The present paper analyzes how the statutory minimum wage introduced on January 1, 2015, has affected working hours in Germany up to 2016. The data used come from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which provides not only contractual working hours but also actual hours worked. Using a difference-in-differences estimation approach, we find a significant and robust reduction in contractual working hours ...
There is substantial evidence on the effectiveness of short-time work on reducing unemployment. However, no study looks at its role during natural disasters. This article exploits the exogenous nature of the 2013 European floods to assess if the impact depends on the quality of the short-time work mechanism across affected counties. We use regression discontinuity designs to show that unemployment ...
Labor markets in low- and middle income countries are characterized by high levels of informality. A multitude of interventions have therefore been implemented in many countries with the objective to increase the formalization of firms and workers, including information campaigns, simplification of registration procedures, reductions of payroll taxes and social security contributions, and interventions ...
The German law on co-determination at the plant level (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz) stipulates that works councilors are neither to be financially rewarded nor penalized for their activities. This regulation contrasts with publicized instances of excessive payments. The divergence has sparked a debate about the need to reform the law. This paper provides representative evidence on wage payments to works ...
This paper tests the conjecture that involuntary job loss erodes trust. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel and considering how trust evolves over a quinquennial time interval, we find that job loss decreases trust by about 9 percent of a standard deviation.
This paper is the first causal study using quasi-experimental methods to identify the effect of minimum wages on the reservation wages of non-workers. We exploit variation in regional exposure to the introduction of a high-impact minimum wage in Germany in 2015, combined with survey responses about wage acceptance thresholds of job seekers. Results show a 16% increase in reservation wages among non-employed ...