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We analyze the effects of large-scale local public infrastructure investments on economic development, exploiting the infrastructure shock following when Brazil was awarded the 2014 FIFA World Cup. We place particular emphasis on effect heterogeneity with respect to the type, location, temporal evolution, and costs and benefits of the investments. Using novel data on monthly night light luminosity at the municipal district level as a proxy for economic activity, we apply Difference-in-Differences and event studies for estimation. Overall, we find strongly positive impacts both in the short and longer run. However, a closer examination reveals that effects are larger and longer-lasting for transport infrastructure as opposed to sports infrastructure, and they are more pronounced in smaller areas. Importantly, we quantify significant negative spatial spillovers. Factoring them in, we still find positive net benefits of transport infrastructure investments two years after the tournament.

While many countries are discussing substantial increases in the minimum wage, policy makers lack a comprehensive analysis of the macroeconomic and distributional consequences of raising the minimum wage. This paper investigates how employment, output and worker welfare respond to increases in the minimum wage beyond observable levels -- both in the short- and long run. To that end, I incorporate endogenous job search effort, differences in employment levels, and a progressive tax-transfer system into a search-matching model with worker and firm heterogeneity. I estimate my model using German administrative and survey data. The model replicates the muted employment response, as well as the reallocation effects in terms of productivity and employment levels documented by reduced form research on the German introduction of a federal minimum wage in 2015.  Simulating the model, I find that long-run employment increases slightly until the minimum wage is equal to 60% of the full-time median wage (Kaitz index) as higher search effort offsets lower vacancy posting. In addition, raising the minimum wage reallocates workers towards full-time jobs and high-productivity firms. Total hours worked and output peak at Kaitz indices of 73% and 79%. However, policy makers face an important inter-temporal trade-off as large minimum wage hikes lead to substantial job destruction, unemployment and recessions in the short-run. Finally, I show that raising the minimum wage largely benefits men. For women, who often rely on low-hours jobs, the disutility from working longer hours outweighs the utility of higher incomes.

The presentation offers an overview about the new data service of the Research Data Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FDZ). The BAMF-FDZ gives access to register and survey data for migration and integration research. The presentation will introduce the available and future data sets and discuss advantages and limitations. In addition, the application procedure is also explained.

The vocational education system in Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) is mainly school-based, with schools directly linked to large industrial conglomerates in communist times. Since the transition to a market economy it has been an uphill battle to connect vocational schools and newly emerging firms for workplace-based training. In particular, the region’s many small firms struggle to offer high-quality training, given the required investments and manpower. Yet, partly inspired by investors from German-speaking countries with their strong tradition of dual vocational education workplace-based training innovations have been evolving in increasing numbers in the region. What are the success stories so far and what are hurdles for rolling out dual educational training more systematically? What can players from different countries learn from each other?

Civil society has played an important role in meeting the challenges of refugee migration in recent years. This policy report studies the importance of civic engagement for the integration of refugees by employing several waves of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey data. Using the density of newly established associations at the county level as a measure of civic engagement of a region, we exploit regional differences in civic engagement in order to estimate its association with individual integration outcomes of refugees. We find that in regions with particularly high levels of civic engagement, refugees have significantly more frequent contact to Germans, higher life satisfaction and better German language skills. This correlation is robust to controlling for the local population structure, economic strength and labor market situation. In terms of language acquisition, women and refugees with a low level of education benefit the most from high civic engagement. Moreover, refugees with university degrees find significantly better-paying jobs in areas with higher civic engagement. However, no direct correlation could be established between civic engagement and the likelihood that refugees are active in the labor market. Nonetheless, the results suggest that support from civil society translates into improved access to government benefits. Our findings stress that local civic engagement is an important complement to public assistance services and policy makers should give a high priority to team up with civil society to improve refugees' integration outcomes.

The joined Graduate School (GradAB) of the IAB and the FAU invites young researchers who study topics in labor economics and sociology to its 13th interdisciplinary PhD workshop “Perspectives on (Un-) Employment”. The event provides an opportunity for graduate students to present their ongoing research and receive feedback from senior scholars who work at the forefront of labor market research. We seek theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of labor market research. Your paper may cover topics such as:

  • Unemployment, labor supply and labor demand
  • Inequality, poverty and discrimination
  • Evaluation of labor market institutions and policies
  • Wages and productivity
  • Occupations
  • Education, qualification and job tasks
  • Gender and family
  • Migration and international labor markets
  • Technological change and digitization
  • The impact of climate change/COVID-19 on the labor market
  • Methodology of labor market research

Natural disasters are growing in frequency globally. Understanding how vulnerable populations respond to these disasters is essential for an effective policy response. This paper explores the short- and long-run consequences of the 1906 San Francisco Fire, one of the largest urban fires in American history. Using linked Census records, I follow residents of San Francisco and their children from 1900 to 1940. Historical records suggest that exogenous factors such as wind and the availability of water determined where the fire stopped. I implement a spatial regression discontinuity design across the boundary of the razed area to identify the effect of the fire on those who lost their home to it. I find that in the short run, the fire displaced affected residents, forced them into lower-paying occupations and out of entrepreneurship. Experiencing the disaster disrupted children’s school attendance and led to an average loss of six months of education. While most effects attenuated over time, the negative effect on business ownership persists even in 1940, 34 years after the fire. Therefore, my findings reject the hope for a “reversal of fortune” for the victims, in contrast to what is found for more recent natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina.

This paper presents estimates of the causal effect of the default marital property regime on female labour supply, fertility, marriage, and marital dissolution rates utilising the regional variation in the default marital property system in Spain and the 2005 divorce reform. Property rights theory predicts that under contractual incompleteness ownership of physical assets affects investments, and that joint ownership provides the strongest incentives to make relationship-specific investments, while non-integration encourages non-specific investments. My findings are consistent with these predictions: separation of property promotes higher female labour supply, having no more than two children, and a lower marriage rate than community property. The divorce rate remains largely unaffected by the property regime type.