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In order to learn more about sectoral differences of knowledge networking in a regional development context, we apply the knowledge base concept, distinguishing the analytical (science based) and synthetic (engineering based) knowledge base. We aim at comparing knowledge networking with the help of network analyses in two knowledge bases in Germany: the analytical knowledge base with the help of the biotechnology industry in the Aachen Technology Region and the synthetic knowledge base with the help of the automotive industry in Southwest Saxony. The paper concludes that there are some main differences found in the characteristics of knowledge networking between the two different knowledge bases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides two indicators that measure: (i) offshoring potentials (cross-country geographical relocation) and (ii) outsourcing potentials (organisational relocation) separately at the level of jobs, occupations, tasks and industries. We use four waves of the BIBB/ BAuA Labour Force Survey in Germany and apply principal component analysis based on a large set of potential determinants of offshoring and outsourcing derived from the literature. Our results show significant variation across these levels in the determinants of both dimensions. We provide a comprehensive empirical classification of the determinants of how easily jobs can be offshored and outsourced. This can serve as a basis for further research to investigate the economic effects of job offshoreability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the determinants of remittance behavior relying on a dataset of migrants living in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States who remit to Ghana and Nigeria. Controlling for endogeneity of several independent variables, the model measures the effects on the amount sent of the following variables: Home Country (Ghana or Nigeria), Host Country (United States, United Kingdom or Germany), Remittance Fees, Relationship to the Receiver, Purpose of Remittance, Financial Obligations in the Host Country, and Demographics. The results indicate that remittances are primarily influenced by the purpose of the remittance and from where the remittance is sent. It appears that different generations chose to migrate to different countries, creating differences in income, education and age. These differences along with financial obligations in the host country contribute to higher remittance levels. In regards to the development affects, the results of this paper hint that altruistic reasons for remitting may be associated with higher levels of remittances, while more self-interested reasons for remitting are associated with lower levels of remittances. These results indicate that it may be difficult to design policies to encourage the use of remittances for development purposes, as remittances are primarily used for basic needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at explaining whether R&D subsidies, the engagement in collaboration networks and the location influence the patent activities of biotech firms in Germany! We demonstrate that R&D subsidies focusing on single firms do not increase patent intensity, while subsidies which are granted to joint R&D projects do so to a certain extent. The number of knowledge links firms have is not influencing performance, but the type of network partners has an effect. We found strong evidence that some but not too much cognitive distance between collaboration partners and being located in a cluster have a positive effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines contemporaneous and historical evidence on the structure of ownership and control of corporate sectors in developed countries to draw lessons for development of financial markets. It records the critical role that equity markets played in the ownership and financing of corporations at the beginning of the 20th century. It notes that this occurred in the absence of formal systems of regulation and that equity markets functioned on the basis of informal relationships of trust. These were sustained through local stock markets in the UK, banks in Germany, and business coordinators and family firms in Japan. The paper explores the concept of trust that is required to promote the development of financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By contrasting endogenous growth models with facts, one is frequently confronted with the prediction that levels of economic variables, such as R&D expenditures, imply lasting effects on the growth rate of an economy. As stylized facts show, the research intensity in most advanced countries has dramatically increased, mostly more than the GDP. Yet, the growth rates have roughly remained constant or even declined. In this paper we modify the Romer endogenous growth model and test our variant of the model using time series data. We estimate the market version both for the US and Germany for the time period January 1962 to April 1996. Our results demonstrate that the model is compatible with the time series for aggregate data in those countries. All parameters fall into a reasonable range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides scarce insider econometric evidence on the structure of management compensation and on the incentive effects of fixed base salaries and bonus payments. Six years of personnel data of 177 managers in a German company are analyzed with special emphasis on the highest achievable bonuses under a Management-by-Objectives ( MBO) incentive scheme. The main finding of panel negative binomial regressions is that higher achievable bonus payments are correlated with fewer absent working days, which supports the incentive effect of performance pay for managers. The fixed base salary component