Humankapital und Produktivität in Ostdeutschland
Joachim Ragnitz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 6,
2007
Abstract
The paper shows that East Germany has a significant lower endowment with human capital compared to West Germany when actual professional activities are taken into account. This is by equal means due to a smaller share of human capital intensive industries and a lower human capital intensity in most industries. As a consequence, people with higher qualifications face severe difficulties to find a job in East Germany. This again is one reason for migration flows to West Germany, leading to a still worsening human capital endowment in the new Laender. It can be shown that lower human capital intensity is one reason for the still existing human capital gap between East and West Germany. Convergence prospects are therefore not as good as often supposed.
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Mikroökonometrische Evaluation der ökonomischen Wirkungen betrieblicher Mitbestimmung - Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des Matching-Ansatzes
Birgit Schultz
Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik,
No. 5,
2006
Abstract
The evaluation of economic effects of workers participation is not simple from the methodical point of view because of specific characteristics of establishments with works councils. Especially recent studies show contradictory results. In this study problems are pointed out, discussed, and options for solution are presented on the example of workers participation in East German establishments of industry and construction by the IAB-Establishment Panel.
An optimal matching-algorithm which supplies good matching-results for small samples to assign 'statistical establishment-twins' is applied. But by reason of very short primarily spells it can only calculate short time effects. Therefore, the matching method is additionally used to construct longer observation periods. By this new application establishments with recently founded works councils are matched with so called 'proxy establishments' with existing works councils. As a result short observation periods are prolonged and information about long-term effects can be given.
The effects on productivity, profitability and qualification level of employees show neither in short-term nor in long-term a significant impact on workers' participation.
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Microeconometric Evaluation of Selected ESF-funded ALMP-Programmes
Eva Reinowski, Birgit Schultz
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 17,
2006
Abstract
The study evaluates different ESF-funded labour market programmes by comparing the labour market status at different points in time after the treatment. In order to solve the selection problem we employ a standard matching algorithm with a multi-dimensional distance measure. The effects of the analyzed programmes (wage subsidies, start-up subsidies and qualification measures for recipients of social welfare) are very heterogeneous. It can be observed that the direct integration into the regular labour market provides an advantage for the supported individuals. Its lasting effects, however, strongly depend on the group of persons being supported, the type of treatment and the employers’ financial share.
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Options and Limits of the Matching Approach – An Application to Workers Participation
Birgit Schultz
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 15,
2006
Abstract
The evaluation of economic effects of workers participation is not simple from the methodical point of view because of specific characteristics of establishments with works councils. Especially recent studies show contradictory results. In this study problems are pointed out, discussed, and options for solution are presented on the example of workers participation in East German establishments of industry and construction by the IABEstablishment Panel. An optimal matching-algorithm which supplies good matching-results for small samples to assign ‘statistical establishment-twins’ is applied. But by reason of very short primarily spells it can only calculate short time effects. Therefore, the matching method is additionally used to construct longer observation periods. By this new application establishments with recently founded works councils are matched with so called ‘proxy establishments’ with existing works councils. As a result short observation periods are prolonged and information about long-term effects can be given. The effects on productivity, profitability and qualification level of employees show neither in short-term nor in long-term a significant impact on workers’ participation.
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Evaluation von Maßnahmen der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik mit Hilfe eines iterativen Matching-Algorithmus - Eine Fallstudie über langzeitarbeitslose Maßnahmeteilnehmer in Sachsen
Eva Reinowski, Birgit Schultz, Jürgen Wiemers
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 173,
2003
Abstract
The paper evaluates the effects of two labor market programs in Germany, namely the Job Creation- /Structural Adjustment Scheme and Vocational Training, on the unemployment duration of long term unemployed persons. The study uses data from the Mikrozensus Sachsen. A two step Nearest-Neighbor-Matching is employed to solve the sample selection problem. The first step is the estimation of the participation tendency to obtain potential pairs and to compute their Mahalanobis distances. For the assignment of pairs in the second step two different procedures are used: a standard technique and a new one - the iterative improvement of an initial assignment. This process is superior to the standard matching algorithms in the sense that it allows for a closer match between participants and non-participants. Including additional information about a person’s employment history enables us to eliminate the bias due to unobservables. The impact of participation in a labor market program is evaluated by comparing the unemployment duration between both groups using the Cox Proportional Hazard Model. Overall we find empirical evidence that both participation in Job Creation- /Structural Adjustment Scheme and Vocational Training result in even longer unemployment.
