Search

This paper explores how selective default expectations affect the pricing of sovereign bonds in a historical laboratory: the German default of the 1930s. We analyze yield differentials between identical government bonds traded across various creditor countries before and after bond market segmentation. We show that, when secondary debt markets are segmented, a large selective default probability can be priced in bond yield spreads. Selective default risk accounted for one-third of the yield spread of German external bonds over the risk-free rate during the 1930s. Selective default expectations arose from differences in the creditor countries' economic power over the debtor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutual funds often invest in other funds. In this paper, we analyze the economics behind such cross-fund investments and investigate their financial stability implications. Using granular data for the German fund sector, our main findings are that cross-fund investments (a) are becoming increasingly important over time, (b) were heavily liquidated during March 2020, and (c) display measurable contagion effects. Overall, cross-fund investments can elevate structural fund sector vulnerabilities. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using regulatory data, we study German bank lending in countries targeted by financial sanctions. We find that domestic banks in Germany reduce lending in sanctioned countries, whereas their foreign bank affiliates outside Germany increase lending. In some cases, this is because the bank affiliates' host countries have not imposed sanctions themselves. However, even German bank affiliates in host countries that enact sanctions like Germany increase lending if these host countries lack strong institutions and anticrime policies. These findings suggest that even universally adopted sanctions distort bank capital flows and competition if the level of their enforcement varies across bank locations. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pursued by authorities throughout the 1930s, Heinrich Habitz left behind a significant paper trail of official documentation, arrest warrants and imprisonment records. As Germany slipped further under National Socialist oppression, Habitz's status as a homosexual man who sold sex marked him as a target of police repression. Even after the end of the war, the Hamburg Prosecutor's Office attempted to locate and again prosecute him under the infamous §175 'sodomy law'. By rights, the study of Habitz should provide insights into the continuities of anti-queer repression between authoritarianism and democracy, but for one key point: 'Heinrich Habitz' existed only as a paper identity in official bureaucracy, and the 'man' authorities repeatedly persecuted was, in fact, a self-identified woman named 'Liddy Bacroff'. Through a series of semi-autobiographical writings, alongside official paperwork, Liddy Bacroff presents the value of but also the difficulties facing the (re)construction of queer and, in particular, transgender (pre)histories. In this instance, the historian is not just faced with the problem of how this life, and others like it, should be represented in historiographical terms. We are left also with the question of how this victim of National Socialist barbarity should (or rather, can) be remembered: as the paper identity that provided a succession of carceral authorities with the justification to persecute and ultimately murder a cisgender gay man, or as the lived experience of a woman whose unique self-understanding allowed her to carve out her place in a society that otherwise relegated her to its margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies important determinants of adult self-control using population-representative data and exploiting Germany's division as quasi-experimental variation. We find that former East Germans have substantially more self-control than West Germans and provide evidence for government surveillance as a possible underlying mechanism. We thereby demonstrate that institutional factors can shape people's self-control. Moreover, we find that self-control increases linearly with age. In contrast to previous findings for children, there is no gender gap in adult self-control and family background does not predict self-control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impact of fiscal spending shocks in a dynamic, multi-country model with international production networks. The response of real gross domestic product to a fiscal spending shock can be decomposed into a direct effect, income effect and price effect. The direct effect depends only on input-output linkages, while the price effect is zero in the aggregate. We apply this decomposition to the Eurozone, and find that fiscal spillovers from Germany and the core Eurozone countries can be large, and within the range of empirical estimates. Without international production networks, spillovers would be significantly smaller. In an empirical application, using the decomposition, we find results strongly consistent with the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common bed bug Cimex lectularius L. has undergone a worldwide expansion in recent years, due to increased opportunities for dispersal and development of insecticide resistance. For successful control, efficacy testing of products against bed bugs and determination of insecticide resistance under practical conditions are of outstanding importance. A new test system mimicking the practical use situation of residual insecticides was developed and evaluated. Bed bugs were attracted by CO2 and heat to cross surfaces treated with alpha-cypermethrin and bendiocarb. In contrast to the complete efficacy of alpha-cypermethrin (less than 1% surviving bed bugs [with one exception of 5%]), only 45.3, 46, and 29% of insecticide-susceptible bed bugs showed lethal damage 7 d after contact with freshly bendiocarb-treated wallpaper or insecticide aged for 1 or 2 wk. Results show that the efficacy of different insecticides can be assessed with this new test system. Moreover, susceptibility to deltamethrin of five bed bug field strains, collected from infested apartments in Berlin, Germany, was determined in a filter paper contact bioassay. Resistance ratios (RRs) ranged between 4.3 and 20.7. In the novel simulated-use test, efficacy of alpha-cypermethrin was tested against the bed bug strain with the highest RR. In contrast to the insecticide-susceptible laboratory strain, alpha-cypermethrin was not effective against the field strain, where 26–50% of the bed bugs survived and even laid eggs. These results provide evidence for the presence of practically relevant pyrethroid resistance in bed bugs in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On April 1, 1933, the Nazi regime staged the brutal state-organized blockade of Jewish-owned businesses as a peaceful boycott. At the time, attempts to influence public opinion only worked to a limited extent. Both domestic and international papers were reluctant to print photos that represented the Nazi perspective too clearly. Yet astonishingly, the Nazi perspective prevails today. The photos made by the Nazis and their helpers to stage the "boycott" are