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Dr Patrick Nüß

Dr Patrick Nüß
Current Position

since 7/24

Economist in the Department Labour Markets

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

Research Interests
  • labour economics
  • industrial relations
  • behavioural and experimental economics

Patrick Nüß joined the Department Labour Markets in July 2024. His research focuses on the causes of inequality in the labour market, in particular discrimination and conflicts between employers and trade unions.

Patrick Nüß received his master's degree from Kiel University where he also completed his doctorate. Before joining the IWH, he was a research assistant at the Institute for Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) at the Hans Böckler Foundation and at Kiel University. He completed research stays at Princeton University and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Your contact

Dr Patrick Nüß
Dr Patrick Nüß
- Department Structural Change and Productivity
Send Message +49 345 7753-705 Personal page LinkedIn profile

Publications

Citations
259

Working Papers

cover_DP_2025-17.jpg

Management Opposition, Strikes and Union Threat

Patrick Nüß

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 17, 2025

Abstract

I estimate management opposition to unions in terms of hiring discrimination in the German labor market. By sending 13,000 fictitious job applications, revealing union membership in the CV and pro-union sentiment via social media accounts, I provide evidence for hiring discrimination against union supporters. Callback rates are on average 15% lower for union members. Discrimination is strongest in the presence of a high sectoral share of union members and large firm size. I further explore variation in regional and sectoral strike intensity over time and find suggestive evidence that discrimination increases if a sector is exposed to an intense strike. Discrimination is positively associated with the sectoral share of firms that voluntarily orientate wages to collective agreements. These results indicate that hiring discrimination can be explained by union threat effects.

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