Publications

All
Series
Department
Topic
Author
Year
Refresh

Marginal Jobs and Job Surplus: A Test of the Efficiency of Separations

Simon Jäger, Benjamin Schoefer, Josef Zweimüller
Review of Economic Studies, No. 3, 2023
Abstract
We present a test of Coasean theories of efficient separations. We study a cohort of jobs from the introduction through the repeal of a large age- and region-specific unemployment benefit extension in Austria. In the treatment group, 18.5% fewer jobs survive the program period. According to the Coasean view, the destroyed marginal jobs had low joint surplus. Hence, after the repeal, the treatment survivors should be more resilient than the ineligible control group survivors. Strikingly, the two groups instead exhibit identical post-repeal separation behavior. We provide, and find suggestive evidence consistent with, an alternative model in which wage rigidity drives the inefficient separation dynamics.
Read article

Subventionswettbewerb: Subventionen für Halbleiter?

Reint E. Gropp
Wirtschaftsdienst, No. 3, 2023
Abstract

Hochtechnologien gelten als die Branchen der Zukunft. Europa will hier nicht den Anschluss verlieren. Auch gegen Lieferengpässe und Produktionsengpässe durch gestörte Lieferketten will sich Europa besser wappnen. Mit dem „European Chips Act“ will die Europäische Kommission gemeinsam mit den Mitgliedstaaten mehr als 40 Mrd. Euro ausgeben, um die europäische Halbleiter-Produktion von gegenwärtig 10 % auf dann 20 % der globalen Produktion zu steigern. Halbleiter sind nicht nur in Gebrauchsgegenständen wie Handys, Laptops und Autos, sie sind auch unverzichtbar, wenn die grüne und digitale Wende gelingen soll. Photovoltaikanlagen, nachhaltige Produktion und E-Mobilität – all das braucht Computerchips. Der „European Chips Act“ ist daher die Antwort der EU auf den „Chips-Act“ der USA, der mehr als 50 Mrd. US-$ für Halbleiter vorsieht, um die Produktion zu sichern, zu modernisieren und auszubauen.

Read article

Three Essays on Unethical Behavior: The Role of Generalized Reciprocity, Discrimination and Norms

Joschka Waibel
PhD Thesis, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, 2023
Abstract

Understanding human behavior in its entire complexity is an ambitious if not impossible challenge. It is however possible to study particular aspects of human behavior through experiments that allow us to isolate specific facets in the decision-making process, ultimately leading to a better understanding of human behavior as a whole. This thesis covers three experimental articles on unethical economic behavior and sheds light on the motives and circumstances that lead individuals to engage in these activities. Clearly, unethical behavior in all its different manifestations can pose great risk to society – both at the large (e.g. corporate tax evasion) and small (e.g. shoplifting) scale – making it a relevant topic to be studied in economic research. Trying to understand unethical behavior through the lenses of traditional economic theory is problematic.

Read article

Paying Outsourced Labor: Direct Evidence from Linked Temp Agency-Worker-Client Data

Andres Drenik, Simon Jäger, Pascuel Plotkin, Benjamin Schoefer
Review of Economics and Statistics, No. 1, 2023
Abstract
We estimate how much firms differentiate pay premia between regular and outsourced workers in temp agency work arrangements. We leverage unique Argentinian administrative data that feature links between user firms (the workplaces where temp workers perform their labor) and temp agencies (their formal employers). We estimate that a high-wage user firm that pays a regular worker a 10% premium pays a temp worker on average only a 4.9% premium, compared to what these workers would earn in a low-wage user firm in their respective work arrangements—the midpoint between the benchmarks for insiders (one) and the competitive spot-labor market (zero).
Read article

The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action

Simon Jäger, Shakked Noy, Benjamin Schoefer
Journal of Economic Perspectives, No. 4, 2022
Abstract
We give an overview of the "German model" of industrial relations. We organize our review by focusing on the two pillars of the model: sectoral collective bargaining and firm-level codetermination. Relative to the United States, Germany outsources collective bargaining to the sectoral level, resulting in higher coverage and the avoidance of firm-level distributional conflict. Relative to other European countries, Germany makes it easy for employers to avoid coverage or use flexibility provisions to deviate downwards from collective agreements. The greater flexibility of the German system may reduce unemployment, but may also erode bargaining coverage and increase inequality. Meanwhile, firm-level codetermination through worker board representation and works councils creates cooperative dialogue between employers and workers. Board representation has few direct impacts owing to worker representatives' minority vote share, but works councils, which hold a range of substantive powers, may be more impactful. Overall, the German model highlights tensions between efficiency-enhancing flexibility and equity-enhancing collective action. 
Read article

Do Firms Respond to Gender Pay Gap Transparency?

