Topic Inequality

Immigration, Female Labour Supply and Local Cultural Norms

We study the local evolution of female labour supply and cultural norms in West Germany in reaction to the sudden presence of East Germans who migrated to the West after reunification. These migrants grew up with high rates of maternal employment, whereas West German families mostly followed the traditional breadwinner-housewife model. We find that West German women increase their labour supply and ...

The Heterogeneous Effects of Social Assistance and Unemployment Insurance: Evidence from a Life-Cycle Model of Family Labor Supply and Savings

We empirically analyze the heterogeneous welfare effects of unemployment insurance and social assistance. We estimate a structural life-cycle model of singles' and married couples' labor supply and savings decisions. The model includes heterogeneity by age, education, wealth, sex and household composition. In aggregate, social assistance dominates unemployment insurance; however, the opposite holds ...

Risk Preference and Entrepreneurial Investment at the Top of the Wealth Distribution

This study quantifies the distributional effects of the minimum wage introduced in Germany in 2015. Using detailed Socio-Economic Panel survey data, we assess changes in the hourly wages, working hours, and monthly wages of employees who were entitled to be paid the minimum wage. We employ a difference-in-differences analysis, exploiting regional variation in the “bite” of the minimum wage. At the ...

Unveiling Wealth and Income Inequalities

The 2-day workshop, supported by the German Research Foundation, will bring together researchers to discuss and exchange ideas on critical issues surrounding wealth and income inequalities. Featured presentations will highlight work on a wide range of topics, including savings and wealth accumulation, measuring income inequality and poverty, long-run dynamics of income and wealth distributions,...

Higher fossil fuel prices and a climate dividend: burdens on and relief of households

The Gender (Tax) Gap in Parental Transfers. Evidence from administrative inheritance and gift tax data.

This study examines how inheritance and gift tax systems in combination with gendered parental transfer behavior strengthen gender wealth inequalities. Gender differences in transfers can be reproduced if men benefit differently than women from tax exemptions. This might happen when men and women receive different types of assets where only some are tax exempted. To investigate gendered parental...

Livestream: Social Mobility as a Key to Success for Economic Transformation and Reform

Social mobility and equal opportunity are key to thriving societies and economies. In the aftermath of the pandemic and in the context of increasing prices, calls for policymakers to address social and economic inequalities are intensifying. The recently launched Observatory on Social Mobility and Equal Opportunity not only brings together all OECD data points, but also displays the impact of...

Wealth policy instruments and wealth inequality

Development of a dynamic framework to depict and compare the effects of wealth policy instruments in the short, medium, and long term. Among the examined instruments are a general wealth tax, a social inheritance, and a social dividend.

The role of inherited wealth for wealth inequality in Germany

In this project, a top-corrected wealth distribution is estimated on the basis of the inheritance tax statistics and the SOEP. We analyze the concentration of wealth, the portfolios of the wealthy, the importance of inherited wealth, the gender inheritance gap and the gender wealth gap as well as reactions to inheritance taxation.

Income-Dependent Equivalence Scales and Choice Theory: Implications for Poverty Measurement

The study of poverty is at the heart of economics, and the goal of overcoming it drives the efforts of policy-makers worldwide. Meeting such goals requires confidence (a) in the tools we have to measure poverty, and (b) in our understanding of the determinants of poverty. Here, we focus on the role of household composition in the measurement and analysis of poverty. After presenting some core concepts, ...