Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Discretionary Time - A New Measure of Freedom

Determinants of Regional Variation in Health Expenditures in Germany

Health care expenditure in Germany shows clear regional differences. Such geographic variations are often seen as an indicator for inefficiency. With its homogeneous health care system, low co-payments and uniform prices, Germany is a particularly suited example to analyse regional variations. We use data for the year 2011 on expenditure, utilization of health services and state of health in Germany's ...

Wage mobility

Offshoring, Wages and Job Security of Temporary Workers

Temporary contracts have become an important mode of employment in many countries. We investigate the impact of offshoring on individual level wages and unemployment probabilities and pay particular attention to the question if workers with temporary contracts are affected differently than workers with permanent contracts. Data are taken from the German Socio-Economic Panel, linked with industry level ...

Paid vacation use: The role of works councils

The article investigates the relationship between codetermination at the plant level and paid vacation in Germany. From a legal perspective, works councils have no impact on vacation entitlements, but they can affect their use. Employing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), the study finds that male employees who work in an establishment, in which a works council exists, take almost two ...

Trade union membership and paid vacation in Germany

In Germany, dependent employees take almost 30 days of paid vacation annually. We enquire whether an individual’s trade union membership affects the duration of vacation. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the period 1985 to 2010 and employing pooled OLS-estimators, we find that being a union member goes along with almost one additional day of vacation per year. Estimations ...

Social Custom, Free Riders, and Trade Union Membership in Germany and Great Britain

Norm-Based Trade Union Membership: Evidence for Germany

Severance Pay and the Shadow of the Law: Evidence for West Germany

Trade Union Membership and Works Councils in West Germany

Der Anteil der Gewerkschaftsmitglieder an allen Mitgliedern eines Betriebsrates ist erheblich höher als der gewerkschaftliche Organisationsgrad der Arbeitnehmer. Stellen Betriebsräte das Aushängeschild der Gewerkschaften dar, sollte die Gewerkschaftsmitgliedschaft der Beschäftigten positiv mit der Existenz von Betriebsräten und deren Nähe zu Gewerkschaften korreliert sein. Auf der Basis von Daten des ...