Flexible collective bargaining agreements: Still a moderating effect on works council behaviour?

We analyse the interaction between different labour market institutions in Germany, a country with a long tradition of strong bargaining partners. A number of studies have established that industry-level bargaining exerts a moderating role on firm-level co-determination: works councils generate rather than redistribute rents in plants covered by collective bargaining agreements. This work analyses whether these findings still hold, given recent developments in the German system of industrial relations towards more bargaining decentralisation, such as opening clauses or company-level pacts for employment. In addition, we provide evidence pertaining to whether labour market reforms targeted at one institution (a push of collective bargaining agreements towards more flexibility) are counteracted by altering the effects of other, unaffected institutions (the rent-seeking behaviour of works councils). Analysing institutional changes and augmenting a theoretical model provides hypotheses, which are then tested using empirical analysis of representative German plant level data. We find that the existence of flexibility provisions in collective bargaining agreements do not drive works council behaviour towards rent-seeking. Regarding rent-generation, we find an amplifying effect: works council existence is associated with higher productivity in plants covered by industry-level contracts. These findings, however, depend on the level of collective bargaining: they do not hold in plants covered by firm-level contracts

The one constant: A causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked-employer-employee data

A large number of articles have analysed 'the one constant' in the economic effects of trade unions, namely that union bargaining reduces employment growth by two to four percentage points per year. Evidence is, however, mostly related to Anglo-Saxon countries. We investigate whether a different institutional setting might lead to a different outcome, making the constant a variable entity. We use linkedemployer-employee data for Germany and analyse the effect of collective bargaining coverage on employment growth in German plants. We find a robust and negative correlation between being covered by a sector-wide bargaining agreement or firmlevel contract and employment growth per annum of about 0.8 percentage points. Using various approaches, however, we cannot establish a causal interpretation of the effects, suggesting that the cross-section results are driven by selection

Coaching, Counseling, Case-Working: Do They Help the Older Unemployed Out of Benefit Receipt and Back into the Labor Market?

Job search assistance and intensified counseling have been found to be effective for labor market integration by a large number of studies, but the evidence for older and hard-to-place unemployed individuals more specifically is mixed. In this paper we present key results from the evaluation of "Perspektive 50plus", a large-scale active labor market program directed at the older unemployed in Germany. To identify the treatment effects, we exploit regional variation in program participation. Based on survey evidence, we argue that participation of regions is not endogenous in the vast majority of cases. We use a combination of different evaluation estimators to check the sensitivity of the results to selection, substitution and local labor market effects. We find large positive effects of the program in the range of five to ten percentage points on integration into unsubsidized employment. However, there are also substantial lock-in effects, such that program participants have a higher probability of remaining on public welfare benefit receipt for up to one year after commencing the program

The Employment Effects of the EU Eastern Enlargement in Germany

In this paper, we empirically analyse the employment effects of the EU Eastern Enlargement of the EU in 2004. The integration of Central and Eastern European countries involves a massive reduction in both import and export tariffs; however, most of it happens before the actual ascen-sion event. Consequently, a large number German firms both increase their exports to and im-ports from the new EU member states in the time period between 1996 and 2010. The tariff reductions differ between industries and certain groups of firms are differently affected by the liberalisation. Exporters may benefit in terms of employment, while other firms might suffer from the increase in import competition

The one constant: A causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked-employer-employee data

A large number of articles have analysed 'the one constant' in the economic effects of trade unions, namely that union bargaining reduces employment growth by two to four percentage points per year. Evidence is, however, mostly related to Anglo-Saxon countries. We investigate whether a different institutional setting might lead to a different outcome, making the constant a variable entity. We use linkedemployer-employee data for Germany and analyse the effect of collective bargaining coverage on employment growth in German plants. We find a robust and negative correlation between being covered by a sector-wide bargaining agreement or firmlevel contract and employment growth per annum of about 0.8 percentage points. Using various approaches, however, we cannot establish a causal interpretation of the effects, suggesting that the cross-section results are driven by selection

We want them all covered! Collective bargaining and firm heterogeneity. Theory and evidence from Germany

This paper establishes a link between the extent of collective bargaining and the degree of productivity dispersion within an industry. In a unionised oligopoly model we show that for only small differences in productivity levels. a sector-union can design a collective wage contract that covers a wide range of heterogeneous firms. In sectors with higher productivity dispersion, an industry union has an incentive to demand firm-level wage contracts with the most productive firms, so that they can prevent low-productivity firms from leaving collective coverage. However, such firm-level contracts may not prevent firms at the lower end of the productivity distribution from avoiding collective coverage in sectors with high productivity dispersion. We test the predictions of the model using German linked employer-employee data between 1996 and 2010 and find support for our theoretical results

Offshoring and outsourcing potentials of jobs: Evidence from German micro-level data

This paper analyses the potentials of jobs to be offshored or outsourced. We use four waves of the BIBB/BAuA Survey on Qualification and Working Conditions in Germany and employ a large set of potential determinants of offshoring and outsourcing derived from the literature. Applying the datadriven method of principal component analysis, we provide two indicators that measure both the offshoring potentials (cross-country geographical relocation) and the outsourcing potentials (organisational relocation) at the level of jobs, occupations, tasks, or industries. Our results show significant variation in the determinants of both dimensions. In addition to the direct contribution, our paper provides two indicators that can be used to further investigate the economic effects of job offshorability

Union Bargaining and Intra-Industry Productivity Differentials: Theory and Evidence from Germany

This paper indicates that the extent of collective bargaining coverage in an industry may depend on the differences in firms productivity levels within the industry. Less pronounced differences in productivity levels make it easier to design collective wage contracts that are accepted by a wider range of firms within an industry. Higher dispersion in productivity levels gives rise to the use of firm-level wage agreements reached by unions, while coverage by industry-wide contracts is likely to decrease. We measure correlations between productivity variation and collective bargaining coverage in various industries using German linked-employer-employee data from 2000-2008 and find that the share of industry-wide collective bargaining agreements may indeed be negatively correlated with the dispersion of plant productivity within an industry, while the opposite might hold true for firm-level contracts

Same same but different? Non-traditional students and alumni in Germany

The article gives an overview about current research of non-traditional students and alumni in Germany. Its aim is to highlight similarities and differences with their traditional counterparts. The paper concentrates on the motivation to study, the study performance, and labor market success (status and income) of those who do not hold a traditional higher education entry certificate but entered university via their occupational qualification. We show a widespread divergence in findings from no statistical difference at all to clear differences between non-traditionals and traditionals. This holds true, with regard to student motivation, study performance, and labor market success after graduation. We conclude that biggest challenge are the non-completion rates of non-traditionals, which pose a development task for institutions of higher education. (DIPF/Orig.

Monitoring und Evaluation des SARS-CoV-2-Infektionsgeschehens unter Schülerinnen und Schülern an Hamburgs Schulen

Die Rolle von Schulen hinsichtlich des allgemeinen Pandemiegeschehens ist strittig. Um zur Beantwortung der Frage beizutragen, ob Schulen Ausgangspunkte für Infektionsherde darstellen, wurden Daten der Hamburger Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung zu PCR-bestätigten SARS-CoV-2-Infektionen unter Schülerinnen und Schülern ausgewertet. Ziele der Studie waren hierbei die deskriptive Auswertung des SARS-CoV-2-Infektionsgeschehens unter Schülerinnen und Schülern sowie die Einschätzung, ob und in welchem Umfang Folgeinfektionen zu beobachten sind, die wahrscheinlich innerhalb des Schulsettings durch Übertragungen zwischen Schülerinnen und Schülern erworben wurden