Working Paper


Moving to Opportunity, together (with Seema Jayachandran, Matthew Notowidigdo, Marie Paul, Heather Sarsons and Elin Sundberg) [pdf]

Abstract: Many couples face a trade-off between advancing one spouse’s career or the other’s. We study this trade-off using administrative data from Germany and Sweden. Using an event study approach, we find that when couples move across commuting zones, men’s earnings increase more than women’s. To distinguish between men’s greater potential earnings and a gender norm that prioritizes men’s careers, we examine how the patterns differ when the woman has higher potential earnings than her husband. We then estimate a model of household decision-making in which households can (and do) place more weight on income earned by the man.


Alive and Kicking? Short-Term Health Effects of a Physician Strike in Germany (with Daniel Avdic, Martin Karlsson and Nina Schwarz) [pdf]

Abstract: We study the effects of a physician strike in German hospitals in 2006 on patient mortality. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset encompassing all hospital admissions in Germany and employing digitised records of strike participation, we estimate a difference-in-differenes model to discern the causal effects of the strike. Our estimation results reveal a substantial decrease in hospital admissions during the strike period, whereas effects on hospital mortality are mostly driven by patient selection. To support this claim, we further show that emergency cases and more fragile patients, who were unable to substitute their immediate care needs, were more likely to be present in hospital during this period. Hence, in contrast to most other related studies, our results suggest that short term interruptions in access to healthcare may not have dramatic effects on healthcare quality provided that rationing of care by patient severity is carried out.


Job Loss and Retirement

Abstract: This paper provides new evidence on the long-term effects of job loss on retirement, based on German administrative data. To identify the effect of job loss, I exploit plant closures to compare the retirement behavior of displaced workers with similar workers who did not experience job loss. I show that displaced workers delay their retirement in response to the shock. This delay is equally driven by extended periods of both employment and unemployment, and ineligibility for early pension claiming is the main driver of this response. Despite adjustments in retirement behavior, displaced workers still face significant losses in pension benefits and lifetime income. Compared to similar non-displaced workers, displaced workers experience losses in the present discounted value of income of around 26%.