Does Low-pay Persist across Different Regimes? Evidence from the German Unification
André Diegmann, Nicole Gürtzgen
The Economics of Transition,
forthcoming
Abstract
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Firm Wage Premia, Industrial Relations, and Rent Sharing in Germany
Boris Hirsch, Steffen Müller
ILR Review,
forthcoming
Abstract
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Employment Effects of Introducing a Minimum Wage: The Case of Germany
Oliver Holtemöller, Felix Pohle
Economic Modelling,
forthcoming
Abstract
Income inequality has been a major concern of economic policy makers for several years. Can minimum wages help to mitigate inequality? In 2015, the German government introduced a nationwide statutory minimum wage to reduce income inequality by improving the labour income of low-wage employees. However, the employment effects of wage increases depend on time and region specific conditions and, hence, they cannot be known in advance. Because negative employment effects may offset the income gains for low-wage employees, it is important to evaluate minimum-wage policies empirically. We estimate the employment effects of the German minimum-wage introduction using panel regressions on the state-industry-level. We find a robust negative effect of the minimum wage on marginal and a robust positive effect on regular employment. In terms of the number of jobs, our results imply a negative overall effect. Hence, low-wage employees who are still employed are better off at the expense of those who have lost their jobs due to the minimum wage.
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Public Bank Guarantees and Allocative Efficiency
Reint E. Gropp, Andre Guettler, Vahid Saadi
Journal of Monetary Economics,
forthcoming
Abstract
A natural experiment and matched bank/firm data are used to identify the effects of bank guarantees on allocative efficiency. We find that with guarantees in place unproductive firms receive larger loans, invest more, and maintain higher rates of sales and wage growth. Moreover, firms produce less productively. Firms also survive longer in banks’ portfolios and those that enter guaranteed banks’ portfolios are less profitable and productive. Finally, we observe fewer economy-wide firm exits and bankruptcy filings in the presence of guarantees. Overall, the results are consistent with the idea that guaranteed banks keep unproductive firms in business for too long.
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Wage Delegation in the Field
Sabrina Jeworrek, Vanessa Mertins
Journal of Economics & Management Strategy,
forthcoming
Abstract
By conducting a natural field experiment, we analyze the managerial policy of delegating the wage choice to employees. We find that this policy enhances performance significantly, which is remarkable since allocated wage premiums of the same size have no effect at all. Observed self‐imposed wage restraints and absence of negative peer effects speak in favor of wage delegation, although the chosen wage premium levels severely dampen its net value. Additional experimental and survey data provide important insights into employees' underlying motivations.
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Do Start-ups Provide Employment Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers?
Daniel Fackler, Michaela Fuchs, Lisa Hölscher, Claus Schnabel
Industrial and Labor Relations Review,
forthcoming
Abstract
This article compares the hiring patterns of start-ups and incumbent firms to analyze whether start-ups offer relatively more job opportunities to disadvantaged workers. Using administrative linked employer–employee data for Germany that provide the complete employment biographies of newly hired workers, the authors show that young firms are more likely than incumbents to hire applicants who are older, foreign, or unemployed, or who have unstable employment histories, arrive from outside the labor force, or were affected by a plant closure. Analysis of entry wages shows that penalties for these disadvantaged workers, however, are higher in start-ups than in incumbent firms. Therefore, even if start-ups provide employment opportunities for certain groups of disadvantaged workers, the quality of these jobs in terms of initial remuneration appears to be low.
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12.02.2020 • 2/2020
Causes of populism: IWH begins international research project
Is the increasing strength of populist parties due to economic causes? The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) is set to play a leading role in scrutinising this controversial question with immediate effect, together with researchers from England, Scotland and the Czech Republic. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding this interdisciplinary project to the tune of almost one million euro for four years.
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Why is Unemployment so Countercyclical?
Lawrence J. Christiano, Martin S. Eichenbaum, Mathias Trabandt
NBER Working Paper No. 26723,
2020
Abstract
We argue that wage inertia plays a pivotal role in allowing empirically plausible variants of the standard search and matching model to account for the large countercyclical response of unemployment to shocks.
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IWH-Tarif-Check: Kräftige Reale Netto-Tariflohnzuwächse für Beschäftigte in der Chemischen Industrie: Neue Gehaltsbestandteile in der Chemischen Industrie erhöhen reale Netto-Tariflohnzuwächse deutlich
Oliver Holtemöller, Birgit Schultz
One-off Publications,
No. 2,
2019
Abstract
Ende November 2019 wurde ein neuer Tarifvertrag für die Chemische Industrie abgeschlossen. Dementsprechend steigen die tabellenwirksamen Tariflöhne zum Juli 2020 um 1,5% und ein Jahr später nochmals um 1,3%. Hinzu kommen Einmalzahlungen in Höhe von 4,0% – 6,0% eines Monatsentgelts für die Zeit bis zur ersten Tariferhöhung im Juli 2020. Zusätzlich wurde erstmalig ein tarifliches Zukunftskonto im Gegenwert von zwei Tagen im Jahr 2020, drei Tagen im Jahr 2021 und danach jeweils fünf Tagen je Jahr vereinbart, die als Freizeit genommen, angespart oder ausgezahlt werden können. Dies entspricht einem Plus von 1,8 %. Hinzu kommt eine tarifliche Pflegezusatzversicherung und die Anhebung des Weihnachtsgeldes. Durch diese Zusatzvereinbarungen werden die eher niedrigen tabellenwirksamen Tariflohnsteigerungen erheblich aufgewertet. Insgesamt umfasst der Tariflohnabschluss ein Plus von mehr als 6% für eine Laufzeit von bis zu 29 Monaten.
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12.12.2019 • 24/2019
Global economy slowly gains momentum – but Germany still stuck in a downturn
In 2020, the global economy is likely to benefit from the recent thaw in trade disputes. Germany’s manufacturing sector, however, will recover only slowly. “In 2020, the German economy will probably grow at a rate of 1.1%, and adjusted for the unusually high number of working days the growth rate will only be 0.7%”, says Oliver Holtemöller, head of the Department Macroeconomics and vice president at Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH). With an estimated growth rate of 1.3%, production in East Germany will outpace total German production growth.
Oliver Holtemöller
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