Private Equity and Industry Performance
Shai B. Bernstein, Josh Lerner, Morten Sorensen, Per Strömberg
Management Science,
No. 4,
2017
Abstract
The growth of the private equity industry has spurred concerns about its impact on the economy. This analysis looks across nations and industries to assess the impact of private equity on industry performance. We find that industries where private equity funds invest grow more quickly in terms of total production and employment and appear less exposed to aggregate shocks. Our robustness tests provide some evidence that is consistent with our effects being driven by our preferred channel.
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On the Simultaneity Bias in the Relationship Between Risk Attitudes, Entry into Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Survival
Matthias Brachert, Walter Hyll, Mirko Titze
Applied Economics Letters,
No. 7,
2017
Abstract
We consider the simultaneity bias when examining the effect of individual risk attitudes on entrepreneurship. We demonstrate that entry into self-employment is related to changes in risk attitudes. We further show that these changes are correlated with the probability to remain in entrepreneurship.
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Direct and Indirect Effects of Economic Sanctions between the EU and Russia on Output and Employment in the German Economy
Jutta Günther, Maria Kristalova, Udo Ludwig
Russland-Analysen,
No. 325,
2016
Abstract
In der Mitte des Jahres 2014 verhängten die EU und Russland infolge des Ukrainekonfliktes gegenseitige Sanktionen. Die bereits seit 2013 abnehmenden Warenexporte Deutschlands nach Russland brachen danach noch tiefer ein. Dieser Beitrag schätzt unter Verwendung der kürzlich vom Statistischen Bundesamt veröffentlichten Input-Output Tabellen für das Jahr 2012 die ökonomischen Folgen der Sanktionen für die Produktion und Beschäftigung in Deutschland. Dabei gehen sowohl die direkten als auch die indirekten Effekte entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette in die Analyse ein. Die Produktionsverluste infolge der Sanktionen liegen kumuliert über die Jahre 2014 bis 2016 bei mehreren Milliarden. Bezogen auf die Bruttowertschöpfung entsprechen die Verluste aber »nur« 0,15 Prozent des Bruttoinlandsprodukts. Starke Verluste erleiden jedoch die Hersteller unmittelbar sanktionierter Warengruppen und deren Zulieferer, insbesondere der Fahrzeugbau, der Maschinenbau und die Erzeuger von Eisen und Stahl.
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Identifying the Effects of Place-based Policies – Causal Evidence from Germany
Matthias Brachert, Eva Dettmann, Mirko Titze
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 18,
2016
Abstract
The German government provides discretionary investment grants to structurally weak regions to reduce regional disparities. We use a regression discontinuity design that exploits an exogenous discrete jump in the probability of receiving investment grants to identify the causal effects of the investment grant on regional outcomes. We find positive effects for regional gross value-added and productivity growth, but no effects for employment and gross wage growth.
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03.12.2015 • 44/2015
Migration Affects Labour Market in Eastern Germany
Migration increasingly affects the labour market in Eastern Germany, having effects on employment and unemployment figures as well as the number of recipients of social assistance benefits under the SGB II regulations. Particularly with countries in Middle and Eastern Europe, countries affected by the European debt and confidence crisis and with people seeking asylum, there are large increases meeting the dimensions in Western Germany. However, migrants overall still form a significantly smaller percentage of the population and other labour market parameters in Eastern Germany, since migration was a lot stronger in Western Germany during the last decades. While on the short run negative effects on unemployment have to be expected, there are also chances, in the medium- and long-term, to soften the expectable demographic problems, if integration and qualification are supported.
Oliver Holtemöller
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Trade Union Membership and Paid Vacation in Germany
Laszlo Goerke, Sabrina Jeworrek, Markus Pannenberg
IZA Journal of Labor Economics,
No. 1,
2015
Abstract
In Germany, dependent employees take almost 30 days of paid vacation annually. We enquire whether an individual’s trade union membership affects the duration of vacation. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the period 1985 to 2010 and employing pooled OLS-estimators, we find that being a union member goes along with almost one additional day of vacation per year. Estimations exploiting the panel structure of our data suggest that a smaller part of this vacation differential can be due to the union membership status, while self-selection effects play a more important role.
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Works Councils and Labour Productivity: Looking beyond the Mean
Steffen Müller
British Journal of Industrial Relations,
No. 2,
2015
Abstract
After more than 25 years of empirical investigation, the analysis of works council effects on establishment productivity is still an active field of economic research. I present first evidence for works council regression coefficients along the unconditional log labour productivity distribution in Germany. The highest (lowest) coefficients were found at the bottom (top) of the distribution, which suggests that works councils have the most beneficial effects at low levels of productivity. Importantly, coefficients are positive at each productivity level. The results shed light on a classical theoretical argument concerning moderating factors for the productivity effect of employee participation.
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A Weighty Issue Revisited: The Dynamic Effect of Body Weight on Earnings and Satisfaction in Germany
Frieder Kropfhäußer, Marco Sunder
Applied Economics,
No. 41,
2015
Abstract
We estimate the relationship between changes in the body mass index (bmi) and wages or satisfaction, respectively, in a panel of German employees. In contrast to previous findings, our dynamic models indicate an inverse u-shaped association between bmi and wages. As the implied maximum occurs in the ‘overweight’ category, the positive trend in weight may not yet constitute a major limitation to productivity. Further investigation points out a stronger association among young workers and workers with jobs that are less protected. Work satisfaction of young workers is associated with bmi beyond the effect of earnings.
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Assessing European Competitiveness: The New CompNet Microbased Database
Paloma Lopez-Garcia, Filippo di Mauro
ECB Working Paper,
No. 1764,
2015
Abstract
Drawing from confidential firm-level balance sheets for 17 European countries (13 Euro-Area), the paper documents the newly expanded database of cross-country comparable competitiveness-related indicators built by the Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet). The new database provides information on the distribution of labour productivity, TFP, ULC or size of firms in detailed 2-digit industries but also within broad macrosectors or considering the full economy. Most importantly, the expanded database includes detailed information on critical determinants of competitiveness such as the financial position of the firm, its exporting intensity, employment creation or price-cost margins. Both the distribution of all those variables, within each industry, but also their joint analysis with the productivity of the firm provides critical insights to both policy-makers and researchers regarding aggregate trends dynamics. The current database comprises 17 EU countries, with information for 56 industries, including both manufacturing and services, over the period 1995-2012. The paper aims at analysing the structure and characteristics of this novel database, pointing out a number of results that are relevant to study productivity developments and its drivers. For instance, by using covariances between productivity and employment the paper shows that the drop in employment which occurred during the recent crisis appears to have had “cleansing effects” on EU economies, as it seems to have accelerated resource reallocation towards the most productive firms, particularly in economies under stress. Lastly, this paper will be complemented by four forthcoming papers, each providing an in-depth description and methodological overview of each of the main groups of CompNet indicators (financial, trade-related, product and labour market).
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