Numerical flexibility is commonly promoted as a driver of employment growth. However, contingent work is frequently associated with “bad jobs”, particularly for those in low skilled occupations. Agency work is a common and growing form of contingent work and is often promoted as a tool for...

Usury is a frequent occurrence in consumer credit markets and particularly affects low-income households. Although the term usury conjures images of a greedy individual consciously acting to exploit the weak bargaining position of another by deceitful and even fraudulent means, we consider it as...

Die Corona-Krise hat einen Strukturwandel initiiert: Die Arbeitsorganisation hat sich in Richtung Homeoffi ce verschoben. Der Online-Handel hat hohe Wachstumsraten zu verzeichnen. Auch andere Wirtschaftsbereiche, die stärker die Digitalisierung nutzen können und diese Potenziale auch...

Allowing workers to control their work hours (working-time autonomy) is a controversial policy for worker empowerment, with concerns that range from increased shirking to excessive intensification of work. Empirical evidence, however, supports neither view. Recent studies find that working-time...

IoT (Internet of Things) is a concept that defines a world in which all objects are connected to each other via the Internet. The ability of smart devices to connect, communicate and transfer data has enabled the innovation and development of various solutions for industry, business...

Using a newly collected dataset at the plant level from 2014 to 2018, we provide the first microscopic portrait of robotization in Germany and study the correlates of robot adoption. Our descriptive analysis uncovers five stylized facts: (1) Robot use is relatively rare. (2) The distribution of...