is, however, not significantly correlated with managers' work absence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mainstream nursing history often positions itself in opposition to philosophy and many nursing historians are reticent of theorizing. In the quest to illuminate the lives of nurses and women current historical approaches are driven by reformist aspirations but are based on the conception that nursing or caring is basically good and the timelessness of universal values. This has the effect of essentialising political categories of identity such as class, race and gender. This kind of history is about affirmation rather than friction and about the conservation of memory and musealization. In contrast, we will focus on how we imagine nursing history could be used as a philosophical, critical perspective to challenge the ongoing transformations of our societies. Existing reality must be confronted with strangeness and the historically different can assume the function of this counterpart, meaning present and past must continuously be set in relation to each other. Thus, critical history is always the history of the present but not merely the pre‐history of the present – critique must rather present different realities and different certainties. In this paper, we use this approach to discuss the implementation of the nursing process (NP) in Germany. The nursing process appears to be a technology that helped to set up an infrastructure ‐ or assemblage ‐ to transform nursing interventions into a commodity exchangable between consumers and nurses in a free market. In our theoretical perspective, we argue that NP was a step in the realization of the German ordoliberal program, a specific variety of neoliberalism. In order to implement market‐orientation in the healthcare system it was necessary to transform hospitals into calculable spaces and to make all performances in the hospital calculable. This radically transformed not just the systems, but the ways in which nurses and patients conveived of themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the assumption of strict exogeneity, which is usually invoked in estimating models of state dependence with unobserved heterogeneity, is violated in the poverty context as important variables determining contemporaneous poverty status, in particular employment status and household composition, are likely to be influenced by past poverty outcomes. Therefore, a model of state dependence is developed that explicitly allows for possible feedback effects from past poverty to future employment and household composition outcomes. Empirical results based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) suggest that there are indeed such feedback effects and that failure to take them into account may lead to biased estimates of the state dependence effect. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate how label information detailing the performance of the Fair Trade labelling programme with respect to coffee affect consumers' willingness to pay in the US and in Germany. We provide respondents (university students in the US and Germany) information regarding the hypothetical benefits of the Fair Trade coffee programme on its intended beneficiaries on the production side [the revenue gains to participating marginal farmers (scope of the programme)] and, using stated preference conjoint methods, test how this performance criterion relates to the willingness to pay for Fair Trade coffee. Our empirical results identify a ‘threshold’ property of performance-based labels. In effect, the willingness-to-pay for performance-based Fair Trade labelled coffee exhibits an inverted U shape in the sense that the willingness to pay is positively related to the scope of the programme, but only up to a critical level. Thereafter, the willingness to pay declines as the income gains to participating growers increase further. Interestingly, this inverted U property is exhibited by both the US and German respondents with different critical thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the Nairu in the Euro Area and the influence that hysteresis had on its development. Using the Kalman-filter technique we find that the Nairu has varied considerably since the early 1970s. The Kalman-filter technique is applied here using explicit exogenous variables. In order to test for hysteresis, the dependence of the Nairu on actual unemployment and long-term unemployment is estimated and found to be significant for the Euro Area and Germany, respectively. The existence of hysteresis effects implies the possibility of a long-run non-superneutrality of monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kyklos is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Many recent attempts to find evidence on downward nominal wage rigidity in micro data have suffered from problems such as composition bias and the effects of measurement error. In this paper, a model of proportional downward nominal wage rigidity is developed which avoids these problems by taking into account the determinants of wage changes and the measurement process that leads to observable earnings changes. We find a high degree of downward nominal wage rigidity in German micro data. Its real implications for individual expected wage growth, the aggregate wage level and equilibrium unemployment have marked effects for rates of inflation lower than 3 percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the equivalence scale elasticity will be estimated by using individual panel data on income satisfaction from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP). Satisfaction or happiness data have been more frequently used by economists in recent years to analyze individual well-being. The approach differs from other subjective approaches as respondents are requested to evaluate