Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany

Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany PDF Author: Mr.Tom Krebs
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1616350105
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
In 2005 the German government implemented the so-called Hartz IV reform, which amounted to a complete overhaul of the German unemployment insurance system and resulted in a significant reduction in unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. In this paper, we use an incomplete-market model with search unemployment to evaluate the macro-economic and welfare effects of the Hartz IV reform. We calibrate the model economy to German data before the reform and then use the calibrated model economy to simulate the effects of Hartz IV. In our baseline calibration, we find that the reform has reduced the long-run (noncyclical) unemployment rate in Germany by 1.4 percentage points. We also find that the welfare of employed households increases, but the welfare of unemployed households decreases even with moderate degree of risk aversion.

Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany

Macroeconomic Evaluation of Labor Market Reform in Germany PDF Author: Mr.Tom Krebs
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1616350105
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
In 2005 the German government implemented the so-called Hartz IV reform, which amounted to a complete overhaul of the German unemployment insurance system and resulted in a significant reduction in unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. In this paper, we use an incomplete-market model with search unemployment to evaluate the macro-economic and welfare effects of the Hartz IV reform. We calibrate the model economy to German data before the reform and then use the calibrated model economy to simulate the effects of Hartz IV. In our baseline calibration, we find that the reform has reduced the long-run (noncyclical) unemployment rate in Germany by 1.4 percentage points. We also find that the welfare of employed households increases, but the welfare of unemployed households decreases even with moderate degree of risk aversion.

The German Labor Market Reforms and Post-Unemployment Earnings

The German Labor Market Reforms and Post-Unemployment Earnings PDF Author: Niklas Engbom
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513564595
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description
In 2003–05, Germany undertook extensive labor market reforms which were followed by a large and persistent decline in unemployment. Key elements of the reforms were a drastic cut in benefits for the long-term unemployed and tighter job search and acceptance obligations. Using a large confidential data set from the German social security administration, we find that the reforms were associated with a fall in the earnings of workers returning to work from short-term unemployment relative to workers in long-term employment of about 10 percent. We interpret this as evidence that the reforms strengthened incentives to return to work but, in doing so, they adversely affected post re-entry earnings.

Labor Market Institutions and the Cost of Recessions

Labor Market Institutions and the Cost of Recessions PDF Author: Mr.Tom Krebs
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1475592248
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 85

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Book Description
This paper studies the effect of two labor market institutions, unemployment insurance (UI) and job search assistance (JSA), on the output cost and welfare cost of recessions. The paper develops a tractable incomplete-market model with search unemployment, skill depreciation during unemployment, and idiosyncratic as well as aggregate labor market risk. The theoretical analysis shows that an increase in JSA and a reduction in UI reduce the output cost of recessions by making the labor market more fluid along the job finding margin and thus making the economy more resilient to macroeconomic shocks. In contarst, the effect of JSA and UI on the welfare cost of recessions is in general ambiguous. The paper also provides a quantitative appliation to the German labor market reforms of 2003-2005, the so-called Hartz reforms, which improved JSA (Hartz III reform) and reduced UI (Hartz IV reform). According to the baseline calibration, the two labor market reforms led to a substantial reduction in the output cost of recessions and a moderate reduction in the welfare cost of recessions in Germany.

Structural Reform in Germany

Structural Reform in Germany PDF Author: Mr.Tom Krebs
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484340051
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 59

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Book Description
This paper provides a quantitative evaluation of the macroeconomic, distributional, and fiscal effects of three reform proposals for Germany: i) a reduction in the social security tax in the low-wage sector, ii) a publicly financed expansion of full-day child care and full-day schooling, and iii) the further deregulation of the professional services sector. The analysis is based on a macroeconomic model with physical capital, human capital, job search, and household heterogeneity. All three reforms have positive short-run and long-run effects on employment, wages, and output. The quantitative effects of the deregulation reform are relatively small due to the smal size of professional services in Germany. Policy reforms i) and ii) have substantial macroeconomic effects and positive distributional consequences. Ten years after implementation, reforms i) and ii) taken together increase employment by 1.6 percent, potential output by 1.5 percent, real hourly pre-tax wages in the low-wage sector by 3 percent, and real hourly pre-tax wages of women with children by 2.7 percent. The two reforms create fiscal deficits in the short run, but they also generate substantial fiscal surpluses in the long-run. They are fiscally efficient in the sense that the present value of short-term fiscal deficits and long-term surpluses is positive for any interest (discount) rate less than 9 percent.

