Max Müller

I am a PhD Student at the University of Bonn supervised by Thomas Dohmen and Christopher Roth.

My work is primarily in labor economics, with further interests in behavioral and public economics. I study how firms set wages and amenities, and how beliefs and expectations shape labor market outcomes.

In the fall semester of 2025, I completed a research visit at Yale University, followed by a research visit at UC Berkeley in the spring semester of 2026.

If you have any comments, thoughts, ideas, or questions related to my research, don’t hesitate to reach out! 

Email: max.mueller@uni-bonn.de

CV: here

Abstract: Labor supply depends on wages and amenities, and standard models implicitly assume that firms hold accurate beliefs about workers’ amenity valuations. In a survey with firms and workers in Germany linked to administrative data, we measure workers’ valuations of five different amenities and firms’ beliefs about workers’ valuations. We find that firms systematically underestimate workers’ valuations of all five amenities. These misperceptions are driven by interpersonal projection: managers project their own preferences—they value amenities less—onto workers. Through the lens of a simple model of imperfect competition, we show that firm misperceptions result in (i) labor shortages and (ii) excess labor costs for biased firms. Empirical tests confirm these predictions: a simple calibration suggests that non-providing firms could reduce their labor costs by 5% by providing amenities.

Abstract: Do refugees face systematic disadvantages in the apprenticeship market and what measures can mitigate them? We address these questions using a combination of discrete choice experiments and information treatments involving 800 firms in Germany. Our findings show that refugees are much less likely to be accepted for apprenticeships than their native counterparts, unless they are substantially better qualified in terms of formal education. However, this gap can be significantly reduced through two key mechanisms: signaling soft skills such as discipline, motivation, and reliability, and implementing public policy programs that enhance job-specific language proficiency and job readiness.