Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The Happiness of Giving: Evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel That Happier People Are More Generous

This study explores the causal direction between happiness and charitable giving. Through the application of Cohen’s path analysis, the main purpose of the study is to find evidence which of the possible causal directions—the one from giving to happiness or from happiness to giving—is the more dominant one. To that aim the authors use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel 2009/10. In a sample of ...

Life Satisfaction and Endogenous Aspirations

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (N = 13,145), we investigate the effects of (not) achieving aspirations on subjective well-being. We match individual-level data about life satisfaction aspirations with their subsequent realizations and we jointly estimate two panel-data equations, the first depicting the effects that (not) achieving initial aspirations exerts on the subsequent level ...

Asymmetric affective forecasting errors and their correlation with subjective well-being

Aims Social scientists have postulated that the discrepancy between achievements and expectations affects individuals' subjective well-being. Still, little has been done to qualify and quantify such a psychological effect. Our empirical analysis assesses the consequences of positive and negative affective forecasting errors—the difference between realized and expected subjective well-being—on ...

Overview of Child Well Being in Germany: Policy Towards a Supportive Environment for Children (Zur Lage der Kinder in Deutschland: Politik für Kinder als Zukunftsgestaltung)

Cohort Profile: The Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II)

Similar to other industrialized countries, Germany’s population is ageing. Whereas some people enjoy good physical and cognitive health into old age, others suffer from a multitude of age-related disorders and impairments which reduce life expectancy and affect quality of life. To identify and characterize the factors associated with ‘healthy’ vs. ‘unhealthy’ ageing, we have launched the Berlin Aging ...

Does Personality Matter? Personality factors as determinants of legislative recruitment and legislators’ policrecruitment and policy preferences

The paper inquires into the impact of personality-factors on the selection and self-selection of recruits for parliamentary mandates by comparing the personality profile of German MPs with a matching sample of the general population (matching in terms of education, gender, age and party preferences). It further determines whether MPs personality has an impact on their policy preferences (expansionist ...

How Selective Migration Shapes Environmental Inequality in Germany: Evidence from Micro-level Panel Data

Socio-economically disadvantaged and ethnic minorities are affected by a disproportionately high exposure to environmental pollution. Yet, it is unclear if selective migration causes this disproportionate exposure experienced by low-income and minority households. The study uses longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to investigate the process of selective migration and its connection ...

Risk Attitudes, Job Mobility and Subsequent Wage Growth During the Early Career

Job change is a decision under uncertainty: It is associated with costs whereas the decision is made without full knowledge about future benefits. In order to investigate the relationship between willingness to take risks and job mobility, we first extend a model for on-the-job search with nonwage job characteristics by including heterogeneity in risk attitudes. Second, we empirically test the model's ...

Fostering Equality of Opportunity? Compulsory Schooling Reform and Social Mobility in Germany

There is an ongoing debate in the field of social mobility research about whether intergenerational social mobility can be increased by way of education policy. However, evidence on the effects of specific education policies on social mobility continues to be scarce. This article analyses the effect of one specific policy reform, the extension of compulsory schooling in Germany, which has been argued ...

The Effect of the Post-Socialist Transition on Inequality of Educational Opportunity: Evidence from German Unification

In 1990, German unification led to an abrupt and extensive restructuring of the educational system and economy of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as the latter was reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). However, the consequences of this large-scale institutional change for the educational inequality between children from different social class backgrounds in East Germany continue ...