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 Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

Michael Wagner

Michael Wagner - Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology

Research focuses

Social Demography, Private Living Arrangements, Residential Mobility, Life Course and Aging Research

Curriculum vitae

  • Since 2018 Managing editor of the Cologne Journal of Sociology and Social Psychology (Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie)

  • Since 2015 Member of the Project Board of Quality of Life and Well-Being of the Very Old in NRW (ceres)

  • 2012 - 2013 Managing director of the Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology

  • 2012 Research stay at Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute in Den Haag (NIDI) and at the University of Groningen, Department of Demography

  • 2007 - 2010 Managing director of the Research Institute for Sociology 

  • Since 1998 Full professor for Sociology, University of Cologne

  • 1997 Call to the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Head of an Independent Junior Research Group (Selbständige Nachwuchsgruppe, C3), Rostock (not accepted) 

  • 1997 Post-Doctoral Degree (Habilitation), Free University of Berlin, Thesis: Marital Stability, Social Structure and Social Change in East and West-Germany

  • 1994 - 1997 Principal investigator of the project “Family and Fertility in Germany”; Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

  • 1988 - 1997 Principal investigator of the research unit for “Sociology and Social Policy” of the Berlin Aging Study, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin

  • 1988 - 1997  Research Assistant, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

  • 1987 Dr. phil., Free University of Berlin, Thesis: Spatial Mobility in the Life Course

  • 1984 - 1987 Ph. D. Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Project “Life Courses and Social Change”

  • 1986 Research stay at the Institut National d’Études Démographiques in Paris

  • 1983  Diploma in Sociology, University of Hamburg

  • 1976 - 1983 Graduate Studies in Sociology, Philosophy, Political Economy, Social History, University of Hamburg

Selected publications

  • Carol, Sarah, Peez, Freya and Michael Wagner, 2019: Delinquency among majority and minority youths in Cologne, Mannheim and Brussels: the role of religion. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, published online 14 Jun 2019.

  • Wagner, Michael, Huinink, Johannes and Aart C. Liefbroer, 2019: Running out of Time? Understanding the Consequences of the Biological Clock for the Dynamics of Fertility Intentions and Union Formation. Demographic Research 40, Article 1, 1-26.

  • Wagner, Michael, Kuppler, Matthias, Rietz, Christian and Roman Kaspar, 2019: Non-response in surveys of very old people. European Journal of Ageing 16, 2, 249–258.

  • Wagner, Michael, Mulder, Clara H., Weiß, Bernd and Sandra Krapf, 2019: The transition from living apart together to a coresidential partnership. Advances in Life Course Research 39, 77-86.

  • Hilz, Regina and Michael Wagner, 2018: Marital Status, Partnership and Health Behavior: Findings from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS). Comparative Population Studies 43, 65-98.

  • Obersneider, Monika, Janssen, Jan-Christoph and Michael Wagner, 2018: Regional Sex Ratio and the Dissolution of Relationships in Germany. European Journal of Population. Published online: 28.11.2018.

  • Wagner, Michael, Rietz, Christian, Kaspar, Roman, Janhsen, Anna, Geithner, Luise, Neise, Michael, Kinne-Wall, Carolin, Woopen, Christiane and Susanne Zank, 2018: Quality of life in the very old. Survey on quality of life and subjective well-being in the very old in North Rhein-Westphalia (NRW80+) [Lebensqualität von Hochaltrigen – Studie zu Lebensqualität und subjektivem Wohlbefinden hochaltriger Menschen in Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW80+)]. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie 51, 2, 193-199.

  • Wagner, Michael und Clara H. Mulder, 2015: Spatial mobility, family dynamics, and housing transitions. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Sonderheft 55 Social Demography,111-135.

  • Wagner, Michael, Lisa Schmid und Bernd Weiß, 2015: Exploring Increasing Divorce Rates in West Germany: Can We Explain the Iron Law of Increasing Marriage Instability? European Sociological Review 31, 2, 211-226.

  • Wagner, Michael and Isabel Valdes Cifuentes, 2014: Die Pluralisierung der Lebensformen - Ein fortlaufender Trend? - The Pluralisation of Living Arrangements - A Continuous Trend? Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaft - Comparative Population Studies, Jg. 39, 1, 73-98 (99-122).

  • Hank, Karsten and Michael Wagner, 2013: Parenthood, partnership status, and well-being in later life: Evidence from SHARE. Social Indicators Research 114: 639-653.

  • Valdés Cifuentes, Isabel, Wagner, Michael und Robert Naderi, 2013: Heirat und Familiengründung bei deutschen und türkischstämmigen Personen in Deutschland. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 65, 3, 479-504.

  • Mulder, Clara H. and Michael Wagner, 2012: Moving after Separation: The Role of Location-specific Capital. Housing Studies 27, 6, 839-852.

  • Weiß, Bernd and Michael Wagner, 2011: The Identification and Prevention of Publication Bias in the Social Sciences and Economics. The Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik), Vol. 231, 5+6, 661-684. Special Issue „Methodological Artefacts, Data Manipulation and Fraud in Economics and Social Science“, edited by Andreas Diekmann. 

  • Berninger, Ina, Weiß, Bernd and Michael Wagner, 2011: On the links between employment, partnership quality and the intention to have a first child: The case of West Germany. Demographic Research 24, Article 24, 579-610.

  • Mulder, Clara H. and Michael Wagner, 2010: Union Dissolution and Mobility: Who Moves From the Family Home After Separation? Journal of Marriage and Family 72, 5, 1263-1273.

  • Wagner, Michael and Bernd Weiß, 2006: On the Variation of Divorce Risks in Europe: Findings from a Meta-analysis of European Longitudinal Studies. European Sociological Review 22, 5, 483-500.

  • Wagner, Michael und Bernd Weiß, 2006: Meta-Analyse als Methode der Sozialforschung. In: Diekmann, Andreas (Hg.): Methoden der Sozialforschung. Sonderheft 44 der Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 479-504.

  • Wagner, Michael, 1997: Scheidung in Ost- und Westdeutschland. Zum Verhältnis von Ehestabilität und Sozialstruktur seit den 30er Jahren. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus.