It is a long-standing principle in anthropology, sociology but also economics, that there are strong social and material incentives for people to marry or partner on the basis of social similarity, thus encouraging equality within partnerships but social inequality in the distribution of...

We use British and German panel data to analyse job changes involving a change in occupation. We assess the extent of occupational change, taking into account the possibility of measurement error in occupational codes; whether job changes within the occupation differ from occupation changes in...

We test whether in Great Britain the recent increase in the supply of university graduates has a negative impact on their wages, and analyse to what extent the local labour market for graduates should be seen as regional rather than national. We do this by computing two measures of job...

Partnerships continue to be determined by mutual considerations of the economic value of prospective partners. Whereas in the past this worked through property or income, the basis for assessment is now given by several facets of an individuals human capital, some of which are observed only by...

A large empirical literature suggests that a proportion of employees are over-educated (overqualified) for the jobs that they do. It also estimates the impact of this mismatch on wages The empirical results suggest that having more education than is needed for a job generates a premium relative...

We use British and German panel data to analyse job changes involving a change in occupation. We assess: (1) the extent of occupational change, taking into account the possibility of measurement error in occupational codes; (2) whether job changes within the occupation differ from occupation...

Are social (occupational) classes coherent, distinct entities? While they reflect an underlying reality, they are more fragmented than theory suggests. It is hypothesised that skill mismatches mean that each class includes a substantial proportion of poorly paid people who could be in the class...

The concept party identification lies at the heart of much research on political preferences and behavior in established democracies. Drawing on data obtained from the British Household Panel Survey (1991-99) and the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (1984-1998), we offer a fresh approach to...