dominant in exhibitions and publications. The "Nazi victory on the shopfront," as The Guardian called it in 1933, has therefore turned into a belated victory on the "photo front." This article analyzes the photos taken on April 1, 1933, deconstructs the propaganda messages embedded in them, and reconstructs the violence of the Nazi regime's first systematic assault against the Jews in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the conditions and factors influencing non-university researchers' career transitions back into academia. Using affiliation data in publications of German researchers, their cross-sector career transitions from the public research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and industry to universities are analysed. Although the rate of transitions is small, there are distinctive windows of opportunity at a junior career stage, especially for Fraunhofer researchers. Researchers who publish more and in more acclaimed journals, Fraunhofer researchers who co-publish with universities, and women are more likely to gain a university affiliation over the course of their career. These results indicate the influence of institutional proximity for cross-domain career transitions. The quality and impact of academic knowledge could be improved if the higher education sector was more open to recruitment of researchers from other sectors. Policy needs to target the barriers that preclude applied researchers from pursuing university careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational formats that seek to raise police officers' awareness about racial discrimination often focus on formal violations of the principle of non-discrimination or canons of values. First, based on a critical discussion of positions on discrimination in policing and proposals for police training in Germany this paper argues based on human rights for a broader understanding of the challenge to tackle racial discrimination in policing. In reference to neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, competencies for proactive encounters with affected groups will thereby be explored. Second, it outlines a framework for educational formats on this issue that address police officers as whole persons, who should, in the context of their professional practice, develop the virtue to understand the perspectives of and to build relationships of care with marginalized individuals. An example of a tested format that integrates perspectives from civil society will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The objective of this study was to synthesize the evidence from systematic reviews on the efficacy of physical therapy and exercise therapy, including interventional elements explicitly aiming at physical activity promotion (PAP) in patients with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Methods PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception to February 28, 2023. Two independent reviewers screened the literature to identify systematic reviews that evaluated the effects of physical therapy and exercise therapy, including PAP interventions. Patient-reported and device-based measures of physical activity (PA) outcomes were included. Qualitative and quantitative data from systematic reviews were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Assessment of the methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was performed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR 2). We assessed primary study overlap by calculating the corrected covered area and conducted the evidence synthesis in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Results Fourteen systematic reviews were included in the present overview, including patients with a variety of NCDs. Most included systematic reviews had critically low (n  = 5) to low (n  = 7) methodological quality. Most meta-analyses (67%; 8/12) provided evidence supporting the short- and long-term efficacy of PAP interventions, but not all pooled estimates were clinically relevant. Only three of the systematic reviews with meta-analysis included an assessment of the certainty of the evidence. The evidence from systematic reviews without meta-analysis was inconclusive. Conclusions The results of the present overview suggest that PAP interventions in physical therapy or exercise therapy may be effective in improving PA for patients with NCDs in the short and long term. The results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited certainty of evidence and critically low-to-low methodological quality of the included systematic reviews. Both high-quality primary studies and systematic reviews are required to confirm these results. Impact There is limited evidence that PAP interventions in physical therapy and exercise therapy may be effective in improving PA for patients with NCDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binding lower bounds on interest rates and large government deficits limit the scope of fiscal and monetary policies to stimulate households' spending through financial intermediaries and firms. Policy makers have thus been implementing unconventional policies that aim to increase households' spending directly through managing their expectations. We first show theoretically and empirically that higher inflation expectations increase households' consumption. We then design a difference-in-differences strategy to assess the effectiveness of unconventional fiscal policy and forward guidance, both of which aim to raise aggregate demand via managing expectations. Whereas unconventional fiscal policy increases households' expectations and spending, forward guidance announcements do not [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has highlighted the need for drastic shifts in eating patterns towards healthy and sustainable diets. One element would be the successful introduction of new or reformulated products. This paper discusses the opportunities for studying the role of sensory properties in determining food choices. We illustrate the methodology with the example of mueslis in Germany. We span the sensory space using the check-all-that-apply method and analyse consumer demand in a discrete choice experiment. We identify two sizable segments with a preference for less sweet mueslis. Future research avenues for the combination of economic and sensory studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide transformation of electricity production goes hand in hand with increasing use of wind energy. The German 'Energiewende' project is no exception and relies heavily on the construction and use of an ever-increasing number of wind turbines. While the operation of wind turbines does not lead to the emission of pollutants (in contrast to, e.g. coal, oil or gas), the production processes of the construction materials do. Since the raw materials' production primarily takes place outside Germany, radioactivity and doses related to these processes occur at remote places in the world. This effect might be called an 'export of doses'. In the present paper, we perform a life cycle analysis of wind turbines, investigating the mining and production of the construction materials. We focus on rare-earth elements needed for the generator magnets and assess the associated releases of radioactive materials during mining and processing, primarily in China. Estimates of dose to the public in selected Chinese cities are calculated. Different electricity generation techniques are compared by the use of the quantity (collective) dose per GW per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the support of German businesses—especially exporters—for the Economic and Monetary Union before 1999. I argue that the support of the German export sector for the EMU depends crucially on its implications for export competitiveness. If exporters conclude that the EMU will improve their competitive position, they will likely support monetary integration. In contrast, other business actors should be more skeptical about the prospects of a European currency union. I therefore expect that the major export enterprises will use their dominant position in the business community to assert their interests. The empirical analysis is based on enterprise surveys and a detailed qualitative study of the role of export interests in Germany's peak industrial association. I close by discussing how my results provide important insights for various scholarly debates, including the debate on Germany's role in the Eurozone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades in which gender relations, as anchored in work-family policies and egalitarian gender ideologies, moved towards greater equality, the status quo is currently being challenged. Gender-ambivalent ideologies have spread in both the political and private realms. It is unclear how the rise in gender-ambivalence documented in current research relates to party identification. On the one hand, gender ambivalence may represent a variation of post-materialist liberal values corresponding with support for centre-left parties in Germany. On the other, ambivalence may reflect a modified form of traditionalism and thus, a step to the left among voters leaning towards right-wing and conservative parties. This paper uses the Leitbild Survey 2012 to provide empirical evidence to fill this research gap. In line with cross-national research, latent class analyses reveal four main gender ideologies among young Germans: unidimensional 'egalitarian' and 'moderate traditional', as well as ambivalent, multidimensional 'secondary earner', and 'intensive parenting'. Multinomial regression models show that egalitarian class members identify with centre-left parties while members of the ambivalent, multidimensional secondary earner, and intensive parenting classes as well as those of the moderate traditional class identify more strongly with centre-right parties. In light of the broader literature on gender ideology change, which documents a steep decline in traditionalism, our cross-sectional findings may be interpreted as capturing a step to the left among voters leaning towards right-wing and conservative parties in Germany, who now accept new mothers combining care-giving and part-time-work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the German labour market, research hints towards a reversal in gender-specific risk of becoming unemployed: While women previously faced higher risk than men, in recent years, they have consistently lower risk. This paper analyses this reversal by focusing on the role of occupational gender segregation. I discuss theoretical differences in the labour supply and demand structure and thus in the unemployment risk of male- and female-dominated occupations caused by crowding and technological and sectoral change. Using the German National Educational Panel Study combined with occupation level data, I analyse the transition to unemployment over three decades. The results confirm gender-specific trends over time: While women faced higher risk of becoming unemployed in the 1980s, they face significantly lower risk than men in the 21st century. A Karlson-Holm-Breen decomposition shows that the lower risk of women in the newest decade under observation is mediated by the unequal distribution of men and women over the occupational structure. Yet, the higher risk of women in the 1980s cannot be traced back to differences in male- and female-dominated occupations. On the contrary, the results suggest that women were more likely to become unemployed in that decade independent of their occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer review has developed over time to become the established procedure for assessing and assuring the scientific quality of research. Nevertheless, the procedure has also been variously criticized as conservative, biased, and unfair, among other things. Do scientists regard all these flaws as equally problematic? Do they have the same opinions on which problems are so serious that other selection procedures ought to be considered? The answers to these questions hints at what should be modified in peer review processes as a priority objective. The authors of this paper use survey data to examine how members of the scientific community weight different shortcomings of peer review processes. Which of those processes' problems do they consider less relevant? Which problems, on the other hand, do they judge to be beyond remedy? Our investigation shows that certain defects of peer review processes are indeed deemed irreparable: (1) legitimate quandaries in the process of fine-tuning the choice between equally eligible research proposals and in the selection of daring ideas; and (2) illegitimate problems due to networks. Science-policy measures to improve peer review processes should therefore clarify the distinction between field-specific remediable and irremediable flaws than is currently the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the accumulation of financial resources in higher education. Its focus lies on the Quality Pact for Teaching (QPT) , a large-scale funding programme that aimed to improve the quality of tertiary education in Germany. Starting in 2011, the QPT allocated almost 2 billion euros over a 10-year period. Yet, unlike prior national funding schemes, the QPT was strongly inspired by New Public Management measures and marked the first time that a substantial amount of teaching grants was awarded in a competitive manner. My estimations show that institutions with a successful history of acquiring third-party funds coped best under these novel circumstances, thus revealing a clear pattern of cumulative advantage. Although typically dedicated to research purposes, the level of previous third-party funding emerges as a strong predictor of QPT success. Therefore, it appears that the QPT unintentionally contributed to steeper financial gaps in Germany's academic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Given the increasing academic interest in older migrants, this study aims at examining the likelihood of establishing contact and cooperation in a survey among first-generation migrants in Germany, comparing migrants of age 50 and older with younger migrants (aged 16–49). Research Design and Methods We analyze data from the Migrants' Welfare State Attitudes (MIFARE) study collected in Germany, which contains information about first-generation migrants from 9 different origin groups living in private