Labour Economist Moves from the US to ZEW Mannheim

As of July 2022, Professor Nicolas Ziebarth will head the Research Department “Labour Markets and Human Resources” at ZEW Mannheim. The role as research department head is linked to a professorship in the Department of Economics at the University of Mannheim. Ziebarth is an economist at the renowned Cornell University in the US, where he has been studying the interaction of (social) insurance systems with labour markets and population health for more than ten years. His primary research interests are sick pay, reduced earning capacity pension, job security and undeclared work.

ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach emphasises: “Nicolas Ziebarth is a much sought-after, internationally renowned researcher. In his research, he addresses extremely relevant issues in labour economics and connects them to health economics, a field which we aim to strengthen at ZEW. We are very pleased that he will join the ZEW team.”

ZEW Managing Director Thomas Kohl adds: “Nicolas Ziebarth is very dynamic, agile and innovative. Thus, he perfectly embodies the values ZEW stands for. Ziebarth also has the necessary management skills to head this important department. Professor Nicolas Ziebarth explains: “ZEW’s offer completely convinced me. The framework conditions here are ideal for advancing my research agenda. Mannheim is an internationally esteemed research location that is unique in Europe. This is not least due to the outstanding combination of the University of Mannheim’s top faculty and ZEW, which boasts an extensive network and enjoys an excellent reputation in applied research and policy advice.”

The Research Department “Labour Markets and Human Resources” analyses the determinants of labour market outcomes in modern economies, taking into account social security systems. For this purpose, administrative and publicly available microdata sets, survey data collected by the researchers themselves as well as unique linked employee-company data are used. Microeconometric methods based on economic theory are used to identify causal relationships. Research focuses in particular on analysing the consequences of advancing digitalisation, the expansion of higher education and migration for employment, wages and equal opportunities, as well as the interplay between labour markets and social security. In addition, the department is currently investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and labour market outcomes as well as the effectiveness of labour market policy measures on infection rates. The aim of the department is to develop empirically based recommendations to address these key challenges of labour market and social policy in Europe. With Nicolas Ziebarth, the department will establish the new research area “Health in Working Life” and investigate the functioning of health-related social security systems as well as the (re)integration of workers with health impairments into the labour market. Particular attention will be given to systems of paid sick leave, sickness benefits and reduced earning capacity pension.

Nicolas Ziebarth studied economics at Humboldt University and the Technical University of Berlin. From 2006 to 2011, he worked for the German Socio-Economic Panel at DIW Berlin. He then joined Cornell University, where he was appointed associate professor with tenure in 2017. Ziebarth has received several awards for his research, which, among other things, served as the basis for US legislation on sick pay.

Cornell is a private university whose main campus is located in Ithaca, New York. It is one of eight Ivy League universities and is considered one of the most prestigious universities in the world.