Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Broken Bodies, Broken Spirits: How Poor Health Contributes to a Cynical Worldview

Cynical hostility (or cynicism) is often considered as a major factor leading to bad health outcomes. The present research proposes that poor health might represent both a consequence and a source of cynicism. Using cross-lagged path analyses, we documented bidirectional associations between health and cynicism in a nationally representative sample of Germans (Study 1) and a large sample of the American ...

Life Satisfaction and Job-Seeking Behavior of the Unemployed: The Effect of Individual Differences in Justice Sensitivity

This study examines the effect of justice sensitivity on the life satisfaction and job-seeking behavior of unemployed individuals and considers the likelihood of experiencing long-term unemployment. We focus on two facets of dispositional justice sensitivity that reflect individual differences in perception and reactions to perpetrating injustice against others (perpetrator sensitivity) or suffering ...

Population Aging at Cross-Roads: Diverging Secular Trends in Average Cognitive Functioning and Physical Health in the Older Population of Germany

This paper uses individual-level data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to model trends in population health in terms of cognition, physical fitness, and mental health between 2006 and 2012. The focus is on the population aged 50–90. We use a repeated population-based cross-sectional design. As outcome measures, we use SF-12 measures of physical and mental health and the Symbol-Digit Test (SDT) ...

Strong or Weak Handgrip? Normative Reference Values for the German Population across the Life Course Stratified by Sex, Age, and Body Height

Handgrip strength is an important biomarker of healthy ageing and a powerful predictor of future morbidity and mortality both in younger and older populations. Therefore, the measurement of handgrip strength is increasingly used as a simple but efficient screening tool for health vulnerability. This study presents normative reference values for handgrip strength in Germany for use in research and clinical ...

Earnings inequality in Germany: A decomposition-analysis

Several studies have shown that income inequality has risen in Germany until 2005. Less focus was put on the rise of earnings inequality which continued to rise until 2010. We distinguish different groups in the labour market with respect to working-time, gender and region by exploiting data from the German Socio-Economic panel (SOEP) for the years 1995 till 2014. Using the decomposition of the Theil1-index ...

The happy artist? An empirical application of the work-preference model

The artistic labor market is marked by several adversities, such as low wages, above-average unemployment, and constrained underemployment. Nevertheless, it attracts many young people. The number of students exceeds the available jobs by far. A potential explanation for this puzzle is that artistic work might result in exceptionally high job satisfaction, a conjecture that has been mentioned at various ...

Long-Term Unemployment during the Transition to a Market Economy: Eastern Germany after Unification

Extended Benefit-Entitlement Periods and the Duration of Unemployment in West Germany

Germany, as most other European countries, has been plagued by a persistently high level of long–term unemployment since the early 1980's. In contrast, long–term unemployment is much less of a problem in the United States. One potential reason for the different structure of unemployment relates to institutional differences in unemployment compensation systems. The German system is characterized ...

Unemployment persistence in the West German labour market: negative duration dependence or sorting?

The paper tests for negative duration dependence in West German unemployment in the presence of unobserved population heterogeneity. The analysis is based of a microeconometric model estimated on the German Socio-Economic Panel covering the period 1983 to 1995. I find that, after controlling for observed and unobserved population heterogeneity, individual re-employment probabilities are constant or ...

The labor market for older workers in Germany

The paper describes labor market developments for older workers in Germany in recent years. It provides a a summary of the main changes in labor market and pension policies in Germany which might have contributed to these developments. The main part of the paper offers, on the basis of micro data from the Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP), empirical evidence on changes in employment and long-term unemployment, ...