Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The Direct and Indirect Impact of Religion on Well-Being in Germany

A European Social Survey (ESS)—based study of Clark and Lelkes on the European level showed a double positive connection between religion and life-satisfaction: not only did a personal involvement have a positive impact, but there was also a regional externality. Even atheists seemed to be happier in areas with many religious people. However, the regional structure of the ESS can be seen as methodologically ...

Employee-friendly labour time: a key element to a sustainable pattern of production and consumption

Whereas the preferences of consumers are a cornerstone of market economies, preferences of employees e.g., regarding the preferred amount of paid labour, usually are not. However, we have strong evidence that differences between aspired and actually worked weekly hours have a serious negative impact on life, job and health satisfaction. This paper investigates the gap between employees’ preferences ...

Health Insurance, Labor Supply, and Job Mobility: A Critical Review of the Literature

Finding a job: Consequences for life satisfaction and interactions with job quality

Is Any Job Better than No Job? Life Satisfaction and Re-employment

Using data for West Germany from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we analyse the impact of transitions from unemployment to full-time employment on life satisfaction, with special focus on the influence of job quality. We apply various indicators of job quality (self-reported job satisfaction, wages, type of contract, and indicators of the fit between the worker and job requirements). We control for ...

Wages as Risk Compensation in Germany

Do Firms Pay for Perceived Risks at Work?

Severance Payments for Dismissed Employees in Germany

Job Preferences as Revealed by Employee Initiated Job Changes

Many previous studies try to discover job preferences by directly asking individuals. Since it is not sure, whether answers to these surveys are relevant for actual behaviour, this empirical examination offers a new approach based on representative German data. Employees who quit their job and find a new one, compare the two jobs with respect to eight job characteristics: type of work, pay, chances ...

Gender pay gaps among highly educated professionals — Compensation components do matter

Making use of panel data from a survey of highly educated professionals, gender pay gaps are explored with regard to total compensation as well as to individual compensation components. The results indicate meaningful male–female wage differentials for this quite homogeneous group of people working in one specific industry: in particular for more experienced employees in higher positions of firm hierarchies ...