Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Cross-country income mobility comparisons under panel attrition: the relevance of weighting schemes

This article aims to present an assessment of the effects of panel attrition on income mobility comparisons for some EU countries by using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). There are different possibilities of correcting the attrition problem by means of alternative longitudinal weighting schemes. The sensitivity of mobility estimates to these attrition correction procedures is tested ...

The impact of housing conditions on health outcomes

We investigate the relationship between housing conditions and health outcomes using a data set that tracks 25,000 German households over 25 years. We document that individuals exposed to poor housing conditions report worse mental and physical health, and experience an 11% increase in doctor visits, increasing to 20% for age groups over 64. The analysis controls for individual, dwelling, and temporal ...

Modelling state dependence and feedback effects between poverty, employment and parental home emancipation among European youth

Youth is one of the phases in the life-cycle when some of the most decisive life transitions take place. Entering the labour market or leaving parental home are events with important consequences for the economic well-being of young adults. In this paper, the interrelationship between employment, residential emancipation and poverty dynamics is studied for eight European countries by means of an econometric ...

Youth Poverty, Employment, and Leaving the Parental Home in Europe

This paper studies the nature of youth poverty dynamics in Europe. First, it analyzes to what extent experiencing poverty in a given period is in itself positively related to the probability of living below the poverty line again in the future. That is, we assess the degree of poverty genuine state dependence among young people. Second, we study the interrelationships between poverty, employment, and ...

The association between physical environment and health: indicating the direction of effects using German panel data

Background: A growing body of research has identified an association between health and physical residential environmental characteristics. However, the direction of effects remains unclear, and further research is needed to determine whether the residential environment influences health.Objectives: To specify the direction of the association between environmental disadvantage and self-reported health. ...

Long Run Effects of Universal Childcare on Personality Traits

Although universal childcare has become an essential tool to support child development, few economic studies analyze its effects on non-cognitive skills and little is known about causal effects on these skills in the long run. In this paper we go beyond short run analyses and examine the long run effects of one additional year of universal childcare on students’ personality traits in adolescence. We ...

Fundamental Reform of Income Tax - In how far Can the Assesment Basis be Broadened and Tax Law Simplifies?

Capital Levies - A Step Towards Improving Public Finances in Europe

Ever since the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009, public debt in almost all OECD countries has increased significantly. The European debt crisis has further intensified over the past few weeks. Private households with high levels of wealth and income could be enlisted to help with refinancing and reducing this public debt through forced loans and one-off capital levies, without a risk of slowdown ...

Inheritance Tax: Limit Corporate Privileges and Spread Tax Burden

After the inheritance tax ruling by the German Federal Constitutional Court, legislators will have to limit the wide-ranging exemptions on company assets. In recent years, they have exempted half of all assets subject to inheritance tax. In particular, large transfers consisting mainly of corporate assets benefit from the favorable conditions. In 2012 and 2013, over half of all transfers of five million ...

A Wealth Tax on the Rich to Bring down Public Debt? Revenue and Distributional Effects of a Capital Levy in Germany

The idea of higher wealth taxes to finance the mounting public debt in the wake of the financial crises is gaining ground in several OECD countries. We evaluate the revenue and distributional effects of a one-time capital levy on personal net wealth that is currently on the German political agenda. We use survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and estimate the net wealth distribution ...