SOEP-LEE2: Data Updates and New Research Opportunities
Carsten Schröder, Tamara Böhm, Markus M. Grabka, Alexander Kritikos, Stefan Liebig, Martina Maas, Wenzel Matiaske, Daniel Labarca-Pinto, Isabella Retter, Torben Dall Schmidt, Juliane ZenkerAbstract
The Socio-Economic Panel Linked Employer–Employee Survey, Version 2 (SOEP-LEE2), provides linked information on employees, establishments, and self-employed individuals in Germany. An earlier Data Observer article (Matiaske, Wenzel, Torben Dall Schmidt, Christoph Halbmeier, M. Maas, D. Holtmann, C. Schröder, et al. 2024. “SOEP-LEE2: Linking Surveys on Employees to Employers in Germany.” Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik 244 (5–6): 671–84) introduces the study design and presents results from the first data wave. Since then, the project has substantially expanded. The second wave of the employer survey and the second survey of self-employed respondents is now complete, and the comparison establishment survey is finalized. This paper provides an update, as of 2026, on the state of the SOEP-LEE2 data infrastructure, summarizes recent developments, presents key descriptive information on the expanded dataset, and discusses new research opportunities arising from the longitudinal design.