SOEP-Suche

Predicting the Trend of Well-Being in Germany: How Much Do Comparisons, Adaption and Sociability Matter?

Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate the variation of subjective well-being experienced by Germans over the last two decades testing the role of some of the major correlates of people’s well-being. Our results suggest that the variation of Germans’ well-being between 1996 and 2007 is well predicted by changes over time of income, demographics and social capital. ...

Gender Wage Gaps Reconsidered: A Structural Approach Using Matched Employer-Employee Data

In this paper, we study the extent to which wage differentials between men and women can be explained by differences in productivity, disparities in friction patterns, segregation, and wage discrimination. For this purpose, we propose an equilibrium search model that features rent-splitting, on-the-job search, and two-sided heterogeneity in productivity. The model is estimated using German matched ...

Precautionary Saving and Income Uncertainty in Germany: New Evidence from Microdata

Capital Levies - A Step Towards Improving Public Finances in Europe

Ever since the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009, public debt in almost all OECD countries has increased significantly. The European debt crisis has further intensified over the past few weeks. Private households with high levels of wealth and income could be enlisted to help with refinancing and reducing this public debt through forced loans and one-off capital levies, without a risk of slowdown ...

Inheritance Tax: Limit Corporate Privileges and Spread Tax Burden

After the inheritance tax ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court, legislators will have to limit the wide-ranging exemptions on company assets. In recent years, they have exempted half of all assets subject to inheritance tax. In particular, large transfers consisting mainly of corporate assets benefit from the favorable conditions. In 2012 and 2013, over half of all transfers of five million ...

A Wealth Tax on the Rich to Bring down Public Debt? Revenue and Distributional Effects of a Capital Levy in Germany

The idea of higher wealth taxes to finance the mounting public debt in the wake of the financial crises is gaining ground in several OECD countries. We evaluate the revenue and distributional effects of a one-time capital levy on personal net wealth that is currently on the German political agenda. We use survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and estimate the net wealth distribution ...

Who Bears the Tax Burden in Germany? Tax Structure Slightly Progressive

A comprehensive, microdata-based analysis of the German tax system's distributional effects in 2015 shows that the total tax burden from direct and indirect taxes is slightly progressive on higher income, but regressive in the lower deciles. Income and corporate taxes are distinctly progressive. They impose hardly any burden on lower- and middle-income households, but the average burden significantly ...

An Integrated Micro Data Base for Tax Analysis in Germany

This paper documents methodology underlying the construction of the integrated data base for our study on “Wer trägt die Steuerlast in Deutschland? - Verteilungswirkungen des deutschen Steuer- und Transfersystems” (Who bears the tax burden in Germany? – Distributional Analyses of the German tax and transfer system). Financial support from the Hans Böckler Stiftung for the project is gratefully acknowledged. ...

Refugee Integration: A Worthwile Investment

The initial fiscal costs associated with refugee integration are quite high—but as more and more refugees join the labor force, a reduction in ongoing welfare costs and an increase in government revenue will result. Against this background, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg and DIW Berlin conducted a joint investigation (funded by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social ...

Income Tax Reform to Relieve Middle Income Households

Completely eliminating the sharp rise in the tax rate for middle income households in Germany by changing personal income tax rates would mean estimated annual losses in tax revenue of 35 billion euros, or 1.1 percent of GDP. Taxpayers with high incomes would also benefit from this type of relief. The ten percent of the population with the highest income would have a relief of around 10.4 billion euros—over ...