Is the 'Central German Metropolitan Region' Spatially Integrated? An Empirical Assessment of Commuting Relations
Albrecht Kauffmann
Urban Studies,
Nr. 9,
2016
Abstract
The 'Central German Metropolitan Region' is a network of cities and their surroundings, located in the three East-German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It was founded to bring the bundled strengths of these cities into an inter-municipal cooperation, for making use of the possible advantages of a polycentric region. As theory claims, a precondition for gains from polycentricity is spatial integration of the region. In particular, markets for high skilled labour should be integrated. To assess how this precondition is fulfilled in Central Germany, in the framework of a doubly constrained gravity model the commuting relations between the functional regions of the (until 2013) 11 core cities of the network are analysed. In particular for higher educated employees, the results display that commuting relations are determined not only by distance, but also by the state borders that cross the area.
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How Selective Are Real Wage Cuts? A Micro-analysis Using Linked Employer–Employee Data
Boris Hirsch, Thomas Zwick
LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations,
Nr. 4,
2015
Abstract
Using linked employer–employee panel data for Germany, we investigate whether firms implement real wage reductions in a selective manner. In line with insider–outsider and several strands of efficiency wage theory, we find strong evidence for selective wage cuts with high-productivity workers being spared even when controlling for permanent differences in firms' wage policies. In contrast to some recent contributions stressing fairness considerations, we also find that wage cuts increase wage dispersion among peers rather than narrowing it. Notably, the same selectivity pattern shows up when restricting our analysis to firms covered by collective agreements or having a works council.
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Trade Union Membership and Paid Vacation in Germany
Laszlo Goerke, Sabrina Jeworrek, Markus Pannenberg
IZA Journal of Labor Economics,
Nr. 1,
2015
Abstract
In Germany, dependent employees take almost 30 days of paid vacation annually. We enquire whether an individual’s trade union membership affects the duration of vacation. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the period 1985 to 2010 and employing pooled OLS-estimators, we find that being a union member goes along with almost one additional day of vacation per year. Estimations exploiting the panel structure of our data suggest that a smaller part of this vacation differential can be due to the union membership status, while self-selection effects play a more important role.
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Does the Plant Size–wage Differential Increase with Tenure? Affirming Evidence from German Panel Data
Daniel Fackler, Thorsten Schank, Claus Schnabel
Economics Letters,
2015
Abstract
We show that the major part of the plant size–wage premium in Germany is reflected in different wage growth patterns in plants of different size. This is consistent with the hypothesis that large firms ‘produce’ more skilled workers over time.
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Works Councils and Labour Productivity: Looking beyond the Mean
Steffen Müller
British Journal of Industrial Relations,
Nr. 2,
2015
Abstract
After more than 25 years of empirical investigation, the analysis of works council effects on establishment productivity is still an active field of economic research. I present first evidence for works council regression coefficients along the unconditional log labour productivity distribution in Germany. The highest (lowest) coefficients were found at the bottom (top) of the distribution, which suggests that works councils have the most beneficial effects at low levels of productivity. Importantly, coefficients are positive at each productivity level. The results shed light on a classical theoretical argument concerning moderating factors for the productivity effect of employee participation.
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A Weighty Issue Revisited: The Dynamic Effect of Body Weight on Earnings and Satisfaction in Germany
Frieder Kropfhäußer, Marco Sunder
Applied Economics,
Nr. 41,
2015
Abstract
We estimate the relationship between changes in the body mass index (bmi) and wages or satisfaction, respectively, in a panel of German employees. In contrast to previous findings, our dynamic models indicate an inverse u-shaped association between bmi and wages. As the implied maximum occurs in the ‘overweight’ category, the positive trend in weight may not yet constitute a major limitation to productivity. Further investigation points out a stronger association among young workers and workers with jobs that are less protected. Work satisfaction of young workers is associated with bmi beyond the effect of earnings.
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Economic Failure and the Role of Plant Age and Size
Steffen Müller, Jens Stegmaier
Small Business Economics,
Nr. 3,
2015
Abstract
This paper introduces a large-scale administrative panel data set on corporate bankruptcy in Germany that allows for an econometric analysis of involuntary exits where previous studies mixed voluntary and involuntary exits. Approximately 83 % of all bankruptcies occur in plants with not more than 10 employees, and 61 % of all bankrupt plants are not older than 5 years. The descriptive statistics and regression analysis indicate substantial negative age dependence with respect to bankruptcy risk but confirm negative size dependence for mature plants only. Our results corroborate hypotheses stressing increasing capabilities and positional advantage, both predicting negative age dependence with respect to bankruptcy risk due to productivity improvements. The results are not consistent with the theories explaining age dependence via imprinting or structural inertia.
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Is There Monopsonistic Discrimination against Immigrants?
Boris Hirsch, Elke J. Jahn
ILR Review,
Nr. 3,
2015
Abstract
The authors investigate immigrants’ and natives’ labor supply to the firm within an estimation approach based on a dynamic monopsony framework. Applying duration models that account for unobserved worker heterogeneity to a large administrative employer–employee data set for Germany, they find that immigrants supply labor less elastically to firms than do natives. Under monopsonistic wage setting, the estimated elasticity differential predicts a 7.7 log points wage penalty for immigrants thereby accounting for the entire unexplained native–immigrant wage differential of 5.8 to 8.2 log points. When further distinguishing immigrant groups differing in their time spent in the German labor market, their immigration cohort, and their age at entry, the authors find that the observed unexplained wage differential is larger for those groups that show a larger elasticity differential relative to natives. These findings not only suggest that search frictions are a likely cause of employers’ more pronounced monopsony power over their immigrant workers but also imply that employers profit from discriminating against immigrants.
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The Levelling Effect of Product Market Competition on Gender Wage Discrimination
Boris Hirsch, Michael Oberfichtner, Claus Schnabel
IZA Journal of Labor Economics,
Nr. 19,
2014
Abstract
Using linked employer–employee panel data for West Germany that include direct information on the competition faced by plants, we investigate the effect of product market competition on the gender pay gap. Controlling for match fixed effects, we find that intensified competition significantly lowers the unexplained gap in plants with neither collective agreements nor a works council. Conversely, there is no effect in plants with these types of worker codetermination, which are unlikely to have enough discretion to adjust wages in the short run. We also document a larger competition effect in plants with few females in their workforces. Our findings are in line with Beckerian taste-based employer wage discrimination that is limited by competitive forces.
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A Weighty Issue Revisited: The Dynamic Effect of Body Weight on Earnings and Satisfaction in Germany
Frieder Kropfhäußer, Marco Sunder
Abstract
We estimate the relationship between changes in the body mass index (bmi) and wages or satisfaction, respectively, in a panel of German employees. In contrast to previous literature, the dynamic models indicate that there is an inverse u-shaped association between bmi and wages among young workers. Among young male workers, work satisfaction is affected beyond the effect on earnings. Our finding of an implied optimum bmi in the overweight range could indicate that the recent rise in weight does not yet constitute a major limitation to productivity.
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