ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet) and Rockwool Fonden find that the majority of Ukrainians in Denmark wish to stay, even when the war no longer poses a threat to their hometowns. https://lnkd.in/dAEVEbzb

New VoxEU column by Josh Angrist and Marc Diederichs: "Prolific PhD advisors are no guarantee of graduate student research success". https://lnkd.in/gV8fnmtu Find more in the full discussion paper on our website: https://lnkd.in/d2vCu4hg

🆕 RFBerlin - CReAM #DiscussionPaper: Wage gaps between ethnic minorities and white British workers persist in the UK, but how have they evolved over the last 30 years? A new study by Simonetta Longhi provides the first in-depth longitudinal analysis of these trends. Key Findings: ✅ South Asian men have seen wage improvements, while Black African & Black Caribbean men lag behind. ✅ Gender wage gaps are smaller among ethnic minorities than among white British workers. ✅ Progress is slower for ethnic minority women than for men. Traditional studies pool wage data over years, making it hard to track trends. This paper, covering 1993-2023, reveals that wage gaps for Black workers have remained largely unchanged, while South Asian groups have caught up. Measuring wage gaps properly matters! Unlike previous studies that focus on weekly wages (which conflate pay & hours worked), this study uses hourly wages—a more accurate measure that aligns with UK gender pay gap reporting. 👩💼 What about gender? ✅ Women from ethnic minority groups have historically had smaller wage gaps than men. ✅ But wage gap reductions for women are slower, suggesting this advantage may be temporary. 📚 Education’s Role: 📈 Rising educational attainment has helped South Asian groups close wage gaps. ⚠️ But for Black Caribbeans, stagnant education levels contribute to persistent wage disparities. 🌍 For Black Africans, high education doesn’t translate into higher wages due to migration barriers. 📊 Why do wage gaps persist? 🔹 Occupational differences: Black African & Bangladeshi men remain overrepresented in low-wage jobs. 🔹 Geographical factors: South Asian groups benefit from greater concentration in London, where wages are higher. 🔹 Rising labour force participation: Increasing employment among ethnic minorities affects wage averages. 🔗 Read more on our website and follow us to stay updated on our latest research: https://lnkd.in/ev2US7Ct #WageGap #Ethnicity #Gender #LaborEconomics

🆕 RFBerlin-CReAM #DiscussionPaper: Aya Aboulhosn, Cevat Giray Aksoy, and Berkay Ozcan investigate the relationship between refugee migration and native fertility. Debates about immigration’s role in addressing population aging typically concentrate on immigrant fertility rates. Moreover, standard projections largely overlook how immigration might affect native fertility. In contrast, the authors show that forced immigration can influence native fertility as well, examining the influx of refugees into Türkiye following the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Using two complementary IV strategies, they find evidence that native fertility increases in response to forced migration. This result holds across three distinct datasets and is supported by a corresponding rise in subjective fertility measures, such as the ideal number of children. They also explore four potential mechanisms and document significant heterogeneity in fertility responses among different native subgroups. Overall, their findings suggest that factors related to the labor market and norm transmission may help explain the observed increase in native fertility. Find the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/dgcpzxhU

🆕 RFBerlin - CReAM #DiscussionPaper: How do political connections influence firms? André Diegmann, Laura Pohlan and Andrea Weber study the impact of German parliamentarians holding executive or supervisory positions in firms. While political connections might overcome market frictions, they also raise concerns about favoritism and inefficiencies. This paper studies how connections to federal politicians (not just local ones) affect firm performance. The study compiles a novel dataset linking all members of the German Bundestag (since 1949) to firm-level data, including credit scores, employment, sales, firm entry and exit dates. 🔎 How do firms benefit from political ties? The researchers use two empirical strategies: ✅ Event study: firms that appoint politicians are compared to similar firms appointing non-politicians. ✅ Regression discontinuity: firms gain/lose connections based on close election results. Key findings: 📌 📈 The share of firms connected to politicians in Germany has nearly doubled over two decades. 👥 Politicians with prior executive experience are more sought after by firms after losing elections. Do firms with political connections perform better? ✅ Firms improve their credit ratings after appointing a politician. ✅ Firms with political ties see lower exit rates and higher employment growth. ✅ Politically connected firms are more likely to win subsidies and procurement contracts. 🔎 Why do firms benefit from political connections? Three mechanisms explain the results: 1️⃣ Signal Mechanism: politician connections enhance a firm’s reputation, improving credit ratings. 2️⃣ Management Quality: politicians bring leadership skills & experience, boosting firm performance. 3️⃣ Direct Influence: connected firms receive more subsidies & government contracts. This study finds that even in Germany—a country with strong institutions & transparency laws—political ties to firms matter. The findings suggest that well-connected firms gain advantages in ways that may have broader economic and policy implications. 🔗 Read the full paper on our website and follow us to stay updated on our research: https://lnkd.in/dKGrW-cu

The Telegraph has featured Christian Dustmann in an article examining how the arrival of 10 million immigrants over the next two decades could reshape Britain's economy and society. Dustmann highlights that immigration can be a key driver of economic growth, particularly in sectors facing labor shortages. He explains that while migration can initially create social and political challenges, it also brings long-term economic benefits. https://lnkd.in/d69prUEX

Our Director, Christian Dustmann, has talked about “The Migrant Economy: Turning Movements into Momentum” at The Times Group ET NOW Global Business Summit 2025, taking place in New Delhi, India. https://lnkd.in/dbVUtyDf

Spanish business magazine Revista Consejeros has published an interview with Christian Dustmann on the economic challenges facing Germany and the implications of the upcoming elections. The article explores the need for long-term economic planning and stability amid industrial transformation and global competition. https://lnkd.in/dBMmYZa5

New in the Journal of Public Economics: Lukas Mergele, Moritz Hennicke and Moritz Lubczyk provide the first comprehensive analysis of privatization in East Germany. They document that firms with higher baseline productivity were more likely to be privatized, yielded higher prices, were more often acquired by West Germans, and were more likely to survive 20 years later. https://lnkd.in/d8V67VJe

How do aggregate labor market conditions affect the intra-generational assimilation of immigrants? Gabriele Lucchetti and Alessandro Ruggieri find that immigrants who enter the US when the labor market is slack face large and persistent earnings reductions. Read their full paper, published in Labour Economics, here: https://lnkd.in/dh6KEryn