Risk aversion has generally been found to decrease in income or wealth. This may lead one to expect that poor countries will be more risk averse than rich countries. Recent comparative findings with students, however, suggest the opposite, giving rise to a riskincome paradox. We test this...

Begünstigt freiwilliges Engagement die Integration von Wiedereinsteigerinnen in das Erwerbsleben? In Wissenschaft und Politik wird vermehrt diskutiert, wie Frauen, besonders nach familienbedingten Erwerbsunterbrechungen, schneller in den Arbeitsmarkt integriert werden können. Aus politischer...

This discussion paper describes the extent of social inequalities both within and between the countries of the European Union. In the first three chapters we address the micro level of individual life courses: education, employment and income. The following chapters analyse the societal...

Die Forschung zum Themenfeld der Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie schenkt dem Beruf selten Beachtung. In diesem Aufsatz gehen wir deshalb der Frage nach, inwieweit der Beruf die Dauer von familienbedingten Erwerbsunterbrechungen beeinflusst. Welche Bedeutung hat die berufliche Schließung,...

A particular adaptation of Gale's top trading cycles procedure to school choice, the so-called TTC mechanism, has attracted much attention both in theory and practice due to its superior efficiency and incentive features. We discuss and introduce alternative adaptations of Gale's original...

The question whether ethnic diversity is associated with declining social cohesion has produced much controversy. We maintain that more attention must be paid to cognitive mechanisms to move the debate ahead. Using survey data from 938 localities in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, we...

This paper considers the problem of allocating N indivisible objects among N agents according to their preferences when transfers are not allowed, and studies the tradeoff between fairness and efficiency in the class of strategy-proof mechanisms. The main finding is that for strategy-proof...

Imitating the best strategy from the previous period has been shown to be an important heuristic, in particular in relatively complex environments. In this experiment we test whether subjects are more likely to use imitation if they are under stress. Subjects play a repeated Cournot oligopoly....

We introduce the notion of strategic awareness in experimental games which captures the idea that subjects realize they are playing a game and thus have to form beliefs about others' actions. The concept differs from both, rule understanding and rationality. We then turn to experimental evidence...

Dieses Discussion Paper präsentiert eine Literaturstudie zum Thema Leistungsanreize und Leistungsverhalten, die im Kontext des Forschungsprojektes Leistungspolitik im internationalen Vergleich am WZB entstanden ist. Die Literaturstudie verfolgt zwei Ziele. Zum ersten werden Theorien und...