The impact of short-time work in times of the Covid 19 pandemic

: the case of Germany in 2021

Abstract

The Covid 19 pandemic affected humanity worldwide in all areas of daily life to an extent comparable to no previous crisis. From today's point of view, it is possible to formulate a retrospective analysis of the impact and scope of the economic consequences for society. In this context, the Government of Germany introduced the short-time work (STW) program to mitigate the economic consequences. This paper examines the impact of this program. In particular, it assesses whether the program had a significant effect in strengthening the labor and domestic markets in 2021. The analyses focus on the contact-intensive sectors of retail and hospitality. The exogenous effect of the associated labor demand shock on unemployment and employment rates is measured using shift-share metrics. This work extends the research of Aiyar and Dao (2021) and confirms that the support program continued to be a significant tool for saving jobs and stabilizing the domestic market in 2021.

Date of Award	17 Oct 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Joana Silva (Supervisor)