households. Potential survey participants were contacted via mail and invited to participate in a paper- or online-based survey. In addition, an incentive experiment was implemented and age-dependent response rates were analyzed. Using logistic regression analyses, we compare older and younger migrants with regard to their likelihood of contact, cooperation, reaction to incentives, and mode choice. Results Within the MIFARE study, older migrants are more likely to be contacted than younger ones. Older migrants are also more likely to cooperate in survey research than younger migrants. Both groups respond equally positively to the use of unconditional incentives. Lastly, older migrants show a strong preference to fill out the questionnaire on paper, rather than online. Discussion and Implications Older first-generation migrants living in private households are easier to contact and are more likely to cooperate in survey research than younger first-generation migrants. Offering unconditional incentives and surveys on paper are likely to increase response rates among older migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, immunization programmes struggled to reach all population groups equally. While migrant groups face multiple barriers to health systems, including vaccination, little is known about their vaccine uptake. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey on adults with and without migration history in Germany to investigate barriers and drivers to COVID-19 vaccination (11 April 2021 to 18 December 2021). Interviews were conducted in six languages. We used logistic regression models and a mediation model to analyze the association between migration history and vaccine uptake. Furthermore, we determined the effect of psychological determinants (5C model) on vaccine uptake. Results The survey comprised 2039 individuals, including 1015 with migration history. Of these, 448 were interviews conducted in languages other than German. Individuals with migration history had a significantly lower vaccine uptake but, while still unvaccinated, had a higher intention to get vaccinated (P  = 0.015) compared with those without migration history. The association between migration history and vaccine uptake was no longer significant when other factors were included in the regression model (odds ratio = 0.9; 95% confidence interval: 0.57–1.47). Socio-economic index, language skills and discrimination experience fully mediated this association. Among the psychological determinants, 'higher confidence' and 'higher collective responsibility' increased the chance of individuals with migration history to be vaccinated. Conclusion Migration history alone cannot explain vaccine uptake; socio-economic index, language skills and discrimination experiences need to be considered. To achieve vaccine equity, future public health policy should aim to reduce relevant barriers through tailored interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent migration waves from countries ruled by leaders with autocratic tendencies or under war regimes included also the forced migration of academics who have become targets of widening severe attacks against academic-scientific values, institutions, and students/scholars (GCP EA). Based on empirical research, this paper studies the forced migration of scholars from such countries to Germany after 2015. While putting theoretical concepts deriving from distinct study fields (such as forced migration and exile studies) into a dialog, the paper perceives the migration of these scholars as forced due to risks they encountered in their home countries. It also addresses the complexity of their forced migration as a multidimensional and relational process involving various structural and subjective push-pull drives. In line with the empirical data and post-structuralist theories on migration and forced migration, the paper pursues the following theses: Risks and responses against risks are varied and involve the agency of migrants. Although forced migration is a regulated process concerning migration regimes and laws, it calls for the performance/agency of exiled scholars and other actors' governing activities. As a complex and transformative process, forced migration results in different exilic positions. It is not a predetermined linear process in time and space, but a process with unexpected outcomes, since it entails the ongoing struggle of exiled scholars over/through their academic and social networks and capitals, which function as mediating-pulling drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have phased out nuclear power in response to concerns about nuclear waste and the risk of nuclear accidents. This paper examines the shutdown of more than half of the nuclear production capacity in Germany after the Fukushima accident in 2011. We use hourly data on power plant operations and a machine learning approach to estimate the impacts of the phase-out policy. We find that reductions in nuclear electricity production were offset primarily by increases in coal-fired production and net electricity imports. Our estimates of the social cost of the phase-out range from €3 to €8 billion per year. The majority of this cost comes from the increased mortality risk associated with exposure to the local air pollution emitted when burning fossil fuels. Policymakers would have to significantly overestimate the risk or cost of a nuclear accident to conclude that the benefits of the phase-out exceed its social costs. We discuss the likely role of behavioral biases in this setting, and highlight the importance of ensuring that policymakers and the public are informed about the health effects of local air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is an effective tool to prevent infection with HIV. Patients seeking PEP after potential HIV exposure usually present to the emergency department (ED). Our study sought to determine the concordance of ED physicians' decisions on HIV-PEP with national guidelines (primary objective) and to assess the clinical relevance of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) between the HIV-PEP regimen and patients' concomitant medication (secondary objective). Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study at the ED of Hannover Medical School, Germany. Between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2019, 113 of 11 246 screened patients presented to the ED after potential HIV exposure and were enrolled in the study. Results The median age of the patients (82.3% male) was 30 y (IQR 25–35.5), 85.8% of potential HIV exposures were characterised as sexual and 85.0% presented within 72 h. ED physicians' decisions on HIV-PEP were concordant with national guidelines in 93.8%. No clinically relevant DDIs were detected. Conclusions ED physicians' decisions on HIV-PEP were highly concordant with national guidelines. Approximately 1% of patient presentations to the ED were related to HIV exposure; therefore, training ED physicians on HIV transmission risk assessment and indications/contraindications for HIV-PEP is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany is a prominent jurisdiction for patent litigation. After a long and controversial discussion between stakeholders, the legislator amended the law on injunctive relief in summer 2021 and introduced a statutory disproportionality exception. This article gives an overview of the background to the reform and describes and analyses its implementation, the methodology to assess disproportionality, and the relation to the law on compulsory licensing as well as the special regime for standard-essential patents. The paper focuses particularly on the most controversial ground for denying an injunction: third-party interests in the infringing implementation of the invention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing academic interest in examining how terrorist attacks shape the majority's attitudes towards minority groups. Yet, little is known of how these minority groups react to the backlash such events provoke. This paper leverages the exogenous occurrence of a series of terrorist attacks during the fieldwork period of two surveys to estimate how such events affect the sentiment of both citizens and asylum seekers in Germany. Results of the natural experiment reveal that the 2016 terror attacks in Nice, Würzburg, and Ansbach substantially increased anti-refugee sentiment among German respondents. In line with this increase in hostility, refugees experienced more discrimination, felt less welcome in Germany, and suffered clinically relevant declines in mental health in the aftermath of the attacks. These results provide a more holistic understanding of how terrorism corrodes intergroup relations and how it affects those that are blamed for the events and thus suffer the brunt of the backlash following their occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates the importance of accounting for correlated unobserved heterogeneity to correctly identify the relevance of career and education for fertility decisions. By exploiting individual‐level life‐cycle information on fertility, career and education from large administrative longitudinal datasets, this paper shows that non‐linear panel models produce substantially different results than the cross‐sectional approaches widely used in previous studies. Higher opportunity costs of having children are found to be associated with lower fertility within a country, while the magnitude of the adjustment differs strongly across countries. In Germany, fertility decisions are found to depend more on individual circumstances than in France, where better public childcare support enhances the compatibility between family and professional life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting a survey with refugee populations involves particular challenges. Among these challenges, sampling, implementation and survey translation are crucial. This becomes even more obvious when trying to access hard-to-survey subgroups of a larger refugee population. This paper demonstrates possible ways of addressing sampling, implementation and translation problems and some of the associated pitfalls based on the example of a quantitative survey intended for refugee parents in the state of Lower Saxony/Germany. First, we argue that based on the need to collect representative data, adjusting the target population may be one way to respond to the lack of a sampling frame for the original target population. Second, we reason that under unforeseen circumstances, such as an ongoing pandemic, ad-hoc changes may be needed in implementation strategies, and we shed light on some disadvantages of self-administered web-based surveys in refugee studies. Third, we claim that surveys involving linguistically and culturally diverse refugee populations benefit to large extent from using a modified variant of the team translation approach (TRAPD). In our conclusion, we critically reflect on adaptable strategies for ensuring well-defined samples, a reasoned implementation and translation practice that meet the challenges of representing a distinct refugee population's diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this study, we show results from ambient noise tomography around the KTB (Kontinentales Tiefbohrprogramm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), a continental deep drilling site located at the western edge of the Bohemian Massif, within the Variscan belt of Europe. At the KTB site, crustal rocks have been drilled down to 9 km depth. Before the drilling activity started, several active seismic surveys had been performed to explore its surroundings during the 1980s and early 1990s, in the frame of an extensive exploration of the area aimed at unravelling the characteristics of the continental lower crust that is exposed at surface in this location. Despite the exploration campaigns held at and around the KTB drilling site, there are important targets that are worth further investigation; these are related in particular to the obduction of lower crustal units to the surface, and to the mechanism of orogenic processes in general. Here we present a new 3-D shear wave velocity model of the area from cross-correlations of ambient seismic noise. The model is obtained by a unique data set composed of 2 yr of continuous data recorded at nine 3-component temporary stations (installed from July 2012 to July 2014) located on top and around the drilling site, and together with the data from 19 permanent stations throughout the region. This paper is focusing on the upper crustal layers, and we show velocity variations at short scales that correlate well with known geological structures in the region of the KTB site, at the surface and at depth. These are used to discuss features that are less well-resolved at present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CJEU's judgment in Case 401/19 (Poland v EU Parliament and Council) of April 2022 has unambiguously settled that, if it is to be in line with EU constitutional law, Art. 17 DSM Directive has to be implemented and applied in a balanced way to prevent the immediate ex ante blocking of contents which do not manifestly infringe copyright. Germany (and Austria) have implemented Art. 17 in their national laws in such a balanced way that provides for a delayed takedown for contents which can be presumed to be covered by exceptions to copyright law. This paper outlines the structure and workability of the German implementation law which now, after the CJEU judgment, in fact is a genuine (and perhaps the only reasonable) model for implementation in other Member States which have not yet implemented Art. 17. