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Structural Change in Germany: Challenges for Growth and Productivity

Germany is at the onset of a profound structural change that will have a lasting impact on the dynamics of productivity and economic growth. Global megatrends such as changes in international trade, digitalisation, decarbonisation and demographic change will accelerate structural change and have far-reaching consequences for productivity growth, the international competitiveness of the German economy ...

The Distribution of National Income in Germany, 1992–2019

This paper estimates and analyzes the distribution and composition of pre-tax national income in Germany since reunification, combining personal income tax returns, household survey data, and national accounts. We find that pre-tax national income inequality has increased since the 1990s, though to a lesser extent than suggested by previous studies. Our results draw parallels in top income structure ...

Nationwide Population-Based Infection- and Vaccine-Induced SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Seroprevalence in Germany in Autumn/Winter 2021/2022

Background: The first Corona Monitoring Nationwide (RKI-SOEP) study (October 2020−February 2021) found a low pre-vaccine SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence (2.1%) in the German adult population (≥ 18 years). Aim: The objective of this second RKI-SOEP (RKISOEP- 2) study in November 2021−March 2022 was to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antispike and/or anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) IgG antibodies ...

Register now for the online workshop series SOEPcampus: Learn to use the SOEP over lunch

In Nov/Dec 2025 our online over lunch seminar series returns with one last workshop this year. The workshop provides a comprehensive, practical introduction to the data of the Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) on three Wednesdays during lunchtime. Participants will learn about the study's content, data structure, sample selection, and weighting strategy, along with an overview of the study documentation. To ...

Wage Risk and Portfolio Choice: The Role of Correlated Returns

From standard portfolio-choice theory, it is well-understood that background risk, primarily due to wage risk, is one of the central determinants of individuals’ portfolio composition: higher background risk reduces risky investments. However, if background risk is negatively correlated with financial market risk, higher background risk implies a more risky investment. We quantify the influence of ...

Does Cognitive Reflection Relate to Preferences and Socioeconomic Outcomes?

Previous studies report associations of cognitive reflection, the ability to avoid intuitive but potentially wrong decisions by switching to a contemplative mindset, with individual preferences, mostly relying on student samples and laboratory settings. We assess the association of cognitive reflection with preferences in the general population and real-world socioeconomic outcomes. Our preregistered ...

Is the First Language a Resource, an Obstacle, or Irrelevant for Language Minority Students’ Education?

Successful integration into the education system is of major importance for the future prospects of immigrants and their children as well as for the social cohesion and viability of the receiving societies. Language is generally viewed as an important aspect of this integration. Whereas there is widespread agreement that the language of the residence country (L2) is crucial for students’ educational ...

Evaluating Sampling Methods for Ethnic Minorities

Ethnic minorities are often underrepresented in survey research, due to the challenges many researchers face in including these populations. While some studies discuss several methods in comparison, few have directly compared these methods empirically, leaving researchers seeking to include ethnic minorities in their studies unsure of their best options. In this article, I briefly review the methodological ...

Introduction to systematic and scoping literature reviews

The Power of Stereotypes and how they influence labour market outcomes (with Susanne Veit and Johanna Hildebrandt)

In this paper, we draw on two key models of stereotyping, the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and the Agency-Beliefs-Communion (ABC) to study whether stereotypes associated to ethnic minorities predict discrimination in hiring in the German labor market. In study 1, we examined the content of the stereotypes that Germans ascribe to 38 ethnic minorities, drawing on a large-scale online survey (N=2,3...