Having close linkages with the counterfactual concept of causality, nonparametric matching estimators have recently gained in popularity in the statistical and econometric literature on causal analysis. Introducing key concepts of the Rubin causal model (RCM), the paper discusses the implementation of counterfactual analyses by propensity score matching methods. We emphasize the suitability of the ...
This study analyzes the effect of child care costs on the labor supply of mothers with preschool children in Germany using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (2002). Child care costs are estimated on the basis of a sample selection model. A structural household utility model, which is embedded in a detailed tax-benefit model, is used for labor supply estimation. In contrast to a previous German ...
This study uses the hedonic approach to measure the amenity value of climate in Germany. Unlike in earlier research separate hedonic wage and house price regressions are estimated for relatively small geographic areas and formal tests undertaken to determine whether the coefficients describing the impact of climate variables are homogenous across these areas. Evidence suggests that German households ...
This paper examines the impact of children on female wages in the UK using the National Child Development Study. Empirically this involves using an extension of the Roy model, which simultaneously corrects for the endogeneity of labour force participation and fertility. The wage differential between women without children and women with children is estimated to range between 19% and 22% not accounting ...
The paper analyses the effect of class size, which stands proxy for school quality, on early career earnings. Using confidential district level information from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), it is demonstrated that class size has no discernible effect on early career earnings. This finding is robust to changes in specification and the choice of sub-samples. The economic literature focused ...
This paper examines how different unionisation structures affect firms' innovation incentives and industry employment. We distinguish three modes of unionisation with increasing degree of centralisation: (1) 'decentralisation' where wages are determined independently at the firm-level, (2) 'coordination' where one industry union sets individual wages for all firms and (3) 'centralisation' where an ...
