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University lecturers and coordinators of business and economics courses around the world are faced with the challenge that beginning students in these courses have heterogeneous entry conditions in terms of personal characteristics. This article focuses on the economic knowledge of German and Japanese beginning students in a business and economics degree programme. The German and Japanese versions of the US-American Test of Economic Literacy were used for the assessment of the economic knowledge of German (N = 901) and Japanese (N = 571) students. The TEL consists of 45 items in two questionnaire versions and is based on 20 globally accepted core standards of economics. The analyses in this paper are based on the total score of all 45 items of the TEL as well as the subscores for the 20 standards. A special focus of this paper is on gender-specific differences in economic knowledge. While gender has a strong effect on economic knowledge in Germany, only a small number of the core standards in Japan exhibit a difference between male and female test takers. The paper concludes by applying interpretative approaches to the different findings in both countries and suggests potential methods for further research on the gender effect in economics education.

Education is the core of the factors that improved people for a better lifestyle and increases the level of society' development. Quality education is one of the most vital goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to actualizing these factors. Using relational network data envelopment analysis (DEA), which have three interrelated substages, this current paper computes the educational economy efficiency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries bearing in mind the characteristics related to SDGs. The contribution of our study is the use of a novel approach to computing the educational economy efficiency using relational network DEA with GAMS. Even though some interesting differences reveal in the efficiency of the countries, the findings show that countries with high-efficiency scores are clustered around countries like Latvia, Slovenia, and Korea.

Plastic, plastic waste and marine litter indisputably is one of the key environmental issues of the 21st century. The already existing amount of accumulated marine litter, the high quantity of plastic waste escaping from waste management streams every year in combination with the low recycling rates for plastic and the missing awareness of the consumer for sustainable consumption pose a permanent threat to the ecosystem, biodiversity and human health. What is more, as economic and ecological interests strongly deviate from each other, the transformation of this status quo towards a more sustainable future will take place very slowly. Against this background, this paper will shortly outline the multitude of problems connected to plastic products throughout a product's lifecycle and introduce the idea of a circular economy. On this basis, the paper will critically analyze the strategy papers and the ongoing legislation of the EU introduced to solve these problems and to realize the transformation process of the EU-economy towards a circular economy from a sustainable development point of view. On the one hand, awareness raising is one main strategy of the EU to achieve this transformation, on the other hand, educational institutions are not specifically mentioned by the EU. In order to address this shortcoming, the paper will constitute the teaching principle "global development politics/education for sustainable development" as one measure to increase consumers' awareness and sustainable consumption. In general, this paper will proof that the topical area plastics can fruitfully be implemented at German schools for primary and secondary education in order to strengthen the education for sustainable development.

Collective training systems are based on the cooperation of multiple public and private stakeholders in order to work. However, such cooperation is not self-sustaining and depends, for instance, on public policies, capable intermediary organisations and shared logics of action. In this conceptual paper, we first review the political economy literature on cooperation in collective skill formation and find that it has given insufficient attention to the systematic comparative analysis of cooperation at the decentralised level as well as the actual social practices of cooperation. The paper then develops a multidisciplinary analytical framework that allows future research to examine decentralised cooperation at the regional, sectoral and occupational levels more systematically. This framework is grounded in a synthesis of three strands of empirical research on vocational education and training, namely the comparative political economy literature on governance, corporatism and coordination, institutional labour and societal economics as well as the educational science literature.

Since the late 1990s there has been a fundamental shift in the way schooling and even education as a whole is evaluated. From this new perspective the education system would seem to be interpreted as a sub-system of the economic system and thus subservient to it. Decisions on education matters seem to have become determinant for individual prosperity and decisions on the education system crucial for national welfare. In line with this view, which is rooted in the economics of education and human capital theories of the 1960s, international studies have been designed under the auspices of the OECD in the hope of obtaining more and better data for control purposes. This paper argues that such hope is not justified. Using Germany as an example, the practical consequences of these assumptions, which appear to be arbitrary, if not counter-productive, and the resultant changes in education policy based on the related control data will be described. (Contains 1 table.)

