We use recent German survey data for over three decades to analyze long-run trends in occupational segregation. Following the methodology of Blau et al. (2013), we show that segregation decline for both women and foreigners in Germany, if we use a given ISCO classification over time. However,...

This paper examines James Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of the exchange economy. An initial hypothesis holds the decisive influence of a plan designed and implemented by merchants. Our proposal evokes the importance, acknowledged by Steuart, of the construction of institutions,...

Free school choice has often been argued to be a tide that lifts school quality through increased competition. This paper analyzes the underlying assumption that school quality is an important choice criterion for parents. Using a large and representative data set of over 15,000 Dutch primary...

We examine the effect of alcohol exposure in utero on child academic achievement. As well as studying the effect of any alcohol exposure, we investigate the effect of the dose, pattern, and duration of exposure. We use a genetic variant in the maternal alcohol-metabolism gene ADH1B as an...

Empirical findings that minorities typically attain lower economic status than majorities and that relatively larger minorities perform worse than smaller ones pose a challenge to economics.To explain this scale puzzle, I model an economy where the society is bifurcated into two social groups...

Pianists who achieve high scores in the Queen Elizabeth musical competition are rewarded by subsequent success.It is not clear whether this is caused by the score itself or because those who have high scores are better pianists anyway. Since the timing and the order of appearance are good...

This paper ranks Dutch economists using information about publications and citations. Rankings involve the aggregation of several performance dimensions. Instead of using a cardinal approach, where each dimension is weighted based on impact factors of journals for example, we use an ordinal...

Market imperfections may cause firms and workers to under-invest in specific training. This paper shows that profit sharing may be a suitable instrument to enhance specific training investments, either by enhancing wage °exibility or by increasing the returns to training. As a result, profit...

For various reasons the relationship between age and productivity is a matter of policy concern. I present new empirical research showing how productivity is affected by age. I study age effects at the individual level by analyzing data on running and publishing in economic journals. Furthermore...