Ongoing research
Innovation and Motherhood
“Innovation and Motherhood” (2025, with Clemens Müller and Stefan Obernberger),
Available at SSRN
We study the impact of childbirth on the careers of inventors, a predominantly male occupation. We document pronounced gender differences in post-birth career outcomes. After childbirth, female inventors are substantially less likely to file patents. A large share of the decline in patenting can be attributed to temporary labor market exits, increased part-time work, and reduced job mobility. Most female inventors postpone childbearing until after filing their first patent application, suggesting that women anticipate the substantial career costs associated with motherhood. Fathers also experience declines in innovation output following childbirth, but these effects are considerably smaller than those observed for women. Both men and women are much less likely to enter inventive careers after starting a family. Our findings highlight the challenges of combining parenthood with careers in innovation, particularly for women.
Changing Fertility and Heterogeneous Motherhood Effects:
Revisiting the Effects of a Parental Benefits Reform
“Changing Fertility and Heterogeneous Motherhood Effects: Revisiting the Effects of a Parental Benefits Reform” (2024, with Bernd Fitzenberger), IZA Discussion Paper No. 16966
Using a semiparametric event study approach with a control group, we estimate the effect of motherhood on labor market outcomes in Germany, the child penalty. We further investigate how the 2007 parental benefits reform changed the child penalty while accounting for fertility effects. A large novel data set linking data from two administrative sources provides information on all births. Our estimation approach accounts for motherhood being a staggered treatment. The reform has small positive medium-run effects employment outcomes. It changes the selection into fertility and shows heterogeneous effects. However, the reform did little to reduce the average child penalty.