A series of studies in several countries tested the economic understanding of people, particularly students. The performance of the subjects is typically conceived as showing "deficits". These alleged deficits seem to correspond with scepticism towards market economy. Better test scores in general correlate with higher appraisal of market society. Could therefore a better understanding influence the attitudes towards phenomena of economic life, like competition, unequal income distribution and other characteristics of market economy? This paper identifies different factors influencing both the levels of economic understanding and the attitudes towards economy. It analyzes results of empirical studies and, as a conclusion, develops an "influence model" reflecting the connection between the form of perception of market-induced phenomena, i.e. economic competence, and the evaluation of these phenomena. The model is the fundament for the design of forthcoming studies. (Contains 1 figure and 6 footnotes.)

In search of methods that improve the efficiency of teaching and training in organizations, several authors point out that mass customization (MC) is a principle that covers individual needs of knowledge and skills and, at the same time limits the development costs of customized training to those of mass training. MC is proven and established in the economic sector, and shows high potential for continuing education, too. The paper explores this potential and proposes a multidisciplinary, pragmatic approach to teaching and training in organizations. The first section of the paper formulates four design principles of MC deduced from an examination of economics literature. The second section presents amit[TM], a frame for mass customized training, designed according to the principles presented in the first section. The evaluation results encourage the further development and use of mass customized training in continuing education, and offer suggestions for future research. (Contains 2 figures and 5 tables.)

Gender effects in large-scale assessments have become an increasingly important research area within and across countries. Yet few studies have linked differences in assessment results of male and female students in higher education to construct-relevant features of the target construct. This paper examines gender effects on students' economic content knowledge with a focus on construct-relevant explanations. Moreover, we compare gender effects cross-nationally between Germany, Japan, and the United States. To assess economic content knowledge of higher education students, we used translated, adapted, and validated versions of the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE, 4th ed.), an instrument that is commonly used internationally. We found gender effects on test scores in all three countries; effects were larger in Germany and the United States than in Japan. Gender effects were generally more pronounced on the numeracy subscale than on the literacy subscale, that is, male students had a greater edge over female students when items required calculations. In our conclusion, we discuss how numeracy and literacy items may tap different abilities.

Using German linked employer-employee data, this paper investigates the short-term impact of on-the-job training on wages. The applied estimation approach was first introduced by Leuven and Oosterbeek (2008). Wages of employees who intended to participate in training but did not do so because of a random event are compared to wages of training participants. The estimated wage returns are statistically insignificant. Furthermore, the decision to participate in training is associated with sizeable selection effects. On average, participants have a wage advantage of more than 4% compared to non-participants. (Contains 9 tables.)

Increasingly, faculty members are rewarded financially for prestige-maximizing publications. As a result, the balance between publishing and other activities such as teaching or public service may collapse, as argued by Leisyte, Enders, and de Boer (2009). In our paper, we focus on career-related rewards and study their impact on publication productivity to see whether economic incentives do indeed affect faculty behavior, as measured empirically. We compare economic incentives resulting from two different career systems, namely those within the German and the U.S. university systems. We derive three hypotheses regarding expected publication patterns and test them by comparing the lifetime publication patterns of German and U.S. business and economics faculty members. (Contains 5 tables, 1 figure and 28 notes.)

