Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Semi-parametric Models for Satisfaction with Income

An overview is presented of some parametric and semi-parametric models, estimators, and specification tests that can be used to analyze ordered response variables. In particular, limited dependent variable models that generalize ordered probit are compared to regression models that generalize the linear model. These techniques are then applied to analyze how self-reported satisfaction with household ...

Reform of Income Splitting for Married Couples: Only Individual Taxation Significantly Increases Working Incentives

The joint taxation of married couples in Germany with full income splitting is still a major hindrance to the participation of married women in the labor market. In their current financial proposals, the SPD (Social Democratic Party) is calling for income splitting for married couples to be replaced by individual taxation with maintenance deductions, in accordance with existing schemes for divorced ...

Tax and Transfer System: Considerable Redistribution Mainly Via Social Insurance

Overall monetary redistribution via the tax and transfer system leads to net incomes being much more evenly distributed in Germany than market income. As a result, in 2011, the Gini coefficient decreased from 0.5 for market income to 0.29 for household disposable income. The social security system has a significant share in total income redistribution by the government, making up more than half of ...

Increasing the Value-Added Tax to Re-Finance a Reduction of Social Security Contributions? A behavioral microsimulation analysis for Germany

Occupational Mobility in Europe: Extent, Determinants, and Consequences

We examine occupational mobility and its link to wage mobility across a large number of EU countries using worker-level micro data. In doing so, we document the extent, the individual-level determinants and the consequences of occupational mobility in terms of wage outcomes and structural change across the EU. In addition, we identify potential explanations for the observed cross-country variation. ...

The Importance of Two-Sided Heterogeneity for the Cyclicality of Labour Market Dynamics

Using two data sets derived from German administrative data, including a linked employer-employee data set, we investigate the cyclicality of worker and job flows.The analysis stresses the importance of two-sided labour market heterogeneity in this context, taking into account both observed and unobserved characteristics.We find that small firms hire mainly unemployed workers, and that they do so at ...

Some (Maybe) Unpleasant Arithmetic in Minimum Wage Evaluations: The Role of Power, Significance and Sample Size

In this paper, we discuss the importance of sample size in the evaluation of minimum wage effects. We first show which sample sizes are necessary to make reliable statements about the effects of minimum wages on binary outcomes, and second how to determine these sample sizes. This is particularly important when interpreting statistically insignificant effects, which could be due to (i) the absence ...

Child and family poverty in Germany

Public Child Care and Mothers’ Labor Supply – Evidence from Two Quasi-Experiments

Public child care provision should reconcile work and family life. Yet, empirical evidence for the relevance of public child care for maternal employment is ambiguous. We exploit the introduction of a legal claim to a place in kindergarten in Germany, which was contingent on month-of-birth cut-off dates and resulted in a marked increase in kindergarten attendance of three year olds in the following ...

Health-Related Quality of Life Into Adulthood After Very Preterm Birth

BACKGROUND: This study investigated change of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in very preterm/very low birth weight (VP/VLBW; born at <32 weeks’ gestation and/or <1500 g birth weight) individuals from adolescence to adulthood. Are perceptions similar by different informants (self, parents) and is HRQL related to economic and social functioning? METHODS: In a prospective whole-population ...