Personal page of Davud Rostam-Afschar

Welcome!

I'm an economist mainly interested in research on decisions of households and firms on product and labor markets,

public and macreconomics.

Upcoming talks: University of Tübingen, IAB Nürnberg, University of Mannheim: Data Science in Action,

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Check out some of my latest work

More Survey: How Firms Cope with the Input Cost Surge

More Understanding Firm Dynamics
with Daily Data

More Followers or Ignorants?
Inflation Expectations and Price Setting Behavior of Firms

You can contact me by email:

rostam-afschar(at)uni-mannheim.de (GPG-Key).

: No Incidence Left Behind: Towards a Complete Understanding of Tax Incidence
Co-authors: Richard Winter, Philipp Doerrenberg, Fabian Eble, Johannes Voget
Revise & Resubmit at AEJ: Economic Policy
: Understanding Firm Dynamics with Daily Data
Co-authors: Lukas Hack
NEW
: Followers or Ignorants? Inflation Expectations and Price Setting Behavior of Firms
Co-authors: Philipp Dörrenberg, Fabian Eble, Christopher Karlsson, Benjamin Tödtmann, Johannes Voget
NEW
: Occupational Licensing and the Gender Wage Gap
Co-authors: Maria Koumenta, Mario Pagliero
: Gaul, J., Keusch, F., Rostam-Afschar, D., Simon, T. (2025).
Invitation Messages for Business Surveys: A Multi-Armed Bandit Experiment
Survey Research Methods, conditionally accepted.

This study investigates how elements of a survey invitation message targeted to businesses influence their participation in a self-administered web survey. We implement a full factorial experiment varying five key components of the email invitation. Unlike traditional experimental setups with static group composition, however, we employ adaptive randomization in our sequential research design. Specifically, as the experiment progresses, a Bayesian learning algorithm assigns more observations to invitation messages with higher starting rates. Our results indicate that personalizing the message, emphasizing the authority of the sender, and pleading for help increase survey starting rates, while stressing strict privacy policies and changing the location of the survey URL have no response-enhancing effect. The implementation of adaptive randomization is useful for other applications of survey design and methodology.
: Brüll, E., Rostam-Afschar, D., Schlenker, O. (2024).
Cut Off from New Competition: Threat of Entry and Quality of Primary Care
Labour Economics, forthcoming.

We study how the threat of entry affects service quantity and quality of general practitioners (GPs). We leverage Germany's needs-based primary care planning system, in which the likelihood of new GPs reduces by 20 percentage points when primary care coverage exceeds a cut-off.

We compile novel data covering all German primary care regions and up to 30,000 GP-level observations from 2014 to 2019. Reduced threat of entry lowers patient satisfaction for incumbent GPs without nearby competitors but not in areas with competitors. We find no effects on working hours or quality measures at the regional level including hospitalizations and mortality.
: Bischof, J., Gassen, J., Rohlfing-Bastian, A., Rostam-Afschar, D., Sureth-Sloane, C. (2024)
Accounting for Transparency
Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research.

This article presents how the Collaborative Research Center TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency understands and studies transparency in organizations and markets. Starting from our transparency definition, which is rooted in a sender/receiver framework, we discuss how accounting, taxation, and their regulation affect transparency and illustrate selected economic consequences of transparency.
We use three analyses to exemplify our research approach.

Overall, we argue that transparency is highly context-specific, non-trivial to achieve, and often has ambiguous consequences. We conclude by highlighting selected transparency-related questions that interdisciplinary work with a particular emphasis on institutional details can meaningfully address.
: Bischof, J., Dörrenberg, P., Rostam-Afschar, D., Simons, D., Voget, J. (2024)
The German Business Panel: Firm-Level Data for Accounting and Taxation Research
European Accounting Review, 1–29.

The German Business Panel (GBP) periodically surveys key decision-makers via a large sample of companies in Germany. The survey questions investigate managers' accounting and taxation choices as well as the expected and perceived outcomes of those decisions. To obtain causal evidence, the survey supports the use of randomized survey experiments.

The evidence from the GBP can meaningfully advance our understanding of issues that require data on internal processes as well as expectations, perceptions, and objectives behind ex-post reported accounting figures. The target population comprises the universe of legal entities included in the official German Statistical Business Register. We show that the dominance of small and medium-sized entities is a feature that Germany shares with many European countries, implying that GBP findings will be reasonably generalizable to European settings. We illustrate the usefulness of GBP data by presenting evidence from the initial waves of the GBP during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show how government aid programs contributed unevenly to the solvency of the most negatively affected companies, and how companies, rather than consumers, benefited from a temporary reduction of VAT rates. The paper also demonstrates how the scientific community can use the GBP data.
: Koumenta, M., Pagliero, M., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2022).
Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants’ Labor Market Outcomes.
Labour Economics, 79, 102250.

