• Members
• Business Office
• Tasks and Structure
• Election Procedure
• Evaluating RatSWD

The German Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD) was founded in Summer 2004 by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in accord with all federal government departments. It took over from the Commission for the Foundation of the Council for Social and Economic Data, and carries out the same tasks as its predecessor. The RatSWD is an independent body of empirical researchers from universities, colleges, and other independent research institutions as well as representatives of important data producers and service centers. It consists of twelve members. The members for the third period of office were appointed in December 2008:

From left to right: S. Rässler, J. Wagner, J. Möller, N. Ott, U. G. Rehfeld, E. Hohmann,
G. G. Wagner, U. Rendtel, F. Kalter, P. Stanat (missing: R. Egeler, Y. Sure)

Representatives of the Empirical Social and Economic Research in the RatSWD

• Prof. Dr. Frank Kalter
  Professor of Sociology at University of Mannheim
• Prof. Dr. Notburga Ott - Deputy Chairperson
  Professor of Social Policy and Public Economy at Ruhr University Bochum
• Prof. Dr. Susanne Rässler
  Professor of Statistics and Econometrics at University of Bamberg
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rendtel
  Professor at the Institute for Statistics and Econometrics at Free University of Berlin
• Prof. Petra Stanat, Ph.D.
  Director of the Institute for Educational Progress (IQB) at Humboldt University of Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Wagner
  Professor of Empiric Economic Research at Leuphana University of Lueneburg

Representatives of Data Production in the RatSWD

• Roderich Egeler
  President of the Federal Statistical Office
• Eckart Hohmann
  President of the State Statistical Office of Hesse
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Möller
  Director of the Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency
• Uwe G. Rehfeld
  Head of the Division for Research, Development, Statistics of the Federal German Pension Insurance Association
• York Sure
  President of GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences
• Prof. Dr. Gert G. Wagner - Chairperson
  Professor of Empirical Economic Research and Economic Policy at the TU Berlin and Head of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study SOEP at DIW Berlin

Members of the German Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD) in its second period of appointment (Nov. 2006 - Nov. 2008)

Representatives of the empirical social and economic research community in the (RatSWD)

• Prof. Dr. Eckhard Klieme, University of Frankfurt am Main
• Prof. Dr. Heiner Meulemann, University of Cologne
• Prof. Ulrich Rendtel, Free University of Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Heike Solga, University of Göttingen - Chairperson
• Prof. Petra Stanat, Ph.D., Free University of Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Bettina Westle, University of Marburg

Representatives of the data production community in the (RatSWD)

• Eckart Hohmann, President of the State Statistical Office of Hesse - Vice-Chair
• Prof. Jutta Allmendinger, Ph.D., Director of the IAB (bis 31.03.2007)
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Möller, Director of the IAB and BA (ab 01.10.2007)
• Walter Radermacher, President of the Federal Statistical Office (bis 31.07.2008)
• Sibylle von Oppeln-Bronikowski, Federal Statistical Office (ab 01.08.2008)
• Uwe G. Rehfeld, German Federal Pension Insurance
• PD Dr. Hilmar Schneider, Director of Labor Market Policy at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• Prof. Dr. Gert G. Wagner, TU Berlin and Head of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study SOEP at DIW Berlin

Members of the German Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD) in its first period of appointment (Nov. 2004 - Nov. 2006)

Representatives of the empirical social and economic research community in the (RatSWD)

• Prof. Dr. Steffen Kühnel, University of Göttingen
• Prof. Dr. Heiner Meulemann, University of Cologne
• Prof. Regina T. Riphahn, Ph.D, University of Erlangen
• Prof. Dr. Heike Solga, University of Göttingen, Vice-Chair
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Wagner, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
• Prof. Dr. Bettina Westle, University of Magdeburg

Representatives of the data production community in the (RatSWD)

• Prof. Jutta Allmendinger, Ph.D, Director of the IAB
• Johann Hahlen, President of the Federal Statistical Office
• Eckart Hohmann, President of the Statistical Office of the State of Hesse
• Prof. Dr. Peter Ph. Mohler, Director of GESIS and ZUMA
• Uwe G. Rehfeld, German Federal Pension Insurance
• Prof. Dr. Gert G. Wagner, TU Berlin, Director of the SOEP at the DIW Berlin, Chairman

The Founding Committee of the German Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD)

The goal of the Founding Council for Social and Economic Data funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research was the improvement of the data infrastructure for social and economic studies in Germany. The founding committee offered advice with regard to the prioritization of services (such as the provision of Scientific Use Files, a meta data base, ect…) and the establishment of research data centres and data service centres. In addition the committee prepared the establishment of the German Council for Social and Economic Data.

The founding committee of the German Council for Social and Economic Data included:

• Prof. Bernd Fitzenberger, Ph.D., University of Mannheim
• Johann Hahlen, President of the Federal Statistical Office
• Prof. Dr. Richard Hauser, University of Frankfurt
• Eckart Hohmann, President of the Statistical Office of the State of Hesse
• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Jagodzinski, University of Cologne and director of GESIS
• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kleinhenz, University of Passau und Director of the IAB
• Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Krupp, University of Frankfurt, Vice-Chair
• Prof. Dr. Karl-Ulrich Mayer, Max Planck Institute for Educational Research (Chairman until January 2003)
• Prof. Dr. Walter Müller, University of Mannheim
• Prof. Dr. Hans Rattinger, University of Bamberg
• Uwe G. Rehfeld, German Federal Pension Insurance
• Prof. Dr. Gert G. Wagner, Technical University Berlin and German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), Chairman from January 2003 to October 2004
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Wagner, University of Lüneburg