Economics Department J.-F.-Kennedy Institute

📢 Why do women & men earn different wages – & what role do firms play?

New research finds that firm differences explain a substantial share of the #GenderWageGap.

📄 by @ansolassen.bsky.social (@wzb.bsky.social @bsoeberlin.bsky.social) & coauthors.

cepr.org/voxeu/column...

#InternationalWomensDay

Parenthood and the Career Ladder: Evidence from Academia by Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandić, Anne Sophie Lassen, and Valentina Tartari

Focus and Research Question The study examines how becoming a parent affects academic careers and whether it contributes to gender gaps at senior levels. It asks whether motherhood and fatherhood have different effects on staying in academia and reaching tenure (a permanent senior position).

Data and Methodology The researchers use population-wide Danish administrative data linked to publication records, promotions, and family information. They apply an event-study design, comparing men and women before and after the birth of their first child to isolate the impact of parenthood.

Key Findings I – Careers diverge after the first child Before parenthood, men and women follow similar career paths. After the first child, one in three women leave academia, while men’s academic employment declines only slightly.

👶📚 Does #parenthood affect academic careers equally?

A new study shows that after the first child, many mothers leave #academia and are less likely to reach tenure (a permanent professorship) – while fathers’ careers remain largely unchanged.

berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

Upcoming presentation 🎓

@steinhardt.bsky.social presents Environmental Shocks and Female Employment: Evidence from the Dust Bowl (with @freya-rubel.bsky.social & @yue-louise-hu.bsky.social) at the Economic History Seminar of the @uc3m.es.

Hosted locally by @juliazimmermann.bsky.social

📅 Feb 19

🗓️ Thursday, February 12:
We are very happy to welcome Maik T. Schneider at the Research Seminar in Economics at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. He will present his work on „Can Democracy Cope with Extreme Views“
#EconFUBerlin #RseFUBerlin

🏫 Can “efficiency upgrades” really fix #schoolchoice outcomes?

👥 A new study by Josué Ortega, @gabrielziegler.bsky.social, R. Pablo Arribillaga, and Geng Zhao shows why improving the Deferred Acceptance algorithm may still leave key problems untouched.

📑 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

Online Tutoring, School Performance, and School-to-Work Transitions: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial by Silke Anger, Bernhard Christoph, Agata Galkiewicz, Shushanik Margaryan, Malte Sandner, and Thomas Siedler (with photos of the researchers) Logo Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - German Research Foundation, logo Labor Market Transformation - DFG Research Unit

Focus and Research Question The study examines whether online tutoring for low-performing secondary school students improves not only grades, but also their transition from school into vocational training or work.

Why This Matters While tutoring is known to raise short-term academic performance, it is unclear whether these gains translate into better early career outcomes, which are crucial for long-term employment prospects.

Data and Methodology The researchers ran a randomized controlled trial with 839 students in Germany, randomly offering access to one-on-one online tutoring to identify causal effects.

💻 ⬆️ Can online tutoring do more than improve grades?

📑 How one-on-one online tutoring helps low-performing students expecially at the critical moment of moving into vocational training or work

🔗 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

When Confidence Limits Attention: New Evidence on Belief Updating by Ciril Bosch-Rosa, Muhammed Bulutay, and Bernhard Kassner

Focus and Research Question Overprecision—overestimating the accuracy of one’s own beliefs—may shape how people allocate attention to information. This matters because, in an information-rich world, ignoring additional evidence is often framed as rational. However, what seems rational may instead be partially driven by biased confidence in one’s existing views.

Theory and Approach The authors extend a standard model of rational inattention (choosing how much information to process when it is costly) to include overprecision. They predict that overconfident people will update their beliefs less and pay less attention.

Data and Experiment They run a pre-registered online experiment with a representative German sample. Participants estimate average ages in photos, report how uncertain they are, and then update their beliefs after seeing some information.

🎯 Do people ignore information because it’s costly – or because they’re too confident in what they already know?

📊 A new study shows that overconfidence in one’s own beliefs can reduce attention to new information.

Read more 👉 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

How Architecture Creates Economic Value Beyond Buildings by Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Elisabetta Pietrostefani, and Ailin Zhang

Focus and Research Question The paper asks how much “good architecture” is worth economically, and whether markets deliver too little of it. The key issue is that design benefits can extend beyond the building itself.

