Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

A Fixed Effects Ordered Choice Model with Flexible Thresholds with an Application to Life-Satisfaction

In many contexts reported outcomes in a rating scale are modeled through the existence of a latent variable that separates the categories through thresholds. The literature has not been able to separate the e¤ect of a variable on the latent variable from its effect on threshold parameters. We propose a model which incorporates (1) individual fixed effects on the latent variable, (2) individual fixed ...

Encouraging Governments to Enhance the Happiness of Their Nation: Step 1: Understand Subjective Well-Being

A Demonstration of Set-Points for Subjective Wellbeing

This paper presents evidence for the existence of ‘set-points’ for subjective wellbeing. Our results derive from a 10-year longitudinal study in which subjective wellbeing has been measured using a single question of general life satisfaction. The process of data analysis is driven by logic based on the theory of subjective wellbeing homeostasis. This analysis involves the iterative elimination of ...

Immigrant Fertility in Germany: The Role of Culture

Diese Studie befasst sich mit dem Geburtenverhalten von Migrantinnen der ersten Generation. Unter Verwendung der Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) wird die endgültige Kinderzahl der Zuwanderinnen als abhängige Variable und die kulturelle Prägung aus dem Heimatland als Determinante modelliert. Zur Messung der "Fertilitätskultur" wird als Proxy die mittlere Differenz zwischen der ...

Parental leave benefit and differential fertility responses: evidence from a German reform

This paper examines the causal effects of a major change in the German parental leave benefit scheme on fertility. I use the unanticipated reform of 2007 to assess how a move from a means tested to an earnings-related benefit affects higher-order births. By using data from the Mikrozensus, I find that the reform significantly affected the timing of higher-order births in the first 5 years after a last ...

Bounding the Causal Effect of Unemployment on Mental Health: Nonparametric Evidence from Four Countries

An important, yet unsettled, question in public health policy is the extent to which unemployment causally impacts mental health. The recent literature yields varying findings, which are likely due to differences in data, methods, samples, and institutional settings. Taking a more general approach, we provide comparable evidence for four countries with different institutional settings – Australia, ...

The Effect of Education on Fertility: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform

This paper investigates the effect of education on fertility under inflexible labor market conditions. We exploit exogenous variation from a German compulsory schooling reform to deal with the endogeneity of education. By using data from two complementarydatasets, we examine different fertility outcomes over the life cycle. In contrast to evidence for other developed countries, we find that increased ...

Single Motherhood, Employment, or Social Assistance: Why Are U.S. Women Poorer Than Women in other Affluent Nations?

Welfare State Regimes and Mothers' Poverty

Gender inequality in poverty in affluent nations: the role of single motherhood and the state