Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Asymmetric affective forecasting errors and their correlation with subjective well-being

Aims Social scientists have postulated that the discrepancy between achievements and expectations affects individuals' subjective well-being. Still, little has been done to qualify and quantify such a psychological effect. Our empirical analysis assesses the consequences of positive and negative affective forecasting errors—the difference between realized and expected subjective well-being—on ...

Overview of Child Well Being in Germany: Policy Towards a Supportive Environment for Children (Zur Lage der Kinder in Deutschland: Politik für Kinder als Zukunftsgestaltung)

Native-Migrant Differences in Risk Attitudes

This paper questions the perceived wisdom that migrants are more risk-loving than the native population. We employ a new large German survey of direct individual risk measures to find that first-generation migrants have lower risk attitudes than natives, which only equalize in the second generation.

Cross-sectional Earnings Risk and Occupational Sorting: The Role of Risk Attitudes

This paper investigates to what extent individuals' risk preferences are correlated with the cross-sectional earnings risk of their occupation. We exploit data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, which contains a direct survey question about willingness to take risks that has been shown to be a behaviorally valid measure of risk aversion. As a measure of earnings risk, we use the cross-sectional ...

Participation Behavior of East German Women after German Unification

Why Are Labor Force Participation Rates of East German Women So High?

As an example of the adjustment of behavior formed in a centrally planned economy and exposed to a free market economy, the paper studies the development of labor force participation by East German women after unification. To isolate the role of participation behavior from that of individual characteristics, we develop a panel data model that simultaneously explains participation, employment and wages. ...

Household Labor Supply Effects of Low-Wage Subsidies in Germany

Life-cycle Incidence of Family Policy Measures in Germany: Evidence from a Dynamic Microsimulation Model

This paper quantifies the life-cycle incidence of key family policy measures in Germany. The analysis is based on a novel dynamic microsimulation model that combines simulated family life-cycles for a base population from the 2009 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) with a comprehensive tax-benefit model. The results indicate that households in Germany benefit considerably from family- and ...

The Monetary Value of Family Policy Measures in Germany over the Life Cycle: Evidence from a Dynamic Microsimulation Model

This article quantifies the monetary value of key family policy measures in Germany over the life cycle. The analysis is based on a dynamic microsimulation model that combines simulated life cycles for a base population from the 2009 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel with a comprehensive tax-benefit model. The results indicate that households in Germany receive family- and marriage-related transfers ...

Analytical Prediction of Transitions Probabilities in the Conditional Logit Model

This note derives analytical transition probabilities following a shock to the deterministic component of the conditional logit model. The solution draws on the post-estimation distribution of the error component, identified by use of a utility maximization interpretation of observed choices.