Als Resultat einer ausführlichen politischen Debatte im Anschluss an die Bundestagswahl 2013 wurde in Deutschland am 1. Januar 2015 ein neuer Mindestlohn eingeführt. Dieser Artikel analysiert, ob die Bekanntgabe seiner Einführung bereits die Beschäftigungserwartungen von Arbeitgebern im Jahr...

Despite long-term interest whether welfare benefits motivate fertility, evidence from research has not been consistent. This paper contributes new evidence to this debate by investigating the fertility effect of a German welfare reform. The reform decreased the household income of families on...

In this paper, I examine how family related employment interruptions for women in the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany) and the GDR (German Democratic Republic) looked like in the period prior to German reunification. Furthermore, I investigate how career interruptions developed after the German...

Although the labour market situation of older workers has significantly improved over time, opportunities to work at older age still vary considerably across EU countries. To trace diverging developments and to assess what works best in retaining employment and bringing older unemployed back to...

This paper analyses a local marketing campaign in Germany that provided information about unproven agerelated stereotypes and the value of older workers. The campaign was designed to increase the hiring rate of older workers. Using comprehensive register data, we find that the information...

This study explores the relationship between firms' characteristics and their recruitment strategies. We propose a model based on a search and matching framework with two search channels: a formal channel which is costly for firms and a costless informal channel, i.e. referrals. There is a...

During the crisis (2008-09) Germany experienced a huge decrease in GDP. Employment, however, remained surprisingly stable. A whole strand of literature has aimed at quantifying the contribution of short-time work to the German labour market miracle. In the course of this literature we estimate...

From 1992 to 2005, part-time employment in Western Germany has grown by 82 percent, whereas full-time employment has shrunk by 14 percent. Behind these general figures there is substantial variation of employment schemes across industries. Beside this, the share of the service industries in...

This paper analyzes whether financial disincentives affect firm demand for disabled workers. In Germany, firms must pay a noncompliance fine if they do not meet their legal quota for disabled workers. I exploit a threshold in this quota: Firms with fewer than 40 employees are required to employ...

Paid parental leave schemes have been shown to increase women's employment rates but decrease their wages in case of extended leave durations. In view of these potential trade-offs many countries are discussing the optimal design of parental leave policies. We analyze the impact of a major...