LRF Research Profile
Research Profile of the Department of Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets The Department of Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets conducts research on the interaction of labour…
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Productivity
Productivity: More with Less by Better Available resources are scarce. To sustain our society's income and living standards in a world with ecological and demographic change, we…
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Diversity
Diversity We have signed the Diversity Charter and actively commit to a culture of diversity. IWH stands for a working environment that is free of biases and barrier-free: A…
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Wage and Employment Effects of Insolvencies
Wage and employment effects of bankruptcies Although the consequences of bankruptcies for affected employees are frequently debated in the public (e.g. due to the bankruptcy of…
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Behaviour
The maths behind gut decisions First carefully weigh up the costs and benefits and then make a rational decision. This may be the way we want it to be. But in reality, invisible…
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IWH-Tarif-Check
IWH-Tarif-Check The IWH-Tarif-Check (IWH Wage Rate Check) analyses the real income effects of recent wage agreements in Germany. It removes effects of inflation, taxation and…
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Speed Projects
Speed Projects On this page, you will find the IWH EXplore Speed Projects in chronologically descending order. 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2021 SPEED 2021/01…
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Income and savings
Income and savings Primary income of the private households The primary income of the private households (including private non-profit organisations) includes the income from…
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Import Competition and Firm Productivity: Evidence from German Manufacturing
Richard Bräuer, Matthias Mertens, Viktor Slavtchev
World Economy,
No. 8,
2023
Abstract
Abstract We study how different types of import competition affect firm productivity using firm-product data from German manufacturing (2000-2014). Competition from high-income countries causes affected domestic firms to increase their productivity and lower their prices. Oppositely, import competition from low-wage countries does not lead to firm productivity gains. Instead, domestic firms' sales and input usage decline. Our findings confirm the intuition of ladder models that the effect of competition depends on the "closeness" of competitors. They are in line with widespread X-inefficiencies throughout the economy, which firms reduce in response to competition from high-income countries.
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Exposure to Conflict, Migrations and Long-run Education and Income Inequality: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Adnan Efendic, Dejan Kovač, Jacob N. Shapiro
Defence and Peace Economics,
No. 8,
2023
Abstract
We investigate the long-term relationship between conflict-related migration and individual socioeconomic inequality. Looking at the post-conflict environment of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a former Yugoslav state most heavily impacted by the wars of the early 1990s, the paper focuses on differences in educational performance and income between four groups: migrants, internally displaced persons, former external migrants, and those who did not move. The analysis leverages a municipality-representative survey (n ≈ 6,000) that captured self-reported education and income outcomes as well as migration histories. We find that individuals with greater exposure to conflict had systematically worse educational performance and lower earnings two decades after the war. Former external migrants now living in BiH have better educational and economic outcomes than those who did not migrate, but these advantages are smaller for external migrants who were forced to move. We recommend that policies intended to address migration-related discrepancies should be targeted on the basis of individual and family experiences caused by conflict.
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