Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Entrepreneurial Persistence beyond Survival: Measurement and Determinants

Entrepreneurial persistence is demonstrated by an entrepreneur’s continued positive maintenance of entrepreneurial motivation and constantly renewed active engagement in a new business venture despite counterforces or enticing alternatives. It thus is a crucial factor for entrepreneurs when pursuing and exploiting their business opportunities and in realizing potential economic gains and benefits. ...

Start-ups by the unemployed: characteristics, survival and direct employment effects

Fostering and supporting start-up businesses by unemployed persons has become an increasingly important issue in many European countries. These new ventures are being subsidized by various governmental programs. Empirical evidence on skillcomposition, direct job creation and other key variables is rather scarce, largely because of inadequate data availability. We base our analysis on unique survey ...

The Gender Wage Gap: Does a Gender Gap in Reservation Wages Play a Part?

This paper focuses on re-examining the gender wage gap and the potential role that reservation wages play. Based on two waves of rich data from the IZA Evaluation Dataset Survey we examine the importance of gender differences in reservation wages to explain the gender gap in realized wages for a sample of newly unemployed individuals actively searching for a full-time job in Germany. The dataset includes ...

The Causal Effects of the Minimum Wage Introduction in Germany: An Overview

In 2015, Germany introduced a statutory hourly minimum wage that was not only universally binding but also set at a relatively high level. We discuss the short-run effects of this new minimum wage on a wide set of socio-economic outcomes, such as employment and working hours, earnings and wage inequality, dependent and selff-employment, as well as reservation wages and satisfaction. We also discuss ...

What Happens after the ‘Daddy Months’? Fathers’ Involvement in Paid Work, Childcare, and Housework after Taking Parental Leave in Germany

The German parental leave reform of 2007 created a new incentive for men to take parental leave by introducing ‘daddy months’: 2 months of well-remunerated leave exclusively reserved for fathers. Against the backdrop of the reform, this study examines how fathers’ uptake of parental leave affects the amount of time they spend on paid work, housework, and childcare after the leave has ended. It investigates ...

The association between social support networks and maternal employment: a comparison of western German, eastern German, and migrant mothers of preschool-aged children

A lack of adequate childcare can delay mothers' return to the labor market after childbirth. This paper examines whether social support with childcare by kin and friends facilitates maternal employment in the first 72 months after childbirth. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) 1993?2009, a comparison of natives (n=1409) and migrants (n=411) in corporative-conservative western ...

Paternal Part-Time Employment and Fathers' Long-Term Involvement in Child Care and Housework

Abstract Objective This study examines whether paternal part-time employment is related to greater involvement by fathers in child care and housework, both while fathers are working part-time and after they return to full-time employment. Background The study draws on four strands of theory—time availability, bargaining, gender ideology, and gender construction. It studies couples' division of ...

Essays in Empirical Health Economics (Dissertation)

Fear of Unemployment and its Effect on the Mental Health of Spouses

Unemployment has been shown to have adverse effects on different aspects of a person's life, and even the fear of losing a job affects individuals negatively. In addition, not only the individuals directly affected but also their spouses and other family members might be affected. Using data from the German Socio-economic Panel, this study analyzes the relationship between individual job worries ...

How Health Plan Enrollees Value Prices Relative to Supplemental Benefits and Service Quality

This paper empirically assesses the relative role of health plan prices, service quality and optional benefits in the decision to choose a health plan. We link representative German SOEP panel data from 2007 to 2010 to (i) health plan service quality indicators, (ii) measures of voluntary benefit provision on top of federally mandated benefits, and (iii) health plan prices for almost all German health ...