Publications in peer-reviewed journals

Young versus Old Politicians and Public Spending Priorities

with Thushyanthan Baskaran and Zohal Hessami
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2024, 225, 88-106.

Abstract Do young politicians prioritize other types of municipal spending than old politicians? We study this question using hand-collected candidate-level data on municipal elections (1996-2020), along with detailed administrative data on municipal spending in Bavaria. Our identification strategy makes use of within-party candidate-level races for marginal seats. Our findings indicate that municipalities with a higher proportion of young councilors allocate more resources to social spending. Further analysis reveals that this social spending increase is primarily driven by the expansion of public child care. Exploring mechanisms, we find evidence suggesting that young councilors affect policy choices indirectly through between- and within-party bargaining.

Work in progress

Immigration Shocks and Shifting Social Group Boundaries

with Zohal Hessami
IZA Discussion Paper No. 17343

Abstract We study whether the arrival of a new immigrant wave changes natives’ acceptance of former immigrants and their descendants. We exploit the 2015 European refugee crisis and the context of German open-list local council elections where voting for immigrantorigin candidates represents a consequential revealed preference. We combine handcollected candidate-level election data with administrative asylum seeker data. Continuous difference-in-differences estimations (based on municipal %Δ in asylum seekers) reveal that immigrant-origin candidates receive more votes the more asylum seekers arrived locally. This shift in social group boundaries is driven by candidates with a Southern/Eastern European origin being culturally similar to Germans.

Managing Migration: Female Mayors and the Intake of Refugees

Abstract This paper studies whether political leaders’ gender matters for their crisis management. In particular, I focus on female mayors in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia during the intake of Ukrainian refugees in 2022/23. I use granular data on the fulfillment of the municipal refugee allocation quota and 2020 municipal election data. To identify causal effects, I rely on a local difference-in-differences approach based on close mixedgender mayorship races. Female mayors fulfill the allocation quota less than male mayors in response to the crisis. This effect is not driven by other mayor characteristics or the fiscal capacity of municipalities. I also provide evidence that the difference is not driven by the frequency of refugee topics in council meetings. Instead, the results suggest that strong electoral competition is a plausible mechanism for the lower quota fulfillment of female mayors.

Refugee Migration, Business Registrations, and Job Creation

with Zohal Hessami and Clara Wobbe

Policy papers (in German)

Werding, Martin, Läpple, Benjamin and Schirner, Sebastian (2024): “Modellrechnungen für den Sechsten Tragfähigkeitsbericht des BMF”, FiFo-Berichte, No. 33

Schirner, Sebastian, Hickmann, Helen, Malin, Lydia and Werner, Dirk (2021): “Fachkräfteengpässe in Unternehmen – Fachkräftemangel und Nachwuchsqualifizierung im Handwerk”, KOFA-Studie, No. 1/2021, Köln

Burstedde, Alexander, Flake, Regina, Jansen, Anika, Malin, Lydia, Risius, Paula, Seyda, Susanne, Schirner, Sebastian and Werner, Dirk (2020): “Die Messung des Fachkräftemangels”, IW-Report, No. 59/2020, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), Köln.

Burstedde, Alexander and Schirner, Sebastian (2019): “Digitalisierung und die Zukunft von Berufen”, IW-Kurzbericht, No. 48/2019, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), Köln