Why markets may underprovide design High-quality design can create spillovers — benefits to neighbors and the wider area that the developer cannot fully charge for. This can lead to less investment in design than is socially desirable.

Evidence base and data The authors synthesise evidence from many empirical studies linking architectural design to property prices and rents. They distinguish between effects on the designed building itself and effects on nearby buildings.

🏙️ Is “good #architecture” just aesthetics – or real #economic value?

👥 A new #paper by @ahlfeldt.bsky.social, E. Pietrostefani, and A. Zhang shows how distinctive design can raise prices not only for one building, but also for its neighbourhood.

📑 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

When Random Assignment Is Not Enough for Causal Evidence by Marco Schmandt, Constantin Tielkes, and Felix Weinhardt

Focus and Research Question The paper examines whether studies that rely on random placement — the random assignment of people to places or groups — can still produce biased results when estimating the effects of local conditions or group characteristics. This matters because random placement is often treated as a gold standard for causal evidence in economics.

Core Idea The authors show that random placement alone does not guarantee unbiased estimates of local factors, because people are assigned to places, not to specific local characteristics like unemployment or social attitudes. As a result, estimates can mix causal effects with hidden biases.

Data and Setting The framework is tested using administrative data on more than 69,000 refugees in Germany, who were initially assigned to counties under a random dispersal policy. The data track individuals over time and capture all later moves, which is crucial for studying mobility bias.

🎯 Does random assignment really guarantee unbiased results?

👥 A new study by @marcodavis94.bsky.social, Constantin Tielkes, and Felix Weinhardt shows why this common assumption can be misleading.

Read more 📑 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

#economicresearch #evidencebasedpolicy

Berlin School of Economics | INSIGHTS pieces (with INSIGHTS logo) title: The Economics of Architecture pictures of the authors Gabriel Ahlfedlt, Elisabetta Pietrostefani, Ailin Zhang background: city skyline merges with financial data, reflecting economic growth and urban development

🏙️ The #Economics of #Architecture

@ahlfeldt.bsky.social, Elisabetta Pietrostefani & Ailin Zhang bring architectural quality into urban & welfare economics, documenting spillovers, heterogeneous preferences & a coordination problem in design investment.
👇
berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insight/the-...

Nobel Prize Lecture 2025: The lecture by Prof. Chi Hyun Kim (in the picture) and Prof. Ben Schumann (in the picture) explored key kontributions of the 2025 Nobel Laureates Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt. Also in the picture: Prof. Daniel Klapper, Dean of the School of Business and Economics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Also in the picture: clapping guests/audience

🏗️ From the Industrial Revolution to artificial intelligence – what drives economic growth, and at what cost?

Yesterday, the Nobel Prize Lecture 2025 took place at the School of Business and Economics at @humboldtuni.bsky.social

Discover more 📑 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

🗓️ Thursday, January 22:
We are very happy to welcome Jana Mareckova at the Research Seminar in Economics at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. She will present her work on „A Causal Machine Learning Analysis of Swiss Active Labor Market Policies“
#EconFUBerlin #RseFUBerlin

🗓️ Thursday, January 15:
We are very happy to have Teresa Freitas Monteiro at the Research Seminar in Economics at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. She will present her work on „Harsh Rhetoric and Cultural Identity: Backlash Effects of Denmark‘s Ghetto List“
#EconFUBerlin #RseFUBerlin

📢 Call for Papers

Inaugural Workshop of the Standing Committee for Political Economy (Verein für Socialpolitik e.V.) @vfsecon.bsky.social

📍 Freie Universität Berlin

🗓 March 26–27, 2026

Submit full papers by Jan 23, 2026 (incl. poster session, esp. for PhDs/ECRs).

🏘️ Many studies assume that asking prices or tax assessments reflect real market values—but a new paper shows that this assumption does not always hold.

🔗 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

👥 @ahlfeldt.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social @cep-lse.bsky.social
#spacialeconomics

📑 🗣️ Berlin calling II: Interested in pursuing a PhD in Economics with a North American focus in Berlin? 🇩🇪🇺🇸🇨🇦

The Graduate School of North American Studies at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social is now accepting applications for its doctoral program.

