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This paper investigates the critical role of culture for economic recovery after natural disasters. Using Hurricane Katrina as our laboratory, we find a significant adverse treatment effect for plant-level productivity. However, local religious adherence and larger shares of ancestors with disaster experiences mutually mitigate this detrimental effect from the disaster. Religious adherence further dampens anxiety after Hurricane Katrina, which potentially spur economic recovery. We also detect this effect on the aggregate county level. More religious counties recover faster in terms of population, new establishments, and GDP.

Several empirical studies find that worker inflows from more productive or otherwise superior firms increase hiring firms' productivity. We conduct a similar analysis for Germany, using a unique linked employer-employee data set, and ranking sending and hiring establishments by their median wage. We find that inflows from superior (higher-paying) establishments do not increase hiring establishments' productivity, but inflows from inferior establishments seem to. Further analyses suggest this effect is due to positive selectivity of such inflows from their sending establishments. Our findings can be interpreted as evidence of a reallocation process by which the best employees of lower-paying establishments become hired by higher-paying establishments. This process reflects the increasingly assortative pattern of worker mobility in Germany, to which our findings suggest a micro-foundation at the establishment and worker levels. Empirische Studien zeigen, dass Zugänge von Beschäftigten aus produktiveren Betrieben die Produktivität der einstellenden Betriebe steigern. Wir untersuchen diesen Zusammenhang für Deutschland anhand eines eigens generierten Linked Employer-Employee Datensatzes. Dabei ordnen wir Herkunfts- und Zielbetriebe von Betriebswechslern anhand ihres Medianlohns. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Beschäftigtenzugänge aus höher entlohnenden Betrieben keine Wirkung auf die Produktivität der Zielbetriebe haben. Zugänge aus geringer entlohnenden Betrieben hingegen haben unseren Ergebnissen zufolge einen positiven Produktivitätseffekt. Weitere Analysen ergeben, dass dieser Effekt in einer Positivauswahl dieser Beschäftigten aus ihren Herkunftsbetrieben begründet liegt. Ein Teil der produktivsten Beschäftigten von Betrieben mit niedrigerem Lohnniveau wechselt also zu Betrieben mit höherem Lohnniveau. Dieser Prozess spiegelt ein bereits bekanntes Muster der Beschäftigtenmobilität in Deutschland wider, wonach sich hochbezahlte Beschäftigte zunehmend in hoch entlohnende Betriebe sortieren. Unsere Ergebnisse können daher als Mikro-Fundierung für dieses gesamtwirtschaftliche Muster dienen.

Using comprehensive data for German establishments (1999-2008), we estimate plant-level production functions to analyze if cultural diversity affects total factor productivity. We distinguish diversity in the establishment's workforce and in the aggregate regional labor force where the plant is located. We find that a larger share of foreign workers - either in the establishment or in the region - does not affect productivity. However, there are strong spillovers associated with the degree of cultural heterogeneity. The aggregate level is, quantitatively, at least as important as the workforce composition inside the establishment. Diversity thus seems to induce externalities beyond the boundaries of a single firm; it improves local business environments.