Using a large administrative dataset for Germany, this paper compares employment developments in exiting and surviving establishments. For both West and East Germany we find a clear shadow of death effect reflecting lingering illness: establishments shrink dramatically already several years...

In Germany, many labour laws and regulations apply only in establishments above a critical size, and usually these thresholds are defined by the number of employees. The existing 160 thresholds are complex and defined inconsistently, making it difficult for firms to obey the law. Moreover,...

18 studies using data from 20 highly developed, developing, and less developed countries document that average wages in exporting firms are higher than in non-exporting firms from the same industry and region. The existence of these so-called exporter wage premia is one of the stylized facts...

Using representative individual-level data from the first round of the European Social Survey fielded in 2002/03, this paper provides an empirical analysis of unionization in 18 countries of the European Union. We show that union density varies considerably in Europe, ranging from 84 per cent in...

Theory suggests that firms confront a hold-up problem in dealing with workplace unionism: unions will appropriate a portion of the quasi rents stemming from long-lived capital. As a result, firms may be expected to limit their exposure to rent seeking by reducing investments, among other things....

Using representative data from the German social survey ALLBUS 2002 and the European Social Survey 2002/03, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of trade union never-membership in Germany. We show that between 54 and 59 percent of all employees in Germany have never been members of a...

In dieser Arbeit werden Auswirkungen des deutschen Schwer-behindertengesetzes auf die Arbeitsplatzdynamik mit Daten der Bundesagentur für Arbeit und des IAB-Betriebspanels empirisch überprüft. Die Daten erlauben eine Untersuchung der zweiten Schwelle des Gesetzes von 25 Beschäftigten, bei...

An empirical analysis of various waves of the ALLBUS social survey shows that union density fell substantially in Germany from 1980 to 2004. Such a negative trend can be observed for men and women and for different groups of the workforce. Regression estimates indicate that the probability of...

Viele Regelungen im deutschen Arbeitsrecht gelten nur für Betriebe ab einer bestimmten Größe, wobei derartige Schwellen meist anhand der Beschäftigtenzahl bestimmt werden. Die bestehenden 160 Schwellenwerte sind komplex und inkonsistent definiert, was ihre Beachtung durch die Firmen...

Das Schwerbehindertengesetz verpflichtete in seiner bis 30.9.2000 gültigen Fassung alle Arbeitgeber ab 16 Beschäftigten, sechs Prozent der Arbeitsplätze mit Schwerbehinderten zu besetzen, ansonsten war für jeden nicht entsprechend besetzten Arbeitsplatz eine Ausgleichsabgabe von monatlich...