Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Safe Options Induce Gender Differences in Risk Attitudes

Gender differences in risk attitudes are frequently observed, although recent literature has shown that they are context dependent rather than ubiquitous. In this paper we try to rationalize the heterogeneity of results investigating experimentally whether the presence of a safe option among the set of alternatives explains why females are more risk averse than males. We manipulate three widely used ...

The Sound of Others: Surprising Evidence of Conformist Behavior

In this article we use the “Click” version of the Bomb Risk Elicitation Task to explore preferences for conformism. In the task subjects can infer the behavior of others from the mass of clicks heard. This signal is uninformative about the precise choices of the other participants, and never mentioned in the instructions. We control the exposure of subjects to clicks by implementing treatments with ...

Representation effects in the centipede game

We explore the effects on strategic behavior of alternative representations of a centipede game that differ in terms of complexity. In a laboratory experiment, we manipulate the way in which payoffs are presented to subjects in two different ways. In both cases, information is made less accessible relative to the standard representation of the game. Results show that these manipulations shift the distribution ...

The Effect of Subsidized Employment on Happiness

While a large body of evidence suggests that unemployment and self-reported happiness are negatively correlated, it is not clear whether this reflects a causal effect of unemployment on happiness and whether subsidized employment can increase the happiness of the unemployed. To close this gap, this paper estimates the causal effect of a type of subsidized employment projects - Germany's Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen ...

A Fixed Effects Ordered Choice Model with Flexible Thresholds with an Application to Life-Satisfaction

In many contexts reported outcomes in a rating scale are modeled through the existence of a latent variable that separates the categories through thresholds. The literature has not been able to separate the e¤ect of a variable on the latent variable from its effect on threshold parameters. We propose a model which incorporates (1) individual fixed effects on the latent variable, (2) individual fixed ...

Encouraging Governments to Enhance the Happiness of Their Nation: Step 1: Understand Subjective Well-Being

A Demonstration of Set-Points for Subjective Wellbeing

This paper presents evidence for the existence of ‘set-points’ for subjective wellbeing. Our results derive from a 10-year longitudinal study in which subjective wellbeing has been measured using a single question of general life satisfaction. The process of data analysis is driven by logic based on the theory of subjective wellbeing homeostasis. This analysis involves the iterative elimination of ...

Immigrant Fertility in Germany: The Role of Culture

Diese Studie befasst sich mit dem Geburtenverhalten von Migrantinnen der ersten Generation. Unter Verwendung der Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) wird die endgültige Kinderzahl der Zuwanderinnen als abhängige Variable und die kulturelle Prägung aus dem Heimatland als Determinante modelliert. Zur Messung der "Fertilitätskultur" wird als Proxy die mittlere Differenz zwischen der ...

Parental leave benefit and differential fertility responses: evidence from a German reform

This paper examines the causal effects of a major change in the German parental leave benefit scheme on fertility. I use the unanticipated reform of 2007 to assess how a move from a means tested to an earnings-related benefit affects higher-order births. By using data from the Mikrozensus, I find that the reform significantly affected the timing of higher-order births in the first 5 years after a last ...

Bounding the Causal Effect of Unemployment on Mental Health: Nonparametric Evidence from Four Countries

An important, yet unsettled, question in public health policy is the extent to which unemployment causally impacts mental health. The recent literature yields varying findings, which are likely due to differences in data, methods, samples, and institutional settings. Taking a more general approach, we provide comparable evidence for four countries with different institutional settings – Australia, ...