The topic of biodiversity is of high value for education for sustainable development as it reflects the interaction of ecological, economic and social issues particularly well. Especially in so-called biodiversity hotspots, among them Chile, natural resources are often depleted for economic interest which, in many cases, is required income. Therefore, economic and social aspects must be considered in order to fully understand biodiversity loss. Being such an important issue, it is surprising that little is known thus far about learning prerequisites concerning biodiversity. This paper presents a qualitative interview study that investigated 16 to 18-year-old Chilean and German learners' perception of biodiversity and its loss (n = 24). Firstly, the pupils' cognitive frameworks were analysed. Secondly, subjective theories about biodiversity loss due to resource dilemmas were explored. Three subjective theories that emerged from the data reflected the notion that most pupils focused on either ecological or economic aspects of biodiversity loss. Pupils who concentrated on ecological aspects often referred to incorrect ecological facts. Moreover, these pupils showed difficulties in developing empathy and solidarity with impoverished people, who depend economically on plants in a resource dilemma. A smaller group of pupils succeeded in integrating the ecological, economic, and social aspects. Regarding the two samples, Chilean pupils seemed to have greater difficulties in recognising the social aspects of biodiversity loss, while German pupils were largely unaware of biodiversity loss on a local level. Implications for biodiversity education and future research will be outlined and discussed.

Aggregate unemployment may affect individual returns to education through qualification-specific responses in participation and wage bargaining. This paper shows that an increase in regional unemployment by 1% decreases returns to education by 0.005 percentage points. This implies that higher skilled employees are better sheltered from labour market changes with respect to their jobs but they encounter larger wage changes than less skilled employees. We use representative individual data and panel variation in unemployment between German regions and employee groups. We demonstrate that our results are robust with respect to aggregation bias, time lags and potential endogeneity of the unemployment variable. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

How educational policy and content in the German Democratic Republic is related to scientific-technological development is examined. Included is a discussion of past policies; the development of employee qualifications; the planning of education within the framework of planning the national economy; and technological, economic, and educational policies in industry. (RM)

Copyright of Business Administration Quarterly / Kwartalnik Nauk o Przedsiebiorstwie is the property of SGH Warsaw School of Economics 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.)

