Research Seminar by Jakob Losert (Universität Salzburg)

Title: Educational Leave in Austria: Selection, Take-up, and Labor Market Effects (Funded by Jubiläumsfonds of Austrian National Bank)

Speaker: Jakob Losert (Universität Salzburg)

Abstract: This talk presents two related projects on Austria’s paid educational leave scheme (Bildungskarenz). In the first part, we study how benefit generosity affects program take-up. Using administrative data on insured employees aged 40-49 from 2006-2011 and a 2008 reform that unified benefit levels across ages, we combine an age-based regression discontinuity at 45, a cohort difference-in-differences design, and an event-study setup. We show that the pre-reform discontinuity in participation at age 45 disappears once benefits are equalized, and that extending earnings-related benefits to younger workers increased participation by around 56 percent relative to a counterfactual. Effects are concentrated among white-collar and above-median earners.

In the second part, we analyze wage dynamics among educational-leave users. Focusing on participants aged 40-49, we compare younger and older cohorts before and after the 2008 reform in a difference-in-differences and event-study setup. We trace wage trajectories around leave and discuss how selection and multiple spells affect interpretation.