Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The Optimum Level of Well-Being: Can People Be Too Happy?

Psychologists, self-help gurus, and parents all work to make their clients, friends, and children happier. Recent research indicates that happiness is functional and generally leads to success. However, most people are already above neutral in happiness, which raises the question of whether higher levels of happiness facilitate more effective functioning than do lower levels. Our analyses of large ...

Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses

Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive ...

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals1. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample1, 2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study ...

Cohort Size Effects on the German Labor Market

Although population aging is internationally pervasive, only few recent studies analyze its effects on relative labor market outcomes in the most affected countries. This paper shows that demographic change in Germany causes shifts in the wage and employment structures in favor of young workers. I firstly account for the fact that workers compete for certain jobs mainly within occupational tracks. ...

Unequal Pay or Unequal Employment? A Cross-Country Analysis of Gender Gaps

Remittances and the Wage Impact of Immigration

This paper examines how the outflow of remittances affect the wages of native workers. The model shows that the wage impact of immigration depends on the competing effects of an increase in labor market competition and an increase in the consumer base. Immigrant remittances provide a unique way of isolating this latter effect because they reduce the consumer base but not the workforce. The predictions ...

Monitoring Subjective Well-being: Some New Empirical Evidence for Germany

What is subjective well-being influenced by? Since the Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress by Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi a huge number of studies has raised this question – with partly different findings. In addition, international organizations are increasingly addressing subjective well-being issues. The post-2015 development agenda of the United ...

Age Duration Profiles for Transitions between different Child Care Arrangements: Evidence from German Pre-Schoolers

Transitions Between Child Care Arrangements for German Pre-Schoolers

Care of children in a low fertility setting: Transitions between home and market care for pre-school children in Germany

Because it may affect a nation's fertility, child care policy is an important policy instrument for low-fertility countries. Designing an effective policy requires an understanding of the determinants of demand for child care. This study uses a descriptive statistical approach to analyze the dynamics of demand for child care for pre-school children in Germany. Age-specific and duration-specific ...