This paper analyzes whether technological change improves equality of labor market opportunities by decreasing returns to parental background. We find that in Germany during the 1990s, computerization improved the access to technologyadopting occupations for workers with low-educated parents,...

We study how new digital technology reshapes vocational training and skill acquisition and its impact on workers' careers. We construct a novel database of legally binding training curricula and changes therein, spanning the near universe of vocational training in Germany over five decades, and...

This study investigates how crises affect firms' adoption of frontier technologies using the Covid-19 pandemic as a case study. The analysis tracks the nature, timing, and pandemic-related motivations of investments among German firms, using longitudinal survey data linked with administrative...

Um in der Covid-19-Pandemie bestehen zu können, mussten Betriebe in digitale Technologien investieren. Offen ist bislang, ob der 'digitale Graben' zwischen den Betrieben dadurch tiefer geworden ist - ob also digitalisierungserfahrene Betriebe stärker in eine weitere Digitalisierung investiert...

City-level policies often aim at attracting skilled workers by improving urban amenities. However, due to endogeneity problems, studies relying on revealed preferences have difficulties in providing evidence for the basic premise that skilled workers place a higher value on urban amenities than...

Während der Covid-19-Pandemie kam es entgegen der öffentlich herrschenden Meinung zu keiner Beschleunigung der digitalen Transformation in Deutschland. Das zeigen Ergebnisse der neuen Betriebsbefragung "Arbeitswelt 4.0" vom Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), dem...

We investigate the diffusion of frontier technologies across German firms before and during the Covid-19 crisis. Our analysis tracks the nature, timing, and pandemic-related motivations behind technology investments, using tailor-made longitudinal survey data linked to administrative...

Offshoring is often found to be associated with an increase of wage inequality between low- and high-skilled. This is interpreted as a relative decrease of low-skilled labor demand. However, the effect of offshoring on relative labor demand is ambiguous, since low-skilled workers may benefit...

This paper examines the extent to which aggregate-level de-routinization can be attributed to firm-level technology adoption during the most recent technological expansion. We use administrative data and a novel firm survey to distinguish frontier technologies from older technologies. We find...

This paper examines the extent to which aggregate-level de-routinization can be attributed to firm-level technology adoption during the most recent technological expansion. We use administrative data and a novel firm survey to distinguish frontier technologies from older technologies. We find...