Housing is a critical component of household well being and the extent to which minority households have achieved parity with Germans is a measure of the extent to which this population is integrated into the larger German society. Specifically we examine whether the housing conditions for...

Im Hartz IV Gesetz, das zum 1. Januar 2005 in Kraft trat, wurde unter anderem geregelt, welche Wohnraumstandards für Hartz IV-Empfänger angemessen seien. Schon vor Inkrafttreten des Gesetzes kam es zu einer kontroversen Diskussion darüber, ob und in welchem Umfang Zahlungsempfänger auf Druck...

What institutional configurations influence fertility patterns across countries? While family policies feature prominently in previous explanations, this article highlights the importance of housing in shaping family formation decisions. Housing costs, determined by state and market factors,...

Philippine cities provide the highest levels of service and living standards in the country. Much of what happens to the country in terms of production and employment, income and consumption, and access to basic services and amenities will continue to be determined by the performance of its...

The economic potential of ethnic and cultural diversity is often underestimated. This paper summarizes a number of recent studies which show that 'soft' factors such as attitudes, perceptions and identities - and in particular ethnic identities - significantly affect economic outcomes. More...

Immigrants consist of foreigners and citizens with migration background. We analyze the wage gap between natives and these two groups in Germany. The estimates show a substantial gap for both groups with respect to natives. Discarding immigrants who completed education abroad reduces much of the...

According to our research, some 12% of young people in Germany between the ages of 17 and 19 are disconnected, i.e. not in school, unemployed, and not living with a partner. The percentage of disconnected youths has been on the rise since 2002. There is evidence that an adverse family...

Unlike prototype immigration countries, Germany has attracted a large number of southern Europeans as temporary guestworkers in the 60s and 70s. Nevertheless, many of them have stayed on and intend to remain in Germany. I investigate whether these workers have become successfully integrated into...