Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Multivariate assessment of interviewer errors in a cross-national economic survey and the role of fieldwork institutes

Interviewers have long been identified as a source of error in face-to-face surveys. However, previous studies have typically focused on a single source of interviewer error and single-country cross-sectional surveys. We extend this literature by investigating interviewer errors from multiple dimensions in the Oesterreichische Nationalbank Euro Survey, a cross-national survey conducted annually in ...

Refugees (un)welcome: Regional demographic changes and individual attitudes towards refugees

Background: Many refugees arrived in Germany in 2015 and 2016. At the same time, anti-refugee attitudes among Germans increased. This indicates an association between immigration and attitudes. Now, ten years later, renewed public concern about immigration - while not many immigrate to Germany - highlights the need to identify factors that shape attitudes towards refugees. Aim: Thus, I tested whether ...

How socioeconomic status affects a child's education – Investigating objective and subjective factors involved in shaping educational success in Germany

Differences in educational trajectories between social backgrounds can only be partially explained by differences in cognitive abilities and are therefore considered educational inequalities. In this study, multiple constructs involved in the prediction of educational success were investigated in a joint approach to specify their unique contributions and to identify mechanisms associated with how socioeconomic ...

Prioritize to decarbonize: Thermal retrofits, carbon prices, and energy inequality

The energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the heightened vulnerability of low-income households to rising heating costs, particularly those in energy inefficient buildings. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this study examines the distributional impact of heating costs across income deciles and evaluates the effectiveness of policy interventions. We find ...

Involuntary Changes in Commuting Distances: Effects on Subjective Well-Being in the Era of Mobile Internet

Commuting is a fundamental aspect of employees’ daily routines and continues to evolve with technological advancements. Yet the effects of commuting on subjective well-being remain insufficiently investigated in the context of expanding digital connectivity. This paper examines the causal effects of changes in commuting distance on subjective well-being in an era of widespread mobile internet availability. ...

Asylum seekers and host country mental health: Evidence from Germany and Switzerland

Due to recent conflicts and humanitarian issues, millions of people have sought asylum in countries in Europe. The influx of asylum seekers has sparked debates about the impacts of such migratory flows on resident populations. We study how the recent migration of these forcibly displaced people into Europe affects the mental health of the receiving country residents in Switzerland and Germany. We exploit ...

Introduction to the symposium on reproducibility and replicability in economics: Part I

Is a sorrow shared a sorrow doubled? Parental unemployment and the life satisfaction of adolescent children

This paper examines the possible spillover effects of parental unemployment on the subjective well-being of 12- to 21-year-old children. Using German panel data (SOEP), we show that unemployment of fathers and mothers is negatively associated with their children’s life satisfaction. When controlling for time-invariant individual heterogeneity, our results suggest that maternal unemployment has adverse ...

Energy poverty and health: Micro-level evidence from Germany

This paper aims to understand the health effects of energy poverty in Germany using SOEP panel data from 2010 to 2020. Linear probability and fixed effects ordered logit models reveal a consistently negative relationship of three expenditures-based energy poverty indicators with general health: the odds ratio of being in better health decreases between about 6 % and 8 %. This association is stronger ...

Much to lose, no credentials to prove it – Educational aspirations and intentions of adult refugees as means of occupational status re-attainment

We analyse how educational aspirations and intentions of adult refugees in Germany are shaped by their foreign educational credentials and their previous occupational status. Because the allocation of medium-skilled jobs on the German labour market heavily relies on a variety of credentials, unlike in the countries of origin, where skills are usually acquired on the job but not formally certified, ...