Employment relationships are embedded in a network of social norms that provide an implicit framework for desired behaviour, especially if contractual solutions are weak. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about major changes that have led to situations, such as the scope of short-time work or...

Using a large data set for Germany, we show that both the raw and the unexplained gender earnings gap are higher in self-employment than in paid employment. Applying an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, more than a quarter of the difference in monthly self-employment earnings can be traced back to...

According to the German disability law, or Schwerbehindertengesetz, either six percent of all jobs in an establishment must be occupied by bisabled employees or the firm has to pay a penalty of DM 200 per month for every job under consideration. This note reports results from the first...