The number of long-term unemployed in Germany has stagnated at around one million for several years. Despite excellent labour market conditions, the long-term unemployment rate is well above the OECD average. Therefore, the "carrot and stick" principle of Hartz reforms is in clear need of...

Das Hartz-IV-Gesetz führte zu einer weit reichenden Reform der sozialen Sicherung in Deutschland. Neben den erwarteten Einkommensverlusten bei Arbeitslosenhilfeempfängern führt diese Reform aber auch zu weit weniger beachteten Ausweitungen von Transfers, denn neben ehemaligen Empfängern von...

Using a unique dataset of German members of parliament (MPs) this paper analyzes the politicians’ wage gap (PWG). After controlling for observable characteristics as well as accounting for election probabilities and campaigning costs, we find a positive income premium for MPs which is...

This paper studies whether people's perception of improvements in local air quality are reflected in the housing market based on comprehensive data on real estate prices from Germany. Using a quasi-experimental research design, we exploit the staggered introduction of Low Emission Zones (LEZs)...

Low Emission Zones (LEZs) reduce local air pollution by restricting emission-intensive vehicles from accessing designated areas and have been shown to improve population health. Little is known about the effects of driving restriction policies on other areas of life. This paper studies the...

This paper studies health effects from restricting the access of high-emission vehicles to innercities by implementing Low Emission Zones. For identification, we exploit variation in the timing and the spatial distribution of the introduction of new Low Emission Zones across cities in Germany....

Environmental regulations are typically considered to be a drag on the economy. However, improved environmental quality may actually enhance productivity by creating a healthier workforce. Evidence suggests that improvements in air quality lead to improvements in worker productivity at the micro...