current income rather than income in hypothetical situations. The estimated scale elasticity is higher compared to those from other subjective approaches based on German data. In addition, panel data enable different scale use by the respondents to be controlled. It can be shown that elasticity decreases when unobserved fixed-effects are controlled for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most decisions by the European Parliament are taken by an absolute majority of its members. Some decisions however- such as the approval of the budget of the European Union - require a two-thirds majority. The paper analyzes the a priori voting strength of the member states when their representatives vote coherently. It is shown that the increase in votes for Germany in the 1994 reallocation enhanced its position. A less favourable effect, however, can be seen for the other large members (France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain). However, since votes in the EP tend to be cast according to partisan rather than national affiliation, the relative voting power of the political groups with respect to the two quotas is also analyzed. The tool to measure this is the (normalized) Banzhaf power index, partially extended to account for connected coalitions. The paper demonstrates that the distribution of votes between the present EU member states as allocated in proportion to their population size indeed roughly corresponds to their a priori voting power. However, the relative influence of the largest political groups, the European Socialists and the European People's Party, tends to be overestimated by their share of seats in the framework of the simple majority rule, but it is considerable if the quota is two-thirds. Finally, under the two-thirds majority rule, the European Liberal, Democratic and Reformist Party as well as the small groups appear to be almost powerless. The more the EP gains political leverage - a further increase in its institutional powers is to be expected in the framework of the ongoing Intergovernmental Conference - the more the distribution of voting power between the member states and between the political groups will be a crucial factor in the shaping of EU policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the patterns of welfare dependence among first generation immigrants and natives in Germany before and after a substantial recent reform of the welfare system. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, the analysis presents life cycle trajectories of transfer receipt for immigrants and natives and studies the correlation between contextual factors and transfer receipt. We find no statistically significant differences in the probability of transfer receipt between immigrants and natives once socioeconomic characteristics are taken into account. Being a single parent, labor market status, and human capital are most closely correlated with the incidence of transfer receipt for both natives and immigrants. Interestingly, recent welfare reforms did not reverse prior patterns of welfare dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of the belief in a just world as a personal resource when people are faced with the adverse consequences of inflation and financial crises by presenting results from two longitudinal studies. The first study, based on responses from 262 German residents, found that participants with a strong personal belief in a just world perceived a lower economic impact in light of price increases following a tax increase. This effect remained stable after controlling for the socioeconomic variables of gender, age, household income, and education. The second study, based on a sample of 177 German residents, found that residents with a strong personal belief in a just world perceived a lower economic impact in light of the global subprime mortgage crisis. Again, this effect remained stable after controlling for the socioeconomic variables of gender, age, household income, and education. Furthermore, the personal belief in a just world influenced perceived economic impact over time and the relationship between personal belief in a just world and perceived economic impact was partially mediated by differences between life satisfaction in the future as measured in a first wave and current life satisfaction as measured in a second wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a protocol developed within the PRATIQUE project for applying cost/benefit analysis to select appropriate phytosanitary measures for use against quarantine pests. The protocol consists of nine steps, each underpinned by clear guidelines for collating and structuring the relevant data, to assist risk managers with the challenging task of assessing the benefits and costs of phytosanitary measures in a consistent, transparent and reproducible manner. Together with the decision-support scheme that generates contingency plants and prioritizes action during pest outbreaks, it provides a framework for decision making on phytosanitary measures and helps to provide economic justification for selecting appropriate measures. The practical application of the protocol is demonstrated using two examples: cost/benefit analysis of eradication measures against Anoplophora glabripennis in Northern Italy; and eradication and containment measures against Diabrotica virgifera virgifera in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to quantify the welfare effects of progressive pension arrangements in Germany. Starting from a purely contribution-related benefit system, we introduce basic allowances for contributions and a flat benefit fraction. Since our overlapping-generations model takes into account variable labor supply, borrowing constraints as well as stochastic income risk, we can compare the labor supply, the liquidity and the insurance effects