We would like to remind you of the possibilities of the SOEP Innovation Sample (SOEP-IS) and encourage you to consider using this instrument in developing new empirical research questions. SOEP-IS is well suited to short-term experiments, but it is particularly useful for long-term surveys that are not possible in the framework of the core SOEP—whether because the instruments are not yet established ...
In this article we argue that the current endeavors to achieve open access in scientific literature require a discussion about innovation in scholarly publishing and research infrastructure. Drawing on path dependence theory and addressing different open access (OA) models and recent political endeavors, we argue that academia is once again running the risk of outsourcing the organization of its c ...
The structures of the European project have been helping the continent overcome many effects of the current crisis. Nevertheless, these shocks have also pointed to shortcomings in its construction, and eurozone economic governance is still lagging behind in coordination of fiscal and structural policies and in terms of risk sharing. Such reforms are imperative to lessen the burden on monetary...
(joint with Peter Haan and Victoria Prowse) We show how taxes and three transfer programs—unemployment insurance, social assistance and disability benefits—affect the inequality of lifetime income, and we explore how well taxes and transfer programs mitigate lifetime income risk due to labor market frictions. Calculations based on income trajectories generated from a dynamic life...
We re-examine the common wisdom that cross-border mergers are the most effective merger strategy for firms facing powerful unions. In contrast, we obtain a domestic merger outcome whenever firms are sufficiently heterogeneous (in terms of productive efficiency and product differentiation). A domestic merger unfolds a “wage-unifying” effect which limits the union's ability to extract rents. When products ...
We revisit the alleged retirement consumption puzzle. According to the life-cycle theory, foreseeable income reductions such as those around retirement should not affect consumption. However, we first recall that given higher leisure endowments after retirement, the theory does predict a fall of total market consumption expenditures. In order not to mistake this predicted drop for a puzzle we focus ...
