We demonstrate that interpersonal comparisons lead to "keeping up with the Joneses"-behavior. Using annual household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate the causal effect of changes in reference consumption, defined as the consumption level of all households who are perceived...

In this paper we explore the reasons for the trend reversal in the development of household market income inequality in Germany in the second half of the 2000s. We analyse to what extent the increasing relevance of capital income as well as the rising share of atypically employed persons have...

In Germany, inequality of net equivalized income increased noticeably in the first half of the new millennium. We aim to identify the main drivers of this rise in income inequality since the early 1990s. We provide a broad overview of the circumstances under which inequality evolved, i.e. which...

We examine the interplay between changes in the functional distribution of income and the distribution of market income among households. We use micro data from the German Socio-Economic Panel as well as macro data from the German Federal Statistical Office from 2002 to 2008. We categorize and...

In dieser Studie untersuchen wir die Beschäftigungsanreize des deutschen Steuer-, Abgaben- und Transfersystems. Um die Anreizwirkungen von Steuern und Transferleistungen zu beurteilen, stellt man typischerweise die Frage, wie stark ihr verfügbares Einkommen steigt, wenn eine Person das...

"Wohlstand für Alle" - dieses Versprechen verbinden viele Deutsche mit der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft. Vor dem Hintergrund der anhaltend hohen Einkommens und Vermögensungleichheit werden in der öffentlichen Debatte jedoch immer häufiger Zweifel an der Fähigkeit der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft...

Microsimulation (MS) and Computable General Equilibrium models (CGE) have both been widely used in policy analysis. Their combination allows the utilisation of the advantages of both types. The aim of this paper is to describe the state-of-the-art in simulation analysis and to illustrate the...

In Germany, two observations can be tracked over the past 15 to 20 years: First, income inequality has constantly increased while, second, the average household size has been declining dramatically. The analysis of income distribution relies on equivalence-weighted incomes, which take into...