Michael Lechner

Addresses for correspondence (2009)

Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

058311 and 4045-050673) and the Grundlagenforschungsfonds HSG (project G02110112) is gratefully acknowledged. Part of the data originated from a database generated for the evaluation of the Swiss...

DO GERMAN WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAMMES REDUCE WELFARE AND INCREASE WORK? (2009)

Martin Huber, Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

Many Western economies have reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes and job search enforcement. We evaluate the three...

Does Leaving Welfare Improve Health? Evidence for Germany (2009)

Martin Huber, Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

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...

Sequential Potential Outcome Models to Analyze the Effects of Fertility on Labor Market Outcomes (2009)

Michael Lechner

This paper proposes to use dynamic treatment models to analyze the effects of fertility on labor market interactions. It argues that when large data sets are available the dynamic potential outcome...

University and The Empirical Evaluation of Labour Market Programmes Conference (2008)

Marianne Simonsen, Stefan Bender, Martin Browning, Nabanita Datta Gupta, Michael Lechner, Helena S. Nielsen, ...

Government Studies We estimate the effect of motherhood on wages using matching. We distinguish between net and direct effects. The net effect includes the total wage costs, whereas the direct...

What Did All the Money Do? On the General Ineffectiveness of Recent West German Labour Market Programmes (2008)

Conny Wunsch, Michael Lechner

We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of West German labour market programmes by evaluating training and employment programmes that have been conducted 2000-2002 after the first large reform...

Public Employment Services and Employers - How Important are Networks with Firms? (2008)

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

This paper examines whether contacts between caseworkers in public employment offices and employers impact on the reemployment chances of the unemployed they counsel. This analysis is made possible...

A CASEWORKER LIKE ME -DOES THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN UNEMPLOYED AND CASEWORKER INCREASE JOB PLACEMENTS? (2008)

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

This paper examines whether the chances of job placements improve if unemployed persons are counselled by caseworkers who belong to the same social group, defined by gender, age, education, and...

A Caseworker Like Me: Does the Similarity between Unemployed and Caseworker Increase Job Placements? (2008)

Behncke, Stefanie, Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

This paper examines whether the chances of job placements improve if unemployed persons are counselled by caseworkers who belong to the same social group, defined by gender, age, education, and...

Long-run labour market effects of individual sports activities (2008)

Michael Lechner

This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being...

Matching Estimation of Dynamic Treatment Models (2008)

Michael Lechner

Lechner and Miquel (2001) approached the causal analysis of sequences of interventions from a potential outcome perspective based on selection on observable type of assumptions (sequential...

Parametric Binary Choice Models (2008)

Michael Lechner, Stéfan Lollivier, Thierry Magnac

This paper discusses the estimation of binary choice panel data models. We begin with different versions of the static random effects model when the explanatory variables are strictly exogenous....

Work and welfare of single mothers in Germany (2007)

Laisney, François; BETA, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, Lechner, Michael, Staat, Matthias, Wagenhals, Gerhard

Cet article s’intéresse au rôle des facteurs économiques dans la détermination de l’offre de travail et de la dépendance vis à vis des prestations sociales des mères iisolées en...

Work and welfare of single mothers in Germany (2007)

Laisney, François; BETA, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, Lechner, Michael, Staat, Matthias, Wagenhals, Gerhard

Cet article s’intéresse au rôle des facteurs économiques dans la détermination de l’offre de travail et de la dépendance vis à vis des prestations sociales des mères iisolées en...

Kids or Courses? Gender Differences in the Effects of Active Labor Market Policies (2007)

Michael Lechner, Stephan A. Wiehler

This paper investigates active labor market programs in Austria with a special emphasis on male-female effect heterogeneity. On average, we find only small effects, if any, for most of the programs....

Stochastic labour market shocks, labour market programmes, and human capital formation: a theoretical and empirical analysis (2007)

Michael Lechner, Rosalia Vazquez-alvarez

This paper develops a life-cycle model of labour supply that captures endogenous human capital formation allowing for individual’s heterogeneous responses to stochastic labour market shocks. The...

Earnings Effects of Training Programs (2007)

Michael Lechner, Blaise Melly

In an evaluation of a job-training program, the influence of the program on the individual earnings capacity is important, because it reflects the program effect on human capital. Estimating these...

Earnings Effects of Training Programs (2007)

Michael Lechner, Blaise Melly

In an evaluation of a job-training program, the influence of the program on the individual earnings capacity is important, because it reflects the program effect on human capital. Estimating these...

Does the Order or Timing of Active Labor Market Programs Matter? (2007)

Michael Lechner, Stephan A. Wiehler

This paper extends the traditional focus of active labor market policy evaluation from a static comparison of participation in a program versus nonparticipation (or participation in another program)...

Unemployed and Their Caseworkers - Should They be Friends or Foes? (2007)

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

In many countries, caseworkers in a public employment office have the dual roles of counselling and monitoring unemployed persons. These roles often conflict with each other leading to important...

Targeting Labour Market Programmes - Results from A Randomised experiment (2007)

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

We evaluate a randomized experiment of a statistical support system developed to assist caseworkers in Swiss employment offices in choosing appropriate active labour market programmes for their...

A Note on the Relation of Weighting and Matching Estimators (2007)

Michael Lechner

This paper compares the inverse-probability-of-selection-weighting estimation principle with the matching principle and derives conditions for weighting and matching to identify the same and the true...

The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany after Unification (2006)

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

We analyse the effects of government-sponsored training for the unemployed conducted during East German transition. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative...

Active Labour Market Policy in East Germany: Waiting for the Economy to Take off (2006)

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment Is High? (2006)

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We estimate short, medium, and long-run individual labor market effects of training programs for unemployed by following program participation on a monthly basis over a ten-year period. Since...

Are the effects of training programmes in Germany sensitive to the choice and measurement of labour market outcomes? (2006)

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We reconsider the evidence of Lechner, Miquel and Wunsch (2004, 2005) on the effectiveness of training programmes for the unemployed conducted in East and West Germany in the period 1993-1994 by...

The Relation of Different Concepts of Causality in Econometrics (2006)

Michael Lechner

Granger and Sims non-causality (GSNC) are compared to non-causality based on concepts popular in the microeconometrics and programme evaluation literature (potential outcome non-causality, PONC)....

Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland und der Schweiz - eine Gegenüberstellung (2006)

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in der Schweiz wird der deutschen gegenübergestellt. Beide Länder haben viele Gemeinsamkeiten bezüglich Zielsetzung, Instrumenten und institutionellen Reformen von...

Statistical Assistance for Programme Selection - For a Better Targeting of Active Labour Market Policies in Switzerland (2006)

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

In this paper the motivation and various concepts of statistical systems for assisting case workers in assigning unemployed persons to active labour market programmes (ALMP) are examined and the...

Matching Estimating of Dynamic Treatment Models: Some Practical Issues (2006)

Michael Lechner

Lechner and Miquel (2001) approached the causal analysis of sequences of interventions from a potential outcome perspective based on selection on observable type of assumptions (sequential...

Exploiting Regional Treatment Intensity for the Evaluation of Labour Market Policies (2006)

Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

We estimate the effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on subsequent employment by nonparametric instrumental variables and matching estimators. Very informative administrative Swiss data...

