SOEP Research: Survey Methodology and Data Science

Exploring Integration and Migration Dynamics: The Research Potentials of a Large-Scale Longitudinal Household Study of Refugees in Germany

Forced migration has intensified in the 21st century, driven by conflicts, persecution, and political instability in regions such as the Middle East, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, South-East Asia, Latin America and, most recently, Ukraine. Germany has become a primary destination for refugees within the European Union and one of the largest among the OECD countries. The IAB-BAMF-SOEP Refugee Survey, ...

Education Bias in Probability-Based Surveys in Germany: Evidence and Possible Solutions

This paper outlines two studies on education bias in German probability-based surveys. Study 1 reviews data from 67 surveys across 19 survey programs conducted in Germany from 2000 to 2023. We found a consistent underrepresentation of individuals with a low level of formal education. We also found that the transition to self-administered modes due to rising survey costs may exacerbate this bias in ...

Dealing with Censored Earnings in Register Data

Earnings are often top-coded (right-censored) in administrative registers. The censoring threshold in the case of Germany is the limit value for social security contributions, leading to a substantial fraction of censoring: For example, about 12%of male workers inWest Germany are affected, rising to above 30% for highly educated prime-aged workers. This missing right tail of the earnings distribution ...

Toward an Integrated Crisis Data Infrastructure in Germany: Linking the Socio-Economic Panel with Administrative Health Records

This paper examines the gaps in Germany’s data infrastructure for responding to crises, as revealed during COVID-19, and argues that linking the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) with administrative health records would strengthen the country’s ability to generate equity-sensitive evidence during future health-related crises. Drawing on evidence from the RKI-SOEP study, we illustrate the added value of combining ...

Comparing Panel Retention among Ukrainian and Other Refugees in a German Probability-Based Panel: Evidence from a Decomposition Analysis

Despite the rise in global refugee migration, probability panels surveying refugees remain rare. The German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, conducted annually since 2016, provides valuable panel data for research. In 2023, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a sample of Ukrainian refugees was added, along with a refreshment sample of refugees from other countries. This paper examines household-, ...

Diffusion of Cumulative Advantage? How Wealth and Health Trajectories Co-Evolve Across the Life Course among Older Adults

Objectives Cumulative advantage is a central concept in life course research. Prior research has primarily focused on one outcome domain, overlooking the possibility that cumulative advantage could extend into other domains–what we refer to as diffusion of cumulative advantage. We build on and extend cumulative inequality theory to conceptualize diffusion and apply it to wealth and health, two domains ...

Introducing Open Data Format: A Platform-Independent, Non-Proprietary, Metadata-Enriched, Multilingual Data Format for Tabular Data

This paper introduces the Open Data Format (ODF), a non-proprietary, metadata-enriched, and zipcompressed data format for tabular data alongside statistical software packages. It embeds structured, multilingual metadata directly within the data file, using the well-established DDI-Codebook standard (DDI Alliance, 2014), and enables access to both data and documentation within common statistical environments. ...

SOEP Annual Report 2025

Measuring Ambiguity Attitudes Reliably in Surveys

This seminar introduces ambiguity, explains why it matters in economics, and discusses how ambiguity attitudes are typically measured in empirical research. Ambiguity plays an important role in decision-making, as most situations in life involve unknown outcomes or probabilities. However, people’s attitudes toward ambiguity are hard to measure precisely, as standard measures based on incentivized...

Labor Market Entry Dynamics and Mental Health Outcomes among Young People with and without Disability

Young people with disability face significant barriers to stable employment. Yet, little is known about how early labor market experiences shape their long-term mental health. This study examines associations between early career insecurity and subsequent mental health trajectories, focusing on disability status as a key axis of inequality. We use nationally representative longitudinal data from the ...