Abstract: Since unemployment rates began to rise in the mid-1970s, reducing unemployment has become a central political challenge in Germany and other European countries. Despite the current improvement of the labor market situation and decreasing rates in Germany, unemployment is still one of...

This thesis is comprised of three chapters. In the first Chapter titled "Involuntary Unemployment, Wages, and the Signaling Effect of Interim Jobs", I investigate the interconnection between involuntary displacement, interim jobs, and future wage prospects. I estimate the signaling effect of...

Start-up incentives targeted at unemployed individuals have become an important tool of the Active Labor Market Policy (ALMP) to fight unemployment in many countries in recent years. In contrast to traditional ALMP instruments like training measures, wage subsidies, or job creation schemes,...