This paper investigates the evolution of wages and the recent tendency to rising wage inequality in Germany, based on the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for 1984 to 2004. Between 1984 and 1994 the wage distribution was fairly stable. Wage inequality started to increase around 1994 in...

Using a sample of high-school students from North Rhine-Westphalia, I find evidence that noncognitive skills significantly increase performance in school and success in professional life as well as happiness at age forty-three. Since test scores for cognitive skills are available for the...