The present paper aims to explore the contribution and implications of Romania to the development of the Danube region over the years, focusing on the interactions between internal and international factors. From the analyzed ones, we can affirm the fact that the internal factors play a...

We study how firm premia influence the gender wage gap for 21 European countries over 12 years. We use a quadrennial harmonized matched employer-employee data set to estimate gender-specific firm premia. Subsequently, we decompose the firm-specific wage premia differential into a within- and...

We analyse the effect of a mandatory kindergarten for four-year-old children on maternal labour supply in Switzerland by using two quasi-experiments: Firstly, we use a large administrative dataset and apply a non-parametric Regression Discontinuity Design to evaluate the effect of the reform at...

Online platforms and marketplaces are services that bring consumers and producers together via the internet by providing consumers direct and instantaneous access to an extensive array of global goods and services and by enabling producers to reach consumers largely untethered by size and...

This paper investigates the problem of an ``optimum population'' with respect to the age structure. Within a 3-period OLG model, with endogenous fertility and longevity, the optimal age structure, identified by number-dampened total utilitarianism, is generally failed in the laissez-faire...

As the number of young children in daycare increases, people start to worry about the effect of early non-parental care. This is of special relevance as investments in the early periods of life are shown to be most important for a child's long term development. Based on the German national...

In August 2013, two child care reforms have come into effect at the same time: First, a legal claim to formal child care has been introduced for all children aged one year or older. Second, a new benefit called Betreuungsgeld has been introduced that is granted to families who do not use public...

Increasing mothers labor supply is a key policy challenge in many OECD countries. Germany recently introduced a generous parental benefit that allows for strong consumption smooth- ing after childbirth and, by taking into account opportunity costs of childbearing, incentivizes working women to...

Job creation schemes (JCSs) have for a long time been considered to function as stepping stone for unemployed workers into the labour market. However, previous research has shown that public job creation schemes could at best be effective for persons with little or no employment chances. This...