We study how licensing, certification and unionisation affect the wages of natives and migrants and their representation among licensed, certified, and unionized workers. We provide evidence of a dual role of labor market institutions, which both screen workers based on unobservable characteristics and also provide them with wage setting power. Labor market institutions confer significant wage premia to native workers (4, 1.6, and 2.7 log points for licensing, certification, and unionization respectively), due to screening and wage setting power. Wage premia are significantly larger for licensed and certified migrants (10.3 and 6.6 log points), reflecting a more intense screening of migrant than native workers. The representation of migrants among licensed (but not certified or unionized) workers is 15% lower than that of natives. This again implies a more intense screening of migrants by licensing institutions than by certification and unionization.
: Metzing, M., Jessen, R., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2022).
Optimal Taxation when the Tax Burden Matters.
Public Finance Analysis, 78, pp. 312-340.

Survey evidence shows that the magnitude of the tax liability plays a role in value judgements about which groups deserve tax breaks. We demonstrate that the German tax-transfer system conflicts with a welfarist inequality averse social planner. It is consistent with a planner who is averse to both inequality and high tax liabilities. The tax-transfer schedule reflects non-welfarist value judgements of citizens or non-welfarist aims of policy makers. We extend our analysis to several European countries and the USA to show that their redistributive systems can be rationalized with an inequality averse social planner for whom the tax burden matters.
: Orland, A., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2021).
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence.
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 191, 442-481.

In the past years, work-time in many industries has become more flexible, opening up a new channel for intertemporal substitution: workers might, instead of saving, adjust their work-time to smooth consumption. To study this channel, we set up a two-period consumption/saving model with wage uncertainty. This extends the standard saving model by also allowing a worker to allocate a fixed time budget between two work-shifts. To test the comparative statics implied by these two different channels, we conduct laboratory experiments. A novel feature of our experiments is that we tie income to a real-effort style task. In four treatments, we turn on and off the two channels for consumption smoothing: saving and time allocation. Our main finding is that savings are strictly positive for at least 85 percent of subjects. We find that a majority of subjects also uses time allocation to smooth consumption and use saving and time shifting as substitutes, though not perfect substitutes. Part of the observed heterogeneity of precautionary behavior can be explained by risk preferences and motivations different from expected utility maximization.
: Prettner, K., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2020).
Can Taxes Raise Output and Reduce Inequality? The Case of Lobbying.
Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 67, pp. 455-461.

One of the key institutional elements for reducing inequality is the tax and transfer system. However, economists and policy makers usually view high taxes as detrimental to economic growth. We isolate one important mechanism by which higher taxes reduce inequality and raise per capita GDP at the same time. This mechanism operates in the presence of unproductive lobbying. Higher taxes induce a reallocation from lobbying toward production. This raises overall output and reduces the consumption gap between those who benefit from lobbying and those who bear its negative effects.
: Fossen, F. M., Rees, R., Rostam-Afschar, D., & Steiner, V. (2020).
The Effects of Taxation on Entrepreneurial Investment: A Puzzle?
International Tax and Public Finance, 27, pp. 1321-1363.

We investigate how personal income taxes affect the portfolio share of personal wealth that entrepreneurs invest in their own business. In a portfolio choice model that allows for tax sheltering, we show that lower tax rates may increase investment in entrepreneurial equity at the intensive margin, but decrease it at the extensive margin. Using German panel data, we identify tax effects on the portfolio shares of six asset classes by exploiting tax and entry regulation reforms. Our results indicate that lower taxes drive out businesses that are viable only due to tax sheltering, but increase investment in productive entrepreneurial businesses.
: Rostam-Afschar, D., & Strohmaier, K. (2019).
Does Regulation Trade-Off Quality against Inequality?
British Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(4), pp. 870–893.

We exploit an exogenous price increase by about 10% for architectural services to answer the question how price regulation affects income inequality and service quality. Using individual-level data from the German microcensus for the years 2006 to 2012, we find a significant reform effect of 8% on personal net income for self-employed architects and construction engineers. This group moved from the second lowest to the highest quintile of the net income distribution. This increase in inequality is associated with a deterioration of service quality. The reform reduced average scores of a peer ranking for architects by 18%.
: Jessen, R., Rostam-Afschar, D., & Schmitz, S. (2018).
How Important is Precautionary Labor Supply?
Oxford Economic Papers, 70(3), pp. 868–891.

We quantify the importance of precautionary labour supply defined as the difference between hours supplied in the presence of risk and hours under perfect foresight. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2001 to 2012 we estimate the effect of wage risk on labour supply and test for constrained adjustment of labour supply. We find that married men choose on average about 2.8% of their hours of work to shield against wage shocks. The effect is strongest for self-employed who we find to be unconstrained in their hours choices, but also relevant for other groups with more persistent hours constraints. If the self-employed faced the same wage risk as the median civil servant, their hours of work would reduce by 4.5%.
: Meissner, T., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2017).
Learning Ricardian Equivalence.
Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 82, pp. 273-288.

