The aim of this paper is to estimate income advantages arising from publicly provided educa-tion and to analyse their impact on the income distribution in Germany. Using representative micro-data from the SOEP and considering regional and education-specific variation, from a cross-sectional perspective the overall result is the expected levelling effect. When estimating the effects of accumulated educational ...
The March Current Population Survey (CPS) is the primary data source for estimation of levels and trends in labor earnings and income inequality in the USA. Time-inconsistency problems related to top coding in theses data have led many researchers to use the ratio of the 90th and 10th percentiles of these distributions (P90/P10) rather than a more traditional summary measure of inequality. With access ...
Over the last four decades, academic and wider public interest in inequality and poverty has grown substantially. In this paper we address the question: what have been the major new directions in the analysis of inequality and poverty over the last thirty to forty years? We draw attention to developments under seven headings: changes in the extent of inequality and poverty, changes in the policy environment, ...
The saving ratio of households in Germany has increased in the past few years when the income trend was weak. This could be due to precautionary saving. In this paper, the importance of precautionary saving against income uncertainty is analyzed empirically using micro data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP). Wealth in 2002 is regressed on alternative measures of income uncertainty ...
This study examines the relationship between individual risk aversion and reservation wages using a novel set of direct measures of individual risk attitudes from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). We find that risk aversion has a significantly negative impact on the level of reservation wages. Moreover, we show that the elasticity of the reservation wage with respect to unemployment benefits ...
Nach den Armuts- und Reichtumsberichten der Bundesregierung hat die Einkommensarmut in Deutschland den höchsten Stand seit 20 Jahren erreicht. Dieser statistische Befund wird vielfach als Beleg für die Existenz und das Wachstum einer "abgehängten Unterklasse" gesehen. In anderen Szenarien erscheinen große Teile der Gesellschaft vom Absturz in die Armut bedroht. Bezieht man die Dauer von individuellen ...
Das private Vermögen in Deutschland ist vor dem Hintergrund der Erbschaftsteuerreform und der zunehmenden Privatisierung der sozialen Vorsorge verstärkt in den Blickpunkt der wirtschafts- und sozialpolitischen Diskussion gerückt. Mit den Ergebnissen der Vermögenserhebung im Rahmen des sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) steht nun erstmals eine Datenbasis zur Verfügung, mit der Höhe und Struktur des Geld- ...
Über die 90er Jahre hat die Ungleichheit der am Markt erzielten Bruttoeinkommen - Löhne und Gehälter, Unternehmer- sowie Vermögenseinkommen - in Deutschland zugenommen. Während die preisbereinigten Einkommen im Durchschnitt konstant blieben, gab es für die oberen 10 % der Einkommenspyramide nennenswerte Zuwächse. Diese Gruppe konnte ihr reales Markteinkommen von 1992 bis 2001 um gut 7 % steigern. Die ...
We analyze the distribution and concentration of market incomes in Germany in the period 1992 to 2001 on the basis of an integrated data set of individual tax returns and the German Socio-Economic Panel. The unique feature of this integrated data set is that it encompasses the whole spectrum of the population, from the very poor to the very rich. We find a modest increase in overall inequality of market ...