Mikroökonometrische Evaluationsstudien : Anmerkungen zu Theorie und Praxis (2005)

Lechner, Michael

In diesem Aufsatz werden Methoden zur Identifikation kausaler Effekte von staatlichen Eingriffen am Beispiel von Fortbildungs- und Umschulungsprogrammen vorgestellt und deren Implikationen und...

Eine empirische Analyse der Geburtenentwicklung in den neuen Bundesländern (2005)

Lechner, Michael

Mit der deutschen Vereinigung war ein massiver Einbruch der Geburtenzahlen in den neuen Bundesländern (NBL) verbunden. Diese Arbeit analysiert zum einen mit dem theoretischen Rahmen der...

Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany : Institutional Arrangements, Participants, and Results of Empirical Evaluations (2005)

Eichler, Martin, Lechner, Michael

After unification of the East and West German economies in July 1990 the public sector devoted substantial resources to train the labour force of the former centrally planned East German economy. In...

An Evaluation of Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training Programs in East Germany (2005)

Lechner, Michael

This study analyses the effect of public sector sponsored continuous vocational training and retraining in East Germany after unification with West Germany in 1990. It presents estimates of the...

Convenient Estimators for the Panel Probit Model (2005)

Lechner, Michael, Bertschek, Irene

The paper shows that several estimators for the panel probit model suggested in the literature belong to a common class of GMM estimators. They are relatively easy to compute because they are based...

Long-Run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany (2005)

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new...

What is the Value Added by Caseworkers? (2005)

Michael Lechner, JeffreyA. Smith

We investigate the allocation of unemployed individuals to different subprograms within Swiss active labour market policy by the caseworkers at local employment offices in Switzerland in 1998. We are...

Does subsidised temporary employment get the unemployed back to work? An econometric analysis of two different schemes (2005)

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner, Heidi Steiger

Not available in German. Subsidised employment is an important tool of active labour market policies to improve the chances of the unemployed to find permanent employment. Using informative...

Erfolgreiche Weiterbildung: Wenn die Sperre nicht mehr wirkt (2005)

Stefan Bender, Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

Der Beitrag berichtet über eine empirische Analyse einer Version der IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe, die um Zeiten der Fortbildung und Umschulung angereichert wurde. Die betrachteten Personen hatten...

Parametric Binary Choice Models (2005)

Michael Lechner, Stefan Lollivier, Thierry Magnac

This paper discusses the estimation of binary choice panel data models. We begin with different versions of the static random effects model when the explanatory variables are strictly exogenous....

A Note on Edogenous Control Variables in Evaluation Studies (2005)

Michael Lechner

The paper addresses the issue of potentially endogenous control variables in evaluation studies based on the assumption that selection bias can be avoided by conditioning on observed variables. It...

Social Experiments and Instrumental Variables with Duration Outcomes (2005)

Jaap H. Abbring, Michael Lechner, Ken Wolpin, Richard Blundell, Juan Jímeno, ...

This paper examines the empirical analysis of treatment effects on duration outcomes from data that contain instrumental variation. We focus on social experiments in which an intention to treat is...

Die gemeinnützige Arbeitnehmerüberlassung in Rheinland-Pfalz - eine ökonometrische Analyse des Wiedereingliederungserfolgs (2004)

Almus, Matthias, Egeln, Jürgen, Lechner, Michael, Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, Spengler, Hannes

Dieser Beitrag stellt ausgewählte Ergebnisse des vom Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) im Auftrag des IAB und des Ministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales Rheinland-Pfalz...

The Impact of Non-profit Temping Agencies on Individual Labour Market Success in the West German State of Rhineland-Palatinate (2004)

Lechner, Michael, Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, Spengler, Hannes, Almus, Matthias

The paper presents an econometric evaluation of the effects of subsidised non-profit temporary employment agencies - a programme of the West German active labour market policy - on individual labour...

Almost Consistent Estimation of Panel Probit Models with 'Small' Fixed Effects (2004)

Laisney, François, Lechner, Michael

We propose four different GMM estimators that allow almost consistent estimation of the structural parameters of panel probit models with fixed effects for the case of small T and large N. The...

European Data Watch - Swiss Unemployment Insurance Micro Data (2004)

Heidi Steiger, Jonathan Gast, Michael Lechner

Administrative data of the unemployment insurance system in Switzerland have been made available by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco) for specific research purposes. They...

Sequential Matching Estimation of Dynamic Causal Models (2004)

Michael Lechner

This paper proposes sequential matching and inverse selection probability weighting to estimate dynamic casual effects. The sequential matching estimators extend simple, matching estimators based on...

Regional treatment intensity as an instrument for the evaluation of labour market policies (2004)

Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner

The effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on individual employment chances and earnings are evaluated by nonparametric instrumental variables based on Swiss administrative data with...

Long-Run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany (2004)

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new...

A microeconometric evaluation of rehabilitation of long-term sickness in Sweden (2004)

Markus Froelich, Almas Heshmati, Michael Lechner

In this study the effects of various types of rehabilitation programmes on labour market out-comes are estimated. A main feature of this study is that it jointly evaluates multiple treat-ments by...

The Effect of Disability on Labour Market Outcomes in Germany: Evidence from Matching (2003)

Michael Lechner, Rosalia Vazquez-alvarez

If labour market policies aimed at people with disabilities are effective, we should observe no significant difference in labour market outcomes between disabled and non-disabled individuals. This...

Statistically Assisted Programme Selection – International Experiences and Potential Benefits for Switzerland (2003)

Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner, Heidi Steiger

Allocating people into social programmes on the basis of statistical tools has gained increasing acceptance in recent years. The need for better targeting of active labour market programmes recently...

Neues Auswahlinstrument steigert Wirksamkeit (2003)

Markus Froelich, Michael Lechner, Heidi Steiger

http://www.infopartner.ch/periodika_2003/Panorama/Heft_2_2003/pan3238.pdf

Mikroökonometrische Evaluation arbeitsmarktpolitischer Massnahmen (2003)

Michael Lechner

Viele europäische Länder verwenden neben einer passiven Einkommensabsicherung der Arbeitslosen die aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik, um deren Wiederbeschäftigung zu beschleunigen. Zunehmend setzt sich...

Almost Consistent Estimation of Panel Probit Models with 'Small' Fixed Effects (2003)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner

We propose four different GMM estimators that allow almost consistent estimation of the structural parameters of panel probit models with fixed effects for the case of small T and large N. The...

Some practical issues in the evaluation of heterogeneous labour market programmes by matching methods (2002)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. Recently several studies analysed active labour market policies using a newly proposed matching estimator for multiple programmes. Since there is only very limited practical...

Program Heterogeneity and Propensity Score Matching: An Application to the Evaluation of Active Labor Market Policies (2002)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. This paper addresses microeconometric evaluation by matching methods when the programs under consideration are heterogeneous. Assuming that selection into the different...

Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland (2002)

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. In the second part of the 1990's Switzerland conducted an ambitious active labour market policy (ALMP) encompassing a wide variety of programmes. We evaluate the effects of...