This paper tests whether subjects learn to comply with the Ricardian Equivalence proposition in a life cycle consumption laboratory experiment. Our results suggest that Ricardian Equivalence does not hold on average: tax changes have a significant and strong impact on consumption choice. Using individual consumption time series, the behaviour of 56% of our subjects can be classified as inconsistent with the Ricardian Equivalence proposition. Classifying subjects according to rules of thumb that best describe their behaviour, we find that subjects switch less to rules that theoretically violate Ricardian Equivalence in later rounds compared to earlier rounds. This implies that some subjects learn to comply with Ricardian Equivalence by changing their consumption strategy. However, the aggregate effect of taxation on consumption persists, even after eight rounds of repetition.
: Jessen, R., Rostam-Afschar, D., & Steiner, V. (2017).
Getting the Poor to Work: Three Welfare Increasing Reforms for a Busy Germany.
Public Finance Analysis, 73(1), pp. 1-41.

We study three budget-neutral reforms of the German tax and transfer system designed to improve work incentives for people with low incomes: a feasible flat tax reform that provides a basic income which is equal to the current level of the means tested unemployment benefit, and two alternative reforms that involve employment subsidies to stimulate participation and full-time work, respectively. We estimate labor supply reactions and welfare effects using a microsimulation model based on household data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a structural labor supply model. We find that all three reforms increase labor supply in the first decile of the income distribution. However, the flat tax scenario reduces overall labor supply by 4.9%, the reform scenario designed to increase participation reduces labor supply by 1%, while the reform that provides improved incentives to work full-time has negligible effects on overall labor supply. With equal welfare weights, aggregate welfare gains are realizable under all three reforms.
: Rostam-Afschar, D. (2014).
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship.
Empirical Economics, 47(3), pp. 1067-1101.
Reprinted in
Holtemöller, O. (ed.), (2017). How Can We Boost Competition in the Services Sector?,
Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 89-133.

This paper uses the 2004 amendment to the German Trade and Crafts Code as a natural experiment for assessing the causal effects of this reform on the probabilities of being self-employed and of transition into and out of self-employment. This is achieved by using repeated cross-sections (2002-2009) of German microcensus data. I apply the difference-in-differences technique for three groups of craftsmen which were subject to different intensities of treatment. The results show that the complete exemption from the educational entry requirement has fostered self-employment significantly by substantially increasing the entry probabilities, while exit rates have remained unaffected. I find similar, though weaker relative effects for the treatment groups that were subject to a reduction of entry costs or a partial exemption from the entry requirements. Moreover, I consider effect heterogeneity within each of the treatment groups with respect to gender and vocational training, and show that the deregulation of entry requirements has been most effective for untrained workers.
: Fossen, F. M., & Rostam‐Afschar, D. (2013).
Precautionary and Entrepreneurial Savings: New Evidence from German Households.
Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 75(4), pp. 528–555.

Various studies interpret the positive correlation between income risk and wealth as evidence of significant precautionary savings. However, these high estimates emerge from pooling non-entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, without controlling for heterogeneity. This article provides evidence for Germany based on representative panel data that includes private wealth balance sheets. Entrepreneurs, who face high income risk, hold more wealth than employees, but this tendency is not because of precautionary motives. Instead, they appear to save more for their old age, because they are usually not covered by statutory pension insurance. The analysis accounts for endogeneity in entrepreneurial choice and heterogeneous risk attitudes.
: Bischof, J., Liu, Y., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2023).
Bilanzpolitik in aktuellen Unternehmenskrisen: empirische Befunde, Chancen und Risiken.
Betriebs-Berater, 78(17), 939-942.
: Bischof, J., Karlsson, C., Rostam-Afschar, D., Simon, T., & Simons, D. (2022).
Kostenstruktur und Unternehmensflexibilität in der COVID-19-Krise.
Controlling & Management Review, 66(7), 54-59.
: Bischof, J., Dörrenberg, P., Rostam-Afschar, D., Simon, T., & Voget, J. (2022).
Kriegsauswirkungen auf Unternehmen: Energieabhängigkeit und Preiserhöhungen.
Wirtschaftsdienst, 102(9), 724-730.
: Bischof, J., Karlsson, C., Rostam-Afschar, D., & Simon, T. (2021).
Die Bedeutung der Kostenstruktur für die Effektivität von Staatshilfen.
Wirtschaftsdienst, 101(7), 536.
: Bischof, J., Dörrenberg, P., Eble, F., Karlsson, C., Rostam-Afschar, D., Simons, D., & Voget, J. (2021).
German Business Panel:
Empirische Evidenz zu den Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise auf deutsche Unternehmen.
Der Betrieb, 18, pp. 909-912.
: Rostam-Afschar, D. (2020).
Inklusive Beschäftigungspolitik:
Fakten, Herausforderungen und neue Ideen zur Regulierung von Berufen.
Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, 69(2), 129-139.
: Koumenta, M., Pagliero, M., & Rostam-Afschar, D. (2018).
Effects of Regulation on Service Quality: Evidence From Six European Cases.
European Commission Research Report, Directorate General Internal Market,
Industry Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
: Rostam-Afschar, D. (2015).
Regulatory Effects of the Amendment to the HwO in 2004 in German Craftsmanship.
European Commission Research Report, Directorate General Internal Market and Services.
: How Risk Averse and how Prudent are Workers?[latest version]
Co-authors: Robin Jessen

