Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Market Share and Market Segment of Public Employment Services

Low-wage employment versus unemployment: Which one provides better prospects for women?

Using German SOEP data, 1999 – 2009, this study analyzes state dependence in low-wage employment of western German women, where we distinguish between full-time and part-time working. We estimate a dynamic multinomial logit model with random effects and find that having a low-wage job – compared to having a high-wage job – ceteris paribus decreases the probability of being high-paid in the future. ...

Does Retirement Change Lifestyle Habits?

This study examines the effects of retirement on lifestyle habits to determine the relationship between retirement and health. Looking at panel data from the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement, fixed effects with time effects methods are used to account for the endogeneity of retirement. We then apply the fixed effects with time effects instrumental variable methods, after checking that the endogeneity ...

Capturing Affective Well-Being in Daily Life with the Day Reconstruction Method: A Refined View on Positive and Negative Affect

In the last years, there has been a shift from traditional measurements of affective well-being to approaches such as the day reconstruction method (DRM). While the traditional approaches often assess trait level differences in well-being, the DRM allows examining affective dynamics in everyday contexts. The latter may ultimately explain why some people feel more happy than others (e.g., because they ...

The Returns to Continuous Training in Germany: New Evidence from Propensity Score Matching Estimators

Entrepreneurship in the Region: Breeding Ground for Nascent Entrepreneurs?

Would a Legal Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty? A Microsimulation Study for Germany

Labor Market and Income Effects of a Legal Minimum Wage in Germany

In view of rising wage and income inequality, the introduction of a legal minimum wage has recently become an important policy issue in Germany. We analyze the distributional effects of a nationwide legal minimum wage of 7.50 € per hour on the basis of a microsimulation model which accounts for the complex interactions between individual wages, the tax-benefit system and net household incomes, also ...

Distributional effects of a minimum wage in a welfare state - The case of Germany

While employment effects of minimum wages have been extensively investigated, their effects on the distribution of incomes have received much less attention. Yet, a popular argument for a federal minimum wage is that it will prevent in-work poverty and reduce income inequality. We examine this assertion for Germany, a welfare state with a relative generous means-tested social minimum and high marginal ...

Two Steps Forward - One Step Back?: Evaluating Contradicting Child Care Policies in Germany

We apply a structural model of mothers’ labor supply and child care choices to evaluate the effects of two child care reforms in Germany that were introduced simultaneously. A legal claim to subsidized child care became effective for children aged 1 year or older. Moreover, a new child care allowance (‘Betreuungsgeld’) came into effect. It is granted to families who do not use publicly subsidized child ...