of the policy reform. Our simulations indicate that it would be optimal to introduce a flat benefit share of 50 percent and a basic allowance that amounts to 30 percent of average income. Such a reform would yield an aggregate efficiency gain of 3.3 percent of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the politico-economic reasons for the refusal of a proposed compulsory flood insurance scheme in Germany. It provides the rationale for such a scheme and outlines the basic features of a market-orientated design. The main reasons for the political rejection of this proposal were the misperceived costs of a state guarantee, legal objections against a compulsory insurance, distributional conflicts between the federal government and the German states on the implied administrative costs and the well known charity hazard of ad hoc disaster relief. The focus on pure market solutions proved to be an ineffective strategy for policy advice in this field. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two phenomena make the distinction between services and manufacturing obsolete: the tertiarization of manufacturing and the introduction of information technologies in service industries. Competitiveness of manufacturing firms increasingly depends on the quality of service inputs and on packages of goods and services. Information and communication technologies introduce ‘industrial’ processes of production in service industries. Hence, it does not make sense any more to use categories such as ‘services’ or ‘manufacturing’. Instead, it would be more meaningful to group economic activities according to input configurations. This paper will discuss these issues in the context of the supposed German ‘service gap’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that migration studies are too parochial, focusing exclusively on ostensible immigration and incorporation policies and failing to take into account the ‘structuring’ effects of the overall institutional framework. The need for more comparative and more economically-oriented research is presented through a reflection upon the recent Dutch debate on the causes of the lagging performance of Turks in the Netherlands compared to those in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses economic, political and national institutional explanations for continued resistance to the multidivisional form in France, Germany and the United Kingdom during the 1980s and 1990s. It finds that the economics of different diversification strategies play a significant but changing role in the structural choices of large corporations. The political interests of personal, banking and government owners are exercised variably. There remain strong national influences on structural choices, with resistance to the multidivisional form particularly pronounced in Germany. Overall, our results call for an increased contextual sensitivity in management research while acknowledging the possibility of convergent processes in business organization, represented here by the slow progress of the multidivisional firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kyklos is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) 2008, I investigate how looks affect an individual's labor supply decision. My results are, by and large, in line with predictions derived from the neoclassical model of labor supply. Applying regular probit, bivariate probit, Tobit and Heckman selection regression models, I find that good looks go hand in hand with higher employment probabilities and more hours of market work. Furthermore, physical attractiveness is positively associated with spousal income and spousal employment. Hence, beauty appears to affect labor supply decisions both directly and through the marriage market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design: A cross‐sectional study was conducted in December 2020/January 2021 in the five significant cities of Germany. Sample: 135 of 244 identified service institutions took part in the evaluation. Measurements: This evaluation included changes in institutions' operating hours as well as capacity for homeless people. Service institutions described changes in guests' characteristics, moods, and mental burden. Finally, equipment including face masks, coveralls, and gloves was investigated. In addition, the study examined how the cooperation with the health authorities works. Results: Institutions reduced their operating hours and capacity for guests (62.4%). Increased costs, which they had to cover themselves, were reported by 70.9% of institutions. Institutions reported, that guests showed more symptoms of aggression (15%), anxiety (25%), and desperation (32%) and fewer signs of being relaxed (75%). The institutions reported room for improvement in PPE supplies and collaboration with health authorities. Conclusions: Services are limited for a vulnerable population, which shows changes in moods and mental health. Health authorities are not sufficiently engaged to take over the role of institutions in caring for homeless people. In the future, in‐depth investigation to improve this is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare recent compliance cost estimates by nurses of German nursing homes who employ the new documentation approach structural model with those who use traditional documentation frameworks. Design: A cross‐sectional survey. Methods: For each documentation approach, five sub‐processes were surveyed employing standard activities. The postal and online surveys were based on the same self‐administered questionnaire. The measures addressed time investments and further costs to carry out the components of nursing documentation. Data were collected from a convenience sample of nurses (n = 264) from German nursing homes between October 2018 and June 2019. Results: The analysed sub‐processes