Analogous to the widely studied concept of precautionary savings, our study contributes to the burgeoning literature on precautionary labor supply behavior when wages are subject to uninsurable wage risk. We estimate the parameters of a dynamic structural model of labor supply of men. We test whether workers are risk averse and prudent in the sense that they increase labor supply in anticipation of higher wage risk. The specification provides a direct test of the widely used CRRA utility function and could identify the Frisch elasticity. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we are able to replicate the findings of the previous literature. However, with an extended specification that includes variability of leisure and wage, we reject restrictions implied by CRRA utility for both countries.
: Labor Income Uncertainty and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel[latest version]
Co-authors: Sebastian Schmitz

How does household fertility relate to labor income uncertainty? A large literature shows how household saving reacts to income uncertainty but only few studies recognize how fertility decisions are affected. We aim to shed some light on this relationship using data from the socio-economic panel from Germany. Our preliminary results indicate that our quantitative measure of income uncertainty is positively related to the number of children on average. A possible explanation for this pattern is specialization within the household.
: Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle[latest version]
Co-authors: Jiaxiong Yao

We study the effect of taxes and transfers on precautionary saving over the life cycle. We estimate idiosyncratic labor income risks and structural parameters of an incomplete-markets model for heterogeneous groups. Our simulated model shows that progressive taxation, compared to a revenue-neutral flat taxation, reduces the average savings by 24.6% for a household with median wealth. Despite crowding out part of savings, households are better insured against income shocks under progressive taxation. 60% of permanent shocks and 30% of transitory shocks to pre-government labor income are insured against under progressive taxation. There are sizeable welfare gains on average with progressive taxation but considerable heterogeneity among different subgroups.

