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Summary The Great Recession triggered a resurgence of short-time work (STW) throughout the OECD. Several countries introduced STW from scratch or significantly expanded the scope of the programmes already in place. In some countries like Italy, Japan and Germany between 2.5% and 5% of the workforce participated in STW schemes at the trough of the recession. In this paper we analyse the rationale for STW benefits and their effects on labour adjustment from both a cross-country and a time-series perspective. We find that STW actually contributed to reduce job losses during the Great Recession. However, the number of jobs saved, according to our macroeconomic and microeconomic estimates, is smaller than the number of participants in these schemes and the full-time equivalent jobs involved, pointing in some countries to sizeable deadweight costs. Other institutions, like plant-level bargaining over hours, wages and employment levels, may be more effective than STW in encouraging adjustment along the intensive margins in the presence of temporary shocks. Our results also suggest that STW cannot be readily extended to countries having much different institutional configurations as the demand for STW is very much affected by other institutions such as employment protection legislation and the degree of centralization of collective bargaining. Furthermore, STW must be temporary as during upturns may actually negatively affect employment. We also find that specific design features of STW - such as experience-rating and disincentives to 100% reductions in working hours - are important in improving the cyclical properties of STW. - Tito Boeri and Herbert Bruecker [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that differences between German and Japanese environmental politics during the 1990s are due to differences in the composition and working of the environmental policy-making networks in both countries. The main assumption is that the relatively proactive role of German environmental politics can be explained by a highly integrated pluralistic network, which includes all major actors in the environmental field. The paper explores this argument by focusing on the role NGOs play in the national environmental policymaking in Germany and Japan. It presents empirical data concerning the position of NGOs in the policymaking networks in both countries with regard to NGOs' resources and opportunities to shape environmental policies. The analysis of the data demonstrates that NGOs are still weak in the network in Japan while, in Germany, the big national NGOs are well integrated and are considered to play a significant role in the policy-making process. This comparison suggests that what accounts for their greatest difference is the availability of means of compensating for weak resources, which is considered to be much more favorable in Germany than in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Populations throughout the developed world are dramatically ageing owing to rapid declines in fertility and mortality. Providing long‐term care to the growing numbers of frail elderly people will be a vital public policy challenge in the decades ahead. Japan and Germany are among the few countries that have met this challenge by introducing comprehensive legislation directed at long‐term care. This paper reviews the differences between these Long‐term Care Insurance Laws, with a focus on the availability of a cash allowance for people receiving family‐based care. It reflects on the social, political and economic context of the laws, characterizes each system and points out the inherent difficulties on each side. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the development of employment-oriented family policy in Germany and Japan, two countries united by conservative welfare legacies and very low birthrates, through a close analysis of discourse. Why have recent reforms in Germany moved well beyond those in Japan despite remarkably similar “human capital” discourses? The relative strength of interpretative patterns—in this case, discursive patterns that successfully frame family policy reform as an economic imperative—and the role of employers are identified as critical explanatory factors. Further comparative attention is called to the role of the state as a guarantor of new family policy entitlements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We report our findings on cross-societal variations in values concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) held by senior executives from five economies. We find that executives in all five economies are concerned with the roles of their firms in society, with those in Japan most so and those in Hong Kong least so. However, executives in each context have different conceptualizations of how firms contribute to society. The data suggest variation along three dimensions: implicit versus explicit CSR, stakeholder-oriented versus production-oriented CSR within implicit CSR and different main stakeholders within stakeholder-oriented CSR. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on CSR and for comparative business systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context: Aromatase excess syndrome (AEXS) is a very rare disorder characterized by prepubertal gynecomastia, bone age acceleration, and early growth arrest. Heterozygote submicroscopic rearrangements within the promotor of CYP19A1 result in overexpression of aromatase and enhanced aromatization of androgens.Objective: The objective was to study long-term treatment effects of an aromatase inhibitor.Methods: Data from 7 boys with AEXS were retrospectively collected. Genetic analysis revealed upstream of CYP19A1 a 165 901 bp deletion in 4 German cousins, a 198 662 bp deletion in 2 Japanese brothers, and a 387 622 bp tandem duplication in a Japanese boy.Results: All boys developed prepubertal gynecomastia, at median 9.0 years of age (range: 7.0-11.0). Height was +1.20 standard deviation score (SDS) (-0.24 to +1.98); predicted adult height was -1.29 SDS (-3.29 to +1.09). Four boys were treated with 1.0 mg of anastrozole daily, while 3 reached adult height untreated. Treatment with anastrozole was stopped after 5.6 years (4.0-6.8). Three treated boys exceeded their prognosis by 2.4, 6.9, and 8.1 cm, while 1 untreated boy fell below the prognosis by 8.6 cm. One treated with a low dose and 2 untreated reached their prognosis. Adult heights were -0.91 SDS with anastrozole (-2.86 to -0.29) and -0.15 SDS without (-2.31 to -0.03). Distance to target height was -0.22 SDS with anastrozole (-1.72 to +0.52) and +0.54 SDS without (+0.23 to +1.30).Conclusion: Spontaneous growth in AEXS varied, even in the same family. Our data suggest that early started, long-term inhibition by anastrozole promotes adult height in boys with AEXS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Measurement instruments should be validated for use in the population for which they are intended. The Quality of Life in Hand Eczema Questionnaire (QOLHEQ) has been developed to measure impairment of health‐related quality of life in patients with hand eczema. Objectives: To assess validity, reproducibility, responsiveness and interpretability of the Dutch version of the QOLHEQ. Methods: This was a prospective validation study in adult patients with hand eczema. At three time points (T0, baseline; T1, after 1–3 days; T2, after 4–12 weeks), data from the QOLHEQ and multiple reference instruments were collected. Scale structure was assessed using item response theory analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). Single‐score validity and responsiveness were tested with hypotheses on correlations with reference instruments. Concerning reproducibility, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCagreement) and standard error of agreement (SEMagreement) were checked. Regarding interpretability, bands for severity of quality‐of‐life impairment were proposed. Also, smallest detectable change (SDC) and minimally important change (MIC) were determined. Results: At T0, 300 individuals participated in the study (54% were male, mean age 45 years). Rescoring of the scale structure fitted the Rasch model and the SEM. The ICCagreement was 0·91 (95% confidence interval 0·85–0·94) and the SEMagreement was 5·2 points. Of the a priori formulated hypotheses, 80% (single‐score validity) and 64% (change scores for responsiveness) were confirmed. The SDC was 14·4 points and the MIC was 11·5 points. Conclusions: The Dutch version of the QOLHEQ has a good structural validity and reproducibility and has a high single‐score validity and moderate responsiveness. An improvement of ≥ 15 points should be regarded as a real, important change within the Dutch population. What's already known about this topic? The Quality of Life in Hand Eczema Questionnaire (QOLHEQ) measures impairment of health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with hand eczema.The QOLHEQ was validated in Germany and Japan, but the validity and interpretability of the Dutch version are unknown. What does this study add? This study shows that the Dutch QOLHEQ is a valid instrument to measure HRQoL impairment in Dutch patients with hand eczema, demonstrating good reliability and moderate responsiveness.Methods of item response theory are applied to assess and refine the scoring structure.Severity gradings to interpret single and change scores, specifically in Dutch patients, are proposed. What are the clinical implications of this work? The Dutch QOLHEQ can now be used to measure HRQoL impairment in Dutch patients with hand eczema. Linked Comment: Shen and Chen. Br J Dermatol 2020; 183:8–9. Plain language summary available online Respond to this article [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reexamines the theory of monetary power to explain the role of the Bundesbank (and Germany) in the emergence of the rules-based low-inflation regime in the late1980s and early 1990s. Our theory of monetary power draws on the notion of institutional power and the concept of monetary leadership, understood as the capacity to attract foreign investment, and thereby explains how domestic institutional features and contingent historical events affect countries' external monetary power. This theory is employed to trace how the Bundesbank go-it-alone strategy in 1989 triggered a cross-national sequence of events that changed the international monetary order in a way that was consistent with the German interests. The transition was marked by a shift from the US-led pragmatist approach of international macroeconomic coordination to a rules-based approach founded on the principle of low-inflation–targeting. The article argues that this change took place despite the opposition of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) and the US Treasury. The article contributes to the literature on the decline of US hegemonic power as well as the literature on the mechanism of institutional change at the international level. It also sheds new light on current debates about the putative decline of the rules-based world order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a simple framework for understanding an emergent diversity of linkages between corporate governance (CG) and organizational architecture (OA). It distinguishes discreet modes of their linkage by different combinatorial patterns between three basic assets: managers' human assets (MHA), workers' human assets (WHA), and non-human assets (NHA). Using the concept of essentiality of human assets proposed by Hart (1995) and distinguished from that of complementarities, we first propose a new characterization of four known modes of CG-OA linkage: three traditional (Anglo-American, German, and Japanese) and one relatively new (Silicon Valley) models. Then we present empirical evidences of emergent diversity of CG-OA linkages in Japan, which is somewhat at odds with the old Japanese model. We interpret its emergent dominant mode as the path-dependent evolution of a new pattern of essentiality between human assets, made viable by lessening of institutional-complementarity-constraints, which surrounded the traditional Japanese model. We argue that this new mode interpreted in terms of essentiality may have broader applicability beyond Japanese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the relationship between the evolution of corporate structure and the structure of the financial systems within the U.S., British, German, French and Japanese economies during the first half of the twentieth century. The financial system of each of these economies exerted an important influence on the development of corporate structure, but did so largely through facilitating, rather then determining, organizational innovation. The financial system of each of these economies influenced the selection environment within which firms developed, but this environment reflected the operation of other factors as well. The relationship between the evolution of corporate and financial structure is an interactive one that exhibits considerable path-dependence; the array of economic and technological opportunities available to one firm or to one economy contrasts with that faced by another firm or economy at a different historical moment.

