Research

2025

1. Is the Gig Economy a Stepping Stone for Refugees? Evidence from Administrative Data

   Felix Degenhardt and Jan Sebastian Nimczik

   2025

   Abs

   We examine whether gig jobs in online food delivery (OFD) are a stepping stone for refugees entering the Austrian labor market. Our identification strategy combines the quasi-random assignment of refugees to Austrian regions with the expansion of gig firms across the country. The local availability of OFD jobs at the time of access to the labor market initially accelerates job finding among refugees. Subsequently, however, gig workers remain in low-paid, unstable jobs with low career prospects, while the employment rate of refugees without gig opportunities catches up. The local availability of gig jobs negatively affects human capital investments and job search behavior, even among refugees outside the gig economy.

2. Compensating Wage Differentials and the Health Cost of Job Strain

   Alexander Ahammer, Marco Caliendo, and Felix Degenhardt

   2025

   Abs

   We estimate the trade-off between earnings and healthcare utilization resulting from strenuous working conditions, using rich administrative data from Upper Austria that link employment histories with healthcare claims over two decades. To address selection bias, we leverage mass layoffs as quasi-exogenous shocks that push workers out of strenuous jobs. By comparing workers with varying opportunities to re-enter strenuous employment, we can isolate the causal impact of job strain on earnings and health outcomes. We find that a 1% increase in wages due to strenuous work is associated with a 0.5% rise in healthcare expenditures. Our findings provide the first unified causal evidence of compensating wage differentials and their hidden health costs, showing that higher pay in strenuous jobs comes at a measurable and persistent cost to worker health.

3. The Effects of Early Low-barrier Employment Availability on Refugee Labor Market Integration

   Felix Degenhardt

   2025

   Abs

   I examine whether the early but temporary availability of low-barrier employment opportunities in the hospitality sector affects the labor market integration of refugees. My identification strategy combines the quasi-exogenous allocation of refugees to Austrian regions with high seasonality in Austria’s hospitality sector, where 25% of refugees find initial employment. Exploiting within region, within year variation, I find that receiving labor market access during high seasonal demand increases employment probability initially, but employment advantages disappear entirely in the second year. Due to longer cumulated employment, treated refugees have in total earned more in the first three years. However, early availability of low-barrier jobs also contributes to labor market segmentation.