Wage Patterns in West Berlin: A Synthetic Control Approach after the Fall of the Wall

Abstract

We investigate the impact of the Berlin Wall’s fall on West Berliners’ salaries using the Synthetic Control Method and regional-level data (NUTS-2) from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Our study shows that the collapse of the Berlin Wall led to a sudden stagnation in salaries for West Berliners, compared to a counterfactual scenario where the Wall had remained intact.

Sergi Urzay-Gómez

Lecturer in Economics

Researcher in political economy and applied microeconomics, with a focus on European integration and individual preferences.