Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Clean Technology Innovations in Germany: Human Capital Accumulation under Heterogeneous Knowledge Inputs - Data and Methodology Report

This report describes the data and methodology of a self-administered survey of German inventors in three high-technology fields: clean technology, nanotechnology and mechanical elements. Responses were received from 1,932 inventors responsible for 14,873 EP patent applications between 1978 and 2010. The survey data contain potentially important information on individual characteristics such as professional ...

The Effect of Teenage Employment on Character Skills, Expectations and Occupational Choice Strategies

A growing body of research suggests that, even after controlling for cognitive abilities, personality predicts economic success in later life. The learning environment at school focuses on knowledge and cognitive skills. The transmission of character skills, however, is not at the center of attention. Leisure activities as informal learning activities outside of school may affect the formation of skills. ...

Tenancy Law Reform Act and Length of Tenancy Discount: Heterogenous Effects in a West German Household Sample

Compared to other European countries rental apartments dominate the German housing market. Policymakers and a large part of the population alike worry about the amount of affordable living space. Especially in metropolitan areas a high demand for living space exists and has been leading to a shortage and as a consequence to increasing rents. In 2001 the German government passed the Tenancy Law Reform ...

Job Loss Fears and (Extremist) Party Identification: First Evidence from Panel Data

There is a large body of literature analyzing the relationship between objective economic conditions and voting behavior, but there is very little evidence of how perceived economic insecurity impacts on political preferences. Using seventeen years of household panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we examine whether job loss fears impact on individuals' party identification. Consistent ...

Gender Differences in Residential Mobility: The Case of Leaving Home in East Germany

This paper investigates gender differences in the spatial mobility of young adults when initially leaving their parental home. Using individual data from 11 waves (2000-2010) of the SOEP, we examine whether female home leavers in East Germany move across greater distances than males and whether these differences are explained by the gender gap in education. Our results reveal that female home leavers ...

Payoff or Penalty? A Comparison of the Marriage Wage Differential for Men and Women across 15 Nations

One Germany, Two Worlds of Housework? Examining Single and Partnered Women in the Decade after Unification

Do the different ideological legacies of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) result in persisting differences in women's housework in the unified Germany? In this paper, I examine the housework of employed German women, singles and as well as women with partners, in the decade after unification using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP). ...

The Impact of Family Allowances on Demographic Changes. A Case Study for Germany

Mortgage Indebtedness and Household Financial Distress

Using comparable survey data from twelve European countries we investigate households' attitudes towards mortgage indebtedness. We find that a given debt burden creates much higher distress in Southern countries, France and Belgium, where fewer households have a mortgage outstanding relative to countries where a sizeable part of the population uses mortgage debt, like the UK, the Netherlands, ...

Unemployment and life satisfaction: a non-linear adaptation process

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to model the dynamic path of adjustment towards pre-unemployment levels of wellbeing for a group of full-time workers who experienced job loss. Design/methodology/approach - Based on data from the German Socio-economic Panel, a large-scale panel survey, the paper captures the non-linear nature of the adaptation process by using an Exponential Smooth Transition Autoregressive ...