Documents Steffes, Susanne 11 results

"The effects of childbirth on future labor market outcomes are a key issue for policy discussion. This paper implements a dynamic treatment approach to estimate the effect of having the first child now versus later on future employment for the case of Germany, a country with a long maternity leave coverage. Effect heterogeneity is assessed by estimating ex post outcome regressions. Based on SOEP data, we provide estimates at a monthly frequency. The results show that there are very strong negative employment effects which are causally due to childbirth. Although the employment loss is reduced over the first five years following childbirth, it does not level off to zero. We find a significant reduction in the employment loss over time."

"Der technologische Wandel erlaubt es zunehmend, Wertschöpfungsprozesse automatisiert und digital gestützt zu erbringen. Diese Digitalisierung und Automatisierung ist im Produktionsbereich beispielsweise gekennzeichnet durch sich zunehmend selbststeuernde Anlagen und Roboter bis hin zu vollautomatisierten und mit anderen vor- und nachgelagerten Geschäftsbereichen vernetzten "Smart Factories" (Industrie 4.0). Im Dienstleistungsbereich sorgen analog intelligente Software und Algorithmen mit Hilfe großer Datenmengen und Internetschnittstellen für die Digitalisierung und Automatisierung von Geschäftsprozessen. Zum Einsatz kommen etwa Analysetools mit Big Data, Cloud-Computing-Systeme oder Online-Plattformen. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser technologischen Entwicklungen – oftmals Technologien der 4. Industriellen Revolution genannt – werden in der öffentlichen Debatte vermehrt Befürchtungen laut, dass in Zukunft viele Arbeitsplätze überflüssig werden könnten. Dieses Szenario einer „technologischen Arbeitslosigkeit“ wird von Studien aus den USA gestützt, nach denen jeder zweite Arbeitsplatz gefährdet ist (Frey und Osborne, 2013). Für Politik und Gesellschaft drängen sich damit eine Reihe von Fragen auf: Führt die Automatisierung und Digitalisierung tatsächlich zum Abbau von Arbeitsplätzen? Welche Arbeitsplätze sind gefährdet? Wie verändern sich die Arbeitsprozesse und -inhalte im Zuge des Wandels? Wie verändern sich Qualifikations- und Kompetenzanforderungen? Besteht Anpassungsbedarf zur Sicherung der Beschäftigungsfähigkeit von Arbeitnehmern/-innen? Dieser Policy Brief fasst zentrale Erkenntnisse und Einschätzungen aus Sicht der Wissenschaft und den am ZEW entstandenen Arbeiten zusammen."

"Despite a rising career orientation among females and growing efforts of firms to alleviate work–family conflicts, female employees often find it difficult to combine career development with having children. Female careers appear more boundaryless than male careers, and gender differences in the sociological role model persist. Using exceptional longitudinal company data, this paper studies the return-to-job of female employees after first birth in the case of Germany with long Parental Leave coverage. Parental Leave durations often last for 3 years or longer. Our results show that more than 50% of those in Parental Leave do not return to their job afterwards. About 31% of female employees return to part-time work during Parental Leave, and among these, only 57% continue working in their job after the end of Parental Leave. And, having returned to their job after the end of Parental Leave, only 81% continue to work in their job one year after return. Furthermore, female employees have their first child, when their careers have been particularly successful. Overall, the evidence is consistent with the view that the birth of the first child and the experience of the subsequent work–life conflict can lead to a major reassessment of work preferences among female employees. Although a higher career orientation before birth is positively associated with a return-to-job, management must be aware that a sizeable share of female employees, even among the most career oriented and the most successful, may not return to their job after first birth."

"The authors examine job durations of German workers using the Linked Employer–Employee Data of the Institute for Employment Research (LIAB). Results indicate that exit rates are strongly influenced by firm characteristics, such as the existence of works councils and the opportunity for further training. The effects of these characteristics, however, are limited to jobs held by blue-collar workers or by those possessing vocational–educational skills. Changes in coefficients across specifications provide clear evidence for a sorting process whereby workers with expected long job durations are matched to firms offering stable employment and vice versa. An extension of the model to a competing-risks framework shows that both individual-level and firm-level characteristics differ greatly in their effects on worker job exits to unemployment and to new jobs. Evidence suggests that works councils decrease exits to both states, but only for blue-collar workers."

"Zahlreiche Studien der letzten Jahre haben sich mit den Beschäftigungswirkungen des deutschen Kündigungsschutzes befasst. Die Mehrzahl der Untersuchungen fand jedoch keine signifikanten Effekte auf aggregierte Ab- und Zugangsraten in den betroffenen Betrieben. In unserer Analyse schätzen wir die Wirkung des Kündigungsschutzes auf die individuelle Stabilität neu geschaffener Beschäftigungsverhältnisse. Bei der Untersuchung nutzen wir die Änderung des Schwellenwertes im deutschen Kündigungsschutz im Jahr 1999 als natürliches Experiment. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten auf eine positive Wirkung des Kündigungsschutzes auf die Beschäftigungsstabilität neu geschaffener Arbeitsverhältnisse hin. Dieser Effekt tritt jedoch erst nach ca. 200 Tagen auf, was mit der gesetzlichen Wartezeit vor Einsetzen des Kündigungsschutzes übereinstimmt."

