Research

Publications

Media coverage: [The National News] | [Deutschlandfunk Kultur] | [Deutschlandfunk]  

Policy columns: [VoxEU] | [Ökonomenstimme] 

Working paper: [CEPR Discussion Paper No. 16620] | [CESifo Working Paper No. 9349] | [IZA Working Paper No. 14769] 

Working Papers

We estimate the impact of a large curriculum reform in Switzerland that substantially increased the share of foreign language classes in compulsory school on students' subsequent educational choices in upper secondary school. Using administrative student register data and exploiting the staggered implementation of the curriculum reform, we find that exposure to more foreign language classes during compulsory school has only minor effects on educational choices of the overall student population. However, we find substantial effect heterogeneity: while the reform has no effect on the direct educational progression of either low-track female or high-track students, it impedes low-track male students' transition to upper secondary education. The effect of foreign language classes on the educational trajectory of low-track male students is particularly pronounced for students who do not speak at home the school's language of instruction. Finally, we find that female students who start vocational training immediately after compulsory school are more likely to select into training occupations that require higher foreign language skills instead of natural science skills. 

[CESifo Working Paper No. 9912] | [Slides EALE 2022] 


I study the effect of refugees’ protection status—Geneva Convention or subsidiary protection status—on labor market outcomes, focusing on a cohort of Syrian and Iraqi refugee migrants entering Germany between 2013 and 2016. My empirical analysis exploits a sudden and unpredictable March 2016 policy change of the asylum claim-handling federal agency, reducing the likelihood of receiving Geneva Convention refugee status for refugee migrants from these two countries. Using data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees, I exploit the policy change in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. Estimation results indicate a substantial negative effect of subsidiary protection status on earnings and employment. 

[Online Working Paper] | [Slides EALE 2021] 


This paper investigates the role of Internet usage in the migration decision using micro-level data from Nigeria. Internet usage reduces migration costs such as search and information costs or psychological costs, which suggests that having access to the Internet increases the probability to migrate. My empirical analysis exploits variation in Internet usage induced by the arrival of submarine Internet cables in Western Africa. Results indicate a large positive effect of  Internet usage on migration. The effect is particularly strong for migration out of Africa and is larger for individuals from the lower part of the wealth distribution.

[Online Working Paper] | [Slides International Conference in Development Economics 2021] 


Current Projects

We study the impact of classroom rank in math on subsequent educational and occupational choices as well as labor market outcomes. Using the Swiss section of the PISA-2012 student achievement data linked to administrative student register data and earning records from 2012-2020, we exploit differences in math achievements distributions across classes to estimate the effect of students’ ordinal rank in the classroom. We find that students with a higher classroom rank in math receive higher earnings in the years after compulsory school. We provide evidence that this effect is driven by students who select into vocational education tracks—and not by differential educational choices between vocational and general education tracks after compulsory school. Further, we show that students with a higher classroom rank in math are more likely to select into training occupations that require a higher share of math and science skills and typically provide the opportunity to work in higher-paid jobs.