We continue after our lunch break with RFBerlin research officer @tohoff.bsky.social from @bsoeberlin.bsky.social at @humboldtuni.bsky.social, presenting on "The Life-Cycle Consequences of Obesity and the Welfare Effects of Weight-Loss Drugs".
Congratulations @silkekaiser.bsky.social! 🎉
Celebrating a milestone at the Hertie School: silkekaiser.bsky.social is our first graduate of the bsoeberlin.bsky.social PhD programme. Her work on sustainable urban mobility shows how data can help shape better cities. Congrats, Silke!
datasciencelab.bsky.social, hertiesustain.bsky.social
The upper panel shows the share of survey respondents who use generative AI for work. The lower panel reports the share of last week’s working hours spent using generative AI. For daily usage, respondents could indicate (i) no usage, (ii) less than 15 minutes, (iii) 15–60 minutes, (iv) 1–4 hours, or (v) more than 4 hours. To obtain the total minutes spent using generative AI, the authors assume daily usage of 0, 7.5 minutes, 37.5 minutes, 2.5 hours, and 4 hours for each option, respectively. Weekly usage is calculated by combining daily usage with the reported number of days used. If respondents report using generative AI on ‘some days’ (rather than one or all days), the authors assume they used it on half of their working days. For non-users, the share of work hours using generative AI is mechanically 0. The economic impact of generative AI will depend on the speed and breadth of adoption by workers and firms. Drawing on a survey of workers in the US and six European countries and a firm survey covering 32 European countries, this column explores the speed of AI adoption across countries and whether an ‘AI gap’ will exacerbate existing productivity differences between the US and Europe. There are large differences in AI adoption across countries, much of which are accounted for by management practices. Higher AI adoption rates are associated with faster productivity growth but not with changes in employment.
A Bick, A Blandin, D Deming, N Fuchs-Schündeln, & J Jessen find large differences in AI adoption across countries, much of which are accounted for by management practices. Higher adoption rates are associated w/ + productivity growth but not w/ employment changes.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky
Writing for the Press / Opinion Pieces (in German) What makes a strong opinion article? What interests readers about your research? And how can complex academic findings become a clear and relevant public message? May 6 and 13, 2026 with Christine Prußky (journalist) - interactive sessions - explore opportunities and limits of AI tools in writing - discuss example texts - work on your own article – with the goal of leaving the training with a text that is “fit to print”
📢 Spots still available!
Turn your research into a compelling opinion piece.
Join our workshop “Writing for the Press” (in German), May 6 & 13, @humboldtuni.bsky.social.
Register by April 30 (max. 12 spots).
🔗 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/event-detail...
#sciencecommunication #mediatraining
📢POSTPONED!
To Friday, April 17th
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: submit your digital health economics papers and abstracts by April 6! More info here: www.digitalhealthecon.org
Interview zum Thema Wohnen in Deutschland in der @taz.de.
Entstanden im Kontext eines von der @boeckler-stiftung.bsky.social geförderten Projekts zum Thema Wohnraummangel, gemeinsam mit @sebastiankohl.bsky.social, @lucastella.bsky.social & @simonvoss.bsky.social.
Really very happy to see our paper covered in Nature Magazine
Full paper here cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publica...
We have too little architectural quality—even though it pays. The reason is a coordination failure.
👉 Should policy step in?
Our @econ-observatory.bsky.social coverage www.economicsobservatory.com/why-dont-we-...
of our @bsoeberlin.bsky.social @cep-lse.bsky.social DP github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs...
🎬 How can academic research reach a wider public audience?
In our new video, Felix Degenhardt (@bsoeberlin.bsky.social & @unipotsdam.bsky.social) shares how he turned his research into a published op-ed in @zeit.de.
▶️ Watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvj9...
#sciencecommunication
@tagesspiegel.de with coverage of the AHSY index (w dashboard): interaktiv.tagesspiegel.de/lab/gewerbem...
