Research

This article explores the gendered impact of school closures on paid work hours during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. Using data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project (ACPP) covering generalized school closures from March 2020 to April 2021, the study examines adjustments in work hours by gender and parental status. The descriptive data show general reductions in work time, especially in the first months. From July 2020 onward, however, mothers reduced work hours more than fathers when schools were closed – and they increased time spent on childcare, while fathers reduced theirs. Using OLS and fixed effects models, the study confirms that mothers reduced their work hours during school closures more than any other group. In contrast, fathers reduced their work hours the least – even less than individuals without children. Finally, there is some evidence that school closures capture policy stringency in high-incidence phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a family-centered care regime like the Austrian one, informal caregivers’ well-being is central, especially in times of increased pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper analyzes the connection between the quality of long-term care (LTC) services and informal caregivers’ well-being in Austria using a mixed methods approach. First, looking at data from the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), an OLS model shows that where the quality of LTC services is rated higher, individuals report higher life satisfaction, independent of their caring responsibilities. The most important explanatory factor for caregivers’ well-being is the usage of such services. However, it does not offer conclusive insights into how well-being is influenced. Therefore, I undertake a qualitative analysis via an online questionnaire in which 20 informal caregivers participated between March and April 2020. The survey was created using the capabilities approach and evaluated by means of thematic analysis. The main findings show that low-quality LTC services mainly reduce well-being due to the irregularity of said services, which disrupts the daily routine. Highquality LTC services, on the other hand, improve well-being allowing caregivers to share responsibilities.

Local public institutions, such as public libraries, offer access to low-cost educational resources, potentially mitigating human capital investment disparities. However, from 2008 to 2019, 766 public library outlets closed across the US, reducing access to these critical resources. This study examines the effect of public library outlet closures on library use and educational outcomes in nearby school districts. Using geolocated data and an event study approach, we find that library use declines by 31-41%, and reading and math scores decline by 0.013 and 0.026 standard deviations, respectively, in nonmetropolitan areas. However, high school graduation rates remain unaffected.

This paper investigates how unemployed workers use marginal employment (geringfügige Beschäftigung), which represents a significant earnings exemption. Using Austrian administrative panel data from 2009 to 2019, I analyze how marginal employment affects unemployment duration, post-unemployment job stability, and income. Considering the timing of marginal employment entry, I introduce the last-resort hypothesis, suggesting that late entry into marginal employment results from unsuccessful job searches. Accounting for the possible impact of unemployment duration on the decision to enter marginal employment, I find that it extends unemployment by approximately 6-16 days but positively affects future job stability. Early entrants also experience an increase in income.  

This study examines how the adoption of proprietary digital content platforms reshapes the operations and service delivery of U.S. public library systems. Using a twenty-one-year panel covering the universe of public library systems and a staggered adoption design, we estimate the causal effects of digital lending platform adoption on library budgets, collections, staffing, programming, and patron use. We first document the timing of near-universal platform adoption and then show that adoption is financed through increases in local and state government revenues rather than internal reallocation. The additional funds are directed primarily toward electronic materials, which expand by 270%, but also support investments in professional staff and programming. Patron use increases in the short run but returns to pre-adoption levels over time, consistent with digital platforms intensifying engagement among existing patrons rather than attracting new users. Taken together, the evidence indicates that digital lending platforms complement rather than displace in-person library services, providing new evidence on how public institutions adapt to technological change under contractual and budgetary constraints.