This paper uses student-level Third International Mathematics andScience Study (TIMSS) data to analyze the determinants of schoolingquality for seven Eastern European transition countries by estimatingeducational production functions. The results show substantial effectsof student background on...

This paper describes the results of an evaluation of integration subsidies (Eingliederungszuschuss) and wage subsidies (Entgeltsicherung) for older employees in Germany. We examine if unemployed eligible to these subsidies get work earlier than in a situation without these instruments of active...

We estimate peer effects for fourth graders in six European countries. The identification relies on variation across classes within schools. We argue that classes within primary schools are formed roughly randomly with respect to family background. Similar to previous studies, we find sizeable...

The huge difference in the level and variance of student performance in the 2000 PISA study between Finland and Germany motivates this paper. It analyses why Finnish students performed so much better by estimating educational production functions for both countries. The difference in the reading...

We study the role of privacy in the market for mobile applications. For such programs used with smartphones and tablet PCs a very important market has emerged. Yet, neither the role of privacy on that market is well understood, nor do we have empirical evidence regarding its role therein. We...

I quantify spillovers of attention in a network of content pages, which is challenging, because such networks form endogenously. I exploit exogenous variation in the article network of German Wikipedia to circumvent this problem. Wikipedia prominently advertises one featured article on its main...

Studies on the underlying mechanisms of social mobility commonly find that half of the intergenerational earnings persistence remains unexplained. Focusing on the phenomenon of overqualification, this study examines a transmission channel that might operate beyond the mechanisms previously...