Das Arbeitsangebot verheirateter Frauen in den neuen und alten Bundesländern

Abstract

This paper will focus on the regression analysis of labor supply decisions of married German women. In order to determine differences East and West German women were compared seperately. To avoid assumptions about the functional type of correlation the Generalized Additive Model, a semiparametric regression model, was chosen. So far, this pattern consisting of nonparametric and parametric methods has not found acceptance in practical application. Reason for that is the backfitting-estimator. One year ago new ideas for the estimation by GAM were found. The analytical features of the new estimator are easier to determine. Using this method differences between East and West were discovered in detail and functional correlations between endogenous and exogenous variables were investigated. This analysis unveiled significant differences of labor supply behavior among East and West Germany.