Apr 2025: Universität Duisburg-Essen
Sept 2024: University of Mannheim: Data Science in Action
Sep 2024: IAB Nürnberg
Jul 2024: Universität Tübingen
: NZ Treasury Guest Lecture
Productivity in a Changing World: Insights from Product and Labour Markets
: Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Chicago
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
: OECD
The Economic Consequences of Occupational Licensing
: TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency
Is There an Ideal Level of Transparency?
: Universidad de Navarra
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Mar 2024: Te Tai Ōhanga NZ Treasury, Wellington
Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants’ Labor Market Outcomes
Mar 2024: Te Pūtea Matua Reserve Bank of NZ, Wellington
Followers or Ignorants? Inflation Forecasts and Price Setting Behavior of Firms
Mar 2024: University of Sydney
Entry Regulation and Employment
Mar 2024: UOW
Entry Regulation and Employment
Mar 2024: Melbourne Institute
Entry Regulation and Employment
Feb 2024: West Virginia University
Entry Regulation and Provision of Medical Services
Aug 2023: OsloMet
Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants’ Labor Market Outcomes
Jul 2023: ZEW Research Seminar
What Can We Learn from Survey Experiments? Designs, Challenges and Opportunities
Jun 2023: Freie Universität Berlin
Followers or Ignorants? Inflation Forecasts and Price Setting Behavior of Firms
May 2023: Stadt Mannheim
What Makes a Location Attractive for Business? Evidence from Firm Decision Makers
Jan 2023: RWI Essen
Followers or Ignorants? Inflation Forecasts and Price Setting Behavior of Firms
Apr 2022: ZEW, Unit Corporate Taxation and Public Finance
The German Business Panel: Why? Who? Where? And What?!
Jan 2022: University of Mannheim
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Jan 2022: ZEW Research Seminar
Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants' Labor Market Outcomes
Jun 2021: Jönköping Interntaitonal Business School
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Apr 2021: Round Table Mittelstand
Wie können Unternehmen strukturerhaltend durch die Krise kommen?
Oct 2020: University of Paderborn
The German Business Panel: Scope, Methods, and Potential for Analysis
Dec 2020: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie
German Business Panel: Empirische Erkenntinsse zu Lockdown und Staatshilfe
Sep 2020: LMU München
Preliminary Findings of the TRR 266 COVID-19-Survey
Mar 2020: University of Konstanz
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Nov 2019: University of Navarra
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Nov 2019: Banca d'Italia
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Oct 2019: Oslo Fiscal Studies and Statistics Norway
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Oct 2019: OECD
The Economic Consequences of Occupational Licensing
Apr 2019: University of Maastricht
Occupational Licensing, Taxation, and Job Mobility in Europe
Mar 2019: University of Exeter
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Mar 2019: RWI Essen
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Feb 2019: European Commission, Brussels
Effects of regulation on service quality: Evidence from six European cases
Oct 2018: University of Basel
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Sept 2018: Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Chicago
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Sept 2018: San Francisco State University
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Sept 2018: University of California, Berkeley
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Apr 2018: University of Nevada, Reno
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Mar 2018: University of California, Berkeley
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Oct 2017: University of Hohenheim
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Oct 2017: Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin
Does Regulation Trade-Off Quality against Inequality? The Case of German Architects and Construction Engineers
Nov 2017: Linnaeus University, Växjö
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Nov 2017: European Commission, Brussels
Professional Services: How does Regulation Matter?
June 2017: Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim
Is our Income too Risky to have a(nother) Baby? Evidence from German Micro Data
July 2016: SRH University Berlin, Berlin
Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Policy Evaluation: The Case of Basic Income
July 2016: Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) and Representation of the European Commission in Germany, Berlin
Past Reforms in the Services Sector in Germany and their Effects
May 2016: Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt
Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle
Jan 2016: Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz
Auswirkungen von Lohnunsicherheit auf die jährlichen Arbeitsstunden
June 2015: Universitat de Barcelona, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona, Barcelona
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption
June 2015: European Commission (Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications), Brussels
Mutual Evaluation of Regulated Professions
May 2015: World Bank, Warsaw
Seminar on Deregulation of Access to Professions
Jan 2015: European Commission (Representation of the European Commission in Germany), Brussels
In-Depth Session on Services in Germany
Jan 2025: ASSA 2025, San Francisco
Central Bank Inflation Forecasts and Firms' Price Setting in Times of High Inflation
Sep 2024: Nordic Conference in Behavioral and Exerimental Economics, Copenhagen
What Makes a Location Attractive for Business? Evidence from Firm Decision Makers
Sep 2024: 4 Unis Conference, Frankfurt
Understanding Firm Dynamics with Daily Data
Aug 2024: TRR Workshop, Frankfurt
Do Managers Consider Earnings Management Sensitive?
June 2024: ILERA, New York City
Doctors Crossing Borders
Mar 2024: VHB, Lüneburg
No Incidence Left Behind: Towards a Complete Understanding of Tax Incidence
Sep 2023: Reconnect Workshop, Oslo
Occupational Licensing and Migration Evidence from the EU
Aug 2023: European Economic Association and Econometric Society European Meeting, Manchester, Barcelona
Fiscal Stimulus and Consumption Spending: Evidence from a 5 Billion Euro Experiment, Entry Regulation and Employment
June 2023: Taxation and Mobility Workshop, ZEW Mannheim
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
June 2023: IAB, Nürnberg
Entry Regulation and Employment
June 2023: Advanced Pharmaco & Health Economics, Genova
Entry Regulation and Employment
May 2023: Workshop on Empirical Macroeconomics Ghent
Followers or Ignorants? Inflation Expectations and Price Setting Behavior of Firms
May 2023: Society of Labor Economists, Philadelphia
Entry Regulation and Employment
Apr 2023: Next Generation Economics, Mannheim
Entry Regulation and Employment
Feb 2023: Research Seminar in Public Economics, Mannheim
Entry Regulation and Employment: Evidence from Retail and Labor Markets of Pharmacists
Oct 2022: Next Generation Economics, Hohenheim
How Do Firm Decision-Makers Form Preferences About Fiscal Policy?
Sep 2022: Verein für Socialpolitik, Basel
Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants' Labor Market Outcomes
Sep 2022: European Association of Labour Economists, Padua
Entry Regulation and Employment: Evidence from Retail and Labor Markets of Pharmacists
Aug 2022: Tax Administration Research Centre, Online
Fiscal Stimulus and Consumption Spending: Evidence from a 5 Billion Euro Experiment
Jun 2022: IAAE 2022, London
Fiscal Stimulus and Consumption Spending: Evidence from a 5 Billion Euro Experiment
Jun 2022: ESPE 2022, Calabria
Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants' Labor Market Outcomes
Jun 2022: ESA 2022, Boston
How do Firm Decision-Makers form Preferences about Fiscal Policy?
Jun 2022: AFE, Chicago
How do Firm Decision-Makers form Preferences about Fiscal Policy?
Jan 2022: ASSA 2022 Virtual
How do Firm Decision-Makers form Preferences about Fiscal Policy?
Dec 2021: GBP Scientific Board Meeting
The GBP: Scope, Methods, and Potential for Analysis
Dec 2021: Public Economics Research Seminar, University of Mannheim
Intertemporal Substitution and Substitutability Between Consumption Goods
Nov 2021: TRR 266 Annual Conference 2021
The German Business Panel
Oct 2021: Workshop on the Socio-Economics of Ageing
Discussant for: The Impact of Health Shocks on Savings in Old Age
Oct 2021: MannheimTaxation Campus Meeting
Discussant for: Increased Tax Transparency or Data Overload?
Sep 2021: Verein für Socialpolitik, virtual
How do Firm Decision-Makers form Preferences about Fiscal Policy?
Aug 2021: European Economic Association and Econometric Society European Meeting, virtual