consume between 26 min and 8 hr per fulfilment. For users of the structural model, collecting information on a new admission is the costliest part of the documentation, at €90 per case. For users of other documentation approaches, care planning requires the most expensive effort, at €130 per case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most noticeable stylised facts in finance is that stock index returns are negatively correlated with changes in volatility. The economic rationale for the effect is still controversial. The competing explanations have different implications for the origin of the relationship: Are volatility changes induced by index movements, or inversely, does volatility drive index returns? To differentiate between the alternative hypotheses, we analyse the lead-lag relationship of option implied volatility and index return in Germany based on Granger causality tests and impulse-response functions. Our dataset consists of all transactions in DAX options and futures over the time period from 1995 to 2005. Analyzing returns over 5-minute intervals, we find that the relationship is return-driven in the sense that index returns Granger cause volatility changes. This causal relationship is statistically and economically significant and can be clearly separated from the contemporaneous correlation. The largest part of the implied volatility response occurs immediately, but we also observe a smaller retarded reaction for up to one hour. A volatility feedback effect is not discernible. If it exists, the stock market appears to correctly anticipate its importance for index returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchanges in Europe are in a process of consolidation. After the failure of the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and Euronext, these two groups are likely to become the nuclei for further mergers and co-operation with currently independent exchanges. A decision for one of the groups entails a decision for the respective trading platform. Against that background we evaluate the attractiveness of the two dominant continental European trading systems. Though both are anonymous electronic limit order books, there are important differences in the trading protocols. We use a matched-sample approach to compare execution costs in Euronext Paris and Xetra. We find that both quoted and effective spreads are lower in Xetra. The differences are more pronounced for less liquid stocks. When decomposing the spread we find no systematic differences in the adverse selection component. Realised spreads, on the other hand, are significantly higher in Euronext. Neither differences in the number of liquidity provision agreements nor differences in the minimum tick size or in the degree of domestic competition for order flow explain the different spread levels. We thus conclude that Xetra is the more efficient trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Max Corden recalls his emigration from Nazi Germany, and arrival in Melbourne on the day before Australia Day in 1939. He describes his ambivalence towards undergraduate economics, and the fortuitous events that led him to pursue a PhD at the London School of Economics. He explains the significance of James Meade and Harry Johnson for his intellectual development and academic advancement. He stresses the support the Australian professoriate and public service gave his critique of protection, but ponders certain frustrations he felt in Australian academia. He summarises his work as ‘old-fashioned Pigovian economics’, and himself as ‘European intellectual with a strong Australian veneer’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive the sampling variances of generalized entropy and Atkinson indices when estimated from complex survey data, and show how they can be calculated straightforwardly using widely available software. We also show that, when the same approach is used to derive variance formulae for the independent and identically distributed case, it leads to estimators that are simpler than those proposed before. Both cases are illustrated with a comparison of income inequality in Britain and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 23rd Seminar of the European Group of Risk and Insurance Economists will take place at the University of Hannover in Germany on September 16-18, 1996. Papers can be on any topic of Economics, Finance or Management Science as related to risk and insurance. Of special interests are papers on the broadly defined theme of "Asymmetric Information in Insurance Markets." The Seminar is sponsored by The Geneva Association. On this occasion, the Geneva Risk Lecture will be given by Michael Rothschild in celebration of the 20th anniversary of his classic paper with Joseph Stiglitz, "Equilibrium in Competitive Insurance Markets: An Essay on the Economics of Imperfect Information".

The recent Eurozone crisis and negotiations over bailout packages to Greece are more than a simple controversy about financial resources. They have a decidedly moralistic overtone. Giving more funds is thought by some to be unfair to hard‐working taxpayers and does not teach Greece an important moral lesson. Yet much international political economy scholarship neglects such considerations. We build on moral psychology to understand the ethical drivers of both German support and opposition to the 2015 Greek government bailout package. We analyze original survey data to show how morality is an essential factor in Germany's hard‐line approach. Our results show that caring and European attachment are associated with bailout support, while authority, national attachment, and retributive fairness drive opposition. Some morals also have boundaries: National attachment attenuates the effect of harm/care on support for foreign financial assistance but strengthens the effect