"Der Artikel präsentiert empirische Ergebnisse und Schlussfolgerungen zur Frage der betriebliche Mobilität von Arbeitnehmern und ihrer Determinanten vor dem Hintergrund verschiedener ökonomischer Theorien und unter Berücksichtigung der Institutionen des deutschen Arbeitsmarktes. Ziel ist es insbesondere, diejenigen Teilbereiche des Arbeitsmarktes zu identifizieren, die besonders dynamisch oder die besonders inflexibel sind. Schlussfolgerungen betreffen einerseits die Personalpolitik der Betriebe, andererseits gezielte Förderungen zur Integration von Arbeitslosen in stabile Erwerbsverhältnisse. "

"This study sheds light on the return-to-job of female employees after first birth based on exceptional longitudinal data from personnel records of a large German company. Our empirical analysis investigates a number of pertinent hypotheses regarding the return- to-job from a management perspective. We investigate to what extent data available to the management allow to predict the return-to-job of female employees in maternity leave (ML) after first birth. Specifically, we investigate whether good matches result in a higher and quicker return-to-job because management should be most interested in the return of these employees. Another hypothesis to be investigated suggests that a return to a part-time job during ML is associated with a higher incidence of a return-to-job after the end of ML and more stable employment afterwards. Furthermore, we investigate the career development before birth in comparison to female employees not having a child. Our empirical analysis estimates the determinants of the cumulative incidence of exits to different states. The results show that predicting the return-to-job of female employees after first birth is a major challenge for management in a situation with long ML coverage. A large fraction of mothers never returns or has a second child during ML or shortly after return-to-job. Also, female employees have their first child, when their careers have been particularly successful in comparison. On average, these are the female employees management would like to have to return soon to their job. Having to replace these employees during the long ML phase implies high costs for the company and reducing the uncertainty regarding the return-to-job, is of great importance for management. Furthermore, after a long ML duration, a company may not be interested any more in the return-to-job. Our results suggest that a sizeable fraction of mothers with a successful career before first birth does not continue to advance their career and many do not even return to their job. In addition, our findings show that the relative wage position, higher tenure, and an above average frequency of previous promotions show a positive association with the return-to-job and the stability of employment after return. These indicators can be used by management to predict the return-to-job. Furthermore, our results suggest that part-time work during ML is an useful way to reduce potential family-work-conflicts resulting in a higher return-to-job and higher employment stability after return."

"Regarding social needs in Germany long-term care is an important issue due to an ageing population. Shrinking social networks are leading to a greater need for a public long-term care system. In 1995 the social long-term care insurance was introduced in Germany. In recent years some drawbacks of the social long-term care insurance structure turned out to be in need of reform: While health insurance is a fully comprehensive system, long-term care insurance only provides limited cover. Therefore, insurance funds have an incentive to shift some services from health care to long-term care insurance. Additionally, there is no free competition on the long-term care market because care packages included in the in-kind transfers are negotiated (with respect to services and prices) between insurance funds and professional care providers. Finally, the financial situation of the German social long-term care insurance is tight. While in the first years after introduction the net results of revenues and expenditures were positive they have been negative since 1999 which is due to an increasing number of benefit recipients. Therefore, we discuss several reform options which have been proposed in order to overcome the financial and structural problems. Suggestions for the income side include the introduction of fixed premiums, a fully funded system, a private insurance, or a citizens' insurance. The introduction of individual budgets is the most popular option for the outcome side. A social experiment is under way in order to evaluate the impact of so-called matching transfers."

"A firm culture of presence is now giving way to social distancing in many German companies. Though the coronavirus crisis shows just how well working from home can function in Germany, it also shows the catching up that could be done. In almost all private sector companies to date, the potential for employees to work remotely has not yet been fully realised, especially in administrative professions, IT, natural sciences, and trade and commerce. These are the results of a short expert report from ZEW Mannheim together with the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)."

"Die Präsenzkultur weicht dem Social Distancing in vielen deutschen Unternehmen. Die Corona-Krise zeigt, wie gut Homeoffice in Deutschland funktionieren kann, aber auch wo es Nachholbedarf geben könnte. Bisher wurde in fast allen Unternehmen der Privatwirtschaft das Potenzial für Beschäftigte, im Homeoffice zu arbeiten, noch nicht voll genutzt. Insbesondere in administrativen Berufen, IT und Naturwissenschaft, aber auch im Handel schlummerte noch Potenzial. Zu diesen Ergebnissen kommt eine Kurzexpertise des ZEW Mannheim gemeinsam mit dem Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB)."