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Despite Rising Shares of Women on Executive and Supervisory Boards, Gender Parity Remains a Far-off Goal

In 2024, the share of women on the top decision-making boards of the largest companies in Germany increased. A solid 19 percent of all executive board members at the 200 largest companies are now women, and almost 26 percent of members at the 40 largest listed companies are women. The financial sector is also catching up in this regard. Moreover, legal requirements, such as the inclusion requirement ...

The Impact of Student Aid Eligibility on Higher Education Applications

This study examines how student aid eligibility influences application decisions to higher education using administrative data from France. We study the impact of a change in income thresholds for aid eligibility. We find that aid eligibility did not have a uniform effect on students’ applications but varied by gender and academic performance. Highperforming male students shifted their First-Ranked ...

Common Ownership and Market Entry: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry

Common ownership - where several firms are (partially) owned by the same investors - and its impact on product market competition has recently drawn much attention. This paper focuses on its implications for market entry. We consider the entry decisions of generic pharmaceutical firms into drug markets that are opened up by the end of regulatory protection and which were previously dominated by a single ...

SOEP-Core – 2025: Catch-up Individual (techn., with Reference to Variables)

SOEP-Core – 2025: Nachbefragung Person (techn., mit Verweis auf Variablen)

SOEPcampus@DIW Berlin: Two Days of Intensive Exchange on SOEP Data

This week, the SOEP welcomed 30 participants from Germany and abroad to the annual in-person SOEPcampus workshop. The SOEP’s training program is designed for researchers who wish to conduct research using the survey data and offers tailored formats for knowledge transfer—online, in person, and via video tutorials. The in-person workshop was led by SOEP researcher Cristóbal Moya and provided a comprehensive ...

Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs and the Size of their Firms

In this study, we examine the relationship between personality traits, captured by risk tolerance and the Big Five traits, and firm size, as measured by the number of employees. We show that the personality of entrepreneurs matters for the size of their firm they operate. We use a novel add-on to the German Socio-Economic Panel that includes a sub-sample of owner-managers running larger firms. High ...

Living Conditions in Regions Undergoing Structural Change

In cooperation with the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), SOEP data are used to monitor changes in living conditions over time both within and outside the regions undergoing structural change. The basis for this work is the Structural Development Act for Coal-Mining Regions (Strukturstärkungsgesetz Kohleregionen), which entered into force...

Supporting Urban Development in Germany

In cooperation with the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), SOEP data are used to study the living situation and attitudes of people in the areas covered by the urban development funding program “Urban Development Support programme” (Sozialer Zusammenhalt). Since 2020, this program has continued the former Soziale Stadt program. It supports the...

Subsidizing R&D in Germany: Direct and Spillover Effects

This study estimates the effects of research and development (R&D) funding on firm performance and innovation activity in Germany for the period of 2000 to 2020. Since R&D collaborations between funded and non-funded firms can lead to positive externalities, our study accounts not only for the direct effects of the policy on funded firms but also for indirect (spillover) effects on non-funded firms. ...