Calendar

Title: Paid parental leave, couples' labour supply and the relative income within the household

 Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of changes to parental leave regulations on the labour supply of stable couples and the evolution of household income in the short, medium, and long run, after the birth of their first child. Leveraging a major reform in Germany that enhanced parental leave benefits while reducing the eligibility window and allocating two leave months specifically to partners, the study draws on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, a representative longitudinal study tracking households and individuals within Germany. Applying a Staggered Difference-in-Differences Event Study approach, the findings reveal that treated couples show a marked decrease in joint labour supply in the birth year, primarily influenced by fathers, but an increase in the first year post-birth. During the childbirth year, treated fathers work notably fewer hours in comparison to control group fathers. The effect in the first year post-birth stems from treated mothers who work significantly more hours than their control group counterparts, an effect that persists from the first to the third year after childbirth, with later years not showing any significant difference. As a result, combined labour supply responses and hourly wage structures within couples culminate in a significant increase of 6.3 percentage points in the share of household income for mothers during the study period. The findings indicate that the outcomes are influenced by both the financial motivations created by the reform and shifts in the timing of additional pregnancies, accompanied by a transformation in societal norms where fathers take on more child-rearing and household responsibilities, thus alleviating some of the burden on mothers. My results suggest that public policies exert only a moderate effect on gender equality in labour market outcomes, slightly surpassing mechanical effects when factoring in family structures, policy framework and environment, and prevailing societal norms.

Title : Marriage, Assortative Mating and Wealth Inequality*  

Abstract : We use population data on capital income and wealth holdings for Norway to measureasset positions and wealth returns before individuals marry and after the householdis formed. These data allow us to establish a number of novel facts. First, individuals sort on personal wealth rather than parents’ wealth. Assortative mating on ownwealth dominates, and in fact renders assortative mating on parental wealth statistically insignificant. Second, people match also on their personal returns to wealthand assortative mating on returns is as strong as that on wealth. Third, post-marriagereturns on family wealth are largely explained by the return of the spouse with thehighest pre-marriage return. This suggests that family wealth is largely managed bythe spouse with the highest potential to grow it. This is particularly true for householdsat the top of the wealth distribution at marriage, providing a microfoundation for thescale dependence in wealth returns documented in several empirical papers. Fourth,marriage lowers the heterogeneity in returns as well as the degree of wealth inequalityrelative to the counterfactual case of no marriages. We use a simple analytical exampleto illustrate how the inequality attenuating role of marriage is affected by assortative mating on wealth and returns and wealth management task allocation betweenspouses.

Title : Institutional Genes: The Origins of China’s Institutions and Totalitarianism


Abstract : This book explores the origins and evolution of China’s institutions and communist totalitarianism in general. Contemporary China’s fundamental institution is communist totalitarianism. Introducing the concept of “institutional genes,” the book examines how the institutional genes of Soviet Russia merged with those of the Chinese imperial system, creating a durable totalitarian regime with Chinese characteristics – Regionally Administered Totalitarianism. Institutional Genes are fundamental institutional elements that self-replicate and guide institutional changes and are empirically identifiable. By analyzing the origins and evolution of institutional genes in communist totalitarianism from Europe and Russia, as well as those from the Chinese Empire, the Chinese Communist Revolution, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and post-Mao reforms, the book elucidates the rise and progression of communist totalitarianism in China. The ascent of communist China echoes Mises’ warning that efforts to halt totalitarianism have failed. Reversing this trend necessitates a thorough understanding of totalitarianism.

We are very pleased to announce that ECARES will hold a special one-day conference to honor
Gérard Roland on April the 3rd, 2025, at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
Confirmed speakers at this stage are Philippe Aghion, Patrick Bolton, Sergei Guriev, Eric
Maskin, Torsten Persson, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Richard Portes, André Sapir, Monika Schnitzer,
Guido Tabellini, Guntram Wolff, Chenggang Xu, Jeromin Zettelmeyer, and Katia
Zhuravskaya.
As you know, Gérard has made outstanding contributions to multiple fields, and this event is an
opportunity to celebrate his 70th birthday and his work, and to reflect on its impact over the
years.
It is also an opportunity for us to welcome him back to ULB: Gérard studied economics at ULB,
from his Bachelor degree to his PhD, and was a Professor here until continuing his very successful
career at UC Berkeley, from which he will retire this year. We are very fortunate that he and his
wife have decided to return to Brussels.
It is striking how ‘topical’ Gérard’s return in 2025 is: he was a key member of the team that
founded ECARES (then ECARE) in 1991, thanks to the help of our Institute for European Studies
and of CEPR. ECARES started with a conference focused on topics very close to Gérard’s work at
the time: the transition from central planning to a market economy in the wake of the fall of the
Berlin Wall, and its consequences for the European Union. While we can clearly not be happy with
the current state of world affairs, we can say that Gérard’s insights remain remarkably relevant
today !
On April the 3rd, we are thus gathering a group of academics, friends, and colleagues to share
ideas on topics where Gérard has produced influential research, with a special focus on the
above topics as they have evolved in the new ‘geo-politico-economic’ environment. The focus will
be both on Europe and its institutions, and also on the global institutional architecture.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you on this occasion !

Participation is free, but registration is mandatory via
https://forms.office.com/e/JM5rbMaDn5 by Thursday March 27th, 2025

Full Program available here : Gérard Roland Program

Micael Castanheira and Mathias Dewatripont
ECARES, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, ULB