of fairness on bailout opposition. Moral psychology helps us understand foreign policy but must be adapted to account for multiple potential ingroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal and relational governance mechanisms are used in strategic alliances to coordinate resources and mitigate the risk of opportunistic behavior. While recent work has shown that these approaches are not mutually exclusive, we understand little about when one approach is superior to the other. Using data on the governance choices and subsequent performance of alliances in the German telecommunications industry, we find that the optimal configuration of formal and relational governance mechanisms depends on the assets involved in an alliance, with formal mechanisms best suited to property-based assets and relational governance best suited to knowledge-based assets. Furthermore, a mismatch between governance mechanisms and asset type can harm the performance of the alliance. Our findings contribute to transaction cost economics, the literature on relational governance, and recent work studying their interaction. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the historical significance of the increasing precariousness of labor, even in the most advanced economies. Given the sterility of the mainstream approach, based on methodological individualism, we start from a Marxist critique of political economy, focusing on the laws that govern the process of capitalist accumulation and its contradictions. Within the framework of these laws, we analyze the tendency of labor exploitation to increase in a capitalist economy, linked to the exigencies of profitability due to the increasing difficulties of the valorization of capital. The precariousness of labor is studied around some of the main forms it adopts in three European economies: mini‐jobs in Germany, "zero‐hours contracts" in the United Kingdom, and false self‐employment, together with internship and training contracts, in Spain. Based on theoretical and empirical analysis, several conclusions are proposed to understand the extension and deepening of labor precariousness, built on the notions of overexploitation and destruction of productive forces, linked to current demands of capitalist accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: To date, there is still no IFDH approved dental hygienist (DH) education model in Germany. Nevertheless, opportunities to complete vocational DH education courses have substantially increased within the last two decades. However, the content and quality of these courses vary greatly and are difficult to survey. The purpose of this article therefore was to present an overview of the education programmes offered in Germany as of March 2017. Methods: A formal request was sent to all education establishments for details of such courses, and a systematic internet search was performed covering the DH education topic in Germany. Results: Ten vocational education programmes were found, most of them organized by local dental chambers. One private provider offers a Bachelor Degree in Dental Hygiene on completion of a course which runs over 2 or 3 ys. Details of contents, objectives and concise ratings or comparisons of the various courses are scarce, although in principle all should meet the same quality standards. Conclusion: For dental hygiene students, patients and dentists, it is hard and unsatisfactory to get a clear overview of the types and the quality of DH education which can be achieved in Germany. A solution for this dilemma would appear to be essential. However, due to the peculiarities of German legislation as well as the complex sphere of vested interests, it is impossible to predict if or when the situation will change for the better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Though psoriasis poses a substantial chronic socio‐economic burden, few studies have addressed the economic impact in Germany. Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the annual costs of psoriasis in Germany from the societal perspective. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was performed in randomly selected German dermatology practices and clinics in 2013/2014 using standardized questionnaires of illness‐related costs. Costs were grouped by perspective and category as well as analysed by sex and age. Group differences were tested by non‐parametric tests. Results: Complete data were obtained from 1158 patients in 132 centres. Annual average costs for patients with psoriasis: total costs € 5543 ± € 8044, systemic treatment costs (paid by the statutory health insurances [SHI]) € 3733 ± € 7322, out‐of‐pocket costs € 224 ± € 406, total SHI costs € 4940 ± € 7533, direct costs € 5164 ± € 7581 and indirect costs € 379 ± € 2087. Significant higher costs in male and significant lower costs in 65+‐year‐old patients were found. Conclusions: Psoriasis induces a considerable economic burden. Between 2003 and 2014, costs have markedly shifted from hospital, out‐of‐pocket and indirect costs towards systemic drug costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes announcement effects of the new statutory minimum wage on employment expectations and uncertainties in Germany. Using a difference-in-differences approach applied to the IAB Establishment Panel, employers affected by the minimum wage show an increased employment uncertainty and a 0.9% points drop in their expected employment growth. Using the same identification strategy with data from 2015, the treatment effect on actual employment growth of affected employers matches the employers' expectation. Hence, an analysis of employer expectations seems to be promising to detect employment effects of policy changes before they come into force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore whether monetary reference points affect managers′ job satisfaction. These reference points include a manager′s own status quo and the incomes of comparable managers within the same firm and also at the market level. Making use of a unique panel data set of managers in the German chemical sector, we find that social comparisons of compensation do affect reported job satisfaction. Both the relative income position within a manager's own firm and a manager's wage rank on the market have positive relations with job satisfaction. There is no evidence of the relevance of status quo considerations once we control for firm-related pay variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to conventional wisdom, the fall of the Swedish currency in September 1931 was caused by the sterling crisis. This article shows that the road towards devaluation began earlier and that financial linkages with Germany proved to be more important than Sweden's economic and monetary relations with Great Britain. It all started in late 1929 when the Swedish financier Ivar Kreuger gave a loan to the German government in exchange for the match monopoly, thus tying his business ventures to Germany's solvency. In addition, a part of this loan was financed by large US dollar credits from the two largest Swedish banks that, in turn, accumulated a sizeable foreign short-term deficit. When in June 1931 the German fiscal crisis began to escalate, international investors ceased to consider Sweden a safe haven because they knew about the linkages between the German government, Kreuger, and the Swedish banking system. This downgrading, in combination with the foreign short-term deficit of the banking sector, proved lethal for the reserve position of the Swedish central bank, once the international liquidity crisis in mid-July 1931 erupted. The sterling crisis only put the final nail in the coffin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents drug and alcohol addiction-related news briefs and information about events such as the 9th European Public Health Conference which will be held on November 9-12, 2016 in Vienna, Austria. Legislation to legalise cannabis for medical purposes in Germany is examined, along with the trafficking of synthetic drugs on the Vietnam-China border. Laws regulating the use of tax revenues to fund public health programmes in places such as Panama and Poland are assessed.

There has been a debate on whether cost-effectiveness analysis should consider the cost of consumption and leisure time activities when using the quality-adjusted life year as a measure of health outcome under a societal perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the effects of ill health on consumptive activities are spontaneously considered in a health state valuation exercise and how much this matters. The survey enrolled patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Germany (n = 104). Patients were randomized to explicit and no explicit instruction for the consideration of consumption and leisure effects in a time trade-off (TTO) exercise. Explicit instruction to consider non-health-related utility in TTO exercises did not influence TTO scores. However, spontaneous consideration of non-health-related utility in patients without explicit instruction (60% of respondents) led to significantly lower TTO scores. Results suggest an inclusion of consumption costs in the numerator of the cost-effectiveness ratio, at least for those respondents who spontaneously consider non-health-related utility from treatment. Results also suggest that exercises eliciting health valuations from the general public may include a description of the impact of disease on consumptive activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate the indirect lifetime cost of childhood overweight and obesity for Germany.Methods: The lifetime cohort model consisted of two parts: (a) Model I used data from the German Interview and Examination Survey for Children on prevalence of BMI categories during childhood to evaluate BMI trajectories before the age of 18; and (b) Model II estimated lifetime excess indirect cost based on the history of childhood BMI. Indirect costs were defined as the opportunity cost of lost productivity due to mortality and morbidity and were identified through a systematic literature review.Results: Our analysis showed that the majority of children with overweight and obesity remained in the same BMI category during their adult life, resulting in significant indirect lifetime costs. We estimated that overweight and obesity during childhood resulted in an excess lifetime cost per person of €4,209 (men) and €2,445 (women). For the current prevalent German population, the excess lifetime cost was €145 billion.Conclusions: Our study showed that childhood obesity results in significant economic burden on the society. Therefore, cost-effective strategies targeted at reducing the prevalence of obesity during the early years of life can significantly reduce both healthcare and nonhealthcare costs over the lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study focusing on estimating the lifetime cost of childhood obesity in Germany using the Markov mode. The findings include when compared with normal weight adults, lifetime excess costs found to be higher among adults who had been obese at any point during childhood, and interventions preventing the persistence of child obesity related comorbidities during adulthood having an impact on obesity epidemic.