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatially disaggregated income indicators are typically estimated by using model‐based methods that assume access to auxiliary information from population micro‐data. In many countries like Germany and the UK population micro‐data are not publicly available. In this work we propose small area methodology when only aggregate population‐level auxiliary information is available. We use data‐driven transformations of the response to satisfy the parametric assumptions of the used models. In the absence of population micro‐data, appropriate bias‐corrections for small area prediction are needed. Under the approach we propose in this paper, aggregate statistics (means and covariances) and kernel density estimation are used to resolve the issue of not having access to population micro‐data. We further explore the estimation of the mean squared error using the parametric bootstrap. Extensive model‐based and design‐based simulations are used to compare the proposed method to alternative methods. Finally, the proposed methodology is applied to the 2011 Socio‐Economic Panel and aggregate census information from the same year to estimate the average income for 96 regional planning regions in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by two theoretical models of the resiliency framework, this paper examines the compensatory and protective role of interacting with peers in late adolescence in inhibiting the intergenerational transmission of poverty into young adulthood. We suggest different compensatory and protective effects of three peer contexts, referring to specific advantages of group-based friendship networks (i.e. cliques) in comparison with dyadic best friendships and romantic relationships. Further, we assume heterogeneity in the peer resilience mechanisms by age, migration background, and gender. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and random-effects linear probability models, we indeed find conditional compensatory influences as well as an unconditional protective effect of clique interaction in late adolescence for the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Hence, frequent interaction within friendship cliques compensates the deleterious effect of long-term poverty in adolescence on the risk of poverty in young adulthood with increasing age as well as particularly for first-generation immigrants. Further, the engagement with peer cliques in late adolescence attenuates the association between long-term youth poverty and adulthood poverty and thus helps to protect against the intergenerational transmission of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamische Theologie in Deutschland: Ein Modell für Europa und die Welt (Islamic Theology in Germany: A Model for Europe and the World) Edited by Mouez Khalfaoui and Jean Ehret While aware of secular and religious criticisms of the establishment of Islamic theology departments, they believe that their establishment could be an opportunity to revive subjects long neglected in the Islamic world such as scholastic theology. One of the most significant developments in the contemporary history of European Islam has been the institutionalization of Islamic theology in German public universities. [Extracted from the article]

Despite the increasing need for representative data on refugee health, refugees are underrepresented in health research in Germany and other European countries. Researchers often describe refugees as a hard-to-survey (or hard-to-reach) population. Labelling refugee populations with this phrase reflects the perspective of mainly local European researchers on a population they do not belong to. Moreover, refugees may not describe themselves with this phrase. Drawing upon my fieldwork experience as a member of the Syrian community in Germany who has conducted research with Syrian refugees, this practice paper challenges a common narrative among researchers in Europe in regard to refugee populations. I strongly recommend that researchers who are interested in conducting research with refugee populations involve them in all research design and implementation stages. I further call upon researchers to refrain from using the label 'hard-to-survey' to describe refugee populations before ensuring that they have done enough to engage with and involve their target population in their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welfare workers volunteering with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a Jewish welfare organization, delivered crucial legal assistance to Holocaust survivors gathered in displaced persons (DP) camps in the American Zone of occupied Germany; however, today their story is largely forgotten. Their legal aid program embodied a unique relationship between social work and law. JDC relief workers developed a legal consciousness in response to the many injustices they witnessed in the DP camps, which allowed them to identify the gap between the basic support provided by relief programs, and the actual needs of the DPs. From this awareness they gradually developed a program of legal welfare, assisted Jews in their daily interactions with Americans and Germans, provided them with legal instruction and education, and protected them when conflicts arose. These JDC volunteers were fueled by a sense of moral responsibility and compassion for the Jewish DPs, who were forced to live in a foreign and often hostile environment. Remarkably, this story has largely been neglected in Holocaust scholarship, though the archives have yielded hundreds of reports by JDC welfare workers, as well as the papers of Oskar Mintzer, a key figure in the creation of the JDC's legal aid program. The JDC was at the forefront of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and this aspect of its work represents a forgotten milestone in the development of a more holistic approach to refugee assistance and support. This study offers a starting point for further research in order to better understand humanitarian aid for asylum seekers, DPs, and refugees in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the 1990s, absolute gravity has been observed at several locations in Norway with FG5-type instruments to investigate the temporal gravity changes due to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Previous work suggests that some of the estimated secular gravity trends may be affected by remaining unmodelled geophysical effects, such as the effect of local hydrology. In this work, we compute hydrological gravity effects from global hydrological models for the far zone and a combination of regional run-off models and modelling of residual hydrological effects for the near zone. The method developed in this paper is first tested at the geodetic observatory in Wettzell, Germany, where both high-resolution superconducting gravimeter data as well as a regional hydrological model are available. Next, the method is transferred to two Norwegian gravity sites (NMBU and TRYC), with long time-series of frequent absolute gravity observations using FG5-226. At these sites, we investigate the impact of the hydrological gravity correction on data variability as well as estimated secular gravity trends. We find that the data variability is reduced by up to 40 per cent when applying the modelled hydrological gravity effect at TRYC. The reduction is less at NMBU where the amplitude of the hydrological signal and in consequence also the signal-to-noise ratio are smaller. We also note that it is challenging to determine the near zone residual hydrological effects without carefully taking into account the hydrogeological setting of the area for modelling such effects. When utilizing the long corrected absolute gravity series to determine the gravity trends, we find that the estimated trends are not significantly different from the uncorrected observations. However, the uncertainty of the estimated trends is reduced significantly for a limited corrected gravity series. We further suggest