ZEW Discussion Papers

At the turn of the millenium three frequently cited potential causes of new challenges for wage policy in Germany are revisited in this study: skilled-biased technological progress, the increasing international…

We analyze wage developments in the East German transition process both at the macro and at the microeconomic level. At the macroeconomic level, we draw special attention to the important distinction between…

We analyse Polish active labour market policy (ALMP) training programmes from a macroeconomic (regional) point of view. The effects of training programmes on the outflows from unemployment and the effects of all…

In order to reduce unemployment, it is often recommended that industry-levelwage bargaining in Germany should be replaced by a more decentralized system.This paper provides a critical assessment of the current…

Reputation indexes of employment protection have proven popular constructs in studies of the covariation of labor market institutions and macroeconomic outcomes. Portugal occupies an unenviable rank order in…

This paper demonstrates that insiders can erect barriers to entry and skim rents by sinking costs in human capital when labour markets are otherwise perfectlycontestable. The sunk costs nature of human capital…

This paper provides a labour supply explanation to the observation thatin Germany employment changes are asymmetric during the business cycle.Employment increases are slower, because the reservation wage of…

This econometric study deals with the question as to what extent apprentices after successfully completing their training stay with the firm where they have received their training and, if so, how long that job…

The paper investigates the business cycle relationships between the EU-15, the EU-11, as well as the EU-core countries for the period 1971 to 1997. Emphasis is put on the question whether there is a…