Worker Beliefs about Outside Options
Simon Jäger, Christopher Roth, Nina Roussille, Benjamin Schoefer
Quarterly Journal of Economics,
forthcoming
Abstract
Standard labor market models assume that workers hold accurate beliefs about the external wage distribution, and hence their outside options with other employers. We test this assumption by comparing German workers’ beliefs about outside options with objective benchmarks. First, we find that workers wrongly anchor their beliefs about outside options on their current wage: workers that would experience a 10% wage change if switching to their outside option only expect a 1% change. Second, workers in low-paying firms underestimate wages elsewhere. Third, in response to information about the wages of similar workers, respondents correct their beliefs about their outside options and change their job search and wage negotiation intentions. Finally, we analyze the consequences of anchoring in a simple equilibrium model. In the model, anchored beliefs keep overly pessimistic workers stuck in low-wage jobs, which gives rise to monopsony power and labor market segmentation.
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Industry Mix, Local Labor Markets, and the Incidence of Trade Shocks
Steffen Müller, Jens Stegmaier, Moises Yi
Journal of Labor Economics,
forthcoming
Abstract
We analyze how skill transferability and the local industry mix affect the adjustment costs of workers hit by a trade shock. Using German administrative data and novel measures of economic distance we construct an index of labor market absorptiveness that captures the degree to which workers from a particular industry are able to reallocate into other jobs. Among manufacturing workers, we find that the earnings loss associated with increased import exposure is much higher for those who live in the least absorptive regions. We conclude that the local industry composition plays an important role in the adjustment processes of workers.
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09.07.2024 • 22/2024
IWH-Insolvenztrend: Zahl der Firmenpleiten geht im Juni erneut zurück
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften ist im Juni zum zweiten Mal in Folge gesunken. Wie das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) mitteilt, sei die weitere Entwicklung des Insolvenzgeschehens im Sommer jedoch mit Unsicherheit behaftet.
Steffen Müller
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06.06.2024 • 16/2024
IWH-Insolvenztrend: Nach Höchstständen erstmals wieder Rückgang der Insolvenzzahlen im Mai
Wie das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) in einer heute veröffentlichten Studie festgestellt hat, ist die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften in Deutschland im Mai erstmals seit November 2023 wieder gesunken. Ein weiterer Rückgang der Insolvenzzahlen ist bereits in Sicht, meinen die Forscher aus Halle.
Steffen Müller
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07.05.2024 • 14/2024
IWH-Insolvenztrend: Im April erneut Höchststand bei der Zahl der Unternehmensinsolvenzen, sehr viele Jobs betroffen
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapital-
gesellschaften ist im April den dritten Monat in Folge auf einen weiteren Höchstwert gestiegen. Auch die Zahl der betroffenen Arbeitsplätze ist außergewöhnlich hoch. Das Ende der Insolvenzwelle ist jedoch bereits in Sicht.
Steffen Müller
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10.04.2024 • 12/2024
IWH-Insolvenztrend: Zahl der Firmenpleiten im März abermals auf Rekordniveau
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften ist im März auf einen weiteren Höchstwert gestiegen. Nie seit Beginn der Erhebung durch das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) im Januar 2016 gab es mehr Firmenpleiten. Allerdings ist ein Ende des Anstiegs der Insolvenzzahlen in Sicht.
Steffen Müller
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Unions as Insurance: Workplace Unionization and Workers' Outcomes During COVID-19
Nils Braakmann, Boris Hirsch
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society,
No. 2,
2024
Abstract
We investigate to what extent workplace unionization protects workers from external shocks by preventing involuntary job separations. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a plausibly exogenous shock hitting the whole economy, we compare workers who worked in unionized and non-unionized workplaces directly before the pandemic in a difference-in-differences framework. We find that unionized workers were substantially more likely to remain working for their pre-COVID employer and to be in employment. This greater employment stability was not traded off against lower working hours or labor income.
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Who Benefits from Place-based Policies? Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data
Philipp Grunau, Florian Hoffmann, Thomas Lemieux, Mirko Titze
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 11,
2024
Abstract
We study the wage and employment effects of a German place-based policy using a research design that exploits conditionally exogenous EU-wide rules governing the program parameters at the regional level. The place-based program subsidizes investments to create jobs with a subsidy rate that varies across labor market regions. The analysis uses matched data on the universe of establishments and their employees, establishment-level panel data on program participation, and regional scores that generate spatial discontinuities in program eligibility and generosity. These rich data enable us to study the incidence of the place-based program on different groups of individuals. We find that the program helps establishments create jobs that disproportionately benefit younger and less-educated workers. Funded establishments increase their wages but, unlike employment, wage gains do not persist in the long run. Employment effects estimated at the local area level are slightly larger than establishment-level estimates, suggesting limited spillover effects. Using subsidy rates as an instrumental variable for actual subsidies indicates that it costs approximately EUR 25,000 to create a new job in the economically disadvantaged areas targeted by the program.
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11.03.2024 • 7/2024
IWH-Insolvenztrend: Zahl der Firmenpleiten steigt im Februar deutlich
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften klettert im Februar auf den höchsten Wert seit Beginn der Erhebung durch das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) im Jahr 2016. Rekordwerte sind vor allem im Süden Deutschlands zu verzeichnen.
Steffen Müller
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Are Rural Firms Left Behind? Firm Location and Perceived Job Attractiveness of High-skilled Workers
Matthias Brachert, Sabrina Jeworrek
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society,
No. 1,
2024
Abstract
We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate how the location of a firm in a rural or urban region affects the perceived job attractiveness for university students and graduates and, therewith, contributes to the rural–urban divide. We characterize the attractiveness of a location based on several dimensions (social life, public infrastructure and connectivity) and vary job design and contractual characteristics of the job. We find that job offers from companies in rural areas are generally considered less attractive, regardless of the attractiveness of the region. The negative perception is particularly pronounced among persons of urban origin and singles. In contrast, for individuals with partners and kids this preference is less pronounced. High-skilled individuals who originate from rural areas have no specific regional preference at all.
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