Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract This paper provides an empirical analysis of the structure of earnings in West Germany across skill groups and industries. Our analysis is based on data from the German.Socioeconomic Panel for the period 1984 to-1994. We estimate quantile regressions, both for the entire sample period and for each year separately, in order to obtain a finer picture of the earnings structure compared to conventional least squares methods. For robust standard error estimation, this study uses a block bootstrap procedure taking account of heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation in the error term. We also suggest a simple one-step procedure to obtain a consistent estimate of inter-industry earnings variability. Our main findings are: first, pooled estimation comprising a uniform time trend is not rejected by the data, and second, the effects of human capital variables and industry dummies on earnings differ considerably across quantiles. Terms of use: Documents in
In this paper, we review the German practice of imputing the costs of owner-occupied housing by increasing the relative weight of actual rents in the CPI. As the structure of owner-occupied housing differs substantially from that of rental housing, this variant of the imputation method may cause a bias in the German CPI. For assessing the appropriateness of the German imputation method, we estimate alternative rental equivalent indices based on the GSOEP. We find some evidence of an understatement of the "true" rate of price increase, which is, however, not directly related to the imputation method.Key Words: Consumer Price Index, hedonics, housing, matched models.JEL Classifications: C21, C43, D12, E31, R21, R31 Non-technical summaryThe appropriate treatment of owner-occupied housing is one of the most difficult problems in the field of price measurement. For owner-occupied housing, the traditional acquisition approach, which neglects the difference between the period of purchase and the period of usage, does not result in a fully satisfactory estimate of the cost-of-living since residential structures are extremely long-lived. In the German Consumer Price Index (CPI) -as in the US CPI -a rather simple proxy measure is employed for capturing the price developments in the owner-occupied segment of the housing market. Actual rents are used for the imputation of the costs of owner-occupied housing, which is achieved by increasing the expenditure weight of the rent subindices. Approximating the costs of owner-occupied housing by means of the rent index seems to be a valid method for Germany as the German housing market is only relatively lightly regulated, the tax system not severely distorting and the share of rental housing quite substantial. However, the structure of owner-occupied housing differs substantially from that of rental housing. Rental housing typically takes the form of flats in apartment houses, whereas single-family houses and terraced houses predominate in the owner-occupied segment. Furthermore, only rents for a restricted sample of dwellings are recorded for the purpose of consumer price statistics. As price trends might differ between various segments of the housing market, there is a potential for bias in the German CPI. For assessing the appropriateness of the German imputation method we estimate alternative indices of the costs of owner-occupied housing based on rental equivalents as reported in the GSOEP. The GSOEP is a yearly household panel, which among other things reports on housing conditions in Germany including actual rents and equivalent rents as estimated by owners. In the first stage of our study we investigate whether the owners' estimates are reasonable. For this purpose we estimate hedonic functions for rents and equivalents rents. In most cases we find that the sign and the size of the estimated coefficients do not differ significantly between rental and owner-occupied housing. This is probably the consequence of the partial overlap of markets for rental and owner-occu...
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