Using data from the German SOEP, this paper analyses whether there have been (a) any significant changes in poverty rates and poverty intensities before and after the Hartz IV reforms and (b) whether there have been observable changes in the effect of employment in reducing the threat or...

Durch die Zusammenlegung von Sozialhilfe und Arbeitslosenhilfe zum Arbeitslosengeld II kam es zu starken Veränderungen bei den verfügbaren Einkommen der Leistungsbezieher. Mehr als die Hälfte der Personen in Haushalten, die zuvor entweder Arbeitslosenhilfe oder Sozialhilfe bezogen, mussten...

The present article assesses the redistributive effects of a key element of German climate change policy, the promotion of renewables in the electricity mix through the provision of a feed-in tariff. The tariff shapes the distribution of households' disposable incomes by charging a levy that is...

Most empirical distributional studies of well-being in developed countries rely on distributions of disposable income. From a theoretical point of view this practice is contentious since a household’s command over resources is determined not only by its spending power over commodities it can...

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

A growing polarization of society accompanied with an erosion of the middle class experiences more and more attention at least in the recent German economic and social policy discussion. Our study contributes to the polarization discussion with respect to multidimensional theoretical measurement...