This study examines the causal link between individuals' occupational knowledge and educational choices as well as labor market entry. We proxy occupational knowledge with mandatory visits to job information centers (JICs) in Germany while still attending school. Exogenous variation in the establishment of JICs makes it possible to estimate intention-to-treat effects in a difference-in-differences ...
This paper analyzes the effect of agglomeration economies on firms’ total factor productivity. We propose the use of a control function approach to overcome the econometric issue inherent to the two-stage approach commonly used in the literature. Estimations are conducted separately for four industry groups, defined by technological intensity, to allow for non-uniform effects of agglomeration economies ...
Whether workers feel they are paid fairly is an important determinant of their job satisfaction and productivity. Minimum wage laws aim for fairer wages for low-income workers. But, what are the impacts of minimum wage laws on workers’ fairness perceptions? Using survey data from German Socio-Economic Panel, we show that the introduction of minimum wage law in Germany increased the...
Using a reform induced increase in the ERA for German women this paper uncovers causal effects of retirement on informal care provision. Studies so far focus on the causality of labor supply on informal care activity in the middle part of an individual’s working career, mostly neglecting effects of retirement. This paper uses the 1999 reform that abolished the ERA at age 60 for women...
Impact of tourism on lives of residents is of great importance for tourism industry for a range of reasons. Tourism development is undertaken in order to promote economic prosperity of the destination to improve wellbeing of residents. On the other hand, support from residents is of great importance for achieving positive overall experience for tourists.In a series of works we investigated...
The 1st annual Workshop for Women in Macroeconomics, Finance and Economic History is being organized by the DIW Berlin. The aim is to bring together female academic researchers and practitioners to promote and exchange ideas in the field of Macroeconomics, Finance, and Economic History. We invite both empirical and theoretical contributions, including, but not limited to macroeconomic and...
Germany’s persistent current account surplus reflects to a large extent low domestic private investment. We argue that two factors—the local fragmentation of Germany’s banking system and the role of local banks in local public finance—can help explain why investment is so low. Local public banks dominate lending to small and medium firms in many regions of Germany. At the...