Identification of Effects of Dynamic Treatments by Sequential Conditional Independence Assumptions (2002)

Michael Lechner

Link to corresponding paper: http://www.siaw.unisg.ch/org/siaw/web.nsf/wwwPubPublikationEng/AD87C4EBE2CF65EBC1256A4F004C5913

Identification of Effects of Dynamic Treatments by Sequential Conditional Independence Assumptions (2002)

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel

This paper approaches the causal analysis of sequences of interventions from a potential outcome perspective. The identifying power of several different assumptions concerning the connection between...

Eine wirkungsorientierte aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland und der Schweiz: Eine Vision - zwei Realitäten (2002)

Michael Lechner

Heutzutage betreiben viele europäische Länder neben einer passiven Einkommensabsicherung der Arbeitslosen auch eine substantielle aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik (Fortbildungskurse,...

Eine Übersicht über gängige Modelle der Panelökonometrie und ihre kausale Interpretation (2002)

Michael Lechner

Paneldaten gewinnen als Datenmaterial für empirische Studien im Bereich der Wirtschaftswissenschaften, sowie auch in vielen anderen empirisch ausgerichteten Forschungsfeldern, eine immer grössere...

Die FuU-Teilnehmer-Datei 1976-1997 (2002)

Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch, Michael Lechner

Papier herunterladen: http://iab.de/iab/grauepapiere/fuu_teilnehmerdatei.htm

An Evaluation of Public Employment Programmes in the East German State of Sachsen-Anhalt (2002)

Martin Eichler, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. In East Germany, active labour market policies (ALMPs) are used on a large scale to contain fast rising unemployment after unification. This paper evaluates the effects for...

Reply to TomᚠSobotka (2002)

Michael Lechner

(doi:10.1023/A:1019795922300)

The Impact of Non-profit Temping Agencies on Individual Labour Market Success in the West German State of Rhineland-Palatinate (2001)

Matthias Almus, Michael Lechner, Friedhelm Pfeiffer, Hannes Spengler

The paper presents an econometric evaluation of the effects of subsidised non-profit temporary employment agencies - a programme of the West German active labour market policy - on individual labour...

The Empirical Analysis of East German Fertility after Unification: An Update (2001)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. German unification led a drastic decline in the East German birth rate. Recent explanations of this phenomena point to the importance of an adjustment process of the East...

Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany: Institutional Arrangements, Participants, and Results of Empirical Evaluations (2001)

Martin Eichler, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. After unification of the East and West German economies in July 1990 the public sector devoted substantial resources to train the labour force of the former centrally planned...

Identification and Estimation of Causal Effects of Multiple Treatments under the Conditional Independence Assumption (2001)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. The assumption that the assignment to treatments is ignorable conditional on attributes plays an important role in the applied statistic and econometric evaluation...

Econometric Evaluation of Labour Market Policies (2001)

Michael Lechner, Friedhelm Pfeiffer

Not available in German order form Contents: author(s) title of paper • Heckman, J.J. Vytlacil, E.J. Instrumental variables, selection models and tight bounds on the average treatment effect •...

Die aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in den neuen Bundesländern (2001)

Martin Eichler, Michael Lechner

Von Beginn des Transformationsprozesses an spielte die aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik (AAMP) in den neuen Bundesländern (NBL) eine wichtige Rolle. Daran hat sich bis heute wenig geändert. Als die auf...

A note on the common support problem in applied evaluation studies (2001)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. This paper advocates the use of a nonparametric bounds analysis to check the robustness of the results of applied evaluation studies to the problem of a lack of common...

A Potential Outcome Approach to Dynamic Programme Evaluation: Nonparametric Identification (2001)

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel

This paper approaches the problem of an econometric evaluation of dynamic programme sequences from an potential outcome perspective. The identifying power of several different assumptions about the...

Some Econometric Evidence on the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Programmes in East Germany (2000)

Eichler, Martin, Lechner, Michael

In this paper we summarise our previous results on the effectiveness of different kinds of labour market training programmes as well as employment programmes in East Germany after unification. All...

Wirkung der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik der Schweiz auf die individuellen Beschäftigungschancen von Arbeitslosen (2000)

Michael Lechner, Michael Gerfin

Das Ziel dieser mikroökonometrischen Studie ist eine Abschätzung der Wirkungen der ar-beitsmarktlichen Massnahmen der Schweiz (AMM) auf die individuellen Erwerbswahrscheinlichkeiten potentieller...

Some Econometric Evidence on the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Programmes in East Germany (2000)

Martin Eichler, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. In this paper we summarise our previous results on the effectiveness of different kinds of labour market training programmes as well as employment programmes in East Germany...

Ökonometrische Evaluation der arbeitsmarktlichen Massnahmen der Schweiz (2000)

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner

Mit der Reform des Arbeitslosenversicherungsgesetzes im Jahre 1996 nahm die Bedeutung der arbeitsmarktlichen Massnahmen (AMM) in der Schweiz stark zu. Die vorliegende Studie ist ein Teilprojekt des...

Nobelpreis für die empirische Wirtschaftsforschung (2000)

Michael Lechner

Im Oktober 2000 verlieh die Königlich Schwedische Akademie der Wissenschaften den insgesamt mit ca. 2 Millionen Euro dotierten Nobelpreis für Wirtschaftswissenschaften zu gleichen Teilen an die...

Mikroökonometrische Evaluierung berufsbezogener Rehabilitation in Schweden (2000)

Markus Froelich, Almas Heshmati, Michael Lechner

Summary: In this evaluation study the causal effects of different types of rehabilitation programmes on labour market outcomes are estimated. Compared to previous research its main feature is that it...

Microeconometric Evaluation of the Swiss Active Labour Market Policy (2000)

Michael Lechner

Download Folien: (pdf, 950 kb) Link zum zugehörigen Paper

Evaluationsprogramm Arbeitsmarktpolitik: Ökonometrische Evaluation der arbeitsmarktlichen Massnahmen (2000)

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner

Studie im Auftrag der Aufsichtskommission für den Ausgleichsfond der Arbeitslosenversicherung, seco Publikation Arbeitsmarktpolitik Nr. 7/2000#### Mit der Reform des...

Die aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in den neuen Bundesländern (2000)

Martin Eichler, Michael Lechner

Download Discussion Paper: (pdf, 104 kb) Download Folien: (pdf, 45 kb)

An Evaluation of Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training Programs in East Germany (2000)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. This study analyses the effects of public-sector-sponsored continuous vocational training and retraining in East Germany after unification with West Germany in 1990. It...

Work and welfare of single mothers in Germany (1999)

Gerhard Wagenhals, Matthias Staat, Michael Lechner, François Laisney

Cet article s’intéresse au rôle des facteurs économiques dans la détermination de l’offre de travail et de la dépendance vis à vis des prestations sociales des mères iisolées en...

The Effects of Enterprise-related Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany on Individual Employment and Earnings (1999)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. The paper studies the returns from enterprise-related continuous vocational training on individual earnings, unemployment probabilities, and other labour market indicators in...

Nonparametric Bounds on Employment and Income Effects of Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany (1999)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. This paper explores the potential of an approach suggested by Manski of obtaining nonparametric bounds for treatment effects in evaluation studies without knowledge of the...

Earnings and Employment Effects of Continuous Off-the-job Training in East Germany after Unification (1999)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. Retraining the labor force to match the demands of a modern economy is an important task during the transition process from a centrally planned to a market economy. This need...

