Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

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

Backlash or Inclusion? The Political Effects of Co-Ethnic Immigration

Immigration often causes backlash, to the benefit of anti-immigrant parties. Most studies that identify the effect of immigration on native attitudes and behaviors leverage variation in inflows of newcomers who are ethnically distinct from natives. Can we therefore conclude that backlash is the general consequence of exposure to large migration flows? We theorize co-ethnic migrants are not met with ...

Split Questionnaire Designs as a clever way to make surveys shorter

Long questionnaires are a challenge for respondents and researchers alike. Split Questionnaire Designs (SQDs, Raghunathan and Grizzle, 1995) offer a clever way to make surveys shorter: instead of answering every question, respondents receive only parts of the full questionnaire. But how these parts—or “modules”—are constructed makes a difference for data quality. Our study tests strategies to balance ...

The Distribution of National Income in Germany, 1992-2019

This paper analyzes the distribution and composition of pre-tax national income in Germany since 1992, combining personal income tax returns, household survey data, and national accounts. Inequality rose from the 1990s to the late 2000s due to falling labor incomes among the bottom 50% and rising incomes in the top 10%. This trend reversed after 2007 as labor incomes across the bottom 90% increased. ...

The distribution of national income in Germany, 1992–2019

This paper estimates and analyzes the distribution and composition of pre-tax national income in Germany since reunification, combining personal income tax returns, household survey data, and national accounts. We find that pre-tax national income inequality has increased since the 1990s, though to a lesser extent than suggested by previous studies. Our results draw parallels in top income structure ...

Performance Pay and Happiness: Work vs. Home?

Using German survey data, we show conflicting influences of performance pay on overall life satisfaction. The overall influence reflects a strong positive influence through domains of life satisfaction associated with the job (job satisfaction, individual earnings satisfaction and household earning satisfaction) and a strong negative influence through domains away from the job (health satisfaction, ...