How do Firm Decision-Makers form Preferences about Fiscal Policy?
Aug 2021: International Institute of Public Finance, virtual
The German Business Panel: Insights on Corporate Taxation and Accounting during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Aug 2021: International Institute of Public Finance, virtual
How do Firm Decision-Makers form Preferences about Fiscal Policy?
Jun 2021: COMPIE, virtual
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Jun 2021: Experimental Finance Conference, virtual
Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence
Jun 2021: European Society for Population Economics, virtual
Occupational Licensing and the Gender Wage Gap
Jun 2021: TRR 266 Brown Bag, virtual
The German Business Panel: A Look under The Hood
May 2021: SOLE
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
May 2021: ZEW Public Finance
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
May 2021: International Industrial Organization Conference
Entry Regulation and Competition: Evidence from Retail and Labor Markets of Pharmacists
Jan 2021: LERA@ASSA 2021 Virtual
Occupational Regulation and the Migrant Wage Gap
June 2020: EALE/SOLE/AASLE Virtual World Conference
Occupational Licensing and the Gender Pay Gap
Jan 2020: LERA@ASSA 2020 San Diego, California
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Dec 2019: CESifo Norwegian-German Seminar, München
Fiscal Stimulus and Intratemporal Consumption Spending Evidence from a 5 Billion Euro Experiment
Dec 2019: Tübingen-Hohenheim-Economics, Hohenheim
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Sept 2019: Verein für Socialpolitik, Leipzig
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Sept 2019: European Association of Labour Economists, Uppsala
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
Sept 2019: 9th ifo Dresden Workshop on Regional Economics
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
April 2019: European Economic Association and Econometric Society European Meeting, Manchester
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
April 2019: Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, Paris
Optimal Taxation Under Different Concepts of Justness
June 2019: International Association for Applied Econometrics, Nicosia
Freedom of Movement, Taxation and Job Mobility in Europe
June 2019: GSE Summer Forum, Barcelona
Occupational Licensing, Taxation, and Job Mobility in Europe
June 2019: Workshops on Public Economics, Barcelona
Occupational Licensing, Taxation, and Job Mobility in Europe
April 2019: Brown Bag Seminar, Hohenheim
Occupational Licensing, Taxation, and Job Mobility in Europe
Nov 2018: Tübingen-Hohenheim-Economics, Hohenheim
Does Regulation Trade-Off Quality vs. Inequality?
Nov 2018: National Tax Association, New Orleans
Optimal Taxation Under Different Concepts of Justness
Oct 2018: G-Forum, Hohenheim
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Sept 2018: COMPIE, BERLIN
Does Regulation Trade-Off Quality against Inequality? The Case of German Architects and Construction Engineers
June 2018: IAAE, Montreal
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Nov 2017: Tübingen-Hohenheim-Economics, Hohenheim
How Important is Precautionary Labour Supply?
Sept 2017: MaTax, Mannheim
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Sept 2017: Verein für Socialpolitik, Wien
Consumption Insurance, Welfare, and Optimal Progressive Taxation
Aug 2017: European Economic Association, Lisbon
How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Income Taxation?
Jan 2017: Allied Social Sciences Associations (ASSA) Annual Meeting, Chicago
How Important is Precautionary Labour Supply?
Jan 2017: Allied Social Sciences Associations (ASSA) Annual Meeting, Chicago
A Just and Optimal Tax Schedule
Sept 2016: European Association of Labour Economists, Ghent
How Important is Precautionary Labour Supply?
Sept 2016: Verein für Socialpolitik, Augsburg
Uncertainty and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from German Micro Data
Aug 2016: European Economic Association, Geneva
How Risk Averse and how Prudent are Workers?
Aug 2016: International Institute of Public Finance, Lake Tahoe
A Just and Optimal Tax System
June 2016: Society for Social Choice and Welfare, Lund
A Just and Optimal Tax System
June 2016: Early-Career Behavioral Economics Conference, Behavior and Inequality Research Institute, Bonn
Harnessing the Wisdom of Crowds by Da and Huang
June 2016: International Association for Applied Econometrics, Milan
Uncertainty and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from German Micro Data
May 2016: Hohenheim Spring School, University of Hohenheim
Bias in Idiosyncratic Income Inequality
May 2016: Brown Bag Seminar, University of Hohenheim
Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle
Dec 2015: Public Finance Workshop WZB Berlin, Berlin
Getting the Poor to Work: Three Welfare Increasing Reforms for a Busy Germany?
Dec 2015: Simposio of the Spanish Economic Association, Girona
How Risk Averse and how Prudent are Workers?
Aug 2015: European Economic Association, Mannheim
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
June 2015: International Association for Applied Econometrics, Thessaloniki
How Risk Averse and how Prudent are Workers?
June 2015: 1st BeNA Labor Economics Workshop, Berlin
How Important is Precautionary Labour Supply?
Apr 2015: Brown Bag Seminar, Humboldt University of Berlin
How Risk Averse and how Prudent are Workers?
Apr 2015: Network for Integrated Behavioural Science, Nottingham
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Dec 2014: Simposio of the Spanish Economic Association, Palma de Mallorca
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Nov 2014: Public Finance Workshop WZB Berlin, Berlin
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Nov 2014: BeNA Seminar on Labor Research, Berlin
Uncertainty and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from German Micro Data
Oct 2014: PhD Workshop Public Economics DIW Berlin, Berlin
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Sept 2014: CenEA Research Workshop on Optimizing Over the Lifetime, Warsaw
Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle
Sept 2014: Berlin Behavioral Economics Workshop, Berlin
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Sept 2014: Verein für Socialpolitik, Hamburg
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Sept 2014: Economic Science Association, Prague
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
Aug 2014: International Institute of Public Finance, Lugano
Do Tax Cuts Increase Consumption? An Experimental Test of Ricardian Equivalence
June 2014: International Association for Applied Econometrics, London
Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle
June 2014: Journées Louis-André Gérard-Varet, Aix-en-Provence
Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle
June 2014: European Society for Population Economics, Braga
Progressive Taxation and Precautionary Saving Over the Life Cycle
May 2014: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Uncertainty and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from German Micro Data
Oct 2013: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Taxation and Precautionary Savings over the Life Cycle
Aug 2013: European Economic Association and Econometric Society European Meeting, Gothenburg
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship
Aug 2013: International Institute of Public Finance, Taormina
Taxation and Precautionary Savings over the Life Cycle
July 2013: PhD Workshop Public Economics, DIW Berlin
Taxation and Precautionary Savings over the Life Cycle
June 2013: Brown Bag Seminar, Humboldt University of Berlin
Taxation and Precautionary Savings over the Life Cycle
Feb 2013: BeNA Seminar on Labor Research, Berlin
Taxation and Precautionary Savings over the Life Cycle
Jan 2013: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Taxation and Precautionary Savings over the Life Cycle
Sept 2012: Verein für Socialpolitik, Annual Meeting, Göttingen
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship
May 2012: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship
Dec 2011: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Taxes and Entrepreneurial Portfolio Investment
Feb 2011: Ruhr Graduate School Doctoral Conference in Economics, Dortmund
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship
Oct 2010: BeNA Seminar on Labor Research, Berlin
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship
Jan 2010: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Entry Regulation and Entrepreneurship: A Natural Experiment in German Craftsmanship
Jan 2009: Economic Policy Seminar, Berlin
Precautionary Saving and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from German Households

