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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2007.01024.x Byline: AXEL HEITMUELLER (1), KOSTAS G. MAVROMARAS (2) Abstract: German post-unification in the 1990s is a period marked by substantial economic and political change, a crucial part of which was a largely politically motivated attempt to build East German wages towards the much higher West German wages. We study the development of the public-private sector pay gap in Germany in the 1990s. We show that throughout the 1990s the overall pay gap between the public and private sectors remained stable in the West and increased considerably in the East. Wage decompositions show a small and stable negative public sector premium in the West, and a large and increasing positive public sector pay premium in the East. Decompositions also show a considerable deterioration in the skill base of the private sector in the East which the paper attributes in part to the improved attractiveness of the public sector. The paper argues that the development in the size and composition of the public-private sector pay gap in the East is an indication of the public sector crowding out the private sector and raises concerns about the future competitiveness of the East. Author Affiliation: (1)London Business School and IZA (2)Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne and IZA

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.12.009 Byline: Axel Heitmueller (a), Kirsty Inglis (b) Keywords: Decomposition; Earnings distribution; Opportunity costs Abstract: A substantial proportion of working age individuals in Britain are looking after sick, disabled or elderly people, often combining their work and caring responsibilities. Previous research has shown that informal care is linked with substantial opportunity costs for the individual due to forgone wages as a result of non-labour market participation. In this paper we show that informal carers exhibit further disadvantages even when participating. Using the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) we decompose wage differentials and show that carers can expect lower returns for a given set of characteristics, with this wage penalty varying along the pay distribution and by gender. Furthermore, opportunity costs from forgone wages and wage penalties are estimated and found to be substantial. Author Affiliation: (a) PMSU, IZA Bonn, London Business School, United Kingdom (b) McMaster University, DWP, London, United Kingdom Article History: Received 29 April 2005; Revised 21 July 2006; Accepted 21 December 2006 Article Note: (footnote) [star] We are thankful for comments from two anonymous referees. An earlier version of this paper won the 2005 John Hoy Memorial 2nd prize for the best paper by a government economist. The results of this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (PMSU).

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.10.005 Byline: Axel Heitmueller Keywords: Instrumental variable approach; Informal care; Endogeneity; Quasi fixed effects Abstract: Around 14% of the UK labour force has informal care responsibilities and almost everyone in society will be an informal carer in their lifetime. A well-known fact in the small economic literature on informal care is the apparent negative relation between care responsibilities and labour market participation. Yet, caring and labour market participation may be endogenous. Using an instrumental variable approach and panel data techniques and employing data from the British Household Panel Study from 1991 to 2002, this paper shows that not accommodating for endogeneity in the labour market participation equation may significantly overestimate the impact care exhibits on the employment decision of informal carers. Moreover, it is shown that a negative impact on employment only applies to some care-types. Policy implications are derived. Author Affiliation: Centre for New and Emerging Markets, London Business School, Regent's Park, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom Article History: Received 4 July 2005; Revised 4 August 2006; Accepted 11 October 2006 Article Note: (footnote) [star] An earlier version of this paper is available as IZA discussion paper. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2006.00523.x Byline: AXEL HEITMUELLER (1) Abstract: Previous immigration facilitates future immigration, a phenomenon called network migration. While well recognized, previous research has mainly focused on the implications of immigrant networks on future migrants. In contrast, this paper derives a simple model from the perspective of the incumbent immigrant population by introducing sub-networks and argues that the incumbent migrants fail to achieve a Pareto optimal network size due to differences in inter- and intra-migrant group externalities and subsequently coordination failures. In short, it stresses the active role incumbents take in the provision of network effects and provides theoretical evidence that self-perpetuating and sustained immigration is not at odds with rational acting individuals. It also shows that optimally chosen migration quotas may appeal to incumbent migration cohorts and provides an alternative explanation for inter- and intra-migrant group tensions. Author Affiliation: (1)London Business School, IZA

The vast amount of health data generated and stored around the world each day offers significant opportunities for advances such as the real-time tracking of diseases, predicting disease outbreaks, and developing health care that is truly personalized. However, capturing, analyzing, and sharing health data is difficult, expensive, and controversial. This article explores four central questions that policy makers should consider when developing public policy for the use of “big data” in health care. We discuss what aspects of big data are most relevant for health care and present a taxonomy of data types and levels of access. We suggest that successful policies require clear objectives and provide examples, discuss barriers to achieving policy objectives based on a recent policy experiment in the United Kingdom, and propose levers that policy makers should consider using to advance data sharing. We argue that the case for data sharing can be won only by providing real-life examples of the ways in which it can improve health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]