Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Pro-environmental behavior and life satisfaction: How strong is our evidence?

A positive relationship between pro-environmental behavior and subjective well-being has been used to argue for a “double dividend”, i.e. the narrative that pro-environmental behavior is beneficial for both environment and individual, when measured in the metric of subjective well-being. Our paper argues that the (causal) evidence base for such a narrative is far too weak. We suggest methodological ...

Interaction effects on health between perceived neighbourhood social cohesion and demographic changes: a longitudinal study

Background Perceived neighbourhood social cohesion is associated with better health in particular as a conveyor of social norms. Small-area demographic changes affect social structures related to health and so, could modify neighbourhood norms, lead to loneliness, or increased stress. Thus, demographic changes and perceived neighbourhood social cohesion are likely to interact in their relation to health. ...

Gratitude in fundraising: do ‘thank you in advance’ and handwritten thank you notes impact fundraising success?

While almost all charities rely on a set of donor appreciation strategies, their effectiveness for the success of fundraising campaigns is underresearched. Through two preregistered field studies conducted in collaboration with a leading German opera house (N = 10,000), we explore the significance of expressing gratitude and examine two different approaches to doing so. Our first study investigates ...

An Updated Polygenic Index Repository: Expanded Phenotypes, New Cohorts, and Improved Causal Inference

Polygenic indexes (PGIs) — DNA-based predictors of individual phenotypes — have become essential tools across biomedical and social sciences. We introduce Version 2 of the Polygenic Index Repository, which expands phenotype coverage from 47 to 61, increases the number of participating datasets from 11 to 20, and adopts a more consistent and improved methodology for PGI construction. For 16 phenotypes, ...

Is Germany Missing Out or Catching Up? Gender Inequality and the German Skilled Immigration Act

Germany?s Skilled Worker Immigration Act addresses labor shortages by targeting non-EU migrants. The literature emphasizes that such policies often overlook gender-specific challenges, reinforcing inequalities. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel (2013?2022), we reveal significant disadvantages for non-EU migrant women. We find that deskilling and the sexual division of paid and unpaid working time ...

Consortium Proposal National Research Data Infrastructure for the Second Funding Phase

The Causal Impact of Gender Norms on Mothers' Employment Attitudes and Expectations

This field experiment investigates the causal impact of mothers' perceptions of gender norms on their employment attitudes and labor-supply expectations. We provide mothers of young children in Germany with information about the prevailing gender norm regarding maternal employment in their city. At baseline, over 70% of mothers incorrectly perceive this gender norm as too conservative. Our randomized ...

Would a four-day-week improve individual well-being? Evidence on working hours and life satisfaction from German panel data

The four-day-week receives growing attention by companies, researchers, and governments. A core premise of the concept is that reducing working hours increases individual well-being. While trials in public and private organisations support this claim, empirical studies on the relationship between working hours and well-being do not offer conclusive evidence. This study contributes to the academic literature ...

Perceived Economic Uncertainty and Fertility - Evidence from a Labor Market Reform

Empirical evidence on the causal effect of perceived economic uncertainty (PEU) on fertility is sparse and results are ambiguous. To provide causal evidence on the effect of PEU on fertility, we exploit exogenous variation in PEU induced by the announcement of a major German unemployment benefit reform in an instrumental variable approach. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate ...

“Like two peas in a pod?” Homogamous personalities, education, and union dissolution

This paper examines the association between the level of similarity in the “Big Five” personality traits of the partners in different-sex couples and their risk of union dissolution. Prior research has mainly focused on homogamy in socio-economic, demographic, and cultural characteristics, such as age, education, employment, and religion. The few studies on the effects of homogamy in the personalities ...