Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Practice budgets and the patient mix of physicians - The effect of a remuneration system reform on health care utilisation

This study analyses the effect of a change in the remuneration system for physicians on the treatment lengths as measured by the number of doctor visits using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel over the period 1995-2002. Specifically, I analyse the introduction of a remuneration cap (so called practice budgets) for physicians who treat publicly insured patients in 1997. I find evidence that ...

Heterogeneity in Price Responsiveness for Residential Space Heating in Germany

Space heating and hot water expenditures make up the majority of household energy demand in Germany, at 83.2%, making them an attractive target for energy policies. Using a panel dataset derived from yearly residential household surveys covering the years 1996 to 2014, we identify the determinants of heating expenditures for German households. We discover significant heterogeneity in expenditures depending ...

Do temporary workers finance their training? Empirical evidence from Germany

Who invests in training if contracts are temporary? Empirical evidence for Germany using selection correction

This study deals with the effect of fixed-term contracts on work-related training. Though previous studies found a negative effect of fixed-term contracts on the participation in training, from the theoretical point of view it is not clear whether workers with fixed-term contracts receive less or more training, compared to workers with permanent contracts. In addition to the existing strand of literature, ...

Beware the Mean!

Bequest Motives and the Demand for Life Insurance in East Germany

Empirical studies of household saving remain inconclusive about the role of bequest motives. This may be due to the diluting effect of different tax regimes across countries and time on estimates of bequest motives. Relative to market-based economies, the former German Democratic Republic can be viewed as an experimental institutional setting where life-insurance demand was not influenced by tax considerations. ...

Social networks as a catalyst of economic change

This letter finds that East Germans with strong social ties invested earlier in a popular new financial product after reunification, while long-term ownership remained unaffected. Hence, studies of the economic impact of social networks should distinguish transitory from long-run effects.

Tax incentives, bequest motives and the demand for life insurance: evidence from a natural experiment in Germany

This paper studies the role of taxation and bequest motives in households’ demand for life insurance. We develop a stylized three-period life cycle model of life insurance demand and test its predictions regarding tax changes and bequests motives. An unexpected halving of the tax exemption limit for interest and dividend income in Germany allows us to identify the impact of changes in taxation on the ...

Do investors respond to tax reform? Evidence from a natural experiment in Germany

We present new evidence for the importance of taxation in households' investment decisions. A difference-in-difference analysis shows that a tax reform in Germany which revoked the tax exemption of life insurance returns triggered a significant increase in demand prior to the reform.

United, Yet Apart? A Note on Persistent Labour Market Differences between Western and Eastern Germany

Comparing aggregate statistics and surveying selected empirical studies, this paper shows that the characteristics and results of labour markets in eastern and western Germany have become quite similar in some respects but still differ markedly in others even 25 years after unification. Whereas no substantial differences can be detected in firms' labour demand decisions and in employees' ...