Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Life Satisfaction in Germany after Reunification: Additional Insights on the Pattern of Convergence

The authors update previous findings on the total East-West gap in overall life satisfaction and its trend by using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1992 to 2013. Additionally, the East-West gap and its trend are separately analyzed for men and women as well as for four birth cohorts. The results indicate that reported life satisfaction is on average significantly lower ...

Do unfair perceived own pay and top managers’ pay erode satisfaction with democracy?

Many people are relatively unsatisfied with the democratic system as it currently exists. In this empirical research note, the authors present evidence that German workers, who perceive their own pay or top managers? pay as unfair, are on average significantly less happy with the democracy in Germany. Thus, fairness perceptions in the labour market and of income inequality seem to have spillover effects ...

Why Women Don't Ask: Gender Differences in Fairness Perceptions of Own Wages and Subsequent Wage Growth

The authors analyze gender differences in fairness perceptions of own wages and subsequent wage growth. The main finding is that women perceive their wage more often as fair if controls for hourly wage rates, individual and job-related characteristics are taken into account. Furthermore, the gender difference is more pronounced for married than for single women. This points to the fact that social ...

Goodbye Smokers’ Corner: Health Effects of School Smoking Bans

We estimate the causal impact of school smoking bans in Germany on the propensity and intensity of smoking. Using representative longitudinal data, we use variation in state, year, age cohort, school track, and survey time for implementation of such smoking bans to identify the effects of interest. The estimates from our multipledifferences approach show that six to ten years after intervention, propensity ...

On the Power of Childhood Impressions for Skill Formation: Initial Evidence and Unsettled Questions

Manifold childhood impressions result from the interactions with adult caregivers and the environment. These impressions, be they beneficial or detrimental, shape individual skill formation and achievement over the life cycle. The novelty of the paper is that it bonds two different, hitherto separated, research lines, one from economics, one from psychology, to discuss the relationship between childhood ...

Business start-ups by the unemployed - an econometric analysis based on firm data

From Unemployment to Self-Employment - Public Promotion and Selectivity

Gregariousness, Interactive Jobs and Wages

Gregariousness is an important aspect of human life with implications for labour market outcomes. The paper examines, to the best of our knowledge for the first time for Germany, gregariousness and social interaction at the workplace and associated wage differentials. Our empirical findings with samples from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) demonstrate that gregarious people more often work in ...

A Socio-economic Analysis of Youth Disconnectedness

Disconnectedness among youth can have several dimensions. From a socio-economic viewpoint, failure in school, unemployment and the lack of an intimate relationship are among the most important ones. In our samples from SOEP youth questionnaires, approximately 13% of young people in Germany between the ages of 17 and 19 are disconnected. The percentage of disconnected youths has been on the rise since ...

Disconnected Young Adults in Germany: Initial Evidence

Disconnectedness among young adults can have several dimensions. From a socioeconomic viewpoint, failure in school, unemployment and the lack of a partner are among the most important ones. In our sample of respondents to the SOEP Youth Questionnaire, approximately 13% of young people had been socio-economically disconnected at least once between the ages of 17 and 19. The percentage of disconnected ...