Political Preferences Through Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Alena Bičáková, Štěpán Jurajda
Political Research Quarterly,
im Erscheinen
Abstract
How durable are the political accountability effects of the worst pandemic in a century? We track the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on political preferences through its “high” and “low” phases in the Czech Republic. Uniquely, we ask about the effects of both the health and the economic costs of the pandemic measured at both personal and municipality levels. Consistent with the literature, we estimate effects suggestive of political accountability of leaders during “high” pandemic phases without higher support for non-democratic alternatives. However, we also find that the pandemic political accountability effects are mostly short-lived, and do not extend to the first post-pandemic elections.
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CEO Personality Traits and Compensation: Evidence from Investment Efficiency
Yao Du, Iftekhar Hasan, Chih-Yung Lin, Chien-Lin Lu
Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting,
im Erscheinen
Abstract
We examine the effects of the big five personalities of CEOs (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) on their annual compensation. We hand-collect the tweets of S&P 1500 CEOs and use IBM's Watson Personality Insights to measure their personalities. CEOs with high ratings of agreeableness and conscientiousness get more compensation. We further find that the firms with these CEOs outperform their peers due to better investment efficiency. Firms are willing to pay higher compensation for talent, especially for firms with better operations, located in states with higher labor unionization, or facing higher competition in the product market. Overall, CEO personality is a valid predictor of CEOs' compensation.
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Application Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment
Henning Hermes, Philipp Lergetporer, Frauke Peter, Simon Wiederhold
Journal of the European Economic Association,
im Erscheinen
Abstract
Why are children with lower socioeconomic status (SES) substantially less likely to be enrolled in child care? We study whether barriers in the application process work against lower-SES children — the group known to benefit strongest from child care enrollment. In an RCT in Germany with highly subsidized child care (N = 607), we offer treated families information and personal assistance for applications. We find substantial, equity-enhancing effects of the treatment, closing half of the large SES gap in child care enrollment. Increased enrollment for lower-SES families is likely driven by altered application knowledge and behavior. We discuss scalability of our intervention and derive policy implications for the design of universal child care programs.
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14.05.2025 • 16/2025
Privatisierung erhöht Effizienz in Krankenhäusern
Die Übernahme von Krankenhäusern durch Private-Equity-Firmen steht oft in der Kritik. Neue Forschung des Leibniz-Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) und der ESMT Berlin zeigt jedoch: Krankenhäuser profitieren davon operativ, ohne dass Qualität oder medizinische Versorgung beeinträchtigt werden.
Merih Sevilir
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The Distribution of National Income in Germany, 1992-2019
Stefan Bach, Charlotte Bartels, Theresa Neef
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 25,
2024
Abstract
This paper analyzes the distribution and composition of pre-tax national income in Germany since 1992, combining personal income tax returns, household survey data, and national accounts. Inequality rose from the 1990s to the late 2000s due to falling labor incomes among the bottom 50% and rising incomes in the top 10%. This trend reversed after 2007 as labor incomes across the bottom 90% increased. The top 1% income share, dominated by business income, remained relatively stable between 1992 and 2019. A large share of Germany’s top 1% earners are non-corporate business owners in labor-intensive professions. At least half of the business owners in P99-99.9 and a quarter in the top 0.1% operate firms in professional services – a pattern mirroring the United States. From 1992 to 2019, Germany’s top 0.1% income concentration exceeded France’s and matched U.S. levels until the late 2000s.
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Medienecho
Medienecho Juli 2025 Steffen Müller: Deutsche Wirtschaft in der Krise in: Tagesspiegel, 09.07.2025 Steffen Müller: So viele Firmenpleiten wie seit 20 Jahren nicht mehr in:…
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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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