Die ausgebliebene Generation: Der Geburteneinbruch in Ostdeutschland aus ökonomischer Sicht (1999)

Michael Lechner

Not available in English. Antrittsvorlesung von Prof. Dr. Michael Lechner an der Universität St. Gallen Zusammenfassung: Mit den einzelnen Phasen der deutschen Vereinigung vor neun Jahren waren...

Alternative GMM Methods for Nonlinear Panel Data Models (1999)

Joerg Breitung, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. Frühere Version: Breitung, J. and M. Lechner (1998), Altenative GMM Methods for Nonlinear Panel Data models, discussion paper 81, SFB 373 Humbold-Universität zu Berlin....

Wirkungen gemeinnütziger Arbeitnehmerüberlassung in Rheinland-Pfalz (1998)

Matthias Almus, Juergen Egeln, Michael Lechner, Friedhelm Pfeiffer, Hannes Spengler

Dieser Beitrag ist eine überarbeitete Fassung des Schlußberichtes zum Forschungsprojekt "Arbeitsplatzeffekte gemeinnütziger Arbeitnehmerüberlassungen in Rheinland-Pfalz" (IAB-Projekt 10-483 A),...

Training the East German Labour Force. Microeconometric Evaluations of Continuous Vocational Training after Unification (1998)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. After unification the public and private sector spent large amounts of money to retrain the East German labour force in order to ease the transition to the new market...

Mikroökonometrische Evaluationsstudien: Anmerkungen zu Theorie und Praxis (1998)

Michael Lechner

In diesem Aufsatz werden Methoden zur Identifikation kausaler Effekte von staatlichen Eingriffen am Beispiel von Fortbildungs- und Umschulungsprogrammen vorgestellt und deren Implikationen und...

Eine empirische Analyse der Geburtenentwicklung in den neuen Bundesländern (1998)

Michael Lechner

Mit der deutschen Vereinigung war ein massiver Einbruch der Geburtenzahlen in den neuen Bundesländern (NBL) verbunden. Diese Arbeit analysiert zum einen mit dem theoretischen Rahmen der...

Die gemeinnützige Arbeitnehmerüberlassung in Rheinland-Pfalz – eine ökonometrische Analyse des Wiedereingliederungserfolgs (1998)

Matthias Almus, Juergen Egeln, Michael Lechner, Friedhelm Pfeiffer, Hannes Spengler

Dieser Beitrag stellt ausgewählte Ergebnisse des vom Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) im Auftrag des IAB und des Ministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales Rheinland-Pfalz...

Convenient Estimators for the Panel Probit Model (1998)

Irene Bertschek, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. The paper shows that several estimators for the panel probit model that are suggested in the literature belong to a common class of GMM estimators. They are relatively easy...

Union Status Of Young Men In Britain: A Decade Of Change (1998)

Wiji Arulampalam, Alison L. Booth, Jel Classification C, Martyn Andrews, George Jakubson, Gordon Kemp, ...

Previous empirical studies of individual union status in Britain have been cross-sectional. In contrast, we use longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study, to estimate the...

Alternative GMM Methods for Nonlinear Panel Data Models: Asymptotic efficiency versus small sample performance (1997)

Jörg Breitung, Michael Lechner, Und Michael Lechner, Spandauer Strasse

this paper perform well relative to the MLE. Although the GallantTauchen estimator is based on a very simple "score generator", the efficiency comes close to the MLE. However, the...

Utilisation jointe de données de panel et d' informations agrégées dans l'estimation d' un modèle Probit (Combining Panel Data and Macro Information for the Estimation of a Panel Probit Model) (1996)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. When studying particular subgroups of a population the econometrician typically has few observations, and should draw upon any additional relevant information. We...

Estimation de modeles non linéaires sur données de panel par la méthode des moments généralisés (GMM-Estimation of Nonlinear Models on Panel Data) (1996)

Joerg Breitung, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. We show that the Generalized Method of Moments methodology is a useful tool to obtain the asymptotic properties of some existing estimators for non-linear panel data models...

East German Fertility After Unification: Crisis or Adaptation? (1996)

Christoph Conrad, Michael Lechner, Welf Werner

Not available in German. Since the fall of the wall, East Germans have drastically changed their demographic behaviour. Marriages and births have dropped to an unprecedented low level. Our paper...

Combining Panel Data and Macro Information for the Estimation of a Panel Probit Model (1996)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. When studying particular subgroups of a population the econometrician typically has few observations, and should draw upon any additional relevant information. We...

Tax Illusion and Labour Supply of Married Women: Further Evidence From German Data (1995)

Heinz Koenig, François Laisney, Michael Lechner, Winfried Pohlmeier

Not available in German. In the face of complex budget constraints the assumption of rationally acting individuals having complete knowledge of the tax system is a theoretical borderline. The...

Some Specification Tests for Probit Models Estimated on Panel Data (1995)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. Generalized score and Wald tests are proposed to test certain aspects of the specification of panel probit models. The procedures used to detect misspecifications, such as...

GMM-Estimation of Nonlinear Models on Panel Data (1995)

Jörg Breitung, Michael Lechner

We show that the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methodology is a useful tool to obtain the asymptotic properties of some existing estimators for nonlinear panel data models as well as to...

GMM Estimation of Panel Probit Models: Nonparametric Estimation of the Optimal Instruments (1995)

Irene Bertschek, Michael Lechner

Introduction For cross-section estimation of nonlinear models maximum likelihood (ML) is the typically used method. However, using ML on panel data is quite tough due to intertemporal correlations of...

Some Recent Developments in Microeconometrics: A Survey (1994)

Heinz Koenig, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. The paper summerizes some recent developments in microeconometrics with respect to methods for estimation and inference in non-linear models based on cross-section and panel...

On the Dynamics of Process Innovative Activity: An Empirical Investigation Using Panel Data (1994)

Heinz Koenig, François Laisney, Michael Lechner, Winfried Pohlmeier

Not available in German. This paper addresses three major aspects of firms' process innovative activity: forward-looking behaviour, uncertainty w.r.t returns of R&D investments, and oligopolistic...

Seminonparametric Estimation of Binary-Choice Models With an Application to Labor-Force Participation (1993)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner, Siegfried Gabler

Not available in German. The paper describes the adaptation of the estimation method proposed by Gallant and Nychka (1987) for the selectivity model to the threshold crossing model of binary choice...

Planning for Self-Employment at the Beginning of a Market Economy: Evidence from Individual Data of East German Workers (1993)

Michael Lechner, Friedhelm Pfeiffer

Not available in German. We investigate the plans of individual workers concerning future self-employment in the former German Democratic Republic shortly before the economic, monetary and social...

Expected Job Loss in East Germany Shortly Before German Unification (1993)

Michael Lechner, Friedhelm Pfeiffer, Linda GieseckeO'Shea

Not available in German. We investigate expectations concerning future job loss in former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) shortly before the economic, monetary and social union in July...

Estimation of Limited Dependent Variable Habit Persistence Models on Panel Data with an Application to the Dynamics of Self-employment in the former East Germany (1993)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. The paper suggests two multi-step estimation methods for dynamic limited dependent variable models with random effects on panel data. The estimated coefficients are...

