Do hiring practices penalize women and benefit men for having children? Experimental evidence from Germany

Although observational studies from many countries have consistently shown that motherhood negatively affects women’s wages, experimental findings on its effect on the likelihood of being hired are less conclusive. Motherhood penalties in hiring have been reported in the US, the prototypical liberal market economy, but not in Sweden, the prototypical social-democratic welfare state. Based on a field experiment in Germany, this study examines the effects of parenthood on hiring processes in the prototypical conservative welfare state. My findings indicate that job recruitment processes indeed penalize women but not men for having children. In addition to providing theoretical explanations for why motherhood penalties in hiring are particularly likely to occur in the German context, this study also highlights several methodological and practical issues that should be considered when conducting correspondence studies to examine labor market discrimination

Feeling secure vs. being secure? Qualitative evidence on the relationship between labour market institutions and employees' perceived job security from Germany and the U.S.

How can labour market institutions make workers confident about their economic future? While quantitative studies have repeatedly shown that countries’ labour market regulations and policies are related to variations in workers’ perceived job security, these studies did not explain how these institutions affect workers’ perceptions and expectations. This study seeks to close this gap by analysing qualitative interview data collected on employees in Germany and the U.S. during the great financial crisis (2009-2010). The study's main finding is that policies vary in their effectiveness at making workers feel secure about their jobs. While unemployment assistance can reduce workers’ worries about job loss, dismissal protection does not seem to effectively increase workers’ confidence that their jobs are secure. Overall, employees know relatively little about the policies and regulations that are meant to protect them and have limited trust in their effectiveness. Individual and organisational characteristics seem to be more relevant for employees’ feelings of job security than national-level policies. In particular, comparisons with others who have lower levels of protection increase workers’ perceived security. These insights are particularly important in light of the ongoing changes in the world of work that are making workers’ lives more uncertain and insecur

Has Covid-19 increased gender inequalities in professional advancement? Cross-country evidence on productivity differences between male and female software developers

Objective: This article analyzed gender differences in professional advancement following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic based on data from open-source software developers in 37 countries. Background: Men and women may have been affected differently from the social distancing measures implemented to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Given that men and women tend to work in different jobs and that they have been unequally involved in childcare duties, school and workplace closings may have impacted men’s and women’s professional lives unequally. Method: We analyzed original data from the world’s largest social coding community, GitHub. We first estimated a Holt-Winters forecast model to compare the predicted and the observed average weekly productivity of a random sample of male and female developers (N=177,480) during the first lockdown period in 2020. To explain the cross-country variation in the gendered effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on software developers’ productivity, we estimated two-way fixed effects models with different lockdown measures as predictors – school and workplace closures, in particular. Results: In most countries, both male and female developers were, on average, more productive than predicted, and productivity increased for both genders with increasing lockdown stringency. When examining the effects of the most relevant types of lockdown measures separately, we found that stay-at-home restrictions increased both men’s and women’s productivity and that workplace closures also increased the number of weekly contributions on average – but for women, only when schools were open. Conclusion: Having found gender differences in the effect of workplace closures contingent on school and daycare closures within a population that is relatively young and unlikely to have children (software developers), we conclude that the Covid-19 pandemic may indeed have contributed to increased gender inequalities in professional advancement.Fragestellung: In diesem Artikel untersuchen wir anhand von Open Source-Softwareentwicklern Produktivitätsunterschiede zwischen Männern und Frauen in Folge der Covid-19-Pandemie für insgesamt 37 Länder. Hintergrund: Die Maßnahmen, die zur Eindämmung der Covid-19 Pandemie getroffen wurden, hatten möglicherweise unterschiedliche Auswirkungen auf das berufliche Fortkommen von Männern und Frauen. Wie haben sich insbesondere die Schließungen von Arbeitsstätten, Schulen und Kitas ausgewirkt? Methode: Grundlage der Analysen sind Daten der weltweit größten Social Coding Community GitHub. In einem ersten Schritt schätzen wir Holt-Winters-Vorhersagemodelle, um die tatsächliche Produktivität mit der vorhergesagten Produktivität von männlichen und weiblichen Softwareentwicklern während des ersten Lockdowns im Jahr 2020 zu vergleichen (N=177.480). In einem zweiten Schritt schätzen wir two-way fixed-effects Modelle, um Unterschiede in den geschlechtsspezifischen Auswirkungen der Covid-19-Pandemie auf die Produktivität von Softwareentwicklern anhand verschiedener Lockdownmaßnahmen zu erklären, insbesondere der Schließung von Schulen und Arbeitsstätten. Ergebnisse: In den meisten Ländern waren sowohl männliche als auch weibliche Entwickler im Durchschnitt produktiver als erwartet. Diese Produktivitätszuwächse stiegen bei beiden Geschlechtern mit zunehmender Lockdownintensität. Eine getrennte Betrachtung der verschiedenen Maßnahmen zeigt, dass Ausgangssperren mit einer höheren Produktivität bei Männern und Frauen einhergingen. Gleiches gilt für die Schließung von Arbeitsstätten – bei Frauen jedoch nur dann, wenn die Schulen gleichzeitig geöffnet waren. Schlussfolgerung: Angesichts der Tatsache, dass unsere Untersuchungspopulation relativ jung und in der Tendenz kinderlos ist, wir aber dennoch in Abhängigkeit von Schul- und Kitaschließungen geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede in den Auswirkungen geschlossener Arbeitsstätten finden, kommen wir zu dem Schluss, dass die Covid-19-Pandemie in der Tat zu größeren Ungleichheiten zwischen den Geschlechtern beim beruflichen Aufstieg beigetragen haben könnte