When investigating the association between brain tumors and use of mobile telephones, accurate data on tumor position are essential, due to the highly localized absorption of energy in the human brain from the radio-frequency fields emitted. We used a point process model to investigate this association using information that included tumor localization data from the INTERPHONE Study (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). Our main analysis included 792 regular mobile phone users diagnosed with a glioma between 2000 and 2004. Similar to earlier results, we found a statistically significant association between the intracranial distribution of gliomas and the self-reported location of the phone. When we accounted for the preferred side of the head not being exclusively used for all mobile phone calls, the results were similar. The association was independent of the cumulative call time and cumulative number of calls. However, our model used reported side of mobile phone use, which is potentially influenced by recall bias. The point process method provides an alternative to previously used epidemiologic research designs when one is including localization in the investigation of brain tumors and mobile phone use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservatism is about defending the status quo; in both Germany and Japan, the status quo is the postwar democratic regime. However, while the representatives of Germany’s intellectual conservatism have come to accept the democratic status quo of the postwar period, the same can hardly be said about intellectual conservatism in Japan, despite the two countries’ similar modern histories. This article seeks to explain this puzzle by pointing to a lack of pressure to adapt and the resulting freedom allowing Japanese conservatives to take a peculiar and consistently negative view of the postwar system’s foundations, which they do not recognize as a new tradition worth building on, but rather a deplorable ideological import forced upon Japan. Based on those observations, the article makes a case for an autonomous intellectual conservatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese doctors who studied abroad during the second half of the nineteenth century were instrumental in changing the health care system in their country. Between 1862 and 1912, no fewer than 763 Japanese doctors trained abroad in western universities. The prosopographic analysis conducted in this contribution underscores the strong appeal of German-speaking universities and the important role of medical studies undertaken abroad on a private basis. The Japanese doctors who trained in foreign countries fall into two categories of practitioners. First there was the country's medical elite, primarily trained at the University of Berlin, who upon their return obtained the most prestigious chairs in the country, including at the University of Tokyo. Second, there were a great many nameless practitioners. Their studies in western universities, which reflected a deeply utilitarian bent, were characterised by the priority given to clinical medicine. They worked in hospitals, clinics or private practice after they went back to Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most states have numerous paths to create security for themselves. Foreign policy-makers must recognize that their own security policy will initiate a process that structures the nature of the domestic competition over domestic and foreign policy in other countries. I contend that one state's security alternative can empower or weaken domestic actors and interest groups in opposing foreign powers. I term this process the ‘second face of security’ since it entails a less direct and more nuanced method of creating security (in contrast to the ‘first face of security’). I apply this model to explain the intent of Britain's ‘smart’ or targeted appeasement policy during the 1930s – to strengthen conservative business, government officials, and economic circles in banking, light industry and finished goods, and even heavy industry in order to steer Tokyo and Berlin away from rearmament and extreme autarky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a paired comparison between Japan and Germany, we suggest that the legacy of the strong male-breadwinner model creates particular pressures on socially conservative welfare states in a period of restructuring. These countries are reregulating gender relations in different ways. We relate differences between Germany and Japan to contrasting state-society relations: specifically the role of the Japanese state in trying to stem both economic and demographic decline on the one hand and the role of the social partners in Germany to stimulate employment growth and reduce unemployment on the other. In addition, we point to the impact of the European Union (EU) on the matters of labor market and equality regulations in our analysis of Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education has been systematically and deliberately used in both Germany and Japan to force minds of young people and adults alike into the rigid mold of Axis ideology. Since the Imperial Japanese Department of Education, through its Bureau of Thought Supervision, has dispatched "thought supervisors" to the various provinces "for inspection, for guidance and for supervision in connection with thought matters." Japan has thereby woven a net in which the intellectual powers of her people are entangled. Germany has been equally zealous. No room is left for private opinion. The life and sports of students as well as the thought and conduct of teachers are brought within the system of regimentation. The declared purpose and program it again. When this war is won, the United Nations should be able to choose whether the educational systems of the Axis countries shall be allowed to lead into another war by the continued teaching of lies and false attitudes and values, or whether they shall be compelled to mend their ways.