"Flexibility and heterogeneity are important topics in labour market research. Since 2004 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) has funded a research network addressing the issue of 'Flexibility in Heterogeneous Labour Markets', which intends to uncover possibilities for fostering...

"This article analyses the effects of firm reorganisation on wages and job mobility at individual level. The analysis is based on German linked employer-employee data (LIAB), which combines firm survey data and employee data from the German Federal Employment Services. The period of observation...

This paper investigates the development of skill shortage during the period 2007-2012. Using the IAB establishment panel, we find differences for the years before, during and after the Great Recession. Furthermore, we analyze the importance of firm characteristics and that of some specific...

To improve their competitiveness the companies aim to increase the funds available to finance the necessary investments. In order to reduce wage costs company-specific deviations from industry-level wage contracts are concluded. Company-level pacts between the management and the works council...

This paper examines the question of whether risk aversion of prime-age workers is negatively correlated with human height to a statistically significant degree. A variety of estimation methods, tests and specifications yield robust results that permit one to answer this question in the...

This paper investigates the development of skill shortages during the period 2007-2012. Using the German Establishment Panel of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), we find differences across the years before, during and after the Great Recession. Furthermore, we analyze the importance...

The German model of co-determination (Mitbestimmung) with works councils, in which workers are involved in the management of a company, was a role model for other countries for many years. However, since the 1990s the appeal of works councils has been declining, to the extent that now even...

This paper presents a survey on panel data methods in which Iemphasize new developments. Inparticular, linear multilevel models with a new variant are discussed. Furthermore, non-linear, nonparametric and semiparametric models are analyzed. In contrast to linear models there do not exist unified...

Whether works councils support or hinder the development of firms is an open question. The results from empirical studies are mixed. Establishments with works councils have a higher degree of flexibility and higher productivity, but also higher wages and a lower degree of profitability. The...