Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Parental leave benefits and breastfeeding in Germany: Effects of the 2007 reform

While the health benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and children are well known, breastfeeding may make it difficult for mothers to return early to the labor market. Maternity and parental leave regulations have been designed to reduce this conflict. In 2007, Germany put into effect a new parental leave benefit (Elterngeld). The related reform increased the number of parents eligible for benefits ...

Multi- and Interdisciplinary Analyses Using the SOEP

Do Demographics Prevent Consumer Aggregates from Reflecting Micro-level Preferences?

Most simulated micro-founded macro models use solely consumer-demand aggregates in order to estimate preference parameters of a representative consumer, for use in policy evaluation. Focusing on dynamic models with time-separable preferences, we show that aggregation holds if, and only if, momentary utility functions fall in the Identical-Shape Harmonic Absolute-Risk Aversion (ISHARA) utility class, ...

About time: Daylight Saving Time transition and individual well-being

Daylight Saving Time is controversial due to its alleged negative impact on individual well-being. Using panel data from Germany we find evidence that the transition to summer time has negative influence on general life satisfaction and mood, which is stronger for those in full time employment.

Unemployment and the Separation of Married Couples

This article analyzes whether unemployment has an effect on the splitting of a marital relationship. The study uses 40 000 observations on unemployment spells and marital status during the period from 1987 to 1996. Random effects probit and conditional likelihood logit models for panel data are applied. Using several control variables, it was confirmed that unemployment does actually lead to a higher ...

The Causes and Consequences of Adopting a Works Council

This paper reports on the results of a study on the determinants of the introduction of a works council and its consequences.We consider the effects of expectations concerning the economic conditions of a firm on the probability of adopting a works council. This is done, on the one hand, by use of employees’ expectations on employment security and, on the other hand, by including forecasts of the management ...

Impact of Educational and Religious Homogamy on Marital Stability

Using a rich panel data set from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we test whether spouses who are similar to each other in certain respects have a lower probability of divorce than dissimilar spouses. We focus on the effect of homogamy with respect to education and church attendance. Gary Becker's theory of marriage predicts that usually, positive assortative mating is optimal. Our results, however, ...

Does a Spouse’s Health Shock Influence the Partner’s Risk Attitudes?

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a spouse’s health shock on own risk attitudes. A spouse’s health shock (i.e., the occurrence of a severe disease) can influence own expectations about the probability of falling ill. Moreover, an indisposition of the spouse, which may disrupt the ability and efficiency in sharing the everyday responsibilities, can increase mental and financial ...

The Duration of Marginal Employment in West Germany: A Survival Analysis Based on Spell Data

We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1984 to 1995 to analyze longitudinal aspects of marginal employment (geringfügige Beschäftigung) in West Germany. After discussing problems of identifying marginal employment spells, we document that marginal employment spell vary considerably in the German labor market. Spell duration in our data ranges from one month to 12 years or more. Marginal ...

Length of Coresidence of Elders with Adult Relatives - A Survival Analysis Using GSOEP Data