SOEPpapers

Long-Run Labour Market Effects of Individual Sports Activities

This microeconometric study analyzes the effects of individual leisure sports participation on long-term labour market variables, on socio-demographic as well as on health and subjective well-being indicators for West Germany based on individual data from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (GSOEP) 1984 to 2006. Econometric problems due to individuals choosing their own level of sports activities ...

Development of Wage Inequality for Natives and Immigrants in Germany: Evidence from Quantile Regression and Decomposition

To study the development of wage inequality is important for the economic performance as well as for the development of employment. First, I estimate the remuneration to personal characteristics for Germans and immigrants across the wage distribution using quantile regression. My database is the German socio-economic panel for the period 1984-2006. I find a higher inequality between skill groups for ...

Soziale Unterschiede in der Lebenserwartung: Möglichkeiten auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels

In diesem Beitrag werden Möglichkeiten zur Analyse sozialer Unterschiede in der Lebenserwartung auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) dargestellt. Einleitend wird ein Überblick über verschiedene Datenquellen zur Analyse sozial differenzieller Sterblichkeit gegeben und der Forschungsstand für Deutschland zusammengefasst. Anschließend wird auf methodische Besonderheiten und Probleme des SOEP ...

Gender, Migration, Remittances: Evidence from Germany

Gender-specific determinants of remittances are the subject of this study based on German SOEP data (2001-2006). In 2007, about 7.3 million foreigners were living in Germany. While the total number of foreigners has decreased over the last decade, female migration to Germany has increased. A feminization of migration is observable all over the world, and is changing gender roles in the households of ...

Analysepotenziale des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) für die empirische Bildungsforschung

In Deutschland stehen für Fragen der empirischen Bildungsforschung überwiegend Querschnittserhebungen zur Verfügung. Ergänzt werden diese durch länderspezifische bzw. gruppenspezifische Längsschnitterhebungen. Der Beitrag zeigt die Möglichkeiten auf, bildungsrelevante Informationen aus langlaufenden Haushaltsbefragungen wie dem Sozio-oekonomischen Panel (SOEP) für soziologisch wie ökonomisch gleichermaßen ...

A Note on the High Stability of Happiness: The Minimal Effects of a Nuclear Catastrophe on Life Satisfaction

Using life satisfaction as a direct measure of individual utility has become popular in the empirical economic literature. In this context, it is crucial to know what circumstances or changes the measure is sensitive to. Is life satisfaction a volatile concept that is affected by minor changes in life circumstances? Or is it a reliable measure of personal happiness? This paper will analyze the impact ...

The Impact of Risk Attitudes on Entrepreneurial Survival

Risk attitudes have an impact on not only the decision to become an entrepreneur but also the survival and failure rates of entrepreneurs. Whereas recent research underpins the theoretical proposition of a positive correlation between risk attitudes and the decision to become an entrepreneur, the effects on survival are not as straightforward. Psychological research posits an inverse U-shaped relationship ...

Wage Convergence and Inequality after Unification: (East) Germany in Transition

This paper investigates the wage convergence between East German workers and their West German counterparts after reunification. Our research is based on a comparison of three groups of workers defined as stayers, migrants and commuters to West Germany, who lived in East Germany in 1989, with groups of West German statistical twin workers, all taken from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). According to ...

Why Does Unemployment Hurt the Employed? Evidence from the Life Satisfaction Gap between the Public and Private Sectors

High rates of unemployment entail substantial costs to the working population in terms of reduced subjective well-being. This paper studies the importance of individual economic security, in particular, job security, in workers' well-being by exploiting sector-specific institutional differences in the exposure to economic shocks. Public servants have stricter dismissal protection and face a lower risk ...

Die Bildungschancen von Aussiedlerkindern

Mit der Zuwanderung der Aussiedler war zumindest partiell die Erwartung verbunden, dass sie -anders als die zuvor und parallel zuwandernden nicht-deutschen Migranten - leichter in der aufnehmenden Gesellschaft aufgehen würden. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht diese Frage im Hinblick auf die Bildungschancen der Kinder der Aussiedler im Vergleich mit denen anderer Migrantenkinder und denen der autochthonen ...

