25.  November '24
VfS Presentation Prize 2024

Due to his presentation at the annual conference of the European Association of Labour Economists, Sven Hartmann was awarded a presentation prize from the Verein für Socialpolitik. The Association supports young international economists by granting bonuses of 300€ for presentations at esteemed international conferences.

19.  November '24
New publication: New regulation of sanctions in SGB II

The article “Neuregelung der Sanktionen im SGB II,” written by Prof. Dr. Daniel Ulber, has been published in the journal “Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialrecht” (NZS 2024, 841).

Comprehensive reforms to SGB II came into force on January 1, 2023, focusing on the citizens' benefits regulations. The discussions surrounding the level of benefits and the sanctions imposed if benefit recipients fail to meet their obligations to cooperate remain politically explosive. Recent changes in the Budget Financing Act 2024 specifically tighten the sanctions regime, especially for people who persistently refuse reasonable work offered to them (so-called “total refusers”). Although sanctions in the form of benefit reductions due to refusal to work only affect a small proportion of benefit recipients, and the number of total refusers is likely to be even lower, the ongoing debate underlines the issue's importance. Because the Federal Constitutional Court classified the previous sanctions regime as excessive, Prof. Dr. Daniel Ulber examines the current adjustments in terms of both content and constitutional law in this article.

11.  November '24
The IAAEU library is open again from Monday to Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm

Due to the construction situation, please register shortly before by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by telephone on 0651/201-4766.

Access is only possible via the staircase at the transition building H, 1st floor (see site plan).

Further information about the library

06.  November '24
New Publication in Labour Economics

Sven Hartmann, a researcher at IAAEU and the University of Trier, investigates the impact of West German television on attitudes and life decisions in former East Germany.

In many areas of the GDR, West German TV programs—often featuring unmarried and childless TV characters—could be received, shaping social norms differently than in regions without access. Dr. Hartmann’s study shows that exposure to these programs led to lower marriage and birth rates, with potential long-term implications for tax revenue, and for pension and healthcare systems.

Sven Hartmann (2024), Television and family demography: Evidence from a natural experiment in East Germany, Labour Economics, 91: 102640 .

30.  October '24
Green Transition and the Quality of Work

The book "Green Transition and the Quality of Work", co-authored by Prof. Dr. Daniel Ulber and published by Springer Nature-Verlag, has been released.

In 2019, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal with the aim of making the European Union climate-neutral by 2050. Five years later, this book examines the far-reaching effects on labour relations from the perspective of labour law and human resources management. It presents new ideas for a fair "green transition" and for the quality of work. The book brings together contributions from the international research community to stimulate a comprehensive, multidisciplinary discussion on the key issues surrounding the impact and prospects of the green transition on the quality of work. It focuses on topics such as regulatory strategies, the actors involved in environmental and employment policy, and the role of business in environmental policy, including its promotion and accountability.

Prof. Dr Ulber has written the chapter "Green Transition and Qualification - Social and Labour Law Instruments" in the book.

29.  October '24
New Publication by Marco Clemens on Job Satisfaction

A study soon to be published in the ILR Review by Marco Clemens from the IAAEU and the University of Trier explores the effects of bonus and profit-sharing payments on employee’s job satisfaction. Using German panel data, the study reveals that workers report significantly higher job satisfaction levels when their wages include bonuses that are not dependent on employee’s performance. This result holds largely irrespective of the bonus size. In contrast, profit-sharing only shows a positive association if the payments constitute a substantial portion of overall wages. The positive relationship between bonuses and job satisfaction is particularly strong for men, reciprocal workers (i.e., those more likely to respond to employers’ appreciation through increased effort), workers in the private sector, and those in small companies. For profit-sharing, only the latter factor moderates the relationship positively. These results, especially regarding reciprocity, suggest that unconditional bonuses function through different mechanisms – for instance, a gift-exchange mechanism – compared to incentives like profit-sharing.

The study has important implications for designing employee compensation packages. It suggests that bonus payments could be an effective alternative to performance-based incentives for boosting employee’s job satisfaction.

17.  October '24
CSR and Collective Bargaining

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of companies can extend to many areas: the environment, the supply chain, production locations or employees. CSR activities often have a direct negative impact on profits because, for example, production costs increase. In return, consumers or employees can respond to CSR activities with an increased willingness to pay or a higher level of work effort. If the second effect is strong enough, it can offset the increase in production costs and CSR activities can raise profits.

However, if CSR activities are not directly observable, companies have the incentive to claim to have undertaken them without actually having done so. In this way, they can realize the additional profit through CSR on the one hand, whilst on the other hand avoiding higher production costs. A new paper by Laszlo Goerke (University of Trier and IAAEU) and Nora Paulus (formerly also IAAEU Trier, now University of Luxembourg), which has just been published in the Canadian Journal of Economics, is based on this idea. Goerke and Paulus assume that a company improves the employment conditions of its employees and that they are prepared to accept a reduction in wages in exchange for the improvement. However, once the wage reduction has been agreed upon, the company has no incentive to implement the improvement. Changes in working conditions laid down in a collective bargaining agreement will be very costly not to realize. This is the case because the union can respond to such a breach of contract by the company with strikes and legal actions. These sanctions are not available to individual employees. As a result, CSR activities agreed upon in collective agreements are more likely to be implemented than if a company introduces them unilaterally, because the credibility problem can be overcome through collective agreements.

