IWH-DPE Call for Applications – Fall 2020 Intake
Vacancy The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) is one of Germany’s leading economic research institutes. The IWH focuses on research in macroeconomics, financial…
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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.
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European Firm Concentration and Aggregate Productivity
Tommaso Bighelli, Filippo di Mauro, Marc Melitz, Matthias Mertens
Journal of the European Economic Association,
No. 2,
2023
Abstract
This paper derives a European Herfindahl–Hirschman concentration index from 15 micro-aggregated country datasets. In the last decade, European concentration rose due to a reallocation of economic activity toward large and concentrated industries. Over the same period, productivity gains from an increasing allocative efficiency of the European market accounted for 50% of European productivity growth while markups stayed constant. Using country-industry variation, we show that changes in concentration are positively associated with changes in productivity and allocative efficiency. This holds across most sectors and countries and supports the notion that rising concentration in Europe reflects a more efficient market environment rather than weak competition and rising market power.
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How Early Childcare Can Boost the Labour Market Success of Lower-Educated Mothers
Henning Hermes, Marina Krauss, Philipp Lergetporer, Frauke Peter, Simon Wiederhold
VoxEU,
April
2023
Abstract
In most countries, childbirth has a negative impact on the labour market outcomes of mothers, especially for those with lower socioeconomic status. This column presents findings from a field experiment in Germany demonstrating that access to universal early childcare increases full-time employment and household income of mothers with lower socioeconomic status. To improve the labour market outcomes of these mothers, policymakers must provide easier access to early childcare and expand early childcare slots.
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Debatte um Intel-Ansiedlung: IWH veröffentlicht umstrittene Zitate im Volltext
Oliver Holtemöller
Einzelveröffentlichungen,
2023
Abstract
In einer öffentlichen Kontroverse über die Ansiedelung einer Chipfabrik in Magdeburg wurden Einschätzungen des Leibniz-Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) teils stark kritisiert. Die Kritik bezieht sich auf einzelne Zitate aus einem Medienbericht. Nach Ansicht des IWH ergeben die Aussagen in ihrem ursprünglichen Zusammenhang ein anderes Bild, weshalb sie hier vollständig wiedergegeben werden.
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The Value of Early-Career Skills
Christina Langer, Simon Wiederhold
CESifo Working Paper,
No. 10288,
2023
Abstract
We develop novel measures of early-career skills that are more detailed, comprehensive, and labor-market-relevant than existing skill proxies. We exploit that skill requirements of apprenticeships in Germany are codified in state-approved, nationally standardized apprenticeship plans. These plans provide more than 13,000 different skills and the exact duration of learning each skill. Following workers over their careers in administrative data, we find that cognitive, social, and digital skills acquired during apprenticeship are highly – yet differently – rewarded. We also document rising returns to digital and social skills since the 1990s, with a more moderate increase in returns to cognitive skills.
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COVID-19 Pandemic and Global Corporate CDS Spreads
Iftekhar Hasan, Miriam Marra, Thomas Y. To, Eliza Wu, Gaiyan Zhang
Journal of Banking and Finance,
February
2023
Abstract
We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the credit risk of companies around the world. We find that increased infection rates affect firms more adversely as reflected by the wider increase in their credit default swap (CDS) spreads if they are larger, more leveraged, closer to default, have worse governance and more limited stakeholder engagement, and operate in more highly exposed industries. We observe that country-level determinants such as GDP, political stability, foreign direct investment, and commitment to crisis management (income support, health and lockdown policies) also affect the sensitivity of CDS spreads to COVID-19 infection rates. A negative amplification effect exists for firms with high default probability in countries with fiscal constraints. A direct comparison between global CDS and stock markets reveals that the CDS market prices in a distinct set of corporate traits and government policies in pandemic times.
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Sources of Large Firms’ Market Power and Why It Matters
Filippo di Mauro, Matthias Mertens, Bernardo Mottironi
VOXEU COLUMN,
January
2023
Abstract
Excessive market power has detrimental effects on the functioning of the economy, raising consumer prices, distorting the allocation of resources, and creating welfare losses. The existing literature has largely focussed on competition in product markets. This column argues that it is important to differentiate between various sources of firm market power on output and input (most notably labour) markets. European firm-level data reveals that large firms charge lower markups in product markets but exert their market power significantly in labour markets. Competition authorities can and must distinguish between the sources of market power when attempting to regulate it.
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Kommentar: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen: Das Bürgergeld
Reint E. Gropp
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 4,
2022
Abstract
Am 1. Januar 2023 wird Hartz IV durch das Bürgergeld ersetzt. Der neue Name reduziert das Stigma, Grundsicherung zu erhalten. Aber nach wie vor fehlen Anreize, eine Arbeit aufzunehmen, weil Hinzuverdienst angerechnet wird. Auch das unwürdige Sanktionsregime bleibt im Kern bestehen. Ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen wäre die bessere Alternative.
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Wirtschaftswachstum, Staatsfinanzen und Treibhausgas-Emissionen in der mittleren Frist
Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller, Axel Lindner, Alessandro Sardone, Götz Zeddies
Konjunktur aktuell,
No. 4,
2022
Abstract
Die mittelfristige Projektion der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Lage in Deutschland beinhaltet, dass das Wirtschaftswachstum mit 1% pro Jahr in den kommenden sechs Jahren in etwa genauso hoch ausfällt wie in den vergangenen sechs Jahren. Der Staatshaushalt bleibt im Defizit, aber der Schuldenstand geht relativ zum Bruttoinlandsprodukt ab dem Jahr 2024 wieder zurück. Bei diesem Tempo der wirtschaftlichen Expansion werden die Emissionen mittelfristig zwar weiter zurückgehen, aber deutlich langsamer als nötig, um die nationalen Klimaschutzziele zu erreichen.
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