Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Sickness Absence and Works Councils: Evidence from German Individual and Linked Employer–Employee Data

Using both household and linked employer-employee data for Germany, we assess the effects of non-union representation in the form of works councils on (1) individual sickness absence rates and (2) a subjective measure of personnel problems due to sickness absence as perceived by a firm's management. We find that the existence of a works council is positively correlated with the incidence and the ...

Political culture still divided 25 years after reunification?

In 1990, during reunification, West German democratic institutions and the existing political party system were expanded to the East German states. Even after 25 years, the people of eastern and western Germany still differ in their political engagement and attitudes. However, these differences do not apply across the board by any means. A detailed analysis of survey data from the Socio-Economic Panel ...

Typical Employment Subject to Mandatory Social Security Contributions Remains the Norm

Since the 1980s, in West Germany has been a substantial decline in the number of people of working age who are not in paid employment. Accordingly, the share of 18- to 67-year-olds without a job has also fallen. This increase in employment figures primarily benefited those in marginal employment or solo entrepreneurs and had less of an impact on those in typical employment. In fact, the present analysis ...

Alternative Approaches to Discrete Working Time Choice in an AGE Framework

We compare two options of integrating discrete working time choice of heterogenous households into a general equilibrium model. The first, known from the literature, produces household heterogeneity through a working time preference parameter. We contrast this with a model that directly incorporates a logit discrete-choice approach into a AGE framework. On the grounds of both calibration consistency ...

Underweight? Overweight? How is weight linked to physical and mental health?

Computation of Standard Values for Physical and Mental Health Scale Scores Using the SOEP Version of SF-12v2

The Sensitive Left and the Impervious Right: Multilevel Models and the Politics of Inequality, Ideology, and Legitimacy in Europe

Economic and Political Imperatives in System Transformation: Hungary and East Germany 1990-1994

The need for and use of panel data

Stability and change are essential elements of social reality and economic progress. Cross-sectional surveys are a means of providing information on specific issues at a particular point in time, though without providing any information about the prevailing stability. Limited information on change can be obtained by retrospective questioning, but this is often impaired by “recall bias.” However, valid ...

The Economic Consequences of Partnership Dissolution - A Comparative Analysis of Panel Studies from Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden

The paper analyses the economic consequences of partnership dissolution in different institutional settings. Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden are selected as representatives of four prototypical models of family support (market model, extended family model, male breadwinner model, dual earner model). It is assumed that these four types of family support create specific dependencies ...