Articles in peer-reviewed journals
- Religious practices and student performance: Evidence from Ramadan fasting (with Erik Hornung and Guido Schwerdt), Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 205, 100-119, 2023.
Journal Website
- The impact of state aid on the survival and financial viability of aided firms (with Sven Heim, Kai Hüschelrath, and Philipp Schmidt-Dengler), European Economic Review 100, 193-214, 2017.
Journal Website
Policy columns: VoxEU | Ökonomenstimme
Working Paper: CEPR Discussion Paper 16620 | CESifo Working Paper 9349
Working paper
- Much ado about nothing? School curriculum reforms and students' educational trajectories (with Chantal Oggenfuss and Stefan C. Wolter) [R & R Labour Economics]
- Classroom rank in mathematics and career choices (with Enzo Brox and Maddalena Davoli)
- Students' grit and their post-compulsory educational choices and trajectories: Evidence from Switzerland (with Janine Albiez and Stefan C. Wolter)
- Assessing the role of asylum policies in refugees' labor market integration: The case of protection statuses in the German asylum system
- Internet usage and migration decisions: Evidence from Nigerian micro data
Abstract | CESifo Working Paper 9912 | Slides EALE 2022
We estimate the impact of a large curriculum reform in Switzerland that substantially increased the share of foreign language classes in compulsory school on students' subsequent educational choices in upper secondary school. Using administrative student register data and exploiting the staggered implementation of the curriculum reform, we find that exposure to more foreign language classes during compulsory school has only minor effects on educational choices of the overall student population. However, we find substantial effect heterogeneity: while the reform has no effect on the direct educational progression of either low-track female or high-track students, it impedes low-track male students' transition to upper secondary education. The effect of foreign language classes on the educational trajectory of low-track male students is particularly pronounced for students who do not speak at home the school's language of instruction. Finally, we find that female students who start vocational training immediately after compulsory school are more likely to select into training occupations that require higher foreign language skills instead of natural science skills.
Abstract | Slides LEER conference 2023 | Paper upon request
We study the impact of classroom rank in math on subsequent educational and occupational choices as well as labor market outcomes. Using the Swiss section of the PISA-2012 student achievement data linked to administrative student register data and earning records from 2012-2020, we exploit differences in math achievement distributions across classes to estimate the effect of students’ ordinal rank in the classroom. We find that students with a higher classroom rank in math are more likely to select into training occupations that require a higher share of math and science skills. We then show this has lasting effects on earnings in the labor market several years after completing compulsory school and is associated with a higher willingness to invest in occupation specific further education. We use detailed subject specific survey information to show that students rank in math is associated with an increase in perceived ability in math and with increasing willingness to provide effort in math. The latter channel may offset potential consequences for occupation mismatch if occupational choices are based on perceived rather than actual ability, as we do not find that rank based decisions lead to increases in occupational changes.
Abstract | CESifo Working Paper 11088
We examine the association between the personality trait grit and post-compulsory educational choices and trajectories using a large survey linked to administrative student register data. Exploiting cross sectional variation in students’ self-reported grit in the last year of compulsory school, we find that an increase in students’ grit is associated with a higher likelihood to start a vocational education instead of a general education. This association is robust to the inclusion of cognitive skill measures and a comprehensive set of other students’ background characteristics. Moreover, using novel data on skill requirements of around 240 vocational training occupations, we find that grittier vocational education students sort into math-intensive training occupations. Similarly, students in general education with more grit select themselves more often into the math-intensive track. Finally, we do not find evidence that students with a higher grit have lower dropout rates in post-compulsory education.
Abstract | Working Paper | Slides EALE 2021
I study the effect of refugees’ protection status—Geneva Convention or subsidiary protection status—on labor market outcomes, focusing on a cohort of Syrian and Iraqi refugee migrants entering Germany between 2013 and 2016. My empirical analysis exploits a sudden and unpredictable March 2016 policy change of the asylum claim-handling federal agency, reducing the likelihood of receiving Geneva Convention refugee status for refugee migrants from these two countries. Using data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees, I exploit the policy change in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. Estimation results indicate a substantial negative effect of subsidiary protection status on earnings and employment.
Abstract | Working Paper | Slides Conference in Development Economics 2021
This paper investigates the role of Internet usage in the migration decision using micro-level data from Nigeria. Internet usage reduces migration costs such as search and information costs or psychological costs, which suggests that having access to the Internet increases the probability to migrate. My empirical analysis exploits variation in Internet usage induced by the arrival of submarine Internet cables in Western Africa. Results indicate a large positive effect of Internet usage on migration. The effect is particularly strong for migration out of Africa and is larger for individuals from the lower part of the wealth distribution.