Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

No Effect of Birth Order on Adult Risk Taking

Does birth order shape people’s propensity to take risks? Evidence is mixed. We used a three-pronged approach to investigate birth-order effects on risk taking. First, we examined the propensity to take risks as measured by a self-report questionnaire administered in the German Socio-Economic Panel, one of the largest and most comprehensive household surveys. Second, we drew on data from the Basel–Berlin ...

The causal effect of age at migration on youth educational attainment

We investigate the causal effect of age at migration on subsequent educational attainment in the destination country. To identify the causal effect we compare the educational attainment of siblings at age 21, exploiting the fact that they typically migrate at different ages within a given family. We consider several education outcomes conditional on family fixed effects. We take advantage of long running ...

The course of subjective sleep quality in middle and old adulthood and its relation to physical health

Objective: Older adults more often complain about sleep disturbances compared to younger adults. However, it is not clear whether there is still a decline of sleep quality after age 60 and whether changes in sleep quality in old age are mere reflections of impaired physical health or whether they represent a normative age dependent development.Method: Subjective sleep quality and perceived physical ...

Institutional rearing is associated with lower general life satisfaction in adulthood

We analyzed whether individuals reared in institutions differ in their general life satisfaction from people raised in their families. The data comprised of 19,210 German adults (51.5% female) aged from 17 to 101 years and were provided by the SOEP, an ongoing, nationally representative longitudinal study in Germany. Compared to people raised in families, individuals reared in institutions reported ...

Where Have All the Workers Gone? Employment Termination in East Germany after Unification

Essays on the Economics of the Labor Market

The present dissertation aims at contributing to the understanding of central labor market mechanisms by analyzing open questions on the determinants of firms' labor demand, unemployed individuals' job search behavior and the state's role in shaping peoples' trust and, thereby, affecting labor market outcomes and economic performance.

The Economic Costs of Mass Surveillance: Insights from Stasi Spying in East Germany

Based on official records from the former East German Ministry for State Security, we quantify the long-term costs of state surveillance on social capital and economic performance. Using county-level variation in the spy density in the 1980s, we exploit discontinuities at state borders to show that higher levels of Stasi surveillance led to lower levels of social capital as measured by interpersonal ...

The Long-Term Costs of Government Surveillance: Insights from Stasi Spying in East Germany

Despite the prevalence of government surveillance systems around the world, causal evidence on their social and economic consequences is lacking. Using county-level variation in the number of Stasi informers within Socialist East Germany during the 1980s and accounting for potential endogeneity, we show that more intense regional surveillance led to lower levels of trust and reduced social activity ...

Many refugees have work experience but a smaller share possess formal vocational qualifications

Academic and vocational qualifications play a crucial role when it comes to successfully integrating refugees and other migrants into society. What qualifications did migrants already acquire in their country of origin and which did they obtain in Germany? And to what extent are qualifications gained abroad recognized in Germany? The IAB-SOEP Migration Sample shows that the majority of the migrant ...

Language acquisition: refugees nearly achieve proficiency level of other migrants

Whether they’re looking to participate in social life, enter the German labor market, or obtain relevant training certificates, learning German is a critical part of integration for the majority of refugees—and yet only a handful of studies have examined their language acquisition patterns and skill levels. The IAB-SOEP Migration Sample, which was collected by the Institute for Employment Research ...