Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The Gap between the Rich and the Poor Keeps Growing: Seven Questions for Markus M. Grabka

A Comparison of the Burden of Out‐of‐Pocket Health Payments in Denmark, Germany and Poland

It is important to monitor equity of access to health services in all countries. We assessed the levels of out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending in three European countries: Denmark, Germany and Poland. Using data from national databases (i.e., Statistics Denmark, German Socio-Economic Panel, and National Statistical Office of Poland) for the period 2000–2010, we applied common methods to assess the ...

Earnings Growth for Guest Workers and West Germans - Cross-Section and Panel Estimates

Essays in electricity economics: Empirical, numerical and theoretical perspectives on renewable energy and cross-border integration

Two developments in European electricity markets are eminent: the large-scale deployment of renewable resources and the closer interaction across borders. Both developments entail great potentials for efficiency gains, and imply challenges of integration. This dissertation contributes to the economic understanding of both integration challenges. To this end, it combines empirical, theoretical, and ...

Convergence or divergence? Immigrant wage assimilation patterns in Germany

Using a rich German panel data set, I estimate wage assimilation patterns for immigrants in Germany. This study contributes to the literature by performing separate estimations by skill groups and controlling for a wide range of socio-economic background variables. It aims to answer the question whether Germany can be considered an attractive host country from an immigrant's perspective. Comparisons ...

Estimating Price Elasticities of Convalescent Care Programs

This study is the first to estimate price elasticities of demand for convalescent care programmes. In 1997, the German legislature more than doubled the daily co-payments for the publicly insured from €6 to €13. The measure caused the overall demand for convalescent care treatments to fall by 20 to 25%. I estimate the price elasticity for medical rehabilitation programmes aimed at preventing work disability ...

Measurement of health, health inequality, and reporting heterogeneity

Using representative survey data of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) for 2006, we show that the magnitude of health inequality measures like the concentration index (CI) depends crucially on the underlying health measure. The highest degree of inequality is found when dichotomized subjective health measures like health satisfaction or self-assessed health (SAH) are employed. With the use ...

Long-term absenteeism and moral hazard - Evidence from a natural experiment

This paper shows that long-term sick employees are unlikely to be very responsive to moderate monetary labor supply incentives. The paper, theoretically and empirically, evaluates the labor supply effects of cuts in statutory sick pay levels on long-term absenteeism in Germany. Cutting sick pay did not significantly reduce the average incidence and duration of sick leave periods longer than six weeks. ...

Assessing the effectiveness of health care cost containment measures: evidence from the market for rehabilitation care

This study empirically evaluates the effectiveness of different health care cost containment measures. The measures investigated were introduced in Germany in 1997 to reduce moral hazard and public health expenditures in the market for rehabilitation care. Of the analyzed measures, doubling the daily copayments was clearly the most effective cost containment measure, resulting in a reduction in utilization ...

De-Institutionalization or Re-Institutionalization of Citizenship? Expectations of Migrants regarding Naturalization in Germany