Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Where have all the graduates gone? Internal cross-state migration of graduates in Germany 1984–2004

The present paper analyzes the out-migration of graduates to other German states or abroad based on the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Our duration analysis shows that the decision to out-migrate is mostly a matter of socio-economic variables than of state specific economic conditions. The longer the graduates stay in their state of study, the lower will be the propensity to leave. On the contrary, ...

Supply-Side Explanations for Occupational Gender Segregation: Adolescents’ Work Values and Gender-(A)Typical Occupational Aspirations

The study examines supply-side mechanisms of occupational gender segregation, analysing work values and their effects on adolescents’ gender-(a)typical occupational aspirations. Supply-side theory assumes that women develop higher preferences for a good work/life balance and for social work content in their youth, whereas men develop higher extrinsic work values. This gender typicality in work values ...

Do Women in Highly Qualified Positions Face Higher Work-To-Family Conflicts in Germany than Men?

Changing employment conditions lead to new chances, but also new risks for employees. In the literature, increasing permeability between occupational and private life is discussed as one special outcome of this development that employees must face, especially those in highly qualified positions. Drawing on existing research, we investigate in how far women and men in those positions differ in their ...

Personality Trait Effects on Green Household Installations

Large, one-time investments in green energy installations effectively reduce domestic energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite long-term economic benefits for households, the rate of green investments often remains moderate unless supported by financial subsidies. Beyond financial considerations, green investments may also be driven by individual psychological factors. The current study uses ...

The personality profiles of early adopters of energy-efficient technology

This study investigates whether energy efficiency investments are driven by differences in personality traits among homeowners. Using data on nearly 3,000 households in Germany, we estimate that compared to the median level, homeowners in the lowest quartile of Openness to Experience have 5.0%-23.4% lower propensity to invest in capital-intensive energy efficiency measures, while homeowners in the ...

Do Changes in Regulation Affect Temporary Agency Workers' Job Satisfaction?

This paper evaluates how a reform relaxing regulations of the temporary help service sector in Germany affected job satisfaction of male temporary agency workers. We isolate the causal effect of this reform by combining a difference-in-difference and matching approach using rich survey data. We find that the regulatory change substantially decreased agency workers’ job satisfaction while leaving regular ...

Free Daycare and its Effects on Children and their Families

Many governments invest substantial public funds to foster early childhood education. And yet, there are still many open questions who responds to and who benefits from public investments into early childcare. We use the introduction of free public daycare in German states to analyze its effects on children and their families. Our results suggest that effects of the policy differ by child age, gender ...

The Impact of Future Divorce on Labor Supply and Work Hours of German Married Women

Variation of Learning Intensity in Late Adolescence and the Impact on Noncognitive Skills

Despite the interdependence between cognitive and noncognitive skills, empirical studies have shown a longer period of acquisition in life-time for the latter besides relevance for educational and labor market success. Analyzing returns of investments during different periods of life is therefore economically meaningful. We evaluate the effects of a substantial increase in the amount of curriculum ...

Public Sector Employees: Risk Averse and Altruistic?

We assess whether public sector employees have a stronger inclination to serve others and are more risk averse than employees in the private sector. A unique feature of our study is that we use revealed rather than stated preferences data. Respondents of a large-scale survey were offered a substantial reward and could choose between a widely redeemable gift certificate, a lottery ticket, or making ...