This paper shows that the matching function and the Beveridge curve in the United States exhibit strong nonlinearities over the business cycle. These patterns can be replicated by enhancing a search and matching model with idiosyncratic productivity shocks for new contacts. Large negative...

We exploit the 1996 reform of the German child benefit program to identify the causal effect of child benefits on fertility. Generally, the reform increased child benefits. However, the exact amount of the increase varied by household income and sibship size. We use this heterogeneity of the...

This study investigates the interplay between personality traits, cognitive ability, marriage and the gender wage gap for West Germany by using data from the GSOEP. The findings indicate that personality traits in the form of the five factors of personality account for 11% of the total gender...

This paper investigates determinants and wage effects of educational mismatch for both natives and immigrants in Germany. Using the GSOEP panel data from 1991 to 2013, I find that conditional on educational attainment immigrants face a higher incidence of overeducation compared to their native...

Our paper aims at improving the understanding for the role of public employment agencies in job matching. We analyze the effects of the restructuring of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany (Hartz III labor market reform) for aggregate matching and unemployment. Based on two microeconomic...

This paper shows that a search and matching model with idiosyncratic training cost shocks can explain the asymmetric movement of the job-finding rate over the business cycle and the decline of matching efficiency in recessions. Large negative aggregate shocks move the hiring cutoff into a part...

We propose a novel measure for workers' financial incentives based on withinestablishment wage differences among similar workers from the same occupation. This measure captures all forms of incentive pay that lead to workeremployer-specific pay premiums, including explicit (e.g., bonuses) and...

Birth weight manipulation is common in per-case hospital reimbursement systems, in which hospitals receive more money for otherwise equal newborns with birth weight just below compared to just above specific birth weight thresholds. As hospitals receive more money for cases with weight below the...