Research
The Effect of the Separation Wall on the West Bank Labor Market (with Haggay Etkes)
In summer 2002, Israel began construction on a wall separating Israeli and Palestinian population centers. Construction began in Wadi Ara, and by the end of 2003 included northern Samaria and parts of the Jerusalem envelope. Israeli decision-makers claim that the wall is intended to reduce terror attacks carried out by Palestinian organizations inside Israel proper. Such attacks, particularly suicide bombings, claimed many victims in the first two years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
The separation wall is one of the largest projects to have been carried out by Israel in the past few decades. Indeed, its economic implications for the Palestinian population are broad, the most notable of which is the sealing off of entry of Palestinian laborers into Israel. In addition, the erection of the wall signals the effective end of Palestinian participation in the Israeli labor market, which prior to the intifada employed a quarter of the Palestinian labor force. Therefore, the effects of the wall on West Bank Palestinians are considerable in many realms, among others separating Palestinian villages from their lands, impeding villagers from working their lands as they have for generations, impairing their livelihoods, and in turn reducing their standard of living.
This study will examine the short-term impact of the West Bank barrier on Palestinian labor market outcomes. While the study will focus on labor markets, it is likely to examine other markets as well as security events such as terror attacks. The identification strategy is based on a comparison of the changes that have occurred between the period before the construction of the barrier and the period that preceded it; and between locales near the barrier and those at a distance therefrom (comparing regions and locales “treated” by the barrier, and control regions / locales not near the barrier).