repeatability analysis of the absolute gravimeter. From the long time-series at NMBU we find a significant step coinciding with hardware replacement. We find that the fit between observed and modelled secular trends improves when introducing the step. Further analysis of gravity rates at other stations is needed to verify the existence of a real instrumental offset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Images might provide richer and more objective information than text answers to open‐ended survey questions. Little is known, nonetheless, about the consequences for data quality of asking participants to answer open‐ended questions with images. Therefore, this paper addresses three research questions: (1) What is the effect of answering web survey questions with images instead of text on breakoff, noncompliance with the task, completion time and question evaluation? (2) What is the effect of including a motivational message on these four aspects? (3) Does the impact of asking to answer with images instead of text vary across device types? To answer these questions, we implemented a 2 × 3 between‐subject web survey experiment (N = 3043) in Germany. Half of the sample was required to answer using PCs and the other half with smartphones. Within each device group, respondents were randomly assigned to (1) a control group answering open‐ended questions with text; (2) a treatment group answering open‐ended questions with images; and (3) another treatment group answering open‐ended questions with images but prompted with a motivational message. Results show that asking participants to answer with images significantly increases participants' likelihood of noncompliance as well as their completion times, while worsening their overall survey experience. Including motivational messages, moreover, moderately reduces the likelihood of noncompliance. Finally, the likelihood of noncompliance is similar across devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of developing hand eczema (HE). This can be exacerbated by hygiene measures related to the coronavirus disease (COVID - 19). Using mild skin cleansers and emollients or moisturizers is central in the prevention of HE—especially with increased COVID-19 hygiene regimes. Aims This study aimed to assess parameters important for the acceptance of a skincare concept in HCWs. Methods In this proof-of-concept user trial, HCWs were provided ad libitum with hand wash oil and hand cream during the 6-month period, when occupationally acquired COVID-19 infections among HCWs were peaking in Germany and then surveyed about acceptance of the products using questionnaires. Results Of 135 HCWs, 115 (85%) responded. Skin tolerance of the hand wash oil and the hand cream was rated very good by 63% and 52% of the 115 participants, respectively. Of the 115 participants, 58% and 57% were very satisfied with the hand wash oil and the hand cream, respectively. Conclusions Acceptance of skin cleansing and skincare products in HCWs seems influenced by parameters such as self-assessed skin tolerance and self-reported overall satisfaction. It must be assumed that products are only used as recommended if they are well-accepted. Employers might survey employees about acceptance of products using the parameters identified to adjust concepts if necessary to sustainably contribute to the prevention of HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the profitability of investments in agricultural land, using the rent–price ratio (RPR) as a profitability measure. In order to allow for district-level heterogeneity, the full conditional distribution of the RPR is modelled using a generalised additive model for location, shape and scale. The analysis is based on data from Lower Saxony, Germany. The profitability of investments in land varies between and within districts. The variation can be explained by differences in the farming structure, the production programme and economic indicators. Further, differences in the distribution of the RPR between arable land and grassland are found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not all high school students who wish to study think that they will be able to realize this wish. This article examines whether admission barriers to higher education (HE) are a potential reason for this mismatch between educational aspirations and expectations and whether they are more constraining for students from socially less advantaged backgrounds. It does so for the German context in which the role of admission barriers for social inequality in HE has long been neglected. Empirically, the paper uses a unique combination of individual data on high school students' educational aspirations and expectations and institutional data on admission barriers that vary by field of study. Findings indicate that the socially most privileged students stick to their college aspiration regardless of admission barriers to their aspired field of study. However, they seem to be willing to compromise their preferred field of study if this comes along with high admission barriers. Contrastingly, socially less privileged students seem willing to compromise both their general college aspiration and their aspired field of study if admission appears difficult. The concluding section discusses the implications of these findings for social inequality in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates whether blockchain technology corresponds to Schumpeter Mark 1 or Mark 2 industrial dynamics. Using an original database of 385 job offers in three different domains, namely, blockchain, biotechnology, and storekeeping, posted by 285 companies in France and Germany in early 2019, we explore whether the usual Schumpeter Mark 1 and 2 attributes apply to blockchains. We use ordered multinomial probit models to explain the level of work experience demanded by companies. To our knowledge, this contribution is one among very few attempts to identify the main features of blockchain industrial dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The European Union has used Healthy Life Years (HLY) as an indicator to monitor the health of its aging populations. Scholarly and popular interest in HLY across countries has grown, particularly regarding the ranking of countries. It is important to note that HLY is based on self-assessments of activity limitations, raising the possibility that it might be influenced by differences in health reporting behaviours between populations, a phenomenon known as differential item functioning (DIF). Methods We estimated DIF-adjusted HLY at age 50 for Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden to determine the extent to which differences in HLY might be influenced by reporting heterogeneity across countries. We used anchoring vignettes, taken from the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, to estimate DIF-adjusted prevalence rates of activity limitations measured by the Global Activity Limitations Indicator (GALI). The Sullivan method was used to calculate DIF-adjusted HLY. Results Changes in HLY before and after adjustment ranged from a 1.20-year decrease for men in Italy to a 1.61-year increase for women in Spain. Adjustment for DIF produced changes in the rankings of