TY - RPRT A1 - Jessen, Jonas A1 - Schmitz, Sophia A1 - Weinhardt, Felix T1 - Immigration, Female Labour Supply and Local Cultural Norms T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - We study the local evolution of female labour supply and cultural norms in West Germany in reaction to the sudden presence of East Germans who migrated to the West after reunification. These migrants grew up with high rates of maternal employment, whereas West German families mostly followed the traditional breadwinner-housewife model. We find that West German women increase their labour supply and that this holds within households. We provide additional evidence on stated gender norms, West-East friendships, intermarriage, and child care infrastructure. The dynamic evolution of the local effects on labour supply is best explained by local cultural learning and endogenous child care infrastructure. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 1 Y1 - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-46471 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/bse-discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4647 ET - No. 1 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Huebener, Mathias A1 - Jessen, Jonas A1 - Kuehnle, Daniel A1 - Oberfichtner, Michael T1 - Parental Leave, Worker Substitutability, and Firms' Employment T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - Motherhood and parental leave are frequent causes of worker absences and employment interruptions, yet we know little about their effects on firms. Based on linked employer-employee data from Germany, we examine how more generous leave benefits affect firm-level employment and hiring decisions. Focusing on small- and medium-sized firms, we show that more generous benefits reduce firm-level employment in the short term, which is driven by firms with few internal substitutes for the absent mother. However, firms do not respond to longer expected absences by hiring fewer young women, even when few internal substitutes are available. To rationalise the findings, we show that replacement hiring occurs largely before the expected absence and that firms hire more external replacements when fewer internal substitutes are available. These findings indicate that extended leave does not harm _rms when these can plan for the longer worker absences. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 7 KW - Parental leave, worker absences, worker substitutability Y1 - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-46747 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/bse-discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4674 ET - No. 7 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Jessen, Jonas A1 - Schweighofer-Kodritsch, Sebastian A1 - Weinhardt, Felix A1 - Berkes, Jan T1 - Separate Housework Spheres T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - Using novel time-use data from Germany before and after reunification, we document two facts: First, spouses who both work full-time exhibit similar housework patterns whether they do so voluntarily or due to a full-time mandate, as in the GDR. Second, men’s amount of housework is independent of their spouse’s labour supply. We theoretically explain this pattern by the presence of two household goods and socially learned gender-specific comparative advantage in their home production. We label this gender specialisation as separate housework spheres. Empirical evidence strongly confirms separate housework spheres in the GDR, West Germany, subsequent years post-reunification, and in international time-use data across 17 countries since the 1970s. We consider several implications, such as those for child penalties, where separate housework spheres provide a novel explanation for why it is the mothers whose labour market outcomes strongly deteriorate upon the arrival of children. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 43 Y1 - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-55494 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5549 ET - No. 43 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Jessen, Jonas A1 - Kinne, Lavinia A1 - Battisti, Michele T1 - Child Penalties in Labour Market Skills T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - Child penalties in labour market outcomes are well-documented: after childbirth, mothers' employment and earnings drop persistently compared to fathers. Beyond gender norms, a potential driver could be the loss in labour market skills due to mothers' longer employment interruptions. This paper estimates child penalties in adult cognitive skills by adapting the pseudo-panel approach to a single cross-section of 29 countries in the PIAAC dataset. We find a persistent drop in numeracy skills after childbirth for both parents between 0.13 (short-run) and 0.16 standard deviations (long-run), but no statistically significant difference between mothers and fathers. Estimates of child penalties in skills strongly depend on controlling for pre-determined characteristics, especially education. Additionally, there is no evidence for worse occupational skill matches for mothers after childbirth. Our findings suggest that changes in general labour market skills cannot explain child penalties in labour market outcomes, and that a cross-sectional estimation of child penalties can be sensitive to characteristics of the outcome variable. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 52 Y1 - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-56477 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5647 ET - No. 52 ER -