MEA research news - productivity in older ages and labor market

There is a wide-spread assumption that older workers are less productive – which would result in a negative effect on overall productivity due to the increasing number of elderly employees. This assumption is contradicted by MEA studies concerning productivity and age.

Ist die hohe Kindersterblichkeit in Entwicklungsländern der Grund für die große Anzahl an Geburten? Und wie wirken sich Bildungsinvestitionen auf die Anzahl der Kinder und damit das Bevölkerungswachstum in Entwicklungsländern aus? Diesen Fragen geht Edgar Vogel aus dem Forschungsbereich „Makroökonomische Implikationen einer alternden Gesellschaft" nach.

In the course of increasing labor market participation, especially among women, and rising wealth, one observes an increase in outsourcing of home production. Cleaning ladies and house maids, but also restaurants, garages and kindergartens, take over work that has formerly been done by the people themselves. The process creates new jobs for unskilled workers in the service sector. Against this background, Melanie Lührmann and Matthias Weiss have examined the effects of prolonging the number of working hours per week or the impact of increasing labour market participation on the demand for unskilled labor and unemployment.