Carl Gergs

New market-level variation measures how Brazil's 1993 outsourcing legalization affected employment. Labor market frictions fell, benefitting some workers, but harming others, from Mayara Felix and Michael B. Wong https://www.nber.org/papers/w34172

Warnstreik bei Lieferando - Was die Fahrer wollen Warnstreik bei Lieferando - Was die Fahrer wollen

Gestern berichteten die Tagesthemen über die Arbeitsbedingungen bei Lieferdienst-Plattformen und einen drohenden Warnstreik. Ich durfte kurz für @iabnews.bsky.social zu Wort kommen.

www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/s...

Graph showing that while the earnings gap between men and women has decreased over time, the percentage of gender inequality in earnings due to child-related inequality has risen over the years. Reductions in women's labour supply after childbirth remain a persistent driver of gender earnings inequality. Using data from West Germany from the 1960s to 2013, this column explores the evolution of the ‘child penalty’ – post-birth earnings reductions for mothers – in Germany. The child penalty increased over time because women are earning more, so the opportunity cost of motherhood has grown. Family policies can affect gender inequality through changing post-birth earnings decisions. Future research should examine how policies influence pre-birth choices and interact with gender norms over the long run.

Data from West #Germany from the 1960s to 2013 show that the child penalty has increased over time because women are earning more, so the opportunity cost of motherhood has grown.
Ulrich Glogowsky, Emanuel Hansen, Dominik Sachs, Holger Lüthen
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky

The call for papers for the workshop on "Firm Dynamics, Market Structures and Productivity in the Macroeconomy" closes on 14 April! This year's edition is co-organised by @qmul.ac.uk, @boeresearch.bsky.social, @bristoluni.bsky.social and @kent.ac.uk.
Details: sophiepiton.com/papers/2025_...

UK ban on zero-hours contracts ‘to include agency workers’ Government to expand coverage of employment rights bill, according to report

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

ZHCs are back in the news again. Some thoughts:

1. I wish people would stop calling this a ban. The policy is going to give a right to a regular hour contract, most likely determined by hours worked over a 12 week reference period. A lot of details are.. 1/n

Fünf Jahre schon. #saytheirnames

Fünf Jahre nach Hanau: "Es hat meiner Mama das Herz gebrochen, dass ich so viel Angst habe" Sie fühlen sich nicht mehr sicher: Fünf Jahre nach Hanau erzählen migrantische Menschen, wie dieser Tag sie prägt und wie sie auf Deutschland blicken.

Sie fühlen sich nicht mehr sicher: Fünf Jahre nach Hanau erzählen migrantische Menschen, wie dieser Tag sie prägt und wie sie auf Deutschland blicken.

✨✨Important Updates!✨✨

2nd Labour Workshop in Nottingham

🎵Amazing Keynotes: @schoefer.bsky.social and Alexandra Roulet
🗺️Where: @uniofnottingham.bsky.social
📆When: 16-17 June

Submit by March 15 ➡️shorturl.at/TZqG0

Happy to see this paper out @jpube.bsky.social

@lukasmergele.bsky.social @aaoritz.bsky.social and I compile new data to study the “Treuhandanstalt” and it’s management of the privatisation process after German reunification

🚨 Updated WP

Ever wondered how financial aid - grants vs. loans - impacts students' college major choices? In a revised version of our paper, @adridefax.bsky.social and I provide answers using rich administrative data from Chile (link: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....).

Here is a summary:

The IAB Special Lecture Series 2023 / 2024 / 2025

📢 1st IAB Special Lecture of 2025!

We’re thrilled to host David Autor at IAB as he presents: “Does automation replace experts or augment expertise? The answer is yes.”

🕑 January 15, 2025, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM CET

🔗 Register here for onsite or online participation: eveeno.com/iab-speciall...

To collect income taxes, almost all countries require employers to withhold monthly tax prepayments which are then fully credited against the final income tax liabilities of their employees. Despite being a fundamental component of income taxation systems worldwide, the impact of these withholding taxes on labor supply is poorly understood. We investigate their importance in the context of married couples in Germany where the withholding tax liability can be redistributed between spouses. We exploit a reform that reduced the withholding tax for some married women more than for others, while inducing no differences in income taxes. Using administrative data for the full population of German taxpayers, we estimate an elasticity of labor income with respect to the withholding tax eight years after the reform of 0.14. Additional evidence from a self-conducted survey suggests imperfect understanding of the tax system and limited pooling of resources within the household as the main mechanisms. As the majority of couples shift parts of the withholding tax liability from the husband to the wife, our results suggest that the increased withholding tax liability of married women contributes to their low labor supply. This highlights the need for governments to be aware of the distortion of labor supply incentives when the design of withholding taxes does not match actual income tax incentives.

Hello #EconSky!

📢Excited to share my #JMP 📢

It provides a missing piece to understand how people react to income taxation.

Tldr: By changing tax pre-payments governments can - with almost no costs - increase perceived work incentives of secondary earners and reduce the gender gap.

Thread below👇🧵

Thanks Martin 🙂

Thanks Moritz!

#econjmp How do less affluent students respond to student finance induced increases in cost?

🎓Move to full loan policy: ⬇️ enrolment rates of eligible pupils
⚙️Effect driven by ⬆️ costs but also heightened concerns with debt 💰
⚠️Overall: ⬇️teacher supply + narrowed access to university

#econjobmarket

Thanks for reading - find the full paper on my website, feedback and comments are most welcome!

👉 carlgergs.com

(7/7)

❗️Individual level responses to the policy translated to unintended consequences at the aggregate level

🎓 Access to university was narrowed for low-income students of all abilities

📖 Overall supply of teachers contracted during a time when pupil numbers were expanding

(6/7)

What drove this response?

🫰(Sunk) Costs - Increasing concern with study cost and desire to explore different career options before making a final commitment

💰 Debt - Heightened concerns with being financially (in)dependent following the move to a full-loan policy

(5/7)

📉 Reform reduced enrolment rates amongst funding eligible pupils substantially

👩‍🏭👩‍💼 Pupils re-allocated into apprenticeship training instead

👩‍🏫🧑‍🏫 Enrolment contraction particularly pronounced in teacher training & less so in subjects promising higher labour market returns

(4/7)

❗️We find human capital investments of low-income students to be highly cost-sensitive, despite favourable loan conditions

💵 Loans were interest-free and income-contingent repayment plans effectively insured individuals against adverse labour market outcomes

(3/7)

The paper - w/ @barbaraboelmann.bsky.social
@fpeter.bsky.social & H Spangenberg - leverages

⚙️ Rich survey data yet to be used by econ literature
💡 A unique historical setting

1983 - 🇩🇪 moved from offering means-tested student finance as a mix of a grant & loan to exclusively a loan (2/7)

Hello #EconSky 👋 excited to share my JMP!

❓What are the impacts of offering student finance as a grant or a loan?

In the paper, I...
🎓 Study individual university enrolment, subject choice & career motivations
❗️Explore aggregate outcomes e.g. access to university & the occupational structure
🧵👇