Recent Positions

: Associate Professor (W2)
University of Mannheim; Visiting Professor (Lehrstuhlvertretung)
University of Mannheim; Assistant professor (Akademischer Rat)
University of Hohenheim

Recent Research Visits

: Harvard University
invited by Stefanie Stantcheva; Queen Mary University, London
invited by Maria Koumenta; University of California, Berkeley
invited by Alan J. Auerbach; Johns Hopkins University
invited by Christopher Carroll

Education

: Dr. rer. pol. (PhD in Economics), summa cum laude
Freie University of Berlin
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Viktor Steiner, Prof. Sir Richard Blundell
: Diploma in Economics (Diplom Volkswirt),
Freie University of Berlin

Tool for running adaptive experiments

BBANDITS: Stata Module to Estimate Batched OLS for Multi-Armed Bandits

Code Repositories

: Replication files for "Optimal Taxation when the Tax Burden Matters"
SOEP data available at https://www.diw.de/en/soep
: Replication files for "Die Bedeutung der Kostenstruktur für die Effektivität von Staatshilfen"
Stata dofiles
: Replication files for "Flexible Work Arrangements and Precautionary Behavior: Theory and Experimental Evidence"
Stata dofile, dataset
: Replication files for "How Important is Precautionary Labor Supply?"
Stata dofiles, SOEP data available at https://www.diw.de/en/soep
: Replication files for "Learning Ricardian Equivalence"
Stata dofile, dataset
: BBANDITS: Stata Module to Estimate Batched OLS for Multi-Armed Bandits
: XTSTEADYSTATE: Stata module to estimate markov chain distribution dynamics and steady states
: GRAPH3D: Stata module to draw colored, scalable, rotatable 3D plots
Stata user written command, RePEc
: Interaction Regression 3D-Cloud-Plot
Stata dofile
: Monte Carlo Simulation of OLS Slope Estimate
Stata dofile
: Dynamic AD-AS Model
Excel file
: Lorenz Curves with World Bank data: all countries, all years
Stata dofile
: Labor Income Inequality and Redistribution
Stata dofile

