Individualism and the Formation of Human Capital
Katharina Hartinger, Sven Resnjanskij, Jens Ruhose, Simon Wiederhold
Journal of the European Economic Association,
forthcoming
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate about the economic effects of individualism. We establish that individualism leads to better educational and labor market outcomes. Using data from the largest international adult skill assessment, we identify the effects of individualism by exploiting variation between migrants at the origin country, origin language, and person level. Migrants from more individualistic cultures have higher cognitive skills and larger skill gains over time. They also invest more in their skills over the life-cycle, as they acquire more years of schooling and are more likely to participate in adult education activities. In fact, individualism is more important in explaining adult skill formation than any other cultural trait that has been emphasized in previous literature. In the labor market, more individualistic migrants earn higher wages and are less often unemployed. We show that our results cannot be explained by selective migration or omitted origin-country variables.
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Kalifornische Inspirationen
Simon Wiederhold
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 2,
2025
Abstract
Wissenschaft lebt vom Austausch kluger Köpfe über Grenzen hinweg. IWH-Ökonom Simon Wiederhold hat vier Wochen an der Stanford University geforscht. Einblicke in eine höchst anregende Erfahrung.
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East Germany
The Nasty Gap 30 years after unification: Why East Germany is still 20% poorer than the West Dossier In a nutshell The East German economic convergence process is hardly…
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Research Articles
Research Articles Explore cutting-edge research based on CompNet’s micro-aggregated firm-level data and related analytical tools. These articles cover empirical and theoretical…
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Research Clusters
Three Research Clusters Each IWH research group is assigned to a topic-oriented research cluster. The clusters are not separate organisational units, but rather bundle the…
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Courses
Courses Courses are organised in coordination with partner institutions within the Central-German Doctoral Program Economics (CGDE) network. IWH organises First-Year Courses in…
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Department Profiles
Research Profiles of the IWH Departments All doctoral students are allocated to one of the four research departments (Financial Markets – Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets –…
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Placement News
Placement News IWH-DPE graduate placements 2024: St Andrews and the Bank of England Eleonora Sfrappini from the Financial Markets department and Tommaso Bighelli from the…
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Deutschland braucht eine klare wirtschaftspolitische Strategie
Reint E. Gropp
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 3,
2024
Abstract
Die deutsche Wirtschaft steht unter Druck, doch die aktuellen Maßnahmen der Regierung führen kaum zu einer nachhaltigen Erholung. Unternehmen sind mit Unsicherheiten konfrontiert, die Investitionen hemmen – insbesondere hinsichtlich der Energieversorgung und der damit verbundenen Kosten. Viele Betriebe schieben deshalb notwendige Investitionen auf – genau die Investitionen, die das wirtschaftliche Wachstum antreiben könnten.
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Economic Outlook
Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2025 Fiscal Stimulus Masks Structural Weakness September 25, 2025 The German economy is emerging from the trough and is likely to regain some…
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