The number of obstetric departments in German hospitals has declined in the last decades. In particular, rural hospitals are challenged to sustain their delivery services. In this paper, we analyse the role of variation and overheads of obstetric departments from the perspective of current and future German hospital financing. For this purpose, we develop a Monte Carlo simulation model that analyses the workload of the labour room and the obstetric ward. The results show that a hospital with less than 640 deliveries per year cannot break even. In order to offer services 24 h per day, 365 days per year, five nurses, five midwives, and five gynaecologists are needed. This results in high fixed costs. At the same time, the variation coefficient of the labour room and the obstetric ward declines with an increasing number of deliveries. Consequently, small hospitals have a higher risk of over- and under-utilization in the course of the year. This paper acknowledges that economics is not the only decision dimension. The quality of the institution and the transport to the hospital have to be considered, as well as the population's wish for nearby services. However, the simulations clearly demonstrate that unless the hospital financing system is changed fundamentally, the decline in the number of hospitals offering delivery services will continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The arbitrage was tested for United Kingdom and German newsprint imports from Finland, Sweden, and Canada using the hypothesis of 'the law of one price' (LOP). The LOP states that prices of homogenous commodities, defined in the common currency, are equal throughout the world. Concept of cointegration and Johansen's multivariate method were used in 11T to testing the LOP in the long run. The empirical data were quarterly covering the period 1980--1994. The hypothesis that the LOP holds for all three supplier countries simultaneously was not supported by the multivariate test results in either importing country. Cointegration tests rejected the simultaneous LOP between the three import prices in both markets. The LOP was also tested pairwise, and itwas found to hold between Swedish and Canadian prices in the UK market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The canonical economic literature on path dependence provides only a limited explanation of why and how new technological pathways are created initially. The motivation of this paper is to address this gap in the literature and argue that evolutionary economics theories of path dependence need to be linked with sociological explanations of how new technological pathways are created in the first instance by knowledgeable inventors and innovators. These arguments are developed by the authors in a hybrid socio-economic theory of new path creation. In this paper these theoretical arguments are illustrated empirically by a comparative analysis of the introduction and diffusion of new wind power technologies in Britain and Germany. The empirical analysis focuses on the key research question of why the introduction of these new technologies started earlier and has diffused sooner in Germany than in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Regroupements régionaux, Sentiers de croissance, Economie de l'information, Allemagne Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Regionale Cluster, Entwicklungswege, Informationswirtschaft, Deutschland Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Aglomeraciones regionales, Vías de desarrollo, Economía de la información, Alemania [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Opioids are one of the most important and effective drug classes in pain medicine with a key role in most medical fields. The increase of opioid prescription over time has led to higher numbers of prescription opioid misuse, abuse and opioid-related deaths in most developed OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries around the world. Whilst reliable data on the prevalence of opioid treatment is accessible for many countries, data on Germany specifically is still scarce. Considering Germany being the largest country in the European Union, the lack of evidence-based strategies from long-term studies is crucial. The aim of this work is to review and summarise relevant published literature on the prevalence of opioid prescription in Germany to adequately inform health policy strategies. Methods: A systematic review of the epidemiology of opioid prescription in Germany was conducted, searching PubMed and Web of Science. Eligibility criteria were defined prior to conducting the search. Literature concerning Germany, published in English and German was included and the search was replicated by three independent researchers. Two levels of screening were employed. Disagreement was resolved by face-to-face discussion, leading to a consensus judgement. Results: Our electronic search yielded 735 articles. Reviewing titles and abstracts yielded 19 relevant articles. Three authors examined each article’s full text more closely and determined that twelve papers should be included. Of the twelve identified studies—with publication dates ranging from 1985 to 2016—six were retrospective cross-sectional studies and six were retrospective repeated-measures cross-sectional studies. Sample sizes ranged from 92,842 to ≈ 11,000,000 participants. Data sources of included studies showed vast heterogeneity. The reviewed literature suggested an increase in the number of patients with opioid prescriptions and defined daily doses of opioids per recipient in Germany over time. The majority of opioid prescriptions was used for patients with non-cancer pain. Opioid use was more common in older people, women and in the north of Germany. Fentanyl was shown to be the most prescribed strong opioid in outpatient settings in Germany, despite not being the first-line choice for chronic pain conditions. All data published before 2000—but none of the more recent studies—suggested an insufficient treatment of pain using opioids. There were no signs for a current opioid epidemic in Germany. Conclusions: Despite some limitations of the review and the heterogeneity of studies, it can be stated that the number of opioid prescriptions overall as well as the number of people receiving opioid treatment have increased over time. Most prescriptions were found to be for strong opioids and patients with non-cancer pain. Even though patterns of opioid prescription follow trends observed in other developed countries, there are no signs of an opioid epidemic in Germany. Therefore, this review could currently not find a need for urgent health policy interventions regarding opioid prescription practices. However, critical gaps in the literature remain and more research is needed to make more reliable judgements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide impacts on infrastructure and society in the Federal Republic of Germany are associated with damage costs of about US$300 million on annual average. Despite the large overall losses due to widespread landslide activity, there is a lack of historical impact assessments, not just for Germany's low mountain areas but those of entire Central Europe as well. This paper is a collection of three case studies from Germany that seek a better understanding of landslide impacts and their economic relevance at local and regional level. The first case study investigates damage types and mitigation measures at a representative landslide site in ways that support to gain insight into historical hazard interactions with land use practices. This case history is followed by a case study dealing with fiscal cost impacts of landslide damages for an example city and the highway system of the Lower Saxon Uplands, NW Germany. In addition to a cost-burden analysis for affected public budgets, an overview of the principles of disaster financing in landslide practice is given. The third case study is focused on the conflicts of urban development in hazard areas, with an economic approach to balancing safety and public welfare interests. Each case study is based on historical data sets extracted from Germany's national landslide database. This paper presents three different case studies that in combination