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Life Satisfaction in Germany after Reunification: Additional Insights on the Pattern of Convergence

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  • Pfeifer, Christian

    (Leuphana University Lüneburg)

  • Petrunyk, Inna

    (Leuphana University Lüneburg)

Abstract

The authors update previous findings on the total East-West gap in overall life satisfaction and its trend by using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1992 to 2013. Additionally, the East-West gap and its trend are separately analyzed for men and women as well as for four birth cohorts. The results indicate that reported life satisfaction is on average significantly lower in East than in West German federal states and that part of the raw East-West gap is due to differences in household income and unemployment status. The conditional East-West gap decreased in the first years after the German reunification and remained quite stable and sizeable since the mid-nineties. The results further indicate that gender differences are small. But the East-West gap is significantly smaller and shows a trend towards convergence for younger birth cohorts.

Suggested Citation

  • Pfeifer, Christian & Petrunyk, Inna, 2015. "Life Satisfaction in Germany after Reunification: Additional Insights on the Pattern of Convergence," IZA Discussion Papers 9055, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9055
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    Cited by:

    1. Djankov, Simeon & Nikolova, Elena & Zilinsky, Jan, 2016. "The happiness gap in Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 108-124.
    2. Walther, Lena & Fuchs, Lukas M. & Schupp, Jürgen & Scheve, Christian von, 2020. "Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees : Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22, pages 903-913.
    3. Arman Canatay & Leonel Prieto & Muhammad Ruhul Amin, 2023. "Integrating “Neoliberal-Turn” and “Social-Turn” Constructs in Examining Sustainable Development and Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Global-, Country Cluster-, and Country-Level Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-56, June.
    4. Burda, Michael C. & Weder, Mark, 2017. "The Economics of German Unification after Twenty-five Years: Lessons for Korea," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2017-009, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    5. Vishal Chandr Jaunky & Jamiil Jeetoo & Shreya Rampersad, 2020. "Happiness and Consumption in Mauritius: An Exploratory Study of Socio-Economic Dimensions, Basic Needs, Luxuries and Personality Traits," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2377-2403, October.
    6. Martina Mysíková & Tomáš Želinský & Thesia I. Garner & Jiří Večerník, 2019. "Subjective Perceptions of Poverty and Objective Economic Conditions: Czechia and Slovakia a Quarter Century After the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 523-550, September.
    7. Braunheim, Lisa & Dragano, Nico & Khachatryan, Kristine & Beutel, Manfred E. & Brähler, Elmar, 2024. "The effects of effort-reward imbalance on the job, overcommitment, and income on life satisfaction in Germany from a longitudinal perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    8. Philipp Biermann & Heinz Welsch, 2019. "Changing Conditions, Persistent Mentality: An Anatomy of East German Unhappiness, 1990-2016," Working Papers V-422-19, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised May 2019.
    9. Stefanie Hahm & Laura Altweck & Silke Schmidt & Christine Ulke & Toni Fleischer & Thomas McLaren & Sven Speerforck & Georg Schomerus & Manfred E. Beutel & Elmar Brähler & Holger Muehlan, 2024. "Trajectories of Satisfaction with Life Following a Collective, Critical Life Event and Their Relationship with Sociodemographic Factors and Internal Migration: The Example of the German Reunification ," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(5), pages 2309-2329, October.
    10. Yi-Bin Chiu & Zhen Wang & Xu Ye, 2023. "Household gift-giving consumption and subjective well-being: evidence from rural China," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1453-1472, December.
    11. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2017-009 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Biermann, Philipp & Welsch, Heinz, 2021. "An anatomy of East German unhappiness: The role of circumstances and mentality, 1990–2018," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1-18.
    13. Martin Wetzel & Jonathan Wörn & Bettina Hünteler & Karsten Hank, 2022. "Heterogeneity in Trajectories of Life Satisfaction After Reunification: The Role of Individual Resources and Life Stage in Former East Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 1103-1123, February.
    14. Pfeifer Christian & Smolny Werner & Wagner Joachim, 2016. "25 Years of German Reunification," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 236(2), pages 153-155, March.
    15. Tim Friehe & Christian Pfeifer, 2024. "Predicting satisfaction with democracy in Germany using local economic conditions, social capital, and individual characteristics," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 335-377, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    reunification; life satisfaction; happiness; Germany; trends;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • P46 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

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