Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The mediating role of school absenteeism in the socioeconomic achievement gap

Socioeconomic disparities in children's academic achievement are well established, but the underlying mechanisms are less well understood. We used linked data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and the National Pupil Database (NPD) with causal mediation analysis to determine the extent to which school absences contribute to socioeconomic achievement gaps. Using different achievement measures ...

The Portuguese Household Budget Survey: A Review and Recommendations for Data Collection

This work aims to provide an insight into the Household Budget Survey in Portugal, and within the European Statistical System, and in other countries, and provide actionable recommendations for the upcoming methodological revision of the Household Budget Survey in Portugal. The HBS is revised at 5 year intervals, and is currently done in the form of a traditional proxy survey with an SRS reflecting ...

The Role of Health in Shaping the Relationship Between Income and Subjective Well-Being: A Study on German Panel Data (Bachelor Thesis)

Many may believe a higher income will make them happier. While this is true to some extent, studies show that subjective well-being (SWB) tends to increase at a decreasing rate. Included in many studies is not only the income of the individuals, but also the income of people in their surroundings, or the so-called relative income. Whereas most studies show that our SWB decreases as the income of others ...

Unbezahlte Arbeit und ihre gesellschaftliche und ökonomische Einordnung. Eine jährliche Berechnung für Deutschland von 2012 bis 2021

Wealth and Family Formation: Insights from First Cohabitation, Marriage, and Birth in Germany

Existing research has demonstrated that wealthier individuals differ in family formation. Potential explanations draw on wealth’s use and symbolic value as well as the relative economic bar of family formation. This study examines the relationship between wealth and three family formation events in Germany: first cohabitation, marriage, and birth. Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (2002–2017) ...

When You’re Down and Out: Who Benefits from Volunteering in Old Age?

Theoretical considerations suggest that volunteering contributes to retirement adjustment because it compensates for role losses following retirement. However, the idea that mental health benefits of volunteering are stronger after retirement than prior to retirement has been hardly tested empirically. Moreover, it remains open to question who benefits from volunteering in retirement in particular. ...

With Great Prestige Comes Great Responsibility: The Role of Occupations in Shaping Employee Behavior

What compels a doctor to volunteer at a makeshift clinic in a remote village? Why do lawyers from elite firms devote hundreds of hours to pro-bono cases? These examples illuminate how occupations shape behavior beyond formal job requirements. As careers become increasingly defined by occupational rather than organizational membership, understanding the occupational forces that shape discretionary behaviors ...

Characterizing Measurement Error in the German Socio-Economic Panel Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data

This paper exploits the linkage of German administrative social security data (GER: Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien) and survey data from the socio-economic panel (GER: Sozio-ökonomisches Panel, SOEP) for the characterization of measurement error in metrics quantifying individual-specific labor earnings in Germany. We find that survey participants’ decision whether to consent to linkage is non-random ...

Migration and intergenerational stability in female employment: The impact of differences between sending and receiving countries

Objective: This article studies the intergenerational stability of employment in families of immigrants cross-nationally by investigating to what extent contextual differences between sending and receiving countries affect the transmission of labour force participation from mothers to daughters. Background: It is often argued that a low level of labour force participation among female immigrants reflects ...

The impact of local labour market conditions on school leaving decisions

We use data from the British Household Panel Survey and Labour Force Survey to examine the relationship between the demand for post compulsory education and prevailing labour market conditions. We explicitly incorporate the role of family resources by allowing effects to differ between young people whose families are home owners and those whose families are not home owners. We find evidence that household ...