The Labor Market Performance of Immigrants in Germany

The Labor Market Performance of Immigrants in Germany PDF Author: Robert C. M. Beyer
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513571052
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
The paper uses a large survey (GSOEP) to analyze the labor market performance of immigrants in Germany. It finds that new immigrant workers earn on average 20 percent less than native workers with otherwise identical characteristics. The gap is smaller for immigrants from advanced countries, with good German language skills, and with a German degree, and larger for others. The gap declines gradually over time. Less success in obtaining jobs with higher occupational autonomy explains half of the wage gap. Immigrants are also initially less likely to participate in the labor market and more likely to be unemployed. While participation fully converges after 20 years, immigrants always remain more likely to be unemployed than the native labor force.

Germany - Selected Issues

Germany - Selected Issues PDF Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451810318
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
This Selected Issues paper analyzes labor market asymmetries and macroeconomic adjustment in Germany. Empirical work reported shows that in Germany, negative demand shocks increase the unemployment rate by more than the decrease in the unemployment rate caused by a comparable-sized positive demand shock. The contribution of labor costs to explaining the high level of unemployment, particularly since unification, is studied. Empirical estimates are obtained for the wage gap-the deviation of actual labor costs from warranted labor costs based on estimated production functions assuming competitive factor markets and full employment.

Economic Policy Proposals for Germany and Europe

Economic Policy Proposals for Germany and Europe PDF Author: Ronald Schettkat
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134044410
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Despite exporting more good and services than any other country in the world, economic growth in Germany has been slow through the nineties and the early twenty first century with low wage growth, rising unemployment and increasing public deficits. German unemployment was traditionally diagnosed as structural, neglecting macroeconomic causes of eco

Hartz IV and the Decline of German Unemployment

Hartz IV and the Decline of German Unemployment PDF Author: Brigitte Hochmuth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This paper proposes a new approach to evaluate the macroeconomic effects of the Hartz IV reform in Germany, which reduced the generosity of long-term unemployment benefits. We use a model with different unemployment durations, where the reform initiates both a partial effect and an equilibrium effect. The relative importance of these two effects and the size of the partial effect are estimated based on the IAB Job Vacancy Survey. Our novel methodology provides a solution for the existing disagreement in the macroeconomic literature on the unemployment effects of Hartz IV. We find that Hartz IV was a major driver for the decline of Germany's unemployment and that partial and equilibrium effect where of equal importance. We thereby contribute to the literature on partial and equilibrium effects of unemployment benefit changes. In addition, we are the first to provide direct empirical evidence on labour selection, which can be interpreted as one dimension of recruiting intensity.

Before and After the Hartz Reforms

Before and After the Hartz Reforms PDF Author: Lena Jacobi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Germany
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"Having faced high unemployment rates for more than a decade, the German government implemented a comprehensive set of labour market reforms during the period 2003-2005. This paper describes the economic and institutional context of the German labour market before and after these so-called Hartz reforms. Focussing on active policy measures, we delineate the rationale for reform and its main principles. As results of programme evaluation studies post-reform have become available just now, we give a first assessment of the effectiveness of key elements of German ALMP before and after the Hartz reforms. The evidence indicates that the re-organisation of public employment services was mainly successful, with the exception of the outsourcing of services. Re-designing training programmes seems to have improved their effectiveness, while job creation schemes continue to be detrimental for participants' employment prospects. Wage subsidies and start-up subsidies show significantly positive effects. On balance, therefore, the reform seems to be moving the German labour market in the right direction"--Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit web site.

The Labor Market and Economic Adjustment

The Labor Market and Economic Adjustment PDF Author: Pierre-Richard Agénor
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1451854781
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
This paper examines the role of the labor market in the transmission process of adjustment policies in developing countries. It begins by reviewing the recent evidence regarding the functioning of these markets. It then studies the implications of wage inertia, nominal contracts, labor market segmentation, and impediments to labor mobility for stabilization policies. The effect of labor market reforms on economic flexibility and the channels through which labor market imperfections alter the effects of structural adjustment measures are discussed next. The last part of the paper identifies a variety of issues that may require further investigation, such as the link between changes in relative wages and the distributional effects of adjustment policies.