: German Business Panel

The German Business Panel (GBP) is a representative panel of managers bearing responsibilities for accounting and tax matters in German firms. These representatives are surveyed on a semi-annual basis on topics in the area of financial accounting, managerial accounting and taxation.
: A Guide on How Survey Weights of the GBP are Used (and Constructed)

Lectures, Slides, Code

Econometricks: Short guides to econometrics

: Advanced Econometrics (PhD, Master Level)

Students will analyze individual behavior on the basis of micro data (cross-section and panel data) of individuals, households, and firms and work through an advanced treatment of econometric theory and applications. Topics covered include: Repetition of ordinary least squares and generalized least squares, instrumental variables estimation, simultaneous equations, generalized method of moments and maximum likelihood estimation, time series and panel data econometrics. Students will learn how to apply these methods using real-world micro data.

What students like about the course:

"Excellent, detailed explanations of a highly motivating lecturer! Great selection of topics and very interactive teaching."
"Going deep into the mechanics, discussing highly relevant applications, and at the same time providing a broad overview. Thank you for your energy and passion and for making me interested in your research area!"
: Empirical Public Economics (Master Level)

This course gives an introduction to the main subjects and methodologies of empirical taxation research. The aim is to familiarize students with basic empirical methods and theoretical models in applied microeconomics, with a focus on reconciling theory with data. Topics include various behavioral responses to taxation including efficiency costs and incidence of taxation, inequality and mobility, and consequences for welfare analysis.

What students like about the course:

"Competent, dedicated, and helpful teacher! Explains complicated material in a clear and simple way. Is always open for questions and critical discussions."
"Understanding the problems through data analysis and reading research papers is a great way of learning how to tackle real works questions. I enjoy the course and learned a lot!"

Best Teaching Awards Summer 2019 and Fall 2019, University of Hohenheim

Econometrics: 6 lectures, 8 classes
Public Economics: 5 lectures, 7 classes, 2 seminars
Macroeconomics: 9 classes
Microeconomics: 4 classes
Financial Accounting: 3 lectures

: Lisa Feil (2024). First Job: SAP.

Pictures

Davud_Rostam-Afschar_996x1087_a.jpg,	Foto: Alexander Münch
Davud_Rostam-Afschar_2048x1366_a.jpg,	Foto: Alexander Münch
Davud_Rostam-Afschar_2048x1366_c.jpg,	Foto: Alexander Münch

hearing_C01_rostam-afschar.jpeg,
team_C01_rostam-afschar.jpg,	Foto: Alexander Münch
data_science_talk_2022_rostam-afschar.jpg,
20_d_rostam-afschar.png,	Foto: Katrin Glückler
08_d_rostam-afschar.jpg.

Contact

Email: rostam-afschar:at;uni-mannheim.de

Phone: +49 (621) 181 1645

Davud Rostam-Afschar

Professor, University of Mannheim

Welcome!

Check out some of my latest work

You can contact me by email:

Current Research Papers

Refereed Publications

Invited Articles and Policy Reports

In Progress (since longer)

Upcoming Presentations

Recorded Talks

Invited Presentations

Other Presentations

Recent Positions

Recent Research Visits

Education

Tool for running adaptive experiments

BBANDITS: Stata Module to Estimate Batched OLS for Multi-Armed Bandits

Code Repositories

Replication Files

Ado Files

Teaching Files

Survey Data & Methodology

Lectures, Slides, Code

Econometricks: Short guides to econometrics

Recent Courses

More Teaching Experiences (since 2010)

Thesis Advisor of:

Bachelor or Master theses

Courses

Media

GBP-Monitor: Unternehmenstrends

German Business Panel Reports

Pictures

Contact

Davud Rostam-Afschar

Professor, University of Mannheim

Welcome!

Check out some of my latest work

You can contact me by email:

Current Research Papers

Refereed Publications display/hide abstracts

Invited Articles and Policy Reports

In Progress (since longer)display/hide abstracts

Upcoming Presentations

Recorded Talks

Invited Presentations

Other Presentations

Recent Positions

Recent Research Visits

Education

Tool for running adaptive experiments

BBANDITS: Stata Module to Estimate Batched OLS for Multi-Armed Bandits

Code Repositories

Replication Files

Ado Files

Teaching Files

Survey Data & Methodology display/hide abstracts

Lectures, Slides, Code

Econometricks: Short guides to econometrics

Recent Courses display/hide course info

More Teaching Experiences (since 2010)

Thesis Advisor of:

Bachelor or Master theses display/hide more info

Courses

Media

GBP-Monitor: Unternehmenstrends

German Business Panel Reports

Pictures

Contact

Refereed Publications

In Progress (since longer)

Survey Data & Methodology

Recent Courses

Bachelor or Master theses