Morten Bennedsen, Elena Simintzi, Margarita Tsoutsoura, Daniel Wolfenzon
Journal of Finance, No. 4, 2022
Abstract
We examine the effect of pay transparency on the gender pay gap and firm outcomes. Using a 2006 legislation change in Denmark that requires firms to provide gender-disaggregated wage statistics, detailed employee-employer administrative data, and difference-in-differences and difference-in-discontinuities designs, we find that the law reduces the gender pay gap, primarily by slowing wage growth for male employees. The gender pay gap declines by 2 percentage points, or 13% relative to the prelegislation mean. Despite the reduction of the overall wage bill, the wage transparency mandate does not affect firm profitability, likely because of the offsetting effect of reduced firm productivity.
Read article

What Does Codetermination Do?

Simon Jäger, Shakked Noy, Benjamin Schoefer
ILR Review, No. 4, 2022
Abstract
The authors provide a comprehensive overview of codetermination, that is, worker representation in firms’ governance and management. The available micro evidence points to zero or small positive effects of codetermination on worker and firm outcomes and leaves room for moderate positive effects on productivity, wages, and job stability. The authors also present new country-level, general-equilibrium event studies of codetermination reforms between the 1960s and 2010s, finding no effects on aggregate economic outcomes or the quality of industrial relations. They offer three explanations for the institution’s limited impact. First, existing codetermination laws convey little authority to workers. Second, countries with codetermination laws have high baseline levels of informal worker voice. Third, codetermination laws may interact with other labor market institutions, such as union representation and collective bargaining. The article closes with a discussion of the implications for recent codetermination proposals in the United States.
Read article

The Cleansing Effect of Banking Crises

Reint E. Gropp, Steven Ongena, Jörg Rocholl, Vahid Saadi
Economic Inquiry, No. 3, 2022
Abstract
We assess the cleansing effects of the 2008–2009 financial crisis. U.S. regions with higher levels of supervisory forbearance on distressed banks see less restructuring in the real sector: fewer establishments, firms, and jobs are lost when more distressed banks remain in business. In these regions, the banking sector has been less healthy for several years after the crisis. Regions with less forbearance experience higher productivity growth after the crisis with more firm entries, job creation, and employment, wages, patents, and output growth. Forbearance is greater for state-chartered banks and in regions with weaker banking competition and more independent banks.
Read article

Das Potenzial von Bankkreditspreads für die Konjunkturprognose

Daniel Streitz
Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 2, 2022
Abstract
Prognosemodelle für die zukünftige wirtschaftliche Entwicklung verwenden häufig marktbasierte Indikatoren wie Spreads von Unternehmensanleihen, die den Risikoaufschlag gegenüber einem Referenzzins angeben. Anleihespreads bilden jedoch nur die Entwicklung von Risiken für Unternehmen ab, die regelmäßig Anleihen emittieren – im Durchschnitt größere, sichere Firmen. Neuartige Daten zu Bankkrediten, die im Sekundärmarkt gehandelt werden, erlauben auch die Konstruktion von Kreditspreads. Kreditmarktdaten umfassen ein breiteres Spektrum an Firmen, inklusive kleinerer Firmen, die stärker von Finanzmarktfriktionen betroffen sind. Tests zeigen, dass Kreditspreads tatsächlich mehr Informationen über wirtschaftliche Entwicklungen beinhalten als Anleihespreads und daher das Potenzial haben, Prognosemodelle zu verbessern.
Read article

Going Public and the Internal Organization of the Firm

Daniel Bias, Benjamin Lochner, Stefan Obernberger, Merih Sevilir
SSRN Working Paper, May 2022
Abstract
We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. To conform with the requirements of public capital markets, we expect IPO firms to become more organized, making the firm more accountable and its human capital more easily replaceable. We find that IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with smaller departments. Managerial oversight increases. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Employee turnover is sizeable and directly related to changes in hierarchical layers. New hires are better educated, but younger and less experienced than incumbents, which reflects the staffing needs of a more hierarchical organization. Wage inequality increases as firms become more hierarchical. Overall, going public is associated with a comprehensive transformation of the firm's organization which becomes geared towards efficiently operating a public firm.
Read article
Mitglied der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft LogoTotal-Equality-LogoSupported by the BMWK