Corruption as Social Exchange

This chapter applies social exchange theory to corruption. If two parties exhibit corrupt behaviors, secrecy becomes a new joint good, making the two parties more dependent on each other (an increase in total power). Since no external enforcement mechanisms are available in illicit exchanges, the initial reciprocal exchange pattern shifts toward negotiated or productive forms of exchange. Such forms of exchange, however, tend to leave traces, either because the amount of traded resources increases or the contingencies between the behaviors become more visible to the outside. Using the larger network structure, in which corrupt exchanges are embedded, to deal with the problem of detection also is Janus-faced. Adding more ties to the exchange increases either the competition between several potential exchanges partners (exclusively connected network) or the risk of nonreciprocity and whistle blowing (positively connected network). By showing that illicit relations are inherently unstable, we specify some of the scope conditions of social exchange theory

In Sorge um den Arbeitsplatz: Wie die Arbeitsmarktpolitik Jobunsicherheit beeinflusst

Wenn Arbeitnehmer*innen sich vor dem Verlust ihres Arbeitsplatzes ängstigen, hat das schwerwiegende Folgen - für sie selbst und die Unternehmen. Starker Kündigungsschutz lindert die subjektive Arbeitsplatzunsicherheit nicht, Arbeitslosenunterstützung schon. Regelungen zur Existenzsicherung bei Jobverlust müssen transparenter werden

How to Implement Respondent-Driven Sampling in Practice: Insights from Surveying 24-Hour Migrant Home Care Workers

This article draws on the experience from an ongoing research project employing respondentdriven sampling (RDS) to survey (illicit) 24-hour home care workers. We highlight issues around the preparatory work and the fielding of the survey to provide researchers with useful insights on how to implement RDS when surveying populations for which the method has not yet been used. We conclude the article with ethical considerations that occur when employing RDS

Organizing young workers under precarious conditions: what hinders or facilitates union success?

Under what conditions do young precarious workers join unions? Based on case studies from France, Germany, the UK and US, we identify targeted campaigns, coalition building, membership activism, and training activities as innovative organizing approaches. In addition to traditional issues such as wages and training quality, these approaches also featured issues specific to precarious workers, including skills training, demands for minimum working hours, and specific support in insecure employment situations. Organizing success is influenced by bargaining structures, occupational identity, labor market conditions, and support by union leaders and members. Innovative organizing tends to happen when unions combine new approaches with existing structures

Who suffered most? Parental stress and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Objective: This study examines gender and socioeconomic inequalities in parental psychological wellbeing (parenting stress and psychological distress) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Background: The dramatic shift of childcare and schooling responsibility from formal institutions to private households during the pandemic has put families under enormous stress and raised concerns about caregivers' health and wellbeing. Despite the overwhelming media attention to families’ wellbeing, to date limited research has examined parenting stress and parental psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in Germany. Method: We analyzed four waves of panel data (N= 1,771) from an opt-in online survey, which was conducted between March 2020 and April 2021. Multivariable OLS regressions were used to estimate variations in the pandemic's effects on parenting stress and psychological distress by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Results: Overall, levels of parenting stress and psychological distress increased during the pandemic. During the first and third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers, parents with children younger than 11 years, parents with two or more children, parents working from home as well as parents with financial insecurity experienced higher parenting stress than other sociodemographic groups. Moreover, women, respondents with lower incomes, single parents, and parents with younger children experienced higher levels of psychological distress than other groups. Conclusion: Gender and socioeconomic inequalities in parents' psychological wellbeing increased among the study participants during the pandemic.Fragestellung: Diese Studie untersucht geschlechtsspezifische und sozioökonomische Ungleichheiten bei elterlichem Stress und psychischen Belastungen während der COVID-19 Pandemie in Deutschland. Hintergrund: Zur Eindämmung der COVID-19 Pandemie wurde die Verantwortung für Kinderbetreuung und schulische Bildung von formellen Institutionen auf die Eltern verlagert, was diese mutmaßlich unter enormen Stress gesetzt und ihr psychisches Wohlbefinden beeinträchtigt hat. Obwohl medial ausführlich über die zusätzlichen Belastungen von Familien berichtet wurde, haben elterlicher Stress und psychische Belastungen während der Krise im Rahmen wissenschaftlicher Untersuchungen wenig Aufmerksamkeit erhalten. Das gilt insbesondere für Untersuchungen zu Deutschland. Methode: Die vorliegende Studie nutzt daher vier Wellen (N= 1.771) einer Opt-in-Panelbefragung, die zwischen März 2020 und April 2021 durchgeführt wurde. Mithilfe multivariabler OLS-Regressionen untersuchen wir die Auswirkungen der Pandemie auf elterlichen Stress und psychische Belastungen unter Einbeziehung einer Vielzahl demographischer und sozio-ökonomischer Merkmale. Ergebnisse: Insgesamt haben sich Stress und psychische Belastungen von Eltern durch die Pandemie erhöht. Während der 1. und 3. Pandemiewelle hatten Mütter sowie Eltern mit Kindern unter 11 Jahren, Eltern mit zwei und mehr Kindern, Eltern, die im Homeoffice arbeiteten, ebenso wie Eltern in finanziell prekären Lagen eine größere Verschlechterung bei Stress zu verzeichnen als andere soziodemografische Gruppen. Eine Verschlechterung bei psychischen Belastungen scheint es bei Frauen, Haushalten mit geringerem Einkommen, Alleinerziehenden und Eltern jüngerer Kinder gegeben zu haben. Schlussfolgerung: Die geschlechtsspezifischen und sozialen Ungleichheiten beim psychischen Wohlbefinden der Eltern nahmen bei den Studienteilnehmern während der Pandemie zu