Alternative Interpretations of Hours Information in an Econometric Model of Labour Supply (1993)

Richard Blundell, François Laisney, Michael Lechner

Not available in German. This paper examines the labor supply behaviour of married woman in France. A sequence of models is specified and estimated which incorporate different amounts of information...

A Life Cycle Labour Supply Model with Taxes Estimated on German Panel Data: The Case of Parallel Preferences (1993)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner, Arthur VanSoest, Gerhard Wagenhals

Not available in German. We estimate Frisch labor supply functions for married women using information on desired hours, under the assumptions that these are based on a smooth convex approximation of...

Innovation Activity and Firm Heterogeneity: Empirical Evidence from West Germany (1992)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner, Winfried Pohlmeier

Not available in German. This paper investigates the robustness of cross-section results on innovative behaviour of firms. It discusses specifications resulting from various assumptions on market...

Testing Logit Models in Practice (1991)

Michael Lechner

Not available in German. The aim of the paper is to provide the practitioner with easily implementable procedures, both numerical and graphical, to test the specification of the dichotomous,...

Lessons from Specification Tests for a Labour Supply Model (1991)

François Laisney, Michael Lechner, Steinar Strom

Not available in German. This paper investigates the properties of Box-Cox specifications for the labor supply of married women in France, estimated in four stages involving two dichotomous models, a...

Das Schwäbisch-bairische Übergangsgebiet zwischen Lech und Amper/Glonn. (1948)

Lechner, Michael.

München, Phil. F., Diss. v. 22. Dez. 1948 (Nicht f. d. Austausch).

The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

We analyse the effects of government-sponsored training for the unemployed conducted during East German transition. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative...

Long run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6bn euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new administrative...

Some Econometric Evidence on the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Programmes in East Germany

Martin Eichler, Michael Lechner

In this paper we summarise our previous results on the effectiveness of different kinds of labour market training programmes as well as employment programmes in East Germany after unification. All...

Does subsidised temporary employment get the unemployed back to work? An econometric analysis of two different schemes

Gerfin, Michael, Lechner, Michael, Steiger, Heidi

Subsidised employment is one tool of active labour market policies to improve the chances of the unemployed to find permanent employment. Using informative individual data coming from various...

Long-run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new...

Matching Estimating of Dynamic Treatment Models: Some Practical Issues

Michael Lechner

Lechner and Miquel (2001) approached the causal analysis of sequences of interventions from a potential outcome perspective based on selection on observable type of assumptions (sequential...

Statistical Assistance for Programme Selection - For a Better Targeting of Active Labour Market Policies in Switzerland

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

In this paper the motivation and various concepts of statistical systems for assisting case workers in assigning unemployed persons to active labour market programmes (ALMP) are examined and the...

Exploiting regional treatment intensity for the evaluation of labour market policies

Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

We estimate the effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on subsequent employment by nonparametric instrumental variables and matching estimators. Very informative administrative Swiss data...

Exploiting Regional Treatment Intensity for the Evaluation of Labour Market Policies

Fröhlich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

We estimate the effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on subsequent employment by nonparametric instrumental variables and matching estimators. Very informative administrative Swiss data...

Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment Is High?

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We estimate short, medium, and long-run individual labor market effects of training programs for unemployed by following program participation on a monthly basis over a tenyear period. Since...

Parametric Binary Choice Models

Michael Lechner, Stefan Lollivier, Thierry Magnac

This paper discusses the estimation of binary choice panel data models. We begin with different versions of the static random effects model when the explanatory variables are strictly exogenous....

Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment Is High?

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We estimate short, medium, and long-run individual labor market effects of training programs for unemployed by following program participation on a monthly basis over a ten-year period. Since...

Active Labour Market Policy in East Germany: Waiting for the Economy to Take Off

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

Active Labour Market Policy in East Germany: Waiting for the Economy to Take Off

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

Exploiting regional treatment intensity for the evaluation of labour market policies

Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

We estimate the effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on subsequent employment by nonparametric instrumental variables and matching estimators. Very informative administrative Swiss data...

Exploiting Regional Treatment Intensity for the Evaluation of Labour Market Policies

Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

We estimate the effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on subsequent employment by nonparametric instrumental variables and matching estimators. Very informative administrative Swiss data...

Long-run effects of public sector sponsored training in West Germany

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

"Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new...

The curse and blessing of training the unemployed in a changing economy : the case of East Germany after unification

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

"We analyse the effects of public sector sponsored training for the unemployed in the transition process in East Germany. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative...

The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: the Case of East Germany after Unification

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

We analyse the effects of government sponsored training for the unemployed conducted during East German transition. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative...

Are the effects of training programmes in Germany sensitive to the choice and measurement of labour market outcomes?

Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

"We reconsider the evidence of Lechner, Miquel and Wunsch (2004, 2005) on the effectiveness of training programmes for the unemployed conducted in East and West Germany in the period 1993-1994 by...

Long-Run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new...

Die gemeinnützige Arbeitnehmerüberlassung in Rheinland-Pfalz : eine ökonometrische Analyse des Wiedereingliederungserfolgs

Almus, Matthias, Egeln, Jürgen, Lechner, Michael, Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, Spengler, Hannes

Dieser Beitrag stellt ausgewahlte Ergebnisse des vom Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) im Auftrag des IAB und des Ministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales Rheinland-Pfalz bearbeiteten...

Active Labour Market Policy in East Germany: Waiting for the Economy to take off

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

Mikroökonomische Evaluationsstudien: Anmerkungen zu Theorie und Praxis

Lechner, Michael

The paper surveys several identification strategies for the causal effect of government intervention. The example used is public sector sponsored training. Implications of the various strategies as...

Eine empirische Analyse der Geburtenentwicklung in den neuen Bundesländern

Lechner, Michael

Mit der deutschen Vereinigung war ein massiver Einbruch der Geburtenzahlen in den neuen Bundesländern (NBL) verbunden. Diese Arbeit analysiert zum einen mit dem theoretischen Rahmen der...

Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany: Institutional Arrangements, Participants, and Results of Empirical Evaluations

Eichler, Martin, Lechner, Michael

After unification of the East and West German economies in July 1990 the public sector devoted substantial resources to train the labour force of the former centrally planned East German economy. In...

The Effects of Enterprise-Related Continuous Vocational Training in East Germany on Individual Employment and Earnings

Lechner, Michael

The paper studies the returns from enterprise-related continuous vocational training on individual earnings, unemployment probabilities, and other labour market indicators in East Germany after...

An Evaluation of Public Sector Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training Programs in East Germany

Lechner, Michael

This study analyses the effect of public sector sponsored continuous vocational training in East Germany after unification with West Germany in 1990. It presents estimates of the average gains from...

Convenient Estimators for the Panel Probit Model

Bertschek, Irene, Lechner, Michael

The paper shows that several estimators for the panel probit model suggested in the literature belong to a common class of GMM estimators. They are relatively easy to compute because they are based...

Kids or Courses? Gender Differences in the Effects of Active Labor Market Policies

Michael Lechner, Stephan Wiehler

This paper investigates active labor market programs in Austria with a special emphasis on male-female effect heterogeneity. On average, we find only small effects, if any, for most of the programs....

