Mikroökonomische Beschäftigungseffekte des Hamburger Modells zur Beschäftigungsförderung – Evaluation eines Kombilohns

The aim of the wage subsidy program in Hamburg is to encourage the creation of low wage jobs for unemployed persons with poor labor market opportunities. If a firm hires an unemployed job seeker, both the employer and the employee each receive a monthly wage subsidy of 250 Euros in the first ten months in case of fulltime employment and 125 Euros in the first six months in case of part-time employment. Using propensity score matching, we evaluate the microeconomic employment effects of this program. The results show that there are significant positive average treatment effects on the treated even ten months after expiration of the subsidy. One reason for the medium-term employment effects of the temporary subsidies may be that participants accumulate human capital which increases their productivity. Another explanation is that temporary wage subsidies reduce quasi-fixed labor costs.Received: June 12, 2007Accepted: August 1, 200