Income comparisons among neighbours and life satisfaction in East and West Germany

Arbeitspapier

This paper draws on the German Socio-economic Panel Study (SOEP) to investigate whether changes in others? income are perceived differently in post-transition and capitalist societies. We find that the neighbourhood income effect for West Germany is negative and slightly more marked in neighbourhoods where the neighbours interact socially. In contrast, the coefficients on neighbourhood income in East Germany are positive, but not statistically significant. This suggests not only that there is a divide between East and West Germany, but also that neighbours may not be a relevant comparison group in societies that have comparatively low levels of neighbouring.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ISER Working Paper Series ; No. 2010-11

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; General Welfare; Well-Being ; Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models
• Subject: Comparison income ; Reference group ; Life Satisfaction ; Neighbourhood effects ; Einkommen ; Soziale Gruppe ; Vergleich ; Wohnstandort ; Systemtransformation ; Zufriedenheit ; Deutschland ; Neue Bundesländer ; Alte Bundesländer

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Knies, Gundi
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
• (where): Colchester
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/65921
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET