Elite skills have become crucial in today’s superstar economy. We develop a multi-period skillformation model where we … “underdog-incentive effect” implies that “educated underdogs” obtain superior adult skills. We find support for this mechanism …

This study replicates and challenges the finding of zero wage returns to compulsory schooling in Germany by Pischke and … details. These findings render the conclusion that compulsory schooling in Germany yields no wage returns at a minimum …

college enrollment and graduation. They also affect outcomes in later life, increasing cognitive skills and improving labor … later years. Recessions at high-school graduation narrow the gender gaps in numeracy skills and labor-market success …

acquisition, with important implications for the assessment of immigrants’ career paths and the estimation of their earnings …

We develop novel measures of early-career skills that are more detailed, comprehensive, and labor-market-relevant than … existing skill proxies. We exploit that skill requirements of apprenticeships in Germany are codified in state …-approved, nationally standardized apprenticeship plans. These plans provide more than 13,000 different skills and the exact duration of …

dropped on average by -55% in the US and -45% in Germany from the onset of the crisis to the summer of 2021. In the US …, schools were closed longer in richer than in poorer areas, while in Germany the regional variation is much smaller. However …, Germany exhibited substantial variation by grade level, with a strong U-shaped patterns that implies that children attending …