https://hdl.handle.net/10419/44 2026-10-02T12:32:04Z 2026-10-02T12:32:04Z Badalyan, Sona https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336186 2026-02-07T03:49:28Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Crowded career ladders? Intra-firm spillovers of raised retirement age Authors: Badalyan, Sona Abstract: I study how delayed retirements reshape firms internal labor markets, leveraging a German reform that raised womens early retirement age by at least three years. The reform increased retention of older women and reduced both internal promotions and external hiring of younger coworkers, with the greatest losses among middle-aged workers who were near to older workers on the career ladder. Spillovers are structured: promotion crowd-outs arise in thick internal labor markets with intense competition, while hiring declines are largest in thin external markets with high turnover costs. Crowd-out effects concentrate within jobcells, whereas coworkers in different jobcells can benefit when retained older workers possess specific human capital. Taken together, the evidence supports slot-constraint theoriesaugmented by firm-specific human-capital mechanisms.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Coskun, Sena Dalgic, Husnu Özdemir, Yasemin https://hdl.handle.net/10419/343435 2026-09-09T14:55:57Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Navigating motherhood: Endogenous penalties and career choice Authors: Coskun, Sena; Dalgic, Husnu; Özdemir, Yasemin Abstract: We document that women strategically sort into "family-friendly" sectors characterized by lower returns to experience but lower per-child penalties before the birth of their first child. This anticipatory sorting represents an ex-ante cost of motherhood that is entirely missed by conventional child penalty measures. We build a heterogeneous agent model of career choice and fertility to quantify this "sorting penalty." Our central finding is that while the direct income loss from career sorting is small, this result reveals the high effectiveness of the primary tools women use to navigate motherhood: the quality-quantity (Q-Q) and time-expenditure (T-E) trade-offs. By providing empirical evidence for both margins, we show that women are not passive subjects of child penalties; they are active, strategic agents who utilize these finer trade-offs to realize family goals while mitigating career costs. Our findings highlight that because fertility and penalties are deeply endogenous, policy frameworks that exclude these trade-offs will fundamentally miscalculate the fertility responses and career costs of interventions.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Bellmann, Lutz Dustmann, Christian Fitzenberger, Bernd https://hdl.handle.net/10419/343466 2026-09-09T14:56:03Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Collective bargaining in Germany: Trends and challenges Authors: Bellmann, Lutz; Dustmann, Christian; Fitzenberger, Bernd Abstract: This paper examines the evolution, institutional structure, and current challenges of collective bargaining in Germany. Collective bargaining addresses labor market imperfections, redistributes productivity gains, and shapes working conditions. The German system is centered on industry-level agreements, complemented by firm-level agreements and voluntary adoption of industry-level bargaining outcomes by formally uncovered firms ("orientation"). It has historically supported cooperative labor-management relations, while allowing for flexibility during economic downturns. We document long-term declines in union density and bargaining coverage, partly mitigated by orientation. Moreover, coverage is lower among low-wage workers. We conclude by discussing the future of Germany's collective bargaining institutions in the context of structural economic change and the growing role of the statutory minimum wage, and draw comparison between Germany and the US.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Bauer, Anja Weber, Enzo https://hdl.handle.net/10419/343436 2026-09-09T14:55:58Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Decomposing variations in labor market mismatch Authors: Bauer, Anja; Weber, Enzo Abstract: This paper shows how changes in labor market mismatch can be attributed to the components unemployment, vacancies and matching efficiency. We find that unemployment is the most important factor and also drives the cyclical fluctuations, while the vacancy contributions are smaller and countercyclical. We differentiate by the source of unemployment and show that flows vis-à-vis employment increase mismatch, while this is not the case for non-employment and apprenticeship / training.

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