Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Biases in Estimates of the Smoking Wage Penalty

Gesundheit, Einkommen und Armut, Methoden

Stop Smoking, Your Paycheck Will Thank You! Wage Effects from Smoking Cessation

A growing body of literature has investigated the wage penalty attached to smoking. Little research, in contrast, has been done on the wage effects of smoking cessation. Using survey panel data from Germany, we study the relative earnings of smokers and former smokers over an extended period of time. Our results from pooled OLS regressions of wages on smoking status for ever smokers (smokers, former ...

Does smoking really harm your earnings so much? Biases in current estimates of the smoking wage penalty

Empirical studies on the earnings effects of tobacco use have found significant wage penalties attached to smoking. This article produces evidence that suggests that these estimates are significantly upward biased. The bias arises from a general failure in the literature to control for past smoking behaviour of individuals. Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regressions show that the smoking wage penalty ...

One Last Puff? Public Smoking Bans and Smoking Behavior

This paper investigates the short-term effects of public smoking bans on individual smoking behavior. In 2007 and 2008, state-level smoking bans were gradually introduced in all of Germany's federal states. We exploit this variation to identify the effect that smoke-free policies had on individuals’ smoking propensity and smoking intensity. Using rich longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic ...

Like Brother, Like Sister? - The Importance of Family Background for Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills

This paper estimates sibling correlations in cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills to evaluate the importance of family background in skill formation. Sibling correlations are a much broader measure of the impact of family background on children’s outcomes than onedimensional parent-child correlations, which are widely used in the intergenerational mobility literature. Our estimates are based on ...

Cognitive Skills, Non-Cognitive Skills, and Family Background: Evidence from Sibling Correlations

This paper estimates sibling correlations in cognitive and non-cognitive skills to evaluate the importance of family background for skill formation. Based on a large representative German dataset including IQ test scores and measures of non-cognitive skills, a restricted maximum likelihood model indicates a strong relationship between family background and skill formation. Sibling correlations in non-cognitive ...

Does Future PC Use Determine Our Wages Today? - Evidence from German Panel Data

Using 1985–99 data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP) we confirm the hypothesis that existing computer wage premiums are determined by ability or other unobserved individual characteristics rather than by productivity effects. In addition to the conventional longitudinal regression analysis, the two competing hypotheses were tested by employing future PC variables in the wage regressions ...

Completing the Bathtub? The Development of Top Incomes in Germany, 1907-2007

This paper examines the evolution of top incomes in Germany from 1907-2007 with a special focus on past decades. A more detailed analysis of German top incomes is conducted, beginning with a review of selected income distribution measures which indicate that high incomes have played a significant role for income divergence in recent years. Based on new data it is shown that top income shares have indeed ...

Poverty Dynamics in Four OECD Countries

This study examines the dynamics of poverty for four OECD countries (Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States). It provides information on patterns of poverty, which groups stay in poverty the longest, and household/individual characteristics and life-course events which appear to be most closely associated with transitions into and out of poverty and the length of time individuals ...

Microeconomic Analysis of the Retirement Decision - Germany