The promotion of business start-ups by formerly unemployed individuals has become an increasingly important instrument of German active labour market policy (ALMP) in recent years. With the introduction of the start-up subsidy (Existenzgründungszuschuss) on 1.1.2003 unemployed individuals who...

One of the main instruments which was introduced with the 'Hartz-Reforms' was a start-up subsidy called Me Inc. ('Ich-AG'). This instrument was introduced in addition to the Bridging Allowance ('Überbrückungsgeld') which had already been implemented in the 1980s. Between 2003 and 2006 more...

The transition process from unemployment to employment is determined by the reservation wage and the search effort of the unemployed worker. The optimal search strategy depends on labour market institutions like the generosity of unemployment benefits and 'classical' characteristics like age and...

The promotion of self-employment as part of active labour market policy ranks as one of the most important support schemes in Germany. The main idea is to grant unemployed individuals financial support to start their own business and therefore to escape unemployment. For this purpose two schemes...

We provide the first estimates of the impact of managers' risk preferences on their training allocation decisions. Our conceptual framework links managers' risk preferences to firms' training decisions through the bonuses they expect to receive. Risk-averse managers are expected to select...

We analyze workers’ risk preferences and training investments. Our conceptual framework differentiates between the investment risk and insurance mechanisms underpinning training decisions. Investment risk leads risk-averse workers to train less; they undertake more training if it insures them...

We analyze workers' risk preferences and training investments. Our conceptual framework differentiates between the investment risk and insurance mechanisms underpinning training decisions. Investment risk leads risk-averse workers to train less; they undertake more training if it insures them...

This paper extends standard models of work-related training by explicitly incorporating workers' locus of control into the investment decision. Our model both differentiates between general and specific training and accounts for the role of workers and firms in training decisions. Workers with...

This paper extends standard models of work-related training by explicitly incorporating workers' locus of control into the investment decision. Our model both differentiates between general and specific training and accounts for the role of workers and firms in training decisions. Workers with...