Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Essays in Behavioural Economics

The goal of behavioural economics is to improve classic microeconomic theory by introducing motives and concepts from related fields like psychology and sociology. The driving paradigm of most neo-classical economic research is the concept of the Homo Oeconomicus, a human who approaches all problems in a rational and typically selfish way and who possesses boundless computational power and flawless ...

Life Satisfaction in Adult Survivors of Cancer During Adolescence: What Contributes to the Latter Satisfaction of Life?

Purpose To compare the general and health-related life satisfaction (LS) in long-term survivors of adolescent cancer with a community sample and to identify medical and psychosocial factors associated with LS. Methods LS of 820 survivors (ageM = 30.4 ± 6.0 years; time since diagnosis M = 13.7 ± 6.0 years) was assessed with the Questions on Life Satisfaction (FLZM) and compared to an age- and sex-matched ...

A distribution-sensitive examination of the gender wage gap in Germany

This paper provides a new examination of the gender pay gap for Germany based on a family of distribution-sensitive indicators. Wage distributions for men and women do not only differ by a fixed constant; differences are more complex. We show that focusing on the bottom of the wage distribution reveals a larger gender gap. Our distribution-sensitive analysis can also be used to study whether the statistical ...

Too Low or Too High? On Birthweight Differentials of Immigrants in Germany

Our paper compares the birth outcomes of international migrant women in Germany to those of non-migrant women. In Germany, about one-third of all newborns are born to migrant mothers. Since immigrant status and socio-economic disadvantages are highly correlated, the health of migrant children and their mothers has received increasing attention in the international literature. When investigating perinatal ...

Determinants of self-employment survival in Europe

This paper investigates the determinants of self-employment survival in Europe in two stages. The first one focuses on the effect of variables at the individual level, while the second raises questions regarding specific regional factors through the introduction of macro variables. In conducting this analysis, discrete choice models, including both single and competing risks frameworks, are applied ...

A Microeconometric Comparison of Household Behavior Between Countries

Perceived Job Insecurity, Unemployment Risk and International Trade: A Micro-Level Analysis of Employees in German Service Industries

The present paper investigates the impact of international trade on individual labour market outcomes in the German service sector for the period 1995-2006. Combining micro-level data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and industry-level trade data from input-output tables, we examine the impacts of international trade on (1) the individually reported fear of job loss and (2) job-to-unemployment ...

International Trade and Individual Labour Market Perspectives - A Micro-Level Analysis of German Manufactoring Workers

This paper studies the impact of international trade on individual labour market outcomes in the German manufacturing sector for the period 1995-2006. Combining micro- level data from the German Socioeconomic Panel and industry-level trade data from input-output tables, we examine the impacts on (1) job-to-unemployment transitions and (2) annual earnings. The probability of becoming unemployed rises ...

Rates of Return and Early Retirement Disincentives: Evidence from a German Pension Reform

To counteract the financial pressure emerging in aging societies, statutory pension schemes are undergoing fundamental reforms in many Western countries. Starting with cohort 1937, Germany introduced permanent pension deductions for early retirement. This study examines the profitability of pension contributions against the background of this reform for cohorts 1935–1945. Internal rates of return (IRR) ...

Social Explanations of Lottery Play: New Evidence Based on National Survey Data

This study examines the social contexts of gambling and analyzes social motivations for playing the lottery. We test three sociological approaches simultaneously: network effects, consumption theory, and strain theory. The data used (SOEP-IS, N = 5868 individuals) has several advantages beyond being a large-scale representative sample of the German population. With information on households, we can ...