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Equality of Opportunity: East vs. West Germany

The case of German reunification has been subject to extensive research on earnings inequality and labor market integration. however, little is known about the development of equality of opportunity (EOp) in East and West Germany after 1990.Using German micro data, we empirically analyze how circumstances beyond the sphere of individual control explain inequality in East and West Germany. Our results ...

Accounting for the Spouse when Measuring Inequality of Opportunity

Existing literature on inequality of opportunity (IOp) has failed to address the question as to how the circumstances and choices of spouses in a couple should be treated. By omitting information relevant to the spouse in IOp estimations, the implicit assumption was full responsibility for the partner's income, effort and circumstance variables. In this paper, we discuss whether or not the partner's ...

Models with Occasionally Binding Constraints

Deadline for SOEP-IS 2016 expiring soon

We would like to remind you of the possibilities of the SOEP Innovation Sample (SOEP-IS) and encourage you to consider using this instrument in developing new empirical research questions to use the SOEP Innovation Sample for your innovative research projects. Please contact SOEP Survey Management (soepsurveymanagement@diw.de) as soon as possible, to present your proposal. If the project is determined ...

Estimating Alternative Technology Sets in Nonparametric Efficiency Analysis: Restriction Tests for Panel and Clustered Data

Nonparametric efficiency analysis has become a widely applied technique to support industrial benchmarking as well as a variety of incentive-based regulation policies. In practice such exercises are often plagued by incomplete knowledge about the correct specifications of inputs and outputs. Simar and Wilson (Commun Stat Simul Comput 30(1):159–184, 2001) and Schubert and Simar (J Prod Anal 36(1):55–69, ...

Climate Policy and Finance – next steps for an ambitious Paris deal

Artur Runge Metzger will report on the results from the climate negotiations in Lima. We will discuss next steps and the most important challenges that need to be tackled on the road to the Paris 2015 COP. The discussion will highlight in particular the role of climate policy, domestic action, and the structure of climate finance. What is the signal of the EU 2030 package for the rest of the world...

The Role of Visible Wealth for Deprivation

Motivated by the lack of literature linking actual to perceived relative deprivation, this paper assesses the role of visibility in goods and assets vis-à-vis income behind perceptions of relative deprivation. We rely on household survey data that include unique information on reported perceived deprivation with a pre-specified reference group, namely others in the same town or village. Based on a ...

Understanding the Effect of Retirement on Health: Mechanisms and Heterogeneity

This paper investigates the mechanisms behind the health effects of retirement. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design to exploit financial incentives in the German pension system for identification, I find that retirement improves subjective health status and mental health, while also reducing outpatient care utilization. I explore a wide range of health behaviors, time use, and effect heterogeneity ...

The European Union Emissions Trading System: Ten Years and Counting

This article provides an introduction to the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS). First we describe the legislative development of the EU ETS, its evolution from free allocation to auctioning and centralized allocation rules, its relationship to the Kyoto Protocol and other trading systems, and its relationship to other EU climate and energy policies. This is followed by an assessment ...

Labor supply and the pension system - Evidence from a Regression Kink Design

This paper uses a Regression Kink Design to estimate the labor supply effects of changes in the financial incentives for early retirement. In particular we examine the effect of the gradual introduction of pension deductions for early retirement according to the 1992 German pension reform on the actual retirement age of women eligible for women old-age pensions. This reform allows to exploit...