This paper examines the distributional effects of international trade in a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and a welfare state redistributing income. The redistribution scheme is financed by a progressive income tax and gives the same absolute transfer to all individuals. Ceteris paribus, international trade leads to an increase in income per capita but also to higher income inequality on two fronts. Inter-group inequality between managers and workers increases, and intra-group inequality within the group of managers goes up as well. We show that for constant tax rates, there is an endogenous increase in the size of the welfare state that works against the increase in inequality, yet cannot offset it. The paper also sheds light on the conditions under which trade can actually lead to a Pareto improvement.

This paper investigates the effects of international trade in a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous firms where a welfare state redistributes income. We look at a very stylised progressive non-distortionary redistribution scheme. We show that for a given tax rate international trade increases income per capita, but also leads to higher income inequality. Two aspects of income inequality are examined. First, inter-group inequality between managers and workers is considered. Second, intra-group inequality within the group of managers is investigated. For a given tax rate the size of the welfare state and therefore the transfer per capita increases when going from autarky to trade. This second-round effect counteracts the primary increase in inequality, yet cannot outweigh it. Since the redistribution scheme is non-distortionary, it is possible to decrease trade-induced inequality by increasing the tax rate without jeopardising the gains from trade.

This paper examines the effects of a unilateral reform of the redistribution policy in an economy open to international trade. We set up a general equilibrium trade model with heterogeneous agents allowing for country asymmetries. We show that under international trade compared to autarky, a unilateral tax increase leads to a less pronounced decline in aggregate real income in the reforming country, while income inequality is reduced to a larger extent for sufficiently small initial tax rates. We highlight as a key mechanism a tax-induced reduction in the market size of the reforming country relative to its trading partner, resulting in a firm selection effect towards exporting. From the perspective of a non-reforming trading partner, the unilateral redistribution policy reform resembles a unilateral increase in trade costs leading to a deterioration of terms-of-trade and a decline in both aggregate real income and inequality.

Die Dissertation umfasst vier Aufsätze zur ökonomischen Analyse von Bildung und Ungleichheit. Der erste Aufsatz zeigt, dass zwischen 1993 und 2013 der Anteil des Einkommens, der für das Wohnen ausgegeben wird, für das unterste Einkommensquintil stark anstieg, während er für das oberste Quintil zurückging. Dies kann durch einen Rückgang der Kosten des Wohneigentums im Vergleich zu den Mieten, sowie Veränderungen der Haushaltsstruktur und der regionalen Mobilität erklärt werden. Im Vergleich zu älteren Kohorten geben jüngere Kohorten im gleichen Alter einen höheren Anteil ihres Einkommens für das Wohnen aus und sparen weniger, mit möglicherweise negativen Auswirkungen auf den Vermögensaufbau. Der zweite Aufsatz analysiert Bildungswege von Schulabgängern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund. Es wird zuerst eine „Polarisierung“ dokumentiert: Migranten besuchen häufiger eine tertiäre Ausbildung, seltener eine berufliche Ausbildung und bleiben häufiger ohne qualifizierte Ausbildung als es ihr Hintergrund vorhersagen würde. Dies kann durch die stärker akademisch orientierten Karrierepläne der Migranten erklärt werden, die unterschiedliche Effekte für gering- und hochqualifizierte Schüler haben. Der dritte Aufsatz untersucht die kausalen Effekte des Besuchs eines beruflichen Gymnasiums verglichen mit dem eines allgemeinbildenden Gymnasiums. Nach Berücksichtigung der Selektion finden sich keine Auswirkungen auf den Abschluss des Abiturs, ein kleiner negativer Effekt auf die Studierneigung, sowie positive Effekte auf Karriereplanung und Arbeitsmarktergebnisse. Der vierte Aufsatz untersucht Veränderungen der intergenerationalen Mobilität für westdeutsche Geburtskohorten 1944-1986. Er dokumentiert eine steigende Ungleichheit der Bildungsbeteiligung und der Arbeitsmarktergebnisse abhängig vom sozialen Hintergrund der Eltern. Diese Ergebnisse ändern sich nicht wesentlich, wenn ``zweite Chancen'' im deutschen Schul- und Hochschulsystem berücksichtigt werden. / This dissertation includes four essays on the economic analysis of education and inequality. The first essay shows that, between 1993 and 2013, the income share of housing expenditures in Germany increased strongly for the bottom income quintile and fell for the top quintile. These trends are driven by a decline in the costs of homeownership versus renting, changes in household structure, and residential mobility toward larger cities. Younger cohorts spend more on housing, and save less, than older cohorts did at the same age, with possibly negative consequences for wealth accumulation. The second essay analyzes post-school transitions among native and migrant pupils. Conditional on parental background, cognitive skills, and school fixed effects, there is a ``polarization'' of educational choices: migrants are more likely to attend tertiary education, less likely to attend vocational education, and more likely to end without qualified training than their background and skills would predict. This is driven by the migrant pupils' more academically oriented career plans, which have different effects for low- and high-skilled migrants. The third essay studies the causal effects of attending a vocational compared to a general higher secondary school. Identification uses both a selection-on-observables strategy including detailed pre-treatment controls as well as instrumental variable estimations. After adjusting for selection, attending a vocational higher secondary school has no effect on higher secondary graduation, a small negative effect on university attendance, as well as positive effects on career planning and labour market outcomes. The fourth essay analyzes changes in intergenerational mobility for West German birth cohorts 1944-1986. It documents rising gaps in educational and labour market outcomes between children of different parental socio-economic status. These patterns also hold after considering ``second chance'' options in Germany's education system.