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Public Research Institutions in East Germany: a Promising Base for Economic Upturn?
Gerhard Heimpold, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 15,
2001
Abstract
In the 1990s a lot was done to strengthen public research efforts in East Germany. The main indicators relating to public research reflect an ambivalent picture. Investment by universities and public research institutions outside the universities reached a higher level than in West Germany. However, there remains an East-West gap with respect to the capital stock. The per capita stock of R&D staff in the university sector reached almost the level in the old Länder. With respect to the university R&D in engineering sciences, among those fields of university research which are particularly business-related, per capita stock of staff as well as per capita investment in the Eastern German Länder are above the West German level. In university natural science the East-West pattern of the R&D input factors mentioned is reversed. The receipts of the universities acquired from research contracts, which may be used as an indicator to assess the quality of public research, reveal shortcomings. These shortcomings, though these have been partly caused by the transitional situation in East Germany`s universities, where new institutions were built up only gradually. The R&D institutions outside the universities are obviously better equipped than such institutions in West Germany.
The visible advantages offered by public sector research institutions in East Germany might be used much more intensively to foster the economic reconstruction in East Germany. In parallel with this, the remaining shortcomings of public R&D in East Germany should be eliminated. If reductions in universities´ capacities (due, for instance, to a declining number of persons who have a university entrance qualification) seem to be inevitable, the consequences of such restrictions should be carefully reconsidered.
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Municipal labor market policy - Marshalling yard or escape from public assistance dependency?
Hilmar Schneider
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 11,
2001
Abstract
Due to an increasing fiscal burden by welfare payments, municipalities tend
more and more to initiate employment and training programs under their own
responsibility besides the Federal Labor Agency. However, critics object
that this might predominantly be viewed as an attempt to shift fiscal
burdens to the Federal Labor Agency rather than a policy option towards
labor market integration of low-wage workers. In order to investigate this
issue, the IWH carried out a country-wide survey within twelve
municipalities and rural districts. The sample comprises 200 employable
welfare recipients, among them participants of labor market programs as well
as a reference group of non-participants. The results of the IWH welfare
survey are at best suggesting a moderate success of program participation
with regard to labor market integration. Nevertheless, the programs appear
to be profitable for municipalities, since they succeed in bringing
participants out of welfare dependency. In many cases, however, welfare is
replaced by unemployment support, which means that only the fiscal
responsibility changes. A shortcoming of the results has to be seen in the
fact that municipalities tend to assign especially those people for program
participation, who are already better fitting into requirements of the labor
market. This seriously impairs the comparability of participants and
non-participants. In view of the remarkable amount of expenditures it seems
therefore advisable to put more attention on the effectiveness of the
programs than has been done in the past. This could be achieved by a
stronger orientation towards an experimental design of assignment for
program participation.
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Employment in Germany´s environmental sector. An empirical analysis based on the IAB company panel
Jens Horbach, Uwe Blien, Michael von Hauff
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 132,
2001
Abstract
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Multiple active labor market policy participation in East Germany. An assessment of outcomes
Annette Bergemann, Bernd Fitzenberger, Birgit Schultz, Stefan Speckesser
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 123,
2000
Abstract
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Efficiency of qualification and job creating measures in East Germany
Annette Bergemann, Birgit Schultz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 9,
2000
Abstract
This paper evaluates job creation schemes and further training in East Germany for the period 1990-1998. We identify the causal effect of the treatment-on-the-treated by a two-step procedure: First, we apply the matching technique based on estimated propensity scores. Secondly, we use the Difference-in-Differences estimator. Hereby, we take especially consideration on Ashenfelter s Dip, which characterize a significant decrease in the participants employment shortly before the start of a program. This can be assumed to be related to the anticipation of the participation.
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