Here is our @bsoeberlin.bsky.social paper with the underlying methodology: github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs... For those who cant get enough: our 1h live debate 😎: www.tagesspiegel.de/kneipe-weg-k...
Writing for the Press Opinion Pieces (in German) What makes a strong opinion article? What interests readers about your research? And how can complex academic findings become a clear and relevant public message? May 6 & 13, 2026 with Christine Prußky (journalist) - interactive sessions - explore opportunities and limits of AI tools in writing - discuss example texts - work on your own article – with the goal of a text that is "fit to print"
📰 Want to turn your research into a strong opinion piece?
In the #training “Writing for the #Press”, journalist Christine Prußky shares tips on writing for a wider audience and bringing research into public debate.
📅 6 & 13 May | @humboldtuni.bsky.social
📩 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/event-detail...
Fascinating fact: in countries with higher inequality, people are *more* optimistic that they‘ll climb the social ladder.
Long interview with Julia Baumann and Yiming Liu. 👇🏼
@bsoeberlin.bsky.social @rationalitycrc.bsky.social
@wzb.bsky.social
www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik-gese...
🌇 @ahlfeldt.bsky.social (@humboldtuni.bsky.social and @bsoeberlin.bsky.social), Nathaniel Baum-Snow, and Remi Jedwab show that tall buildings lead to more compact and productive cities 🏢
⬇️
Call for Papers!
The 3rd Workshop Applied Economics in Digital Health will take place at HPI, Potsdam, 2-3 July 2026. Submission deadline on March 30.
Exciting keynote, diverse academic program and policy discussions!
Further info: www.digitalhealthecon.org
@arieldora.bsky.social @simonreif.eu
We revised our Skyscraper Revolution paper github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs...
Added indirect inference to estimate the QoL effect of density by matching causal reduced-form estimates in the model => more realistic counterfactuals. Quick read @voxeu.org: cepr.org/voxeu/column... @bsoeberlin.bsky.social
We're hiring 2 PhD students in global #public #economics at @pik-potsdam.bsky.social. Join our team for collaborative impact-focused research. Apply empirically calibrated principal-agent models to design jurisdictional reward funds to boost global cooperation on climate, health & beyond. (1/2)
👥 @cairosofie.bsky.social, @riaivandic.bsky.social, @ansolassen.bsky.social, @valentinatartari.bsky.social, @wzb.bsky.social
INSIGHTS pieces Parenthood and the Academic Career Ladder by Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandić, Anne Sophie Lassen, and Valentina Tartari
💼 Parenthood can be a turning point in #academic careers.
💡 A new INSIGHTS piece revisits the study on parenthood and the academic career ladder and what it reveals about motherhood, fatherhood, and career paths in academia and beyond.
berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insight/pare...
#genderinequality
Unequal childcare, not women’s lower ambition, drives the gap.
👥 @ansolassen.bsky.social, @wzb.bsky.social, @lsepress.bsky.social
Parenthood and the Career Ladder: Evidence from Academia by Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandić, Anne Sophie Lassen, and Valentina Tartari
Focus and Research Question The study examines how becoming a parent affects academic careers and whether it contributes to gender gaps at senior levels. It asks whether motherhood and fatherhood have different effects on staying in academia and reaching tenure (a permanent senior position).
Data and Methodology The researchers use population-wide Danish administrative data linked to publication records, promotions, and family information. They apply an event-study design, comparing men and women before and after the birth of their first child to isolate the impact of parenthood.
Key Findings I – Careers diverge after the first child Before parenthood, men and women follow similar career paths. After the first child, one in three women leave academia, while men’s academic employment declines only slightly.
👶📚 Does #parenthood affect academic careers equally?
A new study shows that after the first child, many mothers leave #academia and are less likely to reach tenure (a permanent professorship) – while fathers’ careers remain largely unchanged.
berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...