ABSTRACT Differences in regional unemployment are still pronounced in Germany, especially between eastern and western Germany. Although the skill level seems important for the relationship between regional disparities and labor migration, corresponding empirical evidence is scarce. Applying dynamic panel models, we investigate the impact of labor mobility differentiated by educational attainment of the workers on regional unemployment disparities between 2000 and 2008. The impact of low- and medium-skilled migration is consistent with traditional neoclassical reasoning, suggesting that labor mobility reduces differences in regional unemployment rates. In contrast, the migration of high-skilled workers tends to reinforce disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often the consent of worker representations, such as works councils, is required before firms are allowed to install technologies that monitor workers' behavior. Absent monitoring, workers produce low output, while at the same time receiving an information rent. To gain the works council's consent to the installation of a monitoring technology, firms need to compensate workers for the lost information rent. Hence, by making it more costly to produce high output, works councils can serve firms as an instrument to commit to low output levels. This provides a rationale for why works council rights are not opposed more strongly by employers. ( JEL D43, D86, J83, L13) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent regulatory changes in the German financial system shifted corporate control activities from universal banks to other capital market participants. Particularly hedge funds took advantage of the resulting control vacuum by acquiring stakes in weakly governed and less profitable firms. We document that, on average, hedge funds increased shareholder value in the short- and long-run. However, more aggressive hedge funds generated only initially higher returns and their outperformance quickly reversed, whereas non-aggressive hedge funds ultimately outperformed their aggressive peers. These findings suggest that aggressive hedge funds attempt to expropriate the target firm's shareholders by exiting at temporarily increased share prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the channels through which offshoring affects employment in a representative sample of German establishments, using a difference-in-differences matching approach. Offshoring is measured by an increase in the share of foreign to total intermediate inputs at the plant-level. We identify a positive productivity effect and isolate a negative downsizing effect from offshoring on employment, by exploiting differences between offshoring plants that do and do not simultaneously restructure. Furthermore, we cannot find evidence of negative indirect employment effects on domestic suppliers or competitors. ( JEL F16, J23, F23, C21) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabrotica virgifera virgifera has been found in Germany since 2007, and mandatory EU plant health measures must be applied. To evaluate information on the appropriateness of these measures, we analysed benefits and costs for the two control strategies eradication and containment by ex ante data estimations and observed experiences. As a 'no official control' scenario, we considered that maize is grown without plant health measures where growers start to apply insecticides 5 years after D. v. virgifera damage becomes obvious. The eradication strategy consists of crop rotation with additional insecticide treatments, and the containment strategy assumes crop rotation (two times maize within 3 years) or insecticide applications against adults (two applications per year). Spread of D. v. virgifera was calculated over 15 years based on the model of Baufeld and Enzian (2005, Symposium Proceedings No. 81: Introduction and Spread of Invasive Species, 149-154), and corresponding costs for the estimated accumulated areas were analysed. Additionally, the observed spread from 2007 to 2011 in Germany and resulting costs were compared with the estimated costs of the simulated ex ante scenarios. Eradication by crop rotation proved to be the most cost-effective strategy for single outbreaks and a low maize density in the safety zone. In contrast, both containment strategies led to a moderate cost-effectiveness whereof crop rotation is expected to be the more sustainable approach leading to less environmental impacts and resistance problems in the long term. Observed data showed that the range expansion of D. v. virgifera in Southern Germany was more rapid than expected from the low beetle numbers of the pheromone trappings leading to the assumption that both long-distance dispersal and continuous short-distance diffusion are involved. The observed average spread rate per year from 2007 to 2011 was estimated at 30 km. In Bavaria, the containment zone comprised in 2011 about 210 000 ha of maize production leading to much higher containment costs compared to the ex ante simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large universal banks played a major role in Germany's industrialization because they provided loans to industry and thereby helped firms to overcome liquidity constraints. Previous research has also argued that they were equally important for the German stock market. This article provides quantitative and qualitative evidence that although the market for underwriters was dominated by a small oligopoly of six large banks, there was still perceptible competition, which kept fees and short-run profits low. Another interesting finding presented here is the absence of a signalling effect to investors. Neither underpricing nor the one-year performance was different for the IPOs issued by one of the Big Six. Thus, although the German IPO business was in the hands of a small oligopoly, investors did not benefit from the lack of competition. One explanation is that the quality of IPOs on the German stock market of the time was very good in general as a result of the competition between underwriters, but also as a result of the tight regulation of underwriting, which ensured the quality of all firms on the German stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]