The main insight of the analysis by Goerke and Paulus is that collective bargaining, which includes not only wages but also CSR elements, can lead to both a better situation for employees and an increase in profits. The two authors suspect that co-determination at the establishment level in Germany can have similar, positive effects because works councils also have an incentive to implement CSR activities for the benefit of employees. However, the positive effect of collective agreements only occurs if the CSR activities benefit employees. If, for example, environmental aspects are affected, employees have little incentive to insist on the implementation unless they profit directly. In this case, collectively negotiated CSR activities may increase entrepreneurial incentives for Green-washing, i.e. the attempt to give oneself a sustainable image without implementing corresponding CSR activities in operational business.

Laszlo Goerke und Nora Paulus (2024), Collective Bargaining about Corporate Social Responsibility, Canadian Journal of Economic (doi: 10.1111/caje.12736)

01.  October '24
Prof. Dr. Daniel Ulber appointed as the new Director

The Ministry of Science and Health Minister Clemens Hoch appointed Mr. Ulber as Chair of European Labour Law and Civil Law, which he accepted. Regarding § 7 para. 2 of the foundation deed for the IAAEU, the Minister of Science and Health appointed Mr. Ulber as Director and representative of the Foundation's law department with effect from 1 October 2024 on the recommendation of the Advisory Board and the Director of Economic Sciences.

Before joining the IAAEU, Mr. Ulber was a professor at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he was Chair of Civil Law, Corporate Law, and Labour Law. The central topics of his research are German and European labor law. Still, he also regularly focuses on the overlaps with other areas of law, such as constitutional law and social law.

Mr Ulber has already demonstrated his legal expertise through many specialist publications and commentaries. In 2010, he was awarded the CBH doctoral prize for his dissertation on collective bargaining law in the conflict between collective bargaining autonomy and the duty to protect fundamental rights. Mr. Ulber was also honored with the Hans Kelsen Prize for outstanding academic achievements in 2016.

The IAAEU looks forward to working with Mr. Ulber and would like to thank Ms. Schlachter, who has decisively shaped and advanced the Institute and research in European and international labor law over decades.

16.  July '24
SOEP User Conferenz 2024

The SOEP User Conference took place in Berlin in July 2024. This conference serves as a significant gathering for researchers who utilize data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

Numerous renowned researchers from around the world who work with SOEP data attended the conference. Representatives from the IAAEU included Marco Clemens, Theresa Geißler and Dr. Sven Hartmann. Marco Clemens spresented a paper on "Windfall Gains and Educational Mismatch," which explores the relationship between unexpected financial gains, such as lottery winnings, and on-the-job preferences. Theresa Geißler discussed "School Starting Age and Educational Mismatch," focusing on how the age at which children start school affects their education-job-match quality. Dr. Sven Hartmann addressed the topic "Fog or Smog? The Impact of Uncensored Reporting on Pollution on Individuals' Environmental Awareness," examining how transparent pollution reporting influences public awareness regarding environmental issues.

Highlights of the conference included keynote speeches by Prof. Jutta Mata from University of Mannheim on “Health in Social Change” and Prof. Simon Jäger from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on "Labor Market Power: Causes, Consequences, and Cures." Additionally, a special session on the harmonization of international data sets was held. This session emphasized the potential of cross-country comparative research and the importance of standardized data for such endeavours.

12.  July '24
VHB awards honorary membership to Dieter Sadowski

Dieter Sadowski, former director of the IAAEU, was elected an honorary member of the Verband der Hochschullehrerinnen und Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft (VHB) at its Annual General Meeting in June 2024. Founded in 1921, the VHB is the leading academic association for management and business administration in German-speaking countries. With an honorary membership, the VHB recognises academics who have uniquely contributed to research in management and business administration. The justification for the honorary membership award highlights Dieter Sadowski's contribution to establishing personnel economics in Germany. He played a decisive role in broadening the foundation of human resource management. We congratulate Dieter Sadowski on this honourable distinction and are delighted with him for the outstanding recognition of his life's work.

03.  Juli '24
Conference on adequate minimum wages in the EU

On June 13th and 14th 2024, the conference "Adequate Minimum Wages in the EU" took place at the University of Luxembourg. It focused on European wage policy and its current development through Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages. Experts from all over Europe came together to discuss this topic. Prof. Dr. Dres. H.c. Monika Schlachter took part in a round table session concerning the impact of the Directive in the Member States.

The recently published book „The EU directive on adequate minimum wages“ was presented at the conference. Mrs. Schlachter contributed a chapter on the impact of the directive in german national law.

Further information can be found on the website of the Université de Luxemburg.

14.  June '24
Defense of Adam Feher's doctoral thesis

Adam Feher successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled "Essays in Law and Economics," at the University of Amsterdam.
His thesis develops three microeconomic models grounded in standard labor economics theory to investigate how regulatory measures regarding noncompetes and digital platform liability could enhance social welfare. The defense committee, comprised of distinguished professors specializing in law, economics, and finance, engaged in a rigorous discussion, posing insightful questions about his methodologies and findings.
The defense culminated in a positive evaluation of his work and its contribution to the field. He is deeply grateful to his supervisors, Professor Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci (Faculty of Law) and Professor Enrico Perotti (Faculty of Economics and Business) for their invaluable guidance throughout this journey.

This PhD defense marks a significant milestone in his academic career, and he is excited to continue research in this field.

---