The figure shows the gender wage gap (the difference in average log hourly wages between males and females) in log points on the y-axis. The x-axis displays the gender wage premium gap, which is the sum of the sorting and pay-setting components. The diagonal lines represent scenarios in which firm wage premiums account for 10% (top line) and 40% (bottom line) of the total gender wage gap. Early explanations for gender wage gaps focused on human capital or career choices. This column uses data from the US and ten European countries to examine the role of firms. Across all countries considered, firms account for between 10% and 30% of the gender wage gap, mainly reflecting women being more likely to work at firms that pay less to all employees, irrespective of their skills. While men move to higher-paying firms as they advance in their career, women tend to stay behind. Women also tend to sort into low-wage firms in return for more flexibility in working time. The findings suggests that there is a case for complementing family policies with policies focused on firms.
Using data from the US & 10 European countries, the OECD LinkEED 2.0 Team analysed the role of firms in the gender wage gap. They find firms account for 10-30% of the gap, mainly reflecting women being more likely to work at firms that pay less to all employees.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky
📢 Why do women & men earn different wages – & what role do firms play?
New research finds that firm differences explain a substantial share of the #GenderWageGap.
📄 by @ansolassen.bsky.social (@wzb.bsky.social @bsoeberlin.bsky.social) & coauthors.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#InternationalWomensDay
📢 #CallForPapers - 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference 2026
📆7-9 Oct | 📍 @wzb.bsky.social
⌛Deadline: 23 April
Papers from interested researchers of all social science disciplines are welcome.
cepr.org/events/2nd-a...
@steffenhuck.bsky.social @yaso.bsky.social #EconSky #EconConf
Key Visula für the 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference 2026: About a dozen irregular magenta, petal- or pebble-like shapes of different sizes scattered horizontally on a background; several shapes have a short thin black line as an accent.
💡 Call for Papers for the 2nd Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference 2026 on the topic “Challenges to International Orders: Causes and Consequences”
📅 7–9 October at the WZB.
🔄Please share our call for papers within your networks. Deadline for submissions: 23 April 26
www.wzb.eu/en/events/2n...
👥 @tuberlin.bsky.social
Global Risk Shocks in a Small Open Economy and Their Impact on Monetary Policy Surprises by Juan Michelsen
Focus and Research Question The study examines how unexpected increases in global financial risk affect a small open economy, using Canada as a case study. It also asks whether global risk distorts common measures of monetary policy shocks.
Data and Methodology The researcher builds a new measure of global risk shocks from unexpected daily changes in the VIX (a market index of expected stock volatility) and uses a proxy-SVAR, an econometric model that traces cause-and-effect relationships over time. The approach identifies global shocks using only domestic Canadian variables.
Data The analysis combines high-frequency financial data (daily VIX and market reactions) with monthly Canadian macroeconomic indicators from 2002–2019, including GDP, prices, interest rates, exchange rates, credit spreads, and stock prices.
🌍📉 Global financial risk doesn’t just shake markets – it shapes national economies and even how we measure the effects of central bank policy. A new study shows external risk drives exchange rates, growth, financial conditions & monetary policy surprises.
👉 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...
👥 @ahlfeldt.bsky.social, @humboldtuni.bsky.social, @utoronto.ca, @unidue.bsky.social
The Price of Productivity by Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Stephan Heblich, Tobias Seidel, and Fan Yin
Focus and Research Question The study asks whether the productivity advantages of cities – known as agglomeration effects – are reflected not only in higher wages but also in higher commercial rents. It examines whether focusing on wages alone understates the true economic benefits of large cities.
Data and Measurement The researchers build a new commercial rent index for Germany using five million property listings from 2007 to 2024. They measure rents at a fine geographic level and identify central business districts (CBDs) as areas with unusually high economic density.
Methodological Approach They estimate how commercial rents decline with distance from the CBD and how CBD rents increase with city size. To identify causal effects, they use historical population as an instrument for current city size.
🏙️ Do big cities boost productivity more than we think?
A study shows the benefits of urban density are reflected not only in higher wages, but also in higher commercial rents. Ignoring rent effects may underestimate the true economic gains of large cities.
berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...