The Impact of Household Capital Income on Income Inequality: A Factor Decomposition Analysis for Great Britain, Germany and the USA

This paper analyses the contribution of capital income to income inequality in a cross-national comparison. Using micro-data from the Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF) for three prominent panel studies, namely the BHPS for Great Britain, the SOEP for West Germany, and the PSID for the USA, a factor decomposition method described by Shorrocks (1982) is applied. The factor decomposition of disposable ...

Arbeitszeitwünsche, Arbeitslosigkeit und Arbeitszeitpolitik

Der Beitrag untersucht auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels 2004 die Arbeitszeitwünsche der abhängig Beschäftigten in Deutschland unter Berücksichtigung von damit einhergehenden Einkommensveränderungen. Es wird gezeigt, dass die in der arbeitsmarktpolitischen Diskussion häufig übersehenen Zeitpräferenzen der Arbeitnehmer und Arbeitnehmerinnen von hoher Relevanz für die Lebens-, Gesundheits- und ...

Wie progressiv ist Deutschland? Das Steuer- und Transfersystem im europäischen Vergleich

Deutschland wird häufig ein im europäischen Vergleich überdurchschnittliches Abgabenniveau bescheinigt. Da dies als eine der Hauptursachen für vergleichsweise schwaches Wachstum und hohe Arbeitslosigkeit gilt, werden in der wirtschaftspolitischen Debatte vermehrt Reformen des progressiven Steuer- und Transfersystems gefordert. Im Zentrum unserer Untersuchung steht die Frage, welche Unterschiede die ...

The Preadult Origins of Post-Materialism: A Longitudinal Sibling Study

Using a research design that traces siblings preferences for postmaterialistic values in Germany over two decades, this paper provides new evidence on the origins of value preferences. Focusing on Inglehart's thesis of value change, we test the combined socialization and scarcity hypothesis against the social learning hypothesis, a prominent rival account of preadult value preference formation. Sibling ...

Soziale Ungleichheiten beim Schulstart: empirische Untersuchungen zur Bedeutung der sozialen Herkunft und des Kindergartenbesuchs auf den Zeitpunkt der Einschulung

Aus dem ökosystemischen Ansatz von Bronfenbrenner lässt sich ableiten, dass der Kindergarten entwicklungsfördernd ist, und zwar insbesondere bei Kindern aus bildungsfernen Haushalten. Deshalb gehen wir der Frage nach, in wieweit ein früher Eintritt in den Kindergarten das Risiko der Rückstellung bei der Einschulung reduziert. Auch werden vorzeitige Einschulungen untersucht, da sie in den letzten Jahren ...

Das Sozio-Oekonomische Panel (SOEP): Gewinn für interdisziplinäre und psychologische Forschung

On the Treatment of Non-Original Sample Members in the German Household Panel Study (SOEP): Tracing, Weighting, and Frequencies

In this paper we discuss the rationale for tracing non-original sample members (Non-OSMs) in household panel studies, and in particular in SOEP, and the implications for weighting. We present results on the incidence, survival rates, and thus the relevance of Non-OSMs in the SOEP

Obesity and Developmental Functioning Among Children Aged 2-4 Years

In developed countries, obesity tends to be associated with worse labor market outcomes. One possible reason is that obesity leads to less human capital formation early in life. This paper investigates the association between obesity and the developmental functioning of children at younger ages (2-4 years) than ever previously examined. Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study are used to ...

Copayments for Ambulatory Care in Germany: A Natural Experiment Using a Difference-in-Difference Approach

In response to increasing health expenditures and a high number of physician visits, the German government introduced a copayment for ambulatory care in 2004 for individuals with statutory health insurance (SHI). Because persons with private insurance were exempt from the copayments, this health care reform can be regarded as a natural experiment. We used a difference-in-difference approach to examine ...

Life Satisfaction and Economic Conditions in East and West Germany Pre- and Post-Unification

Economic disruption in East Germany at the time of unification resulted in a noticeable drop in life satisfaction. By the late 1990s East Germany's life satisfaction had recovered to about its 1990 level, and its shortfall relative to West Germany was slightly less than that before unification. In West Germany life satisfaction was fairly constant before unification, but subsequently trended moderately ...