Fixed-term contracts (FTCs), an important feature of the employment relationship of the peripheral workforce, are analysed to test the following two hypotheses, which are based on dual labour market theory: (i) Firms use FTCs for the peripheral workforce to adjust the level of employment to the...

The paper analyzes the determinants of part-time employment, mini- and midi-jobs in Germany. Theory implies that all three employment types could be used as instruments of flexibility to react flexibly to demand shocks. But the empirical analysis shows that only mini- and midi-jobs are...

In recent years layoffs have increasingly become the focus of public attention. So far, however , there has been no representative study for Germany of how far and under what conditions layoffs are accepted by the population - in other words by people who are not immediately affected. Principles...

This research note uses two German datasets the large-scale German Socioeconomic Panel and unique data from own student questionnaires to analyse the relationship between risk aversion and the choice for public sector employment. Main results are (1) more risk-averse individuals sort into public...

I use personnel records of a large German company to analyse the determinants of promotions from the perspective of tournament theory and efficient allocation of employees. Main findings are that less absenteeism, more overtime, longer contractual working time, higher education, higher entry...

Individual preferences with respect to risk taking play an important role in financial economic behaviour and, hence, in financial markets. Using German microdata, we argue that individual religiosity is a determinant of household willingness to take risks, since it shapes relevant individual...