We show that in school systems with grade retention or redshirting birth cohort size is negatively related to the grade-level share of students who are too old for their grade. This compositional effect gives…

Bidding in first-price auctions crucially depends on the beliefs of the bidders. We analyze bidding behavior in a first-price auction in which the knowledge of the bidders about the distribution of the values of…

This  paper  analyzes  whether  technological  change  improves  equality  of  labormarket opportunities by increasing the returns to skills relative to the returns toparental background.  We find that in…

This paper shows that nineteenth-century industrialization is an essential determinant of the pronounced changes in economic prosperity across German regions over the last 100 years. Using novel data on economic…

Germany has become the second-most important destination for migrants worldwide. Using all waves from the microcensus, we study their labour market integration over the last 50 years and highlight differences to…

Though the use of tracking policies to stratify students is commonplace, evidence concerning the effects of ability-based tracking on student performance is mixed. Using rich data from the Hungarian secondary…

After the beginning of the war in Ukraine, energy prices in Germany increased drastically. The paper analyses responses of German firms to this energy price shock. A variety of measures and reactions at the…