Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Quasi-Hyperbolic Time Preferences and their Intergenerational Transmission

This study explores the intergenerational transmission of time preferences and focuses on the question which specific aspects of mother's time preference are related to her preschool child's ability to delay gratification. We provide a new procedure for assessing the parameters of a "quasi-hyperbolic" discount function (Laibson, 1997) using two trade-off experiments. We apply the ...

Effectiveness of Social Capital in the Job Search Process

The empirical literature has provided ample yet contradictory evidence on the effectiveness of social ties in the job search process in terms of post-hire outcomes, such as wages or job satisfaction. Whereas early research, mainly focussing on the U.S. labour market, found positive correlations between finding a job via social ties and post-hire outcomes, most recent studies reported inconclusive or ...

Large-Scale Immigration and Labour Market Integration: First Lessons from the Recent Past in Germany

In summary, because of their exogenously driven and often non-voluntary migration pace, refugees often face a disadvantageous starting position in a developed destination country with respect to their labour market integration.

Mode of birth and social inequalities in health: The effect of maternal education and access to hospital care on cesarean delivery

Abstract Access to health care is an important factor in explaining health inequalities. This study focuses on the issue of access to health care as a driving force behind the social discrepancies in cesarean delivery using data from 707 newborn children in the 2006–2011 birth cohorts of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). Data on individual birth outcomes are linked to hospital data using ...

Parental leave benefits and breastfeeding in Germany: Effects of the 2007 reform

While the health benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and children are well known, breastfeeding may make it difficult for mothers to return early to the labor market. Maternity and parental leave regulations have been designed to reduce this conflict. In 2007, Germany put into effect a new parental leave benefit (Elterngeld). The related reform increased the number of parents eligible for benefits ...

Multi- and Interdisciplinary Analyses Using the SOEP

Do Demographics Prevent Consumer Aggregates from Reflecting Micro-level Preferences?

Most simulated micro-founded macro models use solely consumer-demand aggregates in order to estimate preference parameters of a representative consumer, for use in policy evaluation. Focusing on dynamic models with time-separable preferences, we show that aggregation holds if, and only if, momentary utility functions fall in the Identical-Shape Harmonic Absolute-Risk Aversion (ISHARA) utility class, ...

About time: Daylight Saving Time transition and individual well-being

Daylight Saving Time is controversial due to its alleged negative impact on individual well-being. Using panel data from Germany we find evidence that the transition to summer time has negative influence on general life satisfaction and mood, which is stronger for those in full time employment.

Unemployment and the Separation of Married Couples

This article analyzes whether unemployment has an effect on the splitting of a marital relationship. The study uses 40 000 observations on unemployment spells and marital status during the period from 1987 to 1996. Random effects probit and conditional likelihood logit models for panel data are applied. Using several control variables, it was confirmed that unemployment does actually lead to a higher ...

The Causes and Consequences of Adopting a Works Council

This paper reports on the results of a study on the determinants of the introduction of a works council and its consequences.We consider the effects of expectations concerning the economic conditions of a firm on the probability of adopting a works council. This is done, on the one hand, by use of employees’ expectations on employment security and, on the other hand, by including forecasts of the management ...