⚠️Deadline: January 31, 2026

Exciting news from our team! 🎉

Research from our group is currently being shared at the Institute for @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social at the @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social.

PhD researcher @riawilken.bsky.social is there as a visiting researcher, supported by a Fulbright Scholarship 🌍✨

Nobel Prize Lecture 2025 Title: Economics Growth through Technological Progress and Creative Destruction This event is supported by the WWG.

⏰ Reminder: Nobel Prize Lecture 2025

Join us on January 14, 2026 at @humboldtuni.bsky.social.

Chi Hyun Kim and Ben Schumann discuss the ideas of the 2025 Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences, followed by a New Year’s Reception.

🔗 More info: www.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/de/Events/no...

💡 Can an economic downturn make nursing home care more expensive, even in a system with regulated prices?

📑This new study takes a close look and uncovers a surprising mechanism.

🔗 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

@freieuniversitaet.bsky.social @diw.de

#longtermcare #economicresearch

✨ As the year comes to a close, we send our warmest holiday wishes to our colleagues and students.

🙏 Thank you for your engagement, collaboration, and commitment throughout the year. We look forward to continuing our work together in the year ahead.

#HappyHolidays #BestWishes

Nobel Prize Lecture 2025 Janaury 14, 2026 18:00 | Heilig-Geist-Kapelle, School of Business and Economics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin This event is supported by the WWG.

📢 Nobel Prize Lecture 2025 at @humboldtuni.bsky.social 🎓

On Jan 14, 2026, Chi Hyun Kim and Ben Schumann introduce the work of the 2025 Nobel Laureates Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt.

🥂 Followed by the New Year’s Reception

👉 More info: www.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/de/Events/no...

📣 Call for Papers

Join us for the 2nd Berlin PhD Conference in Economics on July 6-8, 2026.

🗓 July 6-8, 2026
⏰ Application deadline: 25 January 2026

🔗 Learn more & apply: berlinschoolofeconomics.de/event-detail...

@wzb.bsky.social @hertieschool.bsky.social #phdconference

Europe’s housing crisis is fuelling the rise of the far right. Our research shows how to address it | Tarik Abou-Chadi, Björn Bremer and Silja Häusermann The mantra of ‘build, build, build’ misses something crucial: that few can afford these new homes, say Tarik Abou-Chadi, Silja Häusermann and Björn Bremer

Our latest research on inequality in housing space highlighting the role of overcrowding and under-occupation by @steinhardt.bsky.social @simonvoss.bsky.social & @sebastiankohl.bsky.social has been featured in @theguardian.com.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In a new policy with @sebastiankohl.bsky.social and @simonvoss.bsky.social, we spotlight an overlooked side of housing inequality: how living space is distributed. Both overcrowded and under-occupied homes have been rising in Germany in recent years.
politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/progressive-...

Happy to share that I just presented for the first time at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association. I’m grateful for everyone who offered comments and feedback in my session. Had a great time in Tampa☀️

It was great to be in Tampa for the SEA 2025 conference and to present in such an interesting session. Many thanks for all the valuable comments! #SEA2025 #Economics

Excited to be attending the 95th Meeting of the Southern Economic Association in Tampa, Florida, alongside @freya-rubel.bsky.social, @steinhardt.bsky.social, and @yue-louise-hu.bsky.social from the Economics Department at Freie Universität Berlin.
#SEA2025 #Economics

Just arrived in Tampa for the 95th Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association! Looking forward to great discussions and new ideas.

If you’ll be here and want to meet up, feel free to send me a DM. Always happy to offer advice to early-career scholars and students.

#SEA2025

Do Natural Disasters Affect Household Saving? Evidence From the August 2002 Flood in Germany - Economics of Disasters and Climate Change Recently, there is a growing interest in understanding how individuals adapt to changing climate conditions and climate-induced extreme weather events. An underexplored question is whether and how cli...

🎉 Our study “Do Natural Disasters Affect Household Saving?” found a great home in Economics of Disasters and Climate Change!
After Germany’s 2002 flood, affected households saved less — generous disaster aid can ease hardship but also reduce precautionary saving.
doi.org/10.1007/s418...