We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1984 to 1995 to analyze longitudinal aspects of marginal employment (geringfügige Beschäftigung) in West Germany. After discussing problems of identifying marginal employment spells, we document that marginal employment spell vary...

We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1984 to 1995 to analyze longitudinal aspects of marginal employment (geringfügige Beschäftigung) in West Germany. After discussing problems of identifying marginal employment spells, we document that marginal employment spell vary...

"At present it is hardly worthwhile for social assistance recipients to take up employment. The earned income is deducted almost entirely from the social assistance benefits, with the result that any possible increases in the available income are relatively small. The existing social assistance...

Since Eastern Germany's conversion to a market economy wages have remained considerably below the West German wage level. This article looks at the role of establishment-specific factors—such as sectoral affiliation and size of the labour force—in this process. A non-parametric decomposition...