We demonstrate that almost one half of the observed wage gap between East and West Germany reflects differences in worker, establishment, and regional characteristics rather than differences in productivity at the establishment level. Regional price and establishment size differentials alone...

Manpower constraints are the pervasive lack of specialized high- and low-skill workers, irrespective of the wage firms might offer.

We study whether decentralizing public employment services impacts job finding positively, as is suggested by the classic decentralization theorem, or negatively, as is suggested by political economy considerations. Our difference-in-difference estimates for a German reform in 2012 point to...