Université de Fribourg

Direct and indirect effects of training vouchers for the unemployed

Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael ; Strittmatter, Anthony

In: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 2018, vol. 181, no. 2, p. 441-463

This paper evaluates the effects of awarding vouchers for vocational training on the employment outcomes of unemployed voucher recipients in Germany, as well as the potential mechanism through which they operate. This study assesses the direct effects of voucher assignment net of actual redemption, which may be driven by preference shaping and learning about possible human capital investments...

Université de Fribourg

Direct and indirect effects of training vouchers for the unemployed

Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael ; Strittmatter, Anthony

(Working Papers SES ; 456)

This paper evaluates the effect of a voucher award system for assignment into vocational training on the employment outcomes of unemployed voucher recipients in Germany, along with the causal mechanisms through which it operates. It assesses the direct effect of voucher assignment net of actual redemption, which may be driven by preference shaping/learning about (possibilities of) human capital...

Université de Fribourg

Does leaving welfare improve health? Evidence for Germany

Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael ; Wunsch, Conny

In: Health economics, 2011, vol. 20, no. 4, p. 484-504

Using exceptionally rich linked administrative and survey information on German welfare recipients we investigate the health effects of transitions from welfare to employment and of assignments to welfare-to-work programmes. Applying semi- parametric propensity score matching estimators we find that employment substantially increases (mental) health. The positive effects are mainly driven by...

Université de Fribourg

Do German Welfare-to-Work Programmes Reduce Welfare Dependency and Increase Employment?

Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael ; Wunsch, Conny ; Walter, Thomas

In: German economic review, 2011, vol. 12, no. 2, p. 182-204

During the last decade, many Western economies reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes (WTWP) and job-search enforcement. We evaluate the short-term effects of three important German WTWP implemented after a major reform in January 2005 (‘Hartz IV’), namely short training, further training with a planned...

Université de Fribourg

The Effect of Firms' Phased Retirement Policies on the Labor Market Outcomes of Their Employees

Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael ; Wunsch, Conny

In: ILR review, 2016, vol. 69, no. 5, p. 1216-1248

In this article, the authors assess the impact of firms’ offering a special form of phased retirement on their male employees’ labor market outcomes. The program aims at smoothing the transition from work to retirement and at decreasing costs in the public pension and unemployment insurance schemes through an increase in employment of elderly workers who otherwise would have exited...

Université de Fribourg

Endogeneity and non-response bias in treatment evaluation – nonparametric identification of causal effects by instruments

Fricke, Hans ; Frölich, Markus ; Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael

In: Journal of Applied Econometrics, 2020, p. 481-504

This paper proposes a nonparametric method for evaluating treatment effects in the presence of both treatment endogeneity and attrition/non-response bias, based on two instrumental variables. Using a discrete instrument for the treatment and an instrument with rich (in general continuous) support for non-response/attrition, we identify the average treatment effect on compliers as well as the...

Université de Fribourg

Endogeneity and non-response bias in treatment evaluation - nonparametric identification of causal effects by instruments

Fricke, Hans ; Frölich, Markus ; Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael

(Working Papers SES ; 459)

This paper proposes a nonparametric method for evaluating treatment effects in the presence of both treatment endogeneity and attrition/non-response bias, using two instrumental variables. Making use of a discrete instrument for the treatment and a continuous instrument for nonresponse/attrition, we identify the average treatment effect on compliers as well as the total population and suggest...

Université de Fribourg

The Finite Sample Performance of Estimators for Mediation Analysis Under Sequential Conditional Independence

Huber, Martin ; Lechner, Michael ; Mellace, Giovanni

In: Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 2016, vol. 34, no. 1, p. 139-160

Using a comprehensive simulation study based on empirical data, this article investigates the finite sample properties of different classes of parametric and semiparametric stimators of (natural) direct and indirect causal effects used in mediation analysis under sequential conditional independence assumptions. The estimators are based on regression, inverse probability weighting, and...

Université de Fribourg

The finite sample performance of inference methods for propensity score matching and weighting estimators

Bodory, Hugo ; Huber, Martin ; Camponovo, Lorenzo ; Lechner, Michael

(Working Papers SES ; 466)

This paper investigates the finite sample properties of a range of inference methods for propensity score-based matching and weighting estimators frequently applied to evaluate the average treatment effect on the treated. We analyse both asymptotic approximations and bootstrap methods for computing variances and confidence intervals in our simulation design, which is based on large scale labor...