are a first step towards assessing landslide impacts in integrated perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between the German Kiel Institute of World Economics and the Rockefeller Foundation in the years 1925-1950. It focuses on the role of politics in the promotion of science and shows the great difficulties the foundation had in developing a strategy to react to the Nazi’s seizure of power in 1933. The Kiel Institute disguised itself as an unpolitical and “objective” institute and managed to regain support after 1934. During the Second World War, the Rockefeller Foundation abandoned the idea of science as an area detached from politics by definition. In the late 1940s, it carefully reassessed the German academic landscape and, in the case of the Kiel Institute, came to the conclusion not to resume a significant amount of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at measuring the general state intervention in rental housing market in Germany from 1913 through 2015. Four policy classes are considered: Incentives for social housing, tenant protection, housing rationing, and rent controls. Based on a legislation analysis, for each class an index measuring the degree of regulation is constructed. The indices reflect dramatic increases in regulations during and after the World Wars. The 2010s are characterized by a surge in all classes of regulations related to the growing housing scarcity in large cities due to interregional migration leading to a geographical mismatch between housing supply and demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to map some of the diversity in employee relations in Germany that is overlooked, first, within assessments of the German labour market that focus on the national level and second, within separate studies in this ares that emphasize attempts by employers to circumvent important institutions. Design/methodology/approach - The research adopts a quantitative approach to examine data for German manufacturing and service sectors on both the spread of industry-wide collective agreements and the extent to which workers are paid wage rates that are higher than those set out in those agreements. It also assesses the prevalence of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes. Findings - Industry-wide collective agreements are not the burden that they are often portrayed. Actual wage rates and the prevalence of profit sharing and ESOSs make German workplaces more heterogeneous than critics and advocates of the German economic model posit. Research limitations/implications - The data are limited to Germany; however, Germany occupies a prominent position, not just within much of the employment relations literature, but also in terms of economic output. The research is also limited by an inability to provide evidence on workplaces that undercut sectoral collective agreements and to disaggregate the data further by sector and firm size/location. Originality/value - The paper provides a counterpoint to the portrayals of employee relations in Germany that often present a homogeneous picture of those relations. For the first time, data on the spread of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes in German workplaces at the sectoral level are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper suggests that an adequate understanding of the notion of the social market economy, which has become a prominent aspect of debates on the social model of the European Constitution, is to be assessed in the context of the historist tradition in German economic and social thought Design/methodology/approach — The paper explores the intellectual history of the notion of the social market economy and its conceptual relevance for a dynamic European social model by highlighting Alfred Müller-Armack's contributions to ordoliberalism and their relationship with German historism, in particular with Gustav von Schmoller's approach to Socialpolitik. Findings — The paper finds that the decisive concern of the notion of the social market economy is the reconciliation of economic dynamism and social cohesion in a basic setting of legal rules and cultural values, reaching beyond common interpretations that focus more narrowly on institutional aspects of social policy. Practical implications — By highlighting the interplay of economic, social and cultural dimensions, the paper suggests an extension of the conceptual horizon of current debates on the social model of the European Union, promoting policy implications that account for the possibilities of balancing conflicting social interests in the process of integration. Originality/value — The paper applies a reconstruction of the intellectual history of the notion of the social market economy to the problem of designing a social order for the European Union with its underlying discourse on the constitutional status of a European social market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the role of preference shocks during the Great Depression in Germany. From Euler equation residuals, I am able to identify a series of contractionary shocks that struck the German economy from 1929 to 1932. I apply the sequence of these taste innovations to a dynamic general-equilibrium model and find that the size and the order of shocks can generate a pattern that can explain the lion's share of the decline in economic activity. The artificial economy also predicts a swift recovery after 1932, thereby questioning any significant effects of Nazi economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stylized facts suggest that output volatility in OECD countries has declined in recent years. The causes and the nature of this decline have so far been analyzed mainly for the United States. In this paper, we analyze whether structural changes in output volatility in Germany can be detected. We report evidence that output volatility has declined in Germany. It is difficult to answer the question whether this decline in output volatility reflects good economic and monetary policy or merely‘good luck’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper employs spatial econometrics techniques to discriminate empirically between various economically plausible spatial patterns of interregional knowledge spillovers between west German planning regions in the 1990s. In general, interregional spillovers are found to contribute significantly to regional knowledge production. Due to fairly high spatial transaction costs, however, only a small fraction of the knowledge available in neighboring regions actually spills over. Consequently, the absolute contribution of `foreign' knowledge to a region's innovative performance is quite low. Moreover, only regions with low R&D density benefit from interregional spillovers. For regions with high R&D density they seem to be negligible. One reason for this maybe some sort of self-sufficiency in the R&D centers where researchers may have fewer incentives to consult researchers in other regions. Another reason for this may be the dominance of unidirectional knowledge flows from technological leaders to followers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides novel evidence on the time varying impact of government spending shocks on output in Germany over the years 1970 to 2013. In a first step, I use an expectations-augmented vector autoregressive model with time varying parameters (TVP-VAR) to show that fiscal multipliers are not stable over time but exhibit a ushaped pattern. While multipliers fluctuate around 2 at the beginning and end of the sample, they are much smaller in between. In a second step, I discuss which factors determine the magnitude of German multipliers and hence explain the observed variation. It turns out that fiscal policy is more effective when business uncertainty is high but less in periods of financial market stress, while the state of the business cycle is of minor importance. Moreover, I find that fiscal sustainability is a crucial determinant of the multipliers. I conclude that policy recommendations based on average multipliers are misleading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Migration Letters is the property of Transnational Press London Ltd. 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.)

