Vorträge des DIW Berlin

Long-Term Absenteeism and Moral Hazard: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We theoretically and empirically disentangle various effects of two cuts in the statutory sick pay levels in Germany on long-term absenteeism. The reforms have not led to significant changes in the average incidence rate and duration of sick leave periods longer than six weeks. The finding is theoretically confirmed assuming that the long-term sick are seriously sick. Thus, moral hazard is less of...

Facing a Break Point in Global Inflation Transmission?

The paper addresses the issue of the co-movements of national inflation dynamics with a common factor of a global dynamic. Based on the previous work of Ciccarelli and Mojon (2005) on global inflation the authors look at the more recent development in particular after the outbreak of the global financial crisis in July 2007. As a working hypothesis they try to find out if there is already...

Germany's Next Top Manager: Does Personality Explain the Gender Career Gap?

The female share in management positions is quite low in Germany. The higher the hierarchical level, the fewer women there are in such positions. Men have numerous role models to follow whereas women lack this opportunity. Many studies have focused on the influence of human capital and other "objective" factors on career opportunities. In our study, we go a step further by also looking at the...

Comparability of EU-SILC Survey and Register Data: The Relationship of Employment, Earnings and Poverty

The Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) provide an up-to-date data source for the comparative analysis of income, material deprivation, and poverty. At the EU level, these data have become a standard source for social reporting. Yet the specific approaches to data collection in EU-SILC vary widely from one country to the next. One of the major differences is that some countries...

Extending the Empirical Basis for Wealth Inequality Research Using Statistical Matching of Administrative and Survey Data

Social security entitlements are a substantial source of wealth that grows in importance over the individual's lifecycle. Despite its quantitative relevance, social security wealth has been thus far omitted from wealth inequality analyses. In Germany, it is the lack of adequate micro data that accounts for this shortcoming. The two main contributions of this paper are: First, to elaborate a...

Distributional Effects of Non-cash Incomes in Seven European Countries

Most empirical distributional studies in developed countries rely on distributions of disposable income. From a theoretical point of view this practice is contentious since a household?s command over resources is determined not only by its spending power over commodities it can buy in the market but also on resources available to the household members through non-market mechanisms such as the in...

What Drives Regional Business Cycles? The Role of Common and Spatial Components

Regional Measures of Human Capital in the European Union

Conjunctural Developments in Germany and the World Economy

Impact of Industrialization on Relative Female Survival: Evidence from Trade Policies

Previous attempts at understanding the role of industrialization on son preference are confounded by the endogeneity of the industrialization process. This paper exploits an exogenous shift in the trade policy in India to study the impact of industrialization on son preference. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that households are more likely to have a male child in regions with...

Information Sharing and Cross-Border Entry in European Banking

Onomastic Methods: An Approach to Avoid Under-Representation of Immigrants in Surveys

Die Finanzierungsoptionen in der GKV: Gestaltungsoptionen, Finanzparameter, Erfahrungen aus anderen Ländern

Drivers of Exchange Rates in Selected CIS Countries

We investigate the likely sources of exchange rate dynamics in selected CIS countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) over the past decade (1999-2008). The analysis is based on country VAR models augmented by a regional common factor structure (FAVAR model). The models include nominal exchange rates, the common factor of exchange rates in the CIS countries, and...

Measuring Time Use in Surveys: A Novel Validation of Survey Questions through Experience Sampling

Theories of Informal Activity, Data Needs and Estimation Methods for Empirical Analyses

Estimations of Shadow Economy: Strategies, Methods, and Preliminary Results from Panel Models

Gender, International Networks and Remittances: Evidence from Germany

Macroeconometric Models for Business Cycle Forecasts and Simulation

Dealing with Incomplete Household Panel Data in Inequality Research

Population surveys around the world face the problem of declining cooperation and participation rates of respondents. Not only can item nonresponse and unit nonresponse impair important outcome measures for inequality research such as total household disposable income; there is also a further case of missingness confronting household panel surveys that potentially biases results. The approach...