Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Does Migration Make You Happy! The Influence of Migration on Subjective-Well-Being

When choosing a new location migrants usually improve their economic situation, but what about their subjective well being (SWB)? Based on longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, I investigate the impact of migration from eastern to western Germany on SWB. Hypotheses are derived from human capital theory but also from psychological approaches. Fixed-effects models enable me to ...

Reconsidering the Effect of Education on East-West Migration in Germany

This article analyses migration from East to West Germany, focusing on the influence of education on migration and on the self-selection processes involved in decisions regarding education and migration. Using human capital, signalling, and segmentation theory, hypotheses are derived on the influence of education on migration. The migration patterns for men and women are investigated on the basis of ...

Why do couples relocate? Considering migration from East to West Germany

This paper examines the determinants of family migration from a post-socialist country, the former German Democratic Republic (today, the eastern part of reunified Germany), to a western country, West Germany. The paper seeks to answer the following questions: (1) How does the migration behavior of married and cohabitating men and women differ from that of individuals who live alone? (2) What factors ...

The role of education and educational-occupational mismatches in decisions regarding commuting and interregional migration from eastern to western Germany

<b>Objective</b>: This paper investigates commuting and interregional migration from eastern to western Germany, and asks, first: Who chooses to migrate and who chooses to commute? Second: Does commuting serve as a stepping-stone or as a long-term alternative to migration? And third: What role does education and educational–occupational mismatch play in those choices? <b>Methods</b>: ...

Migrant’s Pursuit of Happiness. The Impact of Adaptation, Social Comparison and Relative Deprivation: Evidence from a ‘Natural’ Experiment

The German reunification, which several economists have called a “natural” experiment, provides the unique possibility to inquire the impact of migration on subjective well-being (SWB). The main goal of the research is to assessing the impact of adaptation, social comparison and relative deprivation on the change in SWB associated with moving from Eastern to Western Germany after the German reunification ...

Poverty Permance Among European Youth

Wage Persistence and Labour Market Institutions: An Analysis of Young European Workers

Long-term Care Responsibility and its Opportunity Costs

This paper analyzes the relationship between long-term care provision and the average individual wage rate. In addition, the effects of the number of hours spent on caregiving on the probability of employment as well as on the number of hours worked are examined. Data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) of 2004 and 2006 is used to analyze caregiving effects on the European labor ...

Informal Caregiving and the Retirement Decision

The probability of providing informal care grows with one's own age. While labor market effects due to caregiving are moderate, they could be concentrated in the years close to retirement. Therefore, I investigate whether care in the previous year leads to retirement in the year after by using German Socio-Economic Panel data from 2001 to 2009 and discrete-time hazard models. The effect of care ...

Informal home care and labor force participation of household members

In Germany, informal home care is preferred to professional care services in the public discussion as well as in legal care regulations. However, only minor importance is ascribed to the opportunity costs caregivers face. Therefore, this article explores the influence home care has on the labor supply of caregivers who cohabitate with the care recipient. I use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel ...