On the basis of a theoretical model, we argue that higher aggregate unemployment affects individual returns to education. We therefore include aggregate unemployment and an interaction term between unemployment and the individual education level in a standard Mincer equation. Our results show...

This paper combines two strains of the literature on the employment effects of deferred compensation. The first strain separates seniority and job matching wage effects on the basis of individual data, but cannot look at employment consequences. The second strain explains the employment...

This paper shows that earnings losses after unemployment increase with age. First, older employees start out with relatively high earnings in comparison to employees without employment interruptions several years before the non-employment spell. This earnings advantage turns into a strong...

Germany is the laggard of Europe, yet the country is world champion in merchandise exports. The paper tries to solve this theoretical and empirical puzzle by diagnosing a "pathological export boom" and a "bazaar effect". Excessively high wages defended by unions and the welfare state against the...

Ergänzend zu den Beiträgen im Schnelldienst Nr. 15/2002 nimmt Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn, ifo Institut und Universität München, kritisch zu den Vorschlägen der Hartz-Kommission Stellung. Seiner Ansicht nach „sind die Vorschläge der Hartz-Kommission im Grundsatz zu begrüßen, weil sie...

Am 26. Januar 2006 stellte das ifo Institut im Rahmen einer Bundespressekonferenz die aktualisierte Version des ifo Kombilohn-Modells "Aktivierende Sozialhilfe" vor, das eine Alternative zum heutigen Lohnersatzmodell bietet. Das ifo-Modell eröffnet bei verringerten fiskalischen Kosten...