The Hartz IV labour market reform in 2005 triggered a substantial reduction in unemployment in Germany. At the same time, it reduced social welfare for the long-term unemployed and increased uncertainty for the employed. The proposed reform by the new government ("Bürgergeld") will adjust the...

This paper provides a theoretical and quantitative analysis of various types of wellknown employment subsidies. Two important questions are addressed: (i) How should employment subsidies be targeted? (ii) How large should the subsidies be? We consider measures involving targeting workers with...

Based on a quarterly regulatory dataset for German banks from 1999 to 2004, this paper analyzes the effects of banks’ regulatory capital on the transmission of monetary policy in a system of liquidity networks. The dynamic panel regression results provide evidence in favor of the bank capital...

Welche Determinanten sind für das »deutsche Jobwunder« verantwortlich? Dieter Hundt, Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, sieht hinter dem Erfolg das verantwortliche Handeln der Tarifpartner, die Nutzung von Arbeitszeitkonten und richtige politische Entscheidungen etwa beim...

This paper shows that the German labor market is more volatile than the US labor market. Specifically, the volatility of the cyclical component of several labor market variables (e.g., the job-finding rate, labor market tightness, and job vacancies) divided by the volatility of labor...

This paper analyzes the role of the extensive vis-à-vis the intensive margin of labor adjustment in Germany and in the United States. The contribution is twofold. First, we provide an update of older U.S. studies and confirm the view that the extensive margin (i.e., the adjustment in the number...

Wir zeigen empirisch, dass die konjunkturellen Schwankungen am Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland höher sind als in den USA. Insbesondere ist die Volatilität von Arbeitsmarktvariablen (etwa der Vakanzen, der Arbeitsmarktanspannung oder der Wahrscheinlichkeit Arbeit zu finden) im Verhältnis zur...

This paper shows that the German labor market is more volatile than the US labor market. Specifically, the volatility of the cyclical component of several labor market variables (e.g., the job-finding rate, labor market tightness, and job vacancies) divided by the volatility of labor...

This paper analyses theoretically and empirically how employment subsidies should be targeted. We contrast measures involving targeting workers with low incomes/abilities and targeting the unemployed under the criteria of approximate welfare efficiency (AWE). Thereby we can identify policies...