Employment trajectories in heterogeneous regions: Evidence from Germany

To what extent do regional characteristics influence employment trajectories? Do regional factors diversely affect the employment careers of different sociodemographic groups? By investigating these questions, we extend current life course research in two ways: First, from a conceptual perspective, we use approaches from regional economics in addition to established sociological labour market theories to gain insights into the effects of regional determinants on individual labour market outcomes. Second, from a methodological point of view, we conduct event history analyses based on a German dataset that contains information on individuals, firms and regions. Our results show that there are considerable regional heterogeneities regarding population density and the amount of human capital endowment, both of which influence working careers differently. Regional agglomeration predominantly offers opportunities in terms of employment trajectories, while regional human capital accumulation increases employment risks. Additionally, our findings indicate that group-specific inequalities with respect to employment careers can be weakened or even strengthened by regional frame conditions. Female and foreign employees benefit most from denser regions and from a higher human capital endowment. By contrast, the unemployment risks of workers who previously experienced unemployment periods during their working lives are increased by both of these regional characteristics. Findings regarding education level are mixed: Workers with occupational qualifications profit from regional agglomeration to a greater extent than do low or even generally qualified workers. However, a high local human capital endowment leads to skill segregation between vocationally trained and highly qualified employees.