour market institutions and of wealth disparities between natives and immigrants. Both these topics are important in the context of labour market mobility, which plays a key role in addressing labour shortages and supporting economic development. The purpose of the thesis is to examine: (I) how the reduction in employment protection legislation affects labour market mobility; (II) how firms adjust to rises in minimum wages; and (III) the wealth gap between natives and immigrants and the factors associated with it.

The thesis consists of three articles published in international peer-reviewed academic journals. The first article explores how Estonia’s reform of Employment Protection Legislation in 2009 impacted labour reallocation and assesses whether reducing employment protection led to improved labour market mobility in Estonia. The second article investigates the strategies that firms employ to cope with increases in the minimum wage in Central and Eastern European countries. The third article examines the wealth disparities between the native-born and immigrant populations in Estonia and Latvia and investigates the factors associated with this wealth gap.

Supervisors:

Adjunct Professor Tairi Rõõm 

Senior Researcher Merike Kukk (co-supervisor)

Opponents:

Ana Rosa de Lamo Rubio, PhD (European Central Bank, Germany)

Jaanika Meriküll, PhD (University of Tartu, Eesti)

The doctoral thesis is available here: LINK