Kids or Courses? Gender Differences in the Effects of Active Labour Market Policies

Lechner, Michael, Wiehler, Stephan

This paper investigates active labour market programs in Austria with a special emphasis on male-female effect heterogeneity. On average, we find only small effects, if any, for most of the programs....

A microeconometric evaluation of rehabilitation of long-term sickness in Sweden

Markus Frölich, Almas Heshmati, Michael Lechner

In this study the effects of various types of rehabilitation programmes on labour market outcomes are estimated. A main feature of this study is that it jointly evaluates multiple treatments by...

The impact of non-profit temping agencies on individual labour market success in the West German state of Rhineland-Palatinate

Lechner, Michael, Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, Spengler, Hannes, Almus, Matthias

The paper presents an econometric evaluation of the effects of subsidised non-profit temporary employment agencies - a programme of the West German active labour market policy - on individual labour...

Almost Consistent Estimation of Panel Probit Models with ‘Small’ Fixed Effects

Laisney, François, Lechner, Michael

We propose four different GMM estimators that allow almost consistent estimation of the structural parameters of panel probit models with fixed effects for the case of small T and large N. The...

What is the Value Added by Caseworkers?

Michael Lechner, Jeffrey Smith

We investigate the allocation of unemployed individuals to different subprograms within Swiss active labour market policy by the caseworkers at local employment offices in Switzerland in 1998. We are...

What Did All the Money Do? On the General Ineffectiveness of Recent West German Labour Market Programmes

Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of West German labour market programmes by evaluating training and employment programmes that have been conducted 2000-2002 after the first large reform...

Stochastic labour market shocks, labour market programmes, and human capital formation: a theoretical and empirical analysis

Michael Lechner, Rosalia Vazquez-Alvarez

This paper develops a life-cycle model of labour supply that captures endogenous human capital formation allowing for individual’s heterogeneous responses to stochastic labour market shocks. The...

Does the Order and Timing of Active Labour Market Programmes Matter?

Lechner, Michael, Wiehler, Stephan

This paper extends the traditional focus of active labour market policy evaluation from a static comparison of participation in a programme versus nonparticipation (or participation in another...

Unemployed and Their Caseworkers: Should They Be Friends or Foes?

Behncke, Stefanie, Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

In many countries, caseworkers in a public employment office have the dual roles of counselling and monitoring unemployed persons. These roles often conflict with each other leading to important...

The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

We analyse the effects of government-sponsored training for the unemployed conducted during East German transition. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative...

Unemployed and Their Caseworkers: Should They Be Friends or Foes?

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

In many countries, caseworkers in a public employment office have the dual roles of counselling and monitoring unemployed persons. These roles often conflict with each other leading to important...

Programme Heterogeneity and Propensity Score Matching: An Application to the Evaluation of Active Labour Market Policies

Michael Lechner

This paper investigates the question whether it really matters for microeconometric evaluation studies to take account of the fact that the programmes under consideration are heterogeneous. Assuming...

Wirkung der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik der Schweiz auf die individuellen Beschäftigungschancen von Arbeitslosen (Effect of active labour market policy in Switzerland on the individual employment prospects of unemployed people)

Lechner, Michael, Gerfin, Michael

"The aim of this microeconometric study is to estimate the effects of the Swiss employment and training measures on the individual employment probabilities of potential participants on the basis of...

Active labour market policy in East Germany : waiting for the economy to take off

Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

"We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

Identification and Estimation of Causal Effects of Multiple Treatments Under the Conditional Independence Assumption

Michael Lechner

The assumption that the assignment to treatments is ignorable conditional on attributes plays an important role in the applied statistic and econometric evaluation literature. Another term for it is...

What is the Value Added by Caseworkers?

Lechner, Michael, Smith, Jeffrey A.

We investigate the allocation of unemployed individuals to different subprograms within Swiss active labour market policy by the caseworkers at local employment offices in Switzerland in 1998. We are...

The Effect of Disability on Labour Market Outcomes in Germany: Evidence from Matching

Lechner, Michael, Vazquez-Alvarez, Rosalia

If labour market policies aimed at people with disabilities are effective, we should observe no significant difference in labour market outcomes between disable and non-disable individuals. This...

Regional Treatment Intensity as an Instrument for the Evaluation of Labour Market Policies

Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

The effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on individual employment chances and earnings are evaluated by nonparametric instrumental variables based on Swiss administrative data with...

Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment Is High?

Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

We estimate short, medium, and long-run individual labour market effects of training programs for unemployed by following program participation on a monthly basis over a ten-year period. Since...

Active Labour Market Policy in East Germany: Waiting for the Economy to Take Off

Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

A Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner

In the late 1990s, Switzerland introduced an ambitious active labour market policy (ALMP) encompassing several programmes. We evaluate their effects on the individual employment probability using...

Nonparametric bounds on employment and income effects of continuous vocational training in East Germany

MICHAEL LECHNER

This paper explores the potential of an approach suggested by Manski to obtain nonparametric bounds of treatment effects in evaluation studies without knowledge of the participation process. The...

A Caseworker Like Me - Does the Similarity between unemployed and Caseworker Increase Job Placements?

Behncke, Stefanie, Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

This paper examines whether the chances of job placements improve if unemployed persons are counselled by caseworkers who belong to the same social group, defined by gender, age, education, and...

Eine wirkungsorientierte aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland und der Schweiz: Eine Vision - zwei Realitäten

Michael Lechner

The paper develops a scenario of an interaction between actual governmental active labour market programmes and econometric policy evaluations. It argues that this scenario could and indeed should be...

What Did All the Money Do? On the General Ineffectiveness of Recent West German Labour Market Programmes

Conny Wunsch, Michael Lechner

We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of West German labour market programmes by evaluating training and employment programmes that have been conducted 2000 - 2002 after the first large reform...

Public Employment Services and Employers: How Important are Networks with Firms?

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

This paper examines whether contacts between caseworkers in public employment offices and employers impact on the reemployment chances of the unemployed they counsel. This analysis is made possible...

Targeting Labour Market Programmes - Results from a Randomized Experiment

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

We evaluate a randomized experiment of a statistical support system developed to assist caseworkers in Swiss employment offices in choosing appropriate active labour market programmes for their...

Does the Order and Timing of Active Labor Market Programs Matter?

Michael Lechner, Stephan Wiehler

This paper extends the traditional focus of active labor market policy evaluation from a static comparison of participation in a program versus nonparticipation (or participation in another program)...

Targeting Labour Market Programmes: Results from a Randomized Experiment

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

We evaluate a randomized experiment of a statistical support system developed to assist caseworkers in Swiss employment offices in choosing appropriate active labour market programmes for their...

Does the Order and Timing of Active Labor Market Programs Matter?

Michael Lechner, Stephan Wiehler

This paper extends the traditional focus of active labor market policy evaluation from a static comparison of participation in a program versus nonparticipation (or participation in another program)...

Does subsidised temporary employment get the unemployed back to work? An econometric analysis of two different schemes

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner, Heidi Steiger

Subsidised employment is an important tool of active labour market policies to improve the reemployment chances of the unemployed. Using unusually informative individual data from administrative...

Stochastic labour market shocks, labour market programmes, and human capital formation: a theoretical and empirical analysis

Michael Lechner, Rosalia Vazquez-Alvarez

This paper develops a life-cycle model of labour supply that captures endogenous human capital formation allowing for individual’s heterogeneous responses to stochastic labour market shocks. The...

