We use a new and exceptionally rich administrative data set for Germany to evaluate theemployment effects of a variety of public sponsored training programs in the early 2000s.Building on the work of Sianesi (2003, 2004), we employ propensity score matching methodsin a dynamic, multiple...

Collective bargaining in Germany takes place either at the industry level or at the firm level; collective bargaining coverage is much higher than union density; and not all employees in a covered firm are necessarily covered. This institutional setup suggests to explicitly distinguish union...

In light of nonstationary search theory (van den Berg, 1990), this paper estimates the effectsof benefit entitlement periods and the size of unemployment benefits on unemploymentdurations and post-unemployment earnings in West Germany...

Based on a German representative sample of employees we explore the relevance anddevelopment of further training in private sector firms. We focus on formal training andexplore possible individual and job-based determinants of its incidence. We also showchanges over time during a 20 year...

Standard search models are unreliable for structural inference of the underlying sources ofwage inequality because they are inconsistent with observed residual wage dispersion. Weaddress this issue by modeling skill development and duration dependence in unemploymentbenefits in a random on the...

This paper analyzes data from a novel field experiment designed to test the impact of twodifferent insurance products and a secret saving device on solidarity in risk-sharing groupsamong rural villagers in the Philippines. Risk is simulated by a lottery. Risk-sharing ispossible in solidarity...

We provide an overview of the growing literature that uses micro-level data from multiplecountries to investigate health outcomes, and their link to socioeconomic factors, at olderages. Since the data are at a comparatively young stage, much of the analysis is at an earlystage and limited to a...

In this paper, we investigate the long-run effects of World War II on socio-economic status(SES) and health of older individuals in Europe. Physical and psychological childhood eventsare important predictors for labor market and health outcomes in adult life, but studies thatquantify these...

Firms select not only how many, but also which workers to hire. Yet, in standard searchmodels of the labor market, all workers have the same probability of being hired. We arguethat selective hiring crucially affects welfare analysis. Our model is isomorphic to a searchmodel under random hiring...

This paper critically discusses the theoretical and empirical literature on the quantitative andqualitative employment impact of technological change, compares the relative explanatorypower of the competing theories, and explains in detail the macro and micro evidence on theissue, with reference...