Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Adult Social Capital and Track Placement of Ethnic Groups in Germany

Longitudinal Evidence for a Midlife Nadir in Human Well-being: Results from Four Data Sets

There is a large amount of cross-sectional evidence for a midlife low in the life cycle of human happiness and well-being (a ‘U shape’). Yet no genuinely longitudinal inquiry has uncovered evidence for a U-shaped pattern. Thus, some researchers believe the U is a statistical artefact. We re-examine this fundamental cross-disciplinary question. We suggest a new test. Drawing on four data sets, and only ...

Assessing the validity of single-item life satisfaction measures: results from three large samples

Purpose: The present paper assessed the validity of single-item life satisfaction measures by comparing single-item measures to the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)—a more psychometrically established measure. Methods: Two large samples from Washington (N = 13,064) and Oregon (N = 2,277) recruited by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and a representative German sample (N = 1,312) recruited ...

When does money matter most? Examining the association between income and life satisfaction over the life course

Previous research shows that the correlation between income and life satisfaction is small to medium in size. We hypothesized that income may mean different things to people at different ages and, therefore, that the association between income and life satisfaction may vary at different points in the life course. We tested this hypothesis in 3 nationally representative panel studies. Multilevel modeling ...

Immigrant Voters, Taxation and the Size of the Welfare State

This paper studies the impact of immigration on public policy setting. As a natural experiment, we exploit the sudden arrival of eight million forced migrants in West Germany after World War II. These migrants were on average poorer than the West German population, but unlike most international migrants they had full voting rights and were eligible for social welfare. Using panel data for West German ...

Economic Uncertainty, Parental Selection, and the Criminal Activity of the 'Children of the Wall'

We study the link between parental selection and children criminality in a new context. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany experienced an unprecedented temporary drop in fertility driven by economic uncertainty. We exploit this natural experiment to estimate that the children from these (smaller) cohorts are 40 percent more likely to commit crimes. We show that women who gave birth at ...

Measuring poverty within and between population subgroups

Matching with a Handicap: The Case of Smoking in the Marriage Market

We develop a matching model on the marriage market, where individuals have preferences over the smoking status of potential mates, and over their socioeconomic quality. Spousal smoking is bad for non-smokers, but it is neutral for smokers, while individuals always prefer high socioeconomic quality. Furthermore, there is a gender difference in smoking prevalence, there being more smoking men than smoking ...

Posterior simulation and Bayes factors in panel count data models

This paper is concerned with the problems of posterior simulation and model choice for Poisson panel data models with multiple random effects. Efficient algorithms based on Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for sampling the posterior distribution are developed. A new parameterization of the random effects and fixed effects is proposed and compared with a parameterization in common use, and computation ...

The Labor Market Status of Immigrants: Effects of the Unemployment Rate at Arrival and Duration of Residence