the countries by HLY, with upward and downward movements of up to three positions. Conclusion Our results show that DIF is likely to affect HLY estimates, thereby posing a challenge to the validity of comparisons of HLY across European countries. The findings suggest that HLY should be used to monitor population health status within a country, rather than to make comparisons across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address gender differences in the host language proficiency of humanitarian migrants. Prior research has produced inconclusive results with regard to women's host language proficiency relative to that of men: sometimes women's proficiency exceeds that of men, sometimes women lag behind men, and sometimes there are no substantial differences. Using data on recent humanitarian migrants in Germany, we investigate factors contributing to similarities and differences in men's and women's language proficiency. We consider gender differences with respect to the family-related factors: marital status, children's ages and children's childcare situations are important for women but not for men. These findings point to the continued relevance of a gendered division of work. It also becomes clear that gendered role expectations are particularly consequential for mothers and wives. Moreover, we find evidence that women are more efficient learners than men are, while they have fewer learning opportunities than men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate how co-ethnic networks affect the economic success of immigrants. Using longitudinal data of immigrants in Germany and including a large set of fixed effects and pre-migration controls to address the possible endogeneity of initial location, we find that immigrants in districts with larger co-ethnic networks are more likely to be employed soon after arrival. This advantage fades after four years, as migrants located in places with smaller co-ethnic networks catch up due to greater human capital investments. These effects appear stronger for lower-skilled immigrants, as well as for refugees and ethnic Germans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the role of school closures in the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To isolate the impact of the closures from other containment measures and identify a causal effect, we exploit variation in the start and end dates of the summer and fall school holidays across the 16 federal states in Germany using a difference-in-differences design with staggered adoption. We show that neither the summer closures nor the closures in the fall had a significant containing effect on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among children or a spill-over effect on older generations. There is also no evidence that the return to school at full capacity after the summer holidays increased infections among children or adults. Instead, we find that the number of children infected increased during the last weeks of the summer holiday and decreased in the first weeks after schools reopened, a pattern we attribute to travel returnees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how a new theory on the ontology of musical works, Musical Stage Theory, can address the problem of change in musical works. A natural consequence of the ontological framework of this theory is that musical works change intrinsically through a change in the sonic-structural properties of performances. From this a surprising consequence follows: everyone can change a musical work. Still, it seems that some changes matter more than others. The article offers a revisionary reply to this concern by arguing that normative change is not a change in the ontological nature of the work but rather in its authenticity conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost all countries worldwide closed schools at the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis. I document that schooling time dropped on average by −55% in the United States and −45% in Germany from the onset of the crisis to the summer of 2021. In the United States, schools were closed longer in richer than in poorer areas, while in Germany the regional variation is much smaller. However, Germany exhibited substantial variation by grade level, with a strong U-shaped pattern that implies that children attending middle school faced the longest closures. A structural model of human capital accumulation predicts that the US school closures on average lead to a reduction of life-time earnings of –1.8% for the affected children. While the overall losses are likely somewhat smaller in Germany, the socio-economic gradient in the losses could be larger than in the United States, leading to increased inequality and decreased intergenerational mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Border crossing migration always includes (re-)negotiation of world views, home and the meaning of arrival. This negotiation of arrival takes place within the broader societal contexts of the countries of origin and of arrival but is also a mediation with oneself and with social networks. This holds true especially for refugees and émigrés who have to leave their habitual places of living involuntarily. This paper examines the lives of Yazidi women, who survived captivity and sexual enslavement by the self-declared Islamic State and subsequently decided to resettle from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to Germany. First, the study addresses the complex processes of managing and re-establishing social belongings with a sociological concept of arrival and outlines some lessons from historical forced migration research. It then presents the findings and analysis of five face-to-face narrative interviews with Yazidi survivors. What similarities and differences exist between these individuals and historical cases of forced migrants and their arrival? Are there different patterns of coping with their individual and collective experiences and of developing new life projects? Our findings show how Yazidi émigrés continue to experience and negotiate the complexities of migration between weak and strong belonging to social spaces of origin and of arrival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like many other countries, Germany has experienced rapid population and workforce ageing, yet with substantial variation across regions. In this paper we first use this spatial variation between 1975 and 2014 to estimate quasi-causal supply effects of ageing on regional labour market outcomes, drawing on the identification strategy of Böhm and Siegel (2020). We find in our panel of German labour market regions that workforce mean age has considerable negative effects on the wage returns to age. We also obtain suggestive evidence that relative employment rates of older workers decline when mean age rises. A decomposition of the heterogeneous regional trends using our estimates shows that ageing of rural regions is mainly driven by supply (reflecting local population dynamics) whereas urban ageing is driven by demand (reflecting responses to economic conditions). We discuss the differential implications of these drivers for regional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]