Decades of studies identify personality traits as an important predictor of life outcomes. However, previous investigations of personality-outcome associations have not taken a principled approach to covariate use or other sampling strategies to ensure the robustness of personality-outcome associations. The result is that it is unclear (1)...
Several studies have suggested that the rank-order stability of personality increases until midlife and declines later in old age. However, this inverted U-shaped pattern has not consistently emerged in previous research; in particular, a recent investigation implementing several methodological advances failed to support it. To resolve the matter, we analyzed data from two representative panel studies ...
We propose a broadly applicable empirical approach to classify individuals as time-consistent versus native or sophisticated regarding their self-control limitations. Operationalizing our approach based on nationally representative data reveals that self-control problems are pervasive and that most people are at least partly aware of their limited self-control. Compared to naifs, sophisticates have ...
The most popular method to acquire a job is to use one's circle of acquaintances or social networks to find a position. However, in the current research, there is still no clear conclusion if this job search method has positive implications for different job outcomes such as wages. This paper studies the effects of this job search approach in the context of Germany compared to the formal...
This paper exploits unique variation induced by two information treatments on a sample of German households in 2017 and 2018 to evaluate how subjective belief formation about stock market returns affects stock market participation and portfolio choice. I find that on average the information treatments do not shift individual expectations about returns significantly. Additionally, I show that...
Studie untersucht Effekte des Ausbaus von Ganztagsangeboten in Westdeutschland seit 2003 – Freiwillige Inanspruchnahme verbessert Sozialverhalten und mentale Gesundheit, Effekt auf Schulnoten aber nicht feststellbar – Weitere Investitionen in höhere Qualitätsstandards nötig Kinder, die im Grundschulalter eine Ganztagsschule besuchen, haben bessere soziale Fähigkeiten und sind mental gesünder als andere ...
The political consequences of refugees for receiving countries have received much attention in recent years and have sparked a burgeoning literature. However, evidence on the long-run consequences of refugees is lacking. The expulsion of 8 million Germans (so-called expellees) from Eastern Europe to post-WWII West Germany serves as a natural experiment that allows us to estimate the long-run...
SOEP-Studie beschreibt erstmals auf Basis von belastbaren Daten die Persönlichkeit von MillionärInnen – Vor allem Selfmade-MillionärInnen unterscheiden sich in ihrer Persönlichkeit von der Allgemeinbevölkerung – Je stärker die „Millionärspersönlichkeit“ ausgeprägt ist, desto größer ist das Vermögen MillionärInnen ...
As the policy debate on entrepreneurship increasingly centers on firm growth in terms of job creation, it is important to understand whether the personality of entrepreneurs drives the first hiring in their firms. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we analyze to what extent personality traits influence the probability of becoming an employer. The results indicate that personality matters. ...