Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

International Trade and Individual Labour Market Perspectives - A Micro-Level Analysis of German Manufactoring Workers

This paper studies the impact of international trade on individual labour market outcomes in the German manufacturing sector for the period 1995-2006. Combining micro- level data from the German Socioeconomic Panel and industry-level trade data from input-output tables, we examine the impacts on (1) job-to-unemployment transitions and (2) annual earnings. The probability of becoming unemployed rises ...

Rates of Return and Early Retirement Disincentives: Evidence from a German Pension Reform

To counteract the financial pressure emerging in aging societies, statutory pension schemes are undergoing fundamental reforms in many Western countries. Starting with cohort 1937, Germany introduced permanent pension deductions for early retirement. This study examines the profitability of pension contributions against the background of this reform for cohorts 1935–1945. Internal rates of return (IRR) ...

Social Explanations of Lottery Play: New Evidence Based on National Survey Data

This study examines the social contexts of gambling and analyzes social motivations for playing the lottery. We test three sociological approaches simultaneously: network effects, consumption theory, and strain theory. The data used (SOEP-IS, N = 5868 individuals) has several advantages beyond being a large-scale representative sample of the German population. With information on households, we can ...

Estimates of the Tempo-adjusted Total Fertility Rate in Western and Eastern Germany, 1955-2008

In this article we present estimates of the tempo-adjusted total fertility rate in Western and Eastern Germany from 1955 to 2008. Tempo adjustment of the total fertility rate (TFR) requires data on the annual number of births by parity and age of the mother. Since official statistics do not provide such data for West Germany as well as Eastern Germany from 1990 on we used alternative data sources which ...

Total Survey Error for Longitudinal Surveys

Comparing Income Mobility in Germany and the United States Using Generalized Entropy Mobility Measures

Fiscal Stabilisers in Europe: The Macroeconomic Impact of Tax and Benefit Systems

Quantiles for Counts

This article studies the estimation of conditional quantiles of counts. Given the discreteness of the data, some smoothness must be artificially imposed on the problem. We show that it is possible to smooth the data in a way that allows inference to be performed using standard quantile regression techniques. The performance and implementation of the estimators are illustrated by simulations and an ...

A Note on Inequality Aversion Across Countries, Using Two New Measures

Studies using the Gini Index as a measure of income inequality have consistently found a positive and significant effect of the Gini on both happiness and life satisfaction. Two new measures used here – the ratio of persons in the lowest income decile relative to the number in the highest, and the ratio of the number in the lowest social class relative to the number in the highest, in a given country ...

Are Regional Differences in Utility Eliminated over Time? Evidence from Germany

Hedonic theory assumes that changes in land prices and wage rates eliminate the utility advantages of differing locations. Using happiness data from the German socio-economic panel this paper empirically tests whether regional utility differences exist and if so whether utility levels show any tendency to converge over time. Empirical analysis reveals substantial differences in utility over different ...