Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Upgrading or Polarization? Occupational Change in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland

We analyze occupational change over the last two decades in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland: which jobs have been expanding – high-paid jobs, low-paid jobs or both? Based on individual-level data, four hypotheses are examined: skillbiased technical change, routinization, skill supply evolution and wage-setting institutions. Our analysis reveals massive occupational upgrading which closely matches ...

The type to train? Impacts of personality characteristics on further training participation

Personality traits drive behaviors and attitudes, and determine socio-economic life outcomes for individuals. This paper investigates the relationship of six personality traits, the Big Five and Locus of Control, to individual participation in employment-related further education and training (FET) in a longitudinal perspective. Initial research suggests that training is a crucial determinant of life ...

The Optimum Level of Well-Being: Can People Be Too Happy?

Psychologists, self-help gurus, and parents all work to make their clients, friends, and children happier. Recent research indicates that happiness is functional and generally leads to success. However, most people are already above neutral in happiness, which raises the question of whether higher levels of happiness facilitate more effective functioning than do lower levels. Our analyses of large ...

Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses

Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive ...

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals1. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample1, 2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study ...

Cohort Size Effects on the German Labor Market

Although population aging is internationally pervasive, only few recent studies analyze its effects on relative labor market outcomes in the most affected countries. This paper shows that demographic change in Germany causes shifts in the wage and employment structures in favor of young workers. I firstly account for the fact that workers compete for certain jobs mainly within occupational tracks. ...

Unequal Pay or Unequal Employment? A Cross-Country Analysis of Gender Gaps

Remittances and the Wage Impact of Immigration

This paper examines how the outflow of remittances affect the wages of native workers. The model shows that the wage impact of immigration depends on the competing effects of an increase in labor market competition and an increase in the consumer base. Immigrant remittances provide a unique way of isolating this latter effect because they reduce the consumer base but not the workforce. The predictions ...

Monitoring Subjective Well-being: Some New Empirical Evidence for Germany

What is subjective well-being influenced by? Since the Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress by Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi a huge number of studies has raised this question – with partly different findings. In addition, international organizations are increasingly addressing subjective well-being issues. The post-2015 development agenda of the United ...

Age Duration Profiles for Transitions between different Child Care Arrangements: Evidence from German Pre-Schoolers