Based on new, exceptionally informative and large German linked employer-employee administrative data, we investigate the question whether the omission of important control variables in matching estimation leads to biased impact estimates of typical active labour market programs for the...

This paper investigates the link between variation in the supply of workers who participate in specific types of active labour market policies (ALMPs) and firm performance using a new exceptionally informative German employer-employee data base. For identification we exploit that German local...

This paper assesses the performance of common estimators adjusting for differences in covariates, like matching and regression, when faced with so-called common support problems. It also shows how different procedures suggested in the literature to tackle common support problems affect the...

We analyze the effectiveness of further training for unemployed under two different regulatory regimes, which are featured by different assignment mechanisms and selection criteria. The first regime is characterized by a strong influence of caseworkers, because they can assign unemployed to...

Previous research found that less accommodating caseworkers are more successful in placing unemployed workers into employment. This paper tries to shed more light on the causal mechanisms behind this result using semiparametric mediation analysis. Analysing very informative linked...

We survey the literature on the link of labour market related outcomes to individual physical activity and sports participation. The first part of the survey is devoted to the individual participation decision based and is based on papers from various disciplines. The second part summarizes...

In Switzerland, a constitutional initiative has been launched to introduce an unconditional basic income. It should amount to 2'500 CHF per month for adults and 625 CHF for children. Total expenditure would be 200 Billion CHF, of which 50 Billion CHF are already covered by today’s social...

Many countries provide hiring subsidies aimed at promoting the employment of people with disabilities. The effectiveness of these subsidy schemes remains unclear. The subsidy lowers wages and may thus increase employment, but may also signal lower quality of the applicant (who has to disclose a...

This paper demonstrates the identification of causal mechanisms in experiments with a binary treatment, (primarily) based on inverse probability weighting. I.e., we consider the average indirect effect of the treatment, which operates through an intermediate variable (or mediator) that is...

Most sample selection models assume that the errors are independent of the regressors. Under this assumption, all quantile and mean functions are parallel, which implies that quantile estimators cannot reveal any (per definition non-existing) heterogeneity. However, quantile estimators are...