Die Bedeutung regionaler Unterschiede des Preisniveaus wird in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften unterschätzt. Lediglich in Form von Mietspiegeln werden regionale Preisniveauunterschiede lebensweltlich berücksichtigt. Wie experimentelle Berechnungen des Bundesinstituts für Bau-, Stadt- und...

Social scientists and media commentators have expressed concern that Western countries are becoming two-thirds societies in which two-thirds enjoy the benefits of affluence, while one-third are locked into poverty or near-poverty. This paper, based on economic panel data, tests the two-thirds...

What has happened to incomes, inequality and satisfaction with living standards in the first stage of transition from a communist command economy to a market economy in East Germany? This paper tests six hypotheses about the transition to capitalism. Contrary to expectations, real incomes went...

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (N=6950), this paper analyses equivalent income mobility in West Germany, 1984-93. Four hypotheses, derived from recent North American research and from sociological theory (stratification theory) are tested. They are: 1. that in West Germany, as...

Inequality with respect to personal earned income has increased in recent years. This trend has gone hand in hand with changes in both the employment constellations of households and the labor market activity of individuals (e.g. through 'minijobs'). In particular, the years since 2000 have seen...