Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Differences in earnings distribution of self- and dependent employed German men – evidence from a quantile regression decomposition analysis

This paper uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 2000 to 2005 to study the earnings differential between self- and dependent employed German men. Constructing a counterfactual earnings distribution for the self-employed in dependent employment and using quantile regression decompositions we find that the earnings differential over the distribution cannot be explained by differences ...

Other-regarding preferences, spousal disability and happiness: Evidence from German couples

This paper considers the impact of adverse health shocks that hit an individual’s partner on subjective well-being. Using data on couples from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 1984 to 2006, I compare the losses in well-being caused by own and spousal disability using panel-regressions. I find that women and to a lesser extent men are harmed by spousal disability which is consistent with ...

The role of psychological traits for the gender gap in full-time employment and wages: Evidence from Germany

This paper shows that differences in various non-cognitive traits, specifically the “big five”, positive and negative reciprocity, locus of control and risk aversion, contribute to gender inequalities in wages and employment. Using the 2004 and 2005 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel, evidence from regression and decomposition techniques suggests that gender differences in psychological traits ...

The consequences of own and spousal disability on labor market outcomes and subjective well-being: Evidence from Germany

In this paper, I contrast the effects of individual and spousal disability on subjective wellbeing and labor supply using data on couples from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 1984 to 2006. I find that both men and women reduce their propensity to work when they or their partner become disabled. The effects of spousal disability are economically large. I find no evidence for hours and ...

On the Stability of Preferences: Repercussions of Entrepreneurship on Risk Attitudes

The majority of empirical studies makes use of the assumption of stable preferences in searching for a relationship between risk attitude and the decision to become and stay an entrepreneur. Yet empirical evidence on this relationship is limited. In this paper, we show that entry into entrepreneurship itself plays a decisive role in shaping risk preferences. We find that becoming self-employed is indeed ...

Entry into entrepreneurship, endogenous adaption of risk attitudes and entrepreneurial survival

Empirical studies use the assumption of stability in individual risk attitudes when searching for a relationship between attitude to risk and the decision to become and survive as an entrepreneur. We show that risk attitudes do not remain stable but face endogenous adaption when starting a new business. This adaption is associated with entrepreneurial survival. The results show that entrepreneurs with ...

On the simultaneity bias in the relationship between risk attitudes, entry into entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial survival

We consider the simultaneity bias when examining the effect of individual risk attitudes on entrepreneurship. We demonstrate that entry into self-employment is related to changes in risk attitudes. We further show that these changes are correlated with the probability to remain in entrepreneurship.

The Effect of Economic Downturns on Apprenticeships and Initial Workplace Training: A Review of the Evidence

The existing empirical evidence on the relationship between apprenticeships, initial workplace training and economic downturns, is relatively scarce. The bottom line of this literature is that ratio of apprentices to employees tends to be (mildly) pro-cyclical and to decline during a recession, with the notable exception of the Great Depression, when it rose (at least in England). When broader measures ...

Does School Tracking Affect Equality of Opportunity? New International Evidence

Lost in Transition? The Returns to Education Acquired under Communism 15 years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Using data for 22 economies in Eastern and Western Europe, we find evidence that having studied under communism is relatively penalized in the economies of the late 2000s. This evidence, however, is limited to males and to primary and secondary education, and holds for eight CEE economies but not for the East Germans who have studied in the former German Democratic Republic. We also find that post-secondary ...