The European Union's economy is at a crossroads, facing challenges that threaten its competitiveness, long-term growth, and security. Despite a strong industrial base and high potential in innovation-driven sectors, the EU has yet to fully capitalise on its strengths.
Using linked data from the Millennium Cohort Study and National Pupil Database (N = 8,139), this study examined how the timing of school absences (years 1 to 11 between 2006 and 2017) affects achievement at the end of compulsory schooling in England. Absences during any school year are harmful to student achievement. However, absences in years 1 and 6 (the final year of primary school), and between ...
To ensure security of supply in the power sector, many countries are already using or discussing the introduction of capacity mechanisms. Two main types of such mechanisms include capacity markets and capacity reserves. Simultaneously, the expansion of variable renewable energy sources increases the need for power sector flexibility, for which there are promising yet often under-utilized options on ...
We propose a novel method to detect and disentangle moderate and severe health shocks in a general population survey based on a data-driven classification of sickness absences and hospitalizations. Both types of shocks are widespread with an annual incidence of about 1.7%, which rises steeply with age. We estimate the effects of both shocks on labor market outcomes and find that severe shocks have ...
In conventional proxy VAR analysis, the shocks of interest are identified by external instruments. This is typically accomplished by considering the covariance of the instruments and the reduced-form residuals. Alternatively, the instruments may be internalized by augmenting the VAR process by the instruments or proxies. These alternative identification methods are compared and it is shown that the ...
Felix Schmidt, Research Associate in the Energy, Transportation, Environment Department, successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Modeling variable renewable energy systems. The role of weather uncertainty, heating and long-duration storage” with summa cum laude on July 18, 2025. He was supervised by Christian von Hirschhausen. Congratulations!
This study examines the impact of Statutory Retirement Age (SRA) reforms on individual behavior and welfare in the presence of policy uncertainty and misinformation. We develop a structural life-cycle model in which individuals are uncertain about the future evolution of the SRA and misinformed about its importance. We derive individuals’ expectations and information on the SRA from self-elicited...