Earnings Effects of Training Programs

Michael Lechner, Blaise Melly

In an evaluation of a job-training program, the influence of the program on the individual earnings capacity is important, because it reflects the program effect on human capital. Estimating these...

Targeting Labour Market Programmes - Results from A Randomised Experiment

Behncke, Stefanie, Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

We evaluate a randomized experiment of a statistical support system developed to assist caseworkers in Swiss employment offices in choosing appropriate active labour market programmes for their...

What Did All the Money Do? On the General Ineffectiveness of Recent West German Labour Market Programmes

Conny Wunsch, Michael Lechner

We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of West German labour market programmes by evaluating training and employment programmes that have been conducted 2000-2002 after the first large reform...

Unemployed and their Caseworkers: Should they be Friends or Foes?

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Fröhlich, Michael Lechner

In many countries, caseworkers in a public employment office have the dual roles of counselling and monitoring unemployed persons. These roles often conflict with each other leading to important...

What Did All the Money Do? On the General Ineffectiveness of Recent West German Labour Market Programmes

Conny Wunsch, Michael Lechner

We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of West German labour market programmes by evaluating training and employment programmes that have been conducted 2000-2002 after the first large reform...

Are training programs more effective when unemployment is high?

Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

"We estimate short, medium, and long-run individual labor market effects of training programs for unemployed by following program participation on a monthly basis over a ten-year period. Since...

Earnings Effects of Training Programs

Lechner, Michael, Melly, Blaise

In an evaluation of a job-training program, the influence of the program on the individual earnings capacity is important, because it reflects the program effect on human capital. Estimating these...

Earnings Effects of Training Programs

Michael Lechner, Blaise Melly

In an evaluation of a job-training program, the influence of the program on the individual earnings capacity is important, because it reflects the program effect on human capital. Estimating these...

Public Employment Services and Employers: How Important are Networks with Firms?

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

This paper examines whether contacts between caseworkers in public employment offices and employers impact on the reemployment chances of the unemployed they counsel. This analysis is made possible...

A Note on the Relation of Weighting and Matching Estimators

Michael Lechner

This paper compares the inverse-probability-of-selection-weighting estimation principle with the matching principle and derives conditions for weighting and matching to identify the same and the true...

Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland und der Schweiz : eine Gegenüberstellung

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in der Schweiz wird der deutschen gegenübergestellt. Beide Länder haben viele Gemeinsamkeiten bezüglich Zielsetzung, Instrumenten und institutionellen Reformen von...

A Caseworker Like Me: Does the Similarity between Unemployed and Caseworker Increase Job Placements?

Behncke, Stefanie, Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

This paper examines whether the chances of job placements improve if unemployed persons are counselled by caseworkers who belong to the same social group, defined by gender, age, education, and...

A Caseworker Like Me - Does The Similarity Between Unemployed And Caseworker Increase Job Placements?

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

This paper examines whether the chances of job placements improve if unemployed persons are counselled by caseworkers who belong to the same social group, defined by gender, age, education, and...

An Evaluation of Public-Sector-Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training Programs in East Germany

Michael Lechner

This study analyses the effects of public-sector-sponsored continuous vocational training and retraining in East Germany after unification with West Germany in 1990. It presents econometric estimates...

An Evaluation of Public Employment Programmes in the East German State of Sachsen-Anhalt

Michael Lechner, Martin Eichler

In East Germany, active labour market policies (ALMPs) are used on a large scale to contain fast rising unemployment after unification. This paper evaluates the effects for participants in public...

Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland

Gerfin, Michael, Lechner, Michael

In the second part of the 1990’s Switzerland conducted an ambitious active labour market policy (ALMP) encompassing a wide variety of programmes. We evaluate the effects of these programmes on the...

Does Subsidised Temporary Employment Get the Unemployed Back to Work? An Econometric Analysis of Two Different Schemes

Gerfin, Michael, Lechner, Michael, Steiger, Heidi

Subsidised employment is an important tool of active labour market policies to improve the chances of the unemployed to find permanent employment. Using informative individual administrative data we...

Sequential Matching Estimation of Dynamic Causal Models

Lechner, Michael

This paper proposes sequential matching and inverse selection probability weighting to estimate dynamic causal effects. The sequential matching estimators extend simple, matching estimators based on...

Long-Run Effects of Public Sector Sponsored Training in West Germany

Lechner, Michael, Miquel, Ruth, Wunsch, Conny

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new...

Kids or Courses? Gender Differences in the Effects of Active Labor Market Policies

Michael Lechner, Stephan Wiehler

This paper investigates active labor market programs in Austria with a special emphasis on male-female effect heterogeneity. On average, we find only small effects, if any, for most of the programs....

Earnings and Employment Effects of Continuous Off-the-Job Training in East Germany after Unification.

Lechner, Michael

The effects of continuous off-the-job training (OFT) for East Germans after unification are analyzed in terms of their earnings and employment probabilities. Using the potential outcome approach to...

Some Specification Tests for Probit Models Estimated on Panel Data.

Lechner, Michael

Generalized score and Wald tests are proposed to test certain aspects of the specification of panel probit models. The procedures used to detect misspecifications, such as omitted and superfluous...

Seminonparametric Estimation of Binary-Choice Models with an Application to Labor-Force Participation.

Gabler, Siegfried, Laisney, Francois, Lechner, Michael

The authors adapt the estimation method proposed by A. R. Gallant and D. N. Nychka (1987) to binary-choice models. They present Monte Carlo and asymptotic comparisons with the probit estimator and...

The Effect of Disability on Labour Market Outcomes in Germany: Evidence from Matching

Lechner, Michael, Vazquez-Alvarez, Rosalia

If labour market policies aimed at people with disabilities are effective, we should observe no significant difference in labour market outcomes between disabled and non-disabled individuals. This...

The Empirical Analysis of East German Fertility after

Michael Lechner

German unification led to a drastic decline in the East German birth rate. Recent explanations of this phenomena point to the importance of an adjustment process of the East German pattern with often...

Some practical issues in the evaluation of heterogeneous labour market programmes by matching methods

Michael Lechner

Recently, several studies have analysed active labour market policies by using a recently proposed matching estimator for multiple programmes. Since there is only very limited practical experience...

Sequential Matching Estimation of Dynamic Causal Models

Michael Lechner

This paper proposes sequential matching and inverse selection probability weighting to estimate dynamic casual effects. The sequential matching estimators extend simple, matching estimators based on...

What is the Value Added by Caseworkers?

Michael Lechner, Jeffrey Smith

We investigate the allocation of unemployed indivduals to different subprograms within Swiss active labour market policy by the caseworkers at local employment offices in Switzerland in 1998. We are...

The Effect of Disability on Labour Market Outcomes in Germany: Evidence from Matching

Michael Lechner, Rosalia Vazquez-Alvarez

If labour market policies aimed at people with disabilities are effective, we should observe no significant difference in labour market outcomes between disable and non-disable individuals. This...

Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland und der Schweiz - eine Gegenüberstellung

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

The active labour market policies in Switzerland and Germany are compared. German and Swiss labour market policies have similar aims, instruments and experienced similar institutional reforms. In...