Assuming that migration and integration have lasting effects on economic and social processes, this paper analyses if a diverse cultural environment has a positive impact on labour market success. We expect that culturally diverse labour markets provide new opportunities through an open and tolerant climate, thus contributing to overall economic growth. We test this assumption by analysing the successful transition from education to work depending on the regional distribution and ethnic mix of the foreign population in Germany (cultural diversity). To account for variation within Germany, cultural diversity is observed at small administrative units. We analyse a cohort of young adults at the time of the successful completion of their apprenticeship in Germany and follow them through the beginning of their career. The concentration on a homogenous group regarding occupational certificates enables us to focus on the effects of the local and social environment as well as individual characteristics such as their national background on finding a job (or not). We apply an instrumental variable design to disentangle the effects of cultural diversity and share of foreigners. The results show that both young foreigners and Germans face significantly lower barriers for employment entry in culturally more diverse German regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using longitudinal data, this paper analyses the effect of different forms of social capital on the likelihood of employment and the occupational status of first generation immigrant men in Germany. This allows me to examine to what extent social capital of the bonding and the bridging types yield different returns. The study considers how contacts with natives, co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital are beneficial to the economic position of immigrant men. Random effects and fixed effects models show that strong inter-ethnic ties are beneficial both for employment and occupational status. There is no effect of co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital. It is concluded that, when using panel data, bridging social capital contributes to a better economic position and bonding social capital does not. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In several European countries, older unemployed people, after reaching a certain age, are entitled to unemployment benefit payments without having to seek new employment. The coexistence of this exemption clause and of reforms aimed at containing early retirement in the respective countries reflects a conflict of political aims – on the one hand, between an efficient labour-market policy at a time of high unemployment, and on the other hand, the goal of the comprehensive activation and labour-market integration of older workers as a response to demographic change. This paper deals with the reasons for the transfer of older long-term unemployed people on to ‘facilitated benefits’ for labour-market withdrawal in Germany. The empirical analysis shows that low or no propensity to work was rarely the motive for leaving the labour market; in particular, those anticipating a low retirement income actually wanted to be re-employed. The vast majority gave three reasons for the decision to retire: an inability to cope with requirements of available jobs; a lack of job opportunities; and an absence of proper support from the public employment agency. Thus the withdrawal of older long-term unemployed people into pre-retirement cannot be attributed to a utility-maximising decision in favour of leisure and against gainful employment, but is the primary result of the scarce re-employment prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Beginning with the current global and European imbalances and crises and consideration of the German reaction to them, the paper explores the political economy origins of the conservative German policy stance. It emerges that an export-oriented economy was a deliberate decision of the German elite after World War II and that the external constraint may be regarded as appropriately designed for internal discipline and efficiency in a self-reinforcing process. [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]

