Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The Unemployment and Earnings Effects of German Immigration

In Vino Veritas: Theory and Evidence on Social Drinking

Monetary Reference Points of Managers: An Empirical Investigation of Status Quo Preferences and Social Comparisons

We assemble two reference point based concepts of utility in our empirical study: the own previous status quo and social comparisons. We explore the relative relevance of these concepts for total compensation as well as for different parts of the compensation package of managers. Making use of a unique panel data set of managers of the German chemical sector, we find that social comparisons of compensation ...

The role of works councils in severance payments for dismissed employees

Using representative German employee data, we analyze the role of works councils for the incidence of severance payments subsequent to dismissals. While there is a positive relation with severance payments after those dismissals which stem from plant closings, the incidence of a works council is negatively associated with severance pay subsequent to individual layoffs. In both cases, we find a negative ...

Works Councils, Wages, and Job Satisfaction

We investigate the effects of works councils on employees’ wages and job satisfaction in general and for subgroups with respect to sex and occupational status. Making use of a German representative sample of employees, we find that employees, who move to a firm with a works council, report increases in job satisfaction, but do not receive particular wage increases. Especially the job satisfaction of ...

The Impact of Wage Increases on Job Satisfaction - Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Implications

Reference Dependent Preferences and the Impact of Wage Increases on Job Satisfaction: Theory and Evidence

Individual and Job-Based Determinants of Performance Appraisal: Evidence from Germany

The anatomy of performance appraisals in Germany

We investigate the use of performance appraisal (PA) in German firms. First, we derive hypotheses on individual and job-based determinants of PA usage. Based on a representative German data set on individual employees, we test these hypotheses and also explore the impact of PA on performance pay and further career prospects. The results include that PA is positively linked to an individual's willingness ...

Evidence on performance pay and risk aversion

Making use of a unique representative data set, we find clear evidence that risk aversion has a highly significant and substantial negative impact on the probability that an employee's pay is performance contingent, which confirms the well known risk-incentive trade-off.