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Socio-Economic Panel - Germany
Source: German Institute for Economic Research
The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) is a wide-ranging representative longitudinal study of private households in Germany. The same private households, persons and families have been surveyed annually since 1984. As early as June 1990, i.e. before the currency, economic and social union, the survey was extended to include the territory of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). In 1994/95 a new immigrant sample was introduced.
The SOEP data give researchers the opportunity to observe and to analyze political and social transformations. The data supply information about objective as well as subjective living conditions, about the process of change in various areas of life and about the links between these areas and the changes themselves.
The advantages of the SOEP data are the unique analytical possibilities with respect to:
Foreigners (currently the largest repeated survey of foreigners in the Federal Republic of Germany; the sample includes households whose the head is Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Greek or former Yugoslavian)
Immigrants (currently the only high-quality survey of immigrants who entered West-Germany in the years 1984-1995)
SOEP data cover a wide range of subjects including:
as well as subjects covered in topical modules of the survey. These modules cover such topics as:
The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) was founded in 1983 as a project of the Special Research Area 3 (Sfb 3) »Microanalytical Basis of Social Politics« at the universities of Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim. It is independently funded through the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft or German National Science Foundation (DFG) and located at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin.
Continuing DFG funding is dispersed through the Federal Committee for Educational Planning and Research Sponsorship (BLK) on a matching basis with the Federal State of Berlin. The SOEP project will be maintained within the framework of the DFG at least until the end of 2002. Prof. Dr. Gert G. Wagner is director of the project since 1989.
SOEP has a high degree of stability, which is mainly due to the diligent work done in maintaining response rates. In 1984 5,921 households containing 12,290 people participated in the »SOEP West«; in 1990 2,179 households with 4,453 people were surveyed in the GDR. This sample constituted the »SOEP EAST« sample. The most recent wave of the data (2000) includes 4,060 households with 7,623 people for the SOEP West sample, and 3,678 people in 1,879 households in the SOEP East sample. Retention rates in the 1994/95 Immigrant-Sample of 1,078 persons in 522 households have also been good. In 2000 the sample included 837 persons in 425 households.
In 1998 the SOEP was extended by a Supplementary Sample E with 1,923 people in 1,067 households from whom two years later 1549 Persons in 842 households were surveyed successfully.
A major extension of the SOEP was drawn in the year 2000: The Sample F included 10890 persons in 6052 households. Herewith the possibility of analysis of small societal groups increased significantly.
The public use file of the SOEP with anonymous micro data is provided free of charge to universities and research centers (shipping and handling fees will be charged ($125)). Use of the data is subject to special regulations. Data privacy laws necessitate the signing of a data transfer contract with the DIW. More than 400 research groups in Germany and abroad are currently working with SOEP data. Upon request we can inform you as to whether your research center is already using these data.
SOEP data are disseminated in several formats on CD-ROM. The formats include SAS, STATA, SPSS, ASCII and TDA/RZOO. Training workshops for SOEP users are held annually inside and outside Germany. All registered users receive a SOEP-NEWSLETTER that informs users about latest developments concerning SOEP. Further, SOEP info is an online interactive WWW system providing information on all variables of the SOEP in English and German, as well as data extraction programs. SOEPlit lists SOEP related publications. The Desktop Companion (DTC) is a detailed English language printed documentation of the data (200+ pages), available on the CD-ROM and online.
German Institute for Economic Research
The German Institute for Economic Research is one of the leading research institutes in Germany. It is an independent, non-profit-making academic institute which is involved in basic research and policy advice. The DIW Berlin was originally founded in 1925 as the Institute for Business Cycle Research and was later renamed in German Institute for Economic Research.
The DIW Berlin is divided into seven research departments which are:
The main task of the DIW Berlin is to investigate economic processes in Germany and abroad and to support decision-making in politics, the public sector and the economy. Since its inception, the institute has focussed on business cycle analysis and forecasts. Particular emphasis is given to empirical research based on theoretical explanatory approaches. The variety of research ranges from the short-term analysis of economic trends and the analysis of current economic and fiscal affairs, to the long-term projection and assessment of developments in the global economy and in individual sectors alike. An objective of DIW Berlin research work is to further the development of the German economy.
The DIW Berlin aims to strengthen its co-operation with national and international research networks and research institutes in order to use these connections for joint research programmes and advisory activities.
More than half of the institute's budget is derived from public grants, which the DIW Berlin receives as research funding from the state of Berlin and the Federal Government in equal parts. This sum is supplemented by income from projects, research contracts with third parties, trustee memberships and donations. The total budget for the year 2001 amounted to 19.4 million Euro.
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