The Relation of Different Concepts of Causality in Econometrics

Michael Lechner

Granger and Sims non-causality (GSNC) are compared to non-causality based on concepts popular in the microeconometrics and programme evaluation literature (potential outcome non-causality, PONC)....

Almost Consistent Estimation of Panel Probit Models with 'Small' Fixed Effects

Michael Lechner, Francois Laisney

We propose four different GMM estimators that allow almost consistent estimation of the structural parameters of panel probit models with fixed effects for the case of small T and large N. The...

Mikroökonometrische Evaluation arbeitsmarktpolitischer Massnahmen

Michael Lechner

Many European countries entertain considerable active labour market policies (ALMP) to increase the reemployment chances of the unemployed. Since policies are very costly the pressure for scientific...

Does subsidised temporary employment get the unemployed back to work? An econometric analysis of two different schemes

Michael Gerfin, Michael Lechner, Heidi Steiger

Subsidised employment is an important tool of active labour market policies to improve the chances of the unemployed to find permanent employment. Using informative individual administrative data we...

The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany after Unification

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel, Conny Wunsch

We analyse the effects of government sponsored training for the unemployed conducted during East German transition. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative...

A Note on Endogenous Control Variables in Evaluation Studies

Michael Lechner

The paper addresses the issue of potentially endogenous control variables in evaluation studies based on the assumption that selection bias can be avoided by conditioning on observed variables. It...

Identification of the Effects of Dynamic Treatments by Sequential Conditional Independence Assumptions

Michael Lechner, Ruth Miquel

This paper approaches the causal analysis of sequences of interventions from a potential outcome perspective. The identifying power of several different assumptions concerning the connection between...

A Microeconometric Evaluation of Rehabilitation of Long-term Sickness in Sweden

Frölich, Markus, Heshmati, Almas, Lechner, Michael

In this study the effects of various types of rehabilitation programmes on different labour market and health related outcomes are estimated. The main feature of this study, compared to previous...

Statistically assisted programme selection - International experiences and potential benefits for Switzerland

Frölich, Markus, Lechner, Michael, Steiger, Heidi

The need for better targeting of active labour market programmes is evident from the many evaluation studies that find insignificant or even negative effects. A statistical system could contribute to...

A Microeconometric Evaluation of Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland

Gerfin, Michael, Lechner, Michael

In the second half of the 1990s Switzerland introduced an ambitious active labour market policy (ALMP) encompassing a variety of programmes. We evaluate the effects of these programmes on individual...

Does Subsidized Temporary Employment Get the Unemployed Back to Work? An Econometric Analysis of Two Different Schemes

Gerfin, Michael, Lechner, Michael, Stieger, Heidi

Subsidized employment is an important tool of active labour market policies to improve the chances of the unemployed to find permanent employment. Using informative individual administrative data, we...

What is the Value Added by Caseworkers?

Lechner, Michael, Smith, Jeffrey

We investigate the allocation of unemployed individuals to different subprograms within Swiss active labour market policy by the caseworkers at local employment offices in Switzerland in 1998. We are...

Regional Treatment Intensity as an Instrument for the Evaluation of Labour Market Policies

Fröhlich, Markus, Lechner, Michael

The effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on individual employment chances and earnings are evaluated by non-parametric instrumental variables based on Swiss administrative data with...

Almost Consistent Estimation of Panel Probit Models with "Small” Fixed Effects

François Laisney, Michael Lechner

We propose four different GMM estimators that allow almost consistent estimation of the structural parameters of panel probit models with fixed effects for the case of small T and large N . The...

Program Heterogeneity And Propensity Score Matching: An Application To The Evaluation Of Active Labor Market Policies

Michael Lechner

This paper addresses microeconometric evaluation by matching methods when the programs under consideration are heterogeneous. Assuming that selection into the different subprograms and the potential...

Long-Run Labour Market Effects of Individual Sports Activities

Michael Lechner

This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being...

Mikroökonometrische Evaluierung berufsbezogener Rehabilitation in Schweden

Markus Frölich, Almas Heshmati, Michael Lechner

In this evaluation study the causal effects of different rehabilitation programmes on labour market outcomes are estimated simultaneously. A nonparametric matching estimator for the evaluation of...

Long-run Labour Market Effects of Individual Sports Activities

Lechner, Michael

This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being...

Long-run labour market effects of individual sports activities

Michael Lechner

This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being...

Statistically Assisted Programme Selection - International Experiences and Potential Benefits for Switzerland

Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner, Heidi Steiger

The need for better targeting of active labour market programmes is evident from the many evaluation studies that find insignificant or even negative effects. A statistical system could contribute to...

Some Recent Developments in Microeconometrics - A Survey

Heinz König, Michael Lechner

This paper summarizes some recent developments in microeconometrics with respect to methods for estimation and inference in non-linear models based on cross-section and panel data. In particular we...

Long-Run Labour Market Effects of Individual Sports Activities

Lechner, Michael

This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being...

Alternative Interpretations of Hours Information in an Econometric Model of Labour Supply.

Blundell, Richard, Laisney, Francois, Lechner, Michael

This paper examines the labour supply behaviour of married women in France. A sequence of models is specified and estimated which incorporate different amounts of information on observed weekly...

Testing Logit Models in Practice.

Lechner, Michael

The aim of the paper is to provide the practioner with easily implementable procedures, both numerical and graphical, to test the specification of the dichotomous, linear-in-coefficients logit model....

A note on endogenous control variables in causal studies

Lechner, Michael

The issue of potentially endogenous control variables in causal studies based on the assumption of no selection bias conditional on observables (conditional independence assumption, CIA) is...

Sequential Causal Models for the Evaluation of Labor Market Programs

Lechner, Michael

This article reviews inverse selection probability weighting to estimate dynamic causal effects. A distribution theory based on sequential generalized method of moments estimation is proposed and the...

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

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

Many Western economies have reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes and job search enforcement. We evaluate the three...

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

Martin Huber, Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch, Thomas Walter

Many Western economies have reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes and job search enforcement. We evaluate the three...

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

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

Many Western economies have reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes and job search enforcement. We evaluate the three...

Statistical Assistance for Programme Selection - For a Better Targeting of Active Labour Market Policies in Switzerland

Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich, Michael Lechner

Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Statistisches Auswahlverfahren, Schweiz, Labour market policy, Sample selection, Switzerland

Does Leaving Welfare Improve Health? Evidence for Germany

Martin Huber, Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

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...

Does Leaving Welfare Improve Health? Evidence for Germany

Huber, Martin, Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

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...

Does Leaving Welfare Improve Health? Evidence for Germany

Huber, Martin, Lechner, Michael, Wunsch, Conny

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...

Targeting Labour Market Programmes - Results from a Randomized Experiment

Michael Lechner, Stefanie Behncke, Markus Frölich

We evaluate a randomized experiment of a statistical support system developed to assist caseworkers in Swiss employment offices in choosing appropriate active labour market programmes for their...

Active labour market policy in East Germany

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We investigate the effects of the most important East German active labour market programmes on the labour market outcomes of their participants. The analysis is based on a large and informative...

Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment Is High?

Michael Lechner, Conny Wunsch

We estimate short-run, medium-run, and long-run individual labor market effects of training programs for the unemployed by following program participation on a monthly basis over a 10-year period....