Fixing the leak: Unemployment incidence before and after the 2006 reform of unemployment benefits in Germany

"From 2002 - 2004, the German government passed several laws that curtailed the generosity of the unemployment compensation system. One of the most ambitious changes was a considerable reduction in unemployment benefit entitlement lengths for older unemployed, which was effective during 2006 and 2007. We apply a difference-in-differences approach to show that the highly disputed reform induced a considerable decline in unemployment incidence among older workers. It thus sealed an important leak in the unemployment insurance system. Furthermore, we find a strong anticipation effect; unemployment entries of elderly workers peaked during the months preceding the reform." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))ältere Arbeitnehmer, arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahme, Arbeitslosengeld, Leistungsbezug - Dauer, Wirkungsforschung

Fixing the leak: unemployment incidence before and after the 2006 reform of unemployment benefits in Germany

From 2002-2004, the German government passed several laws that curtailed the generosity of the unemployment compensation system. One of the most ambitious changes was a considerable reduction in unemployment benefit entitlement lengths for older unemployed, which was effective during 2006 and 2007. We apply a difference-in-differences approach to show that the highly disputed reform induced a considerable decline in unemployment incidence among older workers. It thus sealed an important leak in the unemployment insurance system. Furthermore, we find a strong anticipation effect; unemployment entries of elderly workers peaked during the months preceding the reform. --unemployment incidence,policy evaluation,administrative data

The Glass Transition of Thin Polymer Films: Some Questions, and a Possible Answer

A simple and predictive model is put forward explaining the experimentally observed substantial shift of the glass transition temperature, Tg, of sufficiently thin polymer films. It focuses on the limit of small molecular weight, where geometrical `finite size' effects on the chain conformation can be ruled out. The model is based on the idea that the polymer freezes due to memory effects in the viscoelastic eigenmodes of the film, which are affected by the proximity of the boundaries. The elastic modulus of the polymer at the glass transition turns out to be the only fitting parameter. Quantitative agreement is obtained with our experimental results on short chain polystyrene (Mw = 2 kg/mol), as well as with earlier results obtained with larger molecules. Furthermore, the model naturally accounts for the weak dependence of the shift of Tg upon the molecular weight. It furthermore explains why supported films must be thinner than free standing ones to yield the same shift, and why the latter depends upon the chemical properties of the substrate. Generalizations for arbitrary experimental geometries are straightforward.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure