Do Household Tax Credits Increase the Demand for Legally Provided Services?, 2022, joint work with Lilith Burgstaller and Sarah Necker

We study the causal effects of household tax credits on the willingness to demand legally provided services using a survey experiment among 670 German homeowners. Participants are randomly assigned to a scenario 1) without a tax credit, 2) a tax credit the household can claim with the annual tax return, i.e., in the following year, 3) a tax credit granted by the seller at source, i.e., immediately. We find that tax credits increase the probability that a household selects an offer with an invoice by 13 (via tax return) or 11 (granted at source) percentage points. The willingness to pay a premium for an invoice increases by the factor 1.09 and 1.06, respectively, which is substantially lower than the change expected when the tax credit is fully factored in (increase by a factor of 1.25). The treatment effects are not significantly different between the two tax credits, suggesting that the incomplete take-up cannot be explained by the timing of tax credits or the actions related to obtaining them.

Unregistered Work among Refugees - Findings from a List Experiment in Germany, 2022, WWZ Discussion Paper 01/2022, joint work with Carina Hartmann and Christoph Sajons, under review at European Journal of Political Economy

The integration of refugees in host countries' labor markets is complicated by structural barriers, missing formal qualifications, and language deficiencies. This leads to widespread concern that refugees may end up in informal and precarious employment relationships. Empirical evidence on the prevalence of unregistered work is missing, however, due to the sensitive and illegal nature of this phenomenon. In this paper, we conduct a list experiment to measure unregistered work among refugees in Germany. Our results indicate that 31% have had experience with an unregistered job since their arrival. Refugees who report that they do not have work permission show a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing unregistered work. Furthermore, the lack of post-secondary education and vocational degrees, and a low German proficiency predict the risk to work without registration.

The Long-Term Effects of Job Training on Labor Market and Skills Outcomes in Chile, 2020, IDB Working Paper 1156, joint work with Rafael Novella

Job training programs can be an effective policy for improving productivity and labor market outcomes in low and middle-income countries. We report the medium and long-term impacts of a job training program for vulnerable workers in Chile on the labor market and skill outcomes using experimental and administrative data. We find that the program fails on improving workers' skills and most labor outcomes but some evidence of an effect on labor income. We also find evidence of heterogeneous effects by course type, training provider quality, and gender. This evidence aims at contributing to a better design of training programs and to better use of public resources.