This paper investigates the effects of international trade in a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous firms where a welfare state redistributes income. We look at a very stylised progressive non-distortionary redistribution scheme. We show that for a given tax rate international trade increases income per capita, but also leads to higher income inequality. Two aspects of income inequality are examined. First, inter-group inequality between managers and workers is considered. Second, intra-group inequality within the group of managers is investigated. For a given tax rate the size of the welfare state and therefore the transfer per capita increases when going from autarky to trade. This second-round effect counteracts the primary increase in inequality, yet cannot outweigh it. Since the redistribution scheme is non-distortionary, it is possible to decrease trade-induced inequality by increasing the tax rate without jeopardising the gains from trade.

This paper examines the distributional effects of international trade in a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and a welfare state redistributing income. The redistribution scheme is financed by a progressive income tax and gives the same absolute transfer to all individuals. Ceteris paribus, international trade leads to an increase in income per capita but also to higher income inequality on two fronts. Inter-group inequality between managers and workers increases, and intra-group inequality within the group of managers goes up as well. We show that for constant tax rates, there is an endogenous increase in the size of the welfare state that works against the increase in inequality, yet cannot offset it. The paper also sheds light on the conditions under which trade can actually lead to a Pareto improvement.

Expanding on a general equilibrium model of offshoring, we analyze the effects of a unilateral emissions tax increase on the environment, income, and inequality. Heterogeneous firms allocate labor across production tasks and emissions abatement, while only the most productive can benefit from lower labor and/or emissions costs abroad and offshore. We find a non-monotonic effect on global emissions, which decline if the initial difference in emissions taxes is small. For a sufficiently large difference, global emissions rise, implying emissions leakage of more than 100%. The underlying driver is a global technique effect: While the emissions intensity of incumbent non-offshoring firms declines, the cleanest firms start offshoring. Moreover, offshoring firms become dirtier, induced by a reduction in the foreign effective emissions tax in general equilibrium. Implementing a BCA prevents emissions leakage, reduces income inequality in the reforming country, but raises inequality across countries.

Diese Dissertation besteht aus vier Aufsätzen, die sich mit der funktionalen Einkommensverteilung beschäftigen und leistet einen Beitrag in den Bereichen Arbeitsmärkte und Makroökonomie. Der erste Aufsatz ist ein Literaturüberblick über den Einkommensanteil von Arbeit am Gesamteinkommen. Der zweite Aufsatz analysiert den Einfluss von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) auf den relativen Lohnanteil von hoch-, mittel- und niedrig qualifizierten Arbeitnehmern. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung legen nahe, dass IKT die relativen Lohnanteile beeinflusst, dieser Einfluss jedoch nicht im gleichen Maße über Zeit und Länder auffindbar ist. Einzelne Industrien werden aufgezeigt, in denen Investitionen in IKT den relativen Lohnanteil hochqualifizierter Arbeitnehmer steigern. In anderen Industrien führen Investitionen in IKT zu einer Polarisierung am unteren Ende der Verteilung. Der dritte Aufsatz untersucht die Einflüsse auf die Lohnquote in Westeuropa. Die Studie zeigt einen großen und persistenten negativen Einfluss von internationaler wirtschaftlicher Integration auf die Lohnquote über die mittlere Frist. Starke Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen steigern die Lohnquote. Der vierte Aufsatz untersucht durch welchen Kanal IKT die Lohnquote beeinflusst. Das Modell von Bental und Demougin (2010), welches die Hypothese aufstellt, dass die Lohnquote fällt da IKT die Beobachtbarkeit von Anstrengung erhöht und so die Informationsrente der Arbeitnehmer bei gleicher Anstrengung senkt, wird zu Daten von neun Westeuropäischen Ländern kalibriert. Dies zeigt, dass das Modell die Trends der Lohnquote als auch die der Reallöhne in Effizienzeinheiten und der Arbeit in Effizienzeinheiten durch den Kapitalstock, replizieren kann. Desweiteren zeigt die Analyse von Individualdaten aus dem Deutschen Sozio-Ökonomischen Panel, dass die gefühlte Beobachtung der Arbeitsleistung im Durchschnitt zwischen 1985 und 2001 gestiegen ist. / This dissertation consists of four essays on the functional distribution of income and contributes to the body of research on labor markets and macroeconomics. The first essay reviews the literature on the income share of labor. The second essay analyzes empirically the impact of investments into information and communication technology (ICT) on the relative compensation of high-, medium-, and low-skilled workers. The results imply that, although ICT investments influence the relative demand of workers by skill, this impact is not persistent over time and across countries. Nevertheless, individual industries are identified in which ICT investments increase the relative compensation of high-skilled workers and industries in which ICT investments polarize compensation at the bottom of the skill distribution. The third essay investigates the empirical influences on the labor share in Western Europe. The results show a large and persistent negative impact of economic integration on the labor share in the medium-run for an industry-level measurement. Stronger labor market institutions increase the labor share. Furthermore, the results suggest a common negative impact of ICT and economic globalization on labor share, while ICT itself seems complementary to labor in production. The fourth essay assesses empirically through which channel ICT decreases the labor share. The model of Bental and Demougin (2010), which argues that ICT reduces the labor share by improving monitoring technology and therefore lowering the workers rent at every level of output, is calibrated and simulated using data from nine OECD countries. The results show that the model can generate the observable trends in the labor shares as well as real wages in efficiency units and labor in efficiency units over capital. Furthermore, an analysis of micro data from the German Socio-Economic Panel indicates an overall average increase of perceived monitoring of workers between 1985 and 2001.