German educational spending per student has dramatically declined since the early 1970s. In this paper, we develop a theory of fiscal opportunism and argue that state governments exploit higher educational policies as an instrument of active labour market policy. By 'opening' universities to the masses and the extensive propagation of broader university enrolment during times of economic distress, state governments have an instrument at their disposal for lowering unemployment without generating negative budgetary implications. Thereby, the government pockets voter support not only by diminishing unemployment, but also by providing public goods particularly to the socially disadvantaged. At the same time, the state government risks a deterioration of educational quality owing to decreasing educational spending per student. We test our theoretical claims for the German states in a period ranging from 1975 to 2000 by means of panel fixed-effects models. The empirical results robustly support the hypothesis that rising unemployment ratios lead to increased university enrolment, but also significantly reduce the spending per student. [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]

Copyright of Pharmacy Practice (1886-3655) is the property of Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas S.L. 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.)

The cluster concept in economics contributes to new research on the forest sector's role in national and regional economies, yet incompatible cluster definitions and a variety of methodologies impede an objective comparison of findings. However, governmental statistical reporting systems are not well suited for a direct assessment of the forest sector due to classificatory and methodological shortcomings. This research presents a more standardized approach in the form of a statistics-based method for forest sector benchmarking and monitoring. The specification of the method included an extended cluster definition based on the Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union (NACE) and the validation of two suitable national statistical reporting systems. Testing the method in a case study for Germany demonstrates its capacity to provide consistent socioeconomic information on forest and wood-based industries in a sectoral, spatial and temporal dimension. In 2004, the German forest cluster accounted for 100,000 companies, 150 billion Euro gross turnover and over 900,000 employees (approximately 3.5% of the national economy) and ranked among the strongest manufacturing sectors. Individual wood-based industries indicated regional concentrations in federal states of Germany. Over the past decade, the forest sector was marked by considerable losses in turnover and employment, which increasingly deviated from the overall economic development of Germany. The research contributes to a more standardized, empirical understanding of the forest sector's role in national and regional economies, supporting rational decision making in cluster policy and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Short Rotation Coppice (SRC), which entails managing wood plantations as perennial energy crops on agricultural land, has the potential to contribute significant amounts of wooden biomass to Europe''s energy mix. Yet, uncertainty prevails about the future of key economic variables determining the viability of SRC cultivations. Consequently, agriculturists face challenges when conducting ex-ante economic analyses of SRC projects and measuring performance against the alternative, agricultural crops. This paper scrutinises five key determinants of SRC economic viability: yield level, woodchip market price, subsidies, cost level and opportunity costs for conventional agricultural crops. By utilising site-specific conditions and different future scenarios we provide a comprehensive economic appraisal of SRC plantations for agriculturists. We focus our analysis on Germany. Our results show that SRC plantations are less profitable under the medium scenario when compared with agricultural crops. Notwithstanding, favourable political and economic conditions such as subsidies, lower costs and higher woodchip prices can lead to SRC''s superior profitability. If the German government is serious about improving investments conditions for commercial SRC plantations, we recommend introducing sufficient, efficient and consistent subsidies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Wind energy has become the major renewable energy source in Germany with an installed capacity of more than 20GW and an annual output of about 40TWh in 2007. In this paper we analyze the extent to which wind energy can replace fossil capacities based on wind injection and demand data for 2006 through June 2008. The results indicate that the wind potential in Germany will not allow a significant reduction of fossil capacities. We also assess the potential savings due to wind energy. The German market is modeled with and without wind input to estimate the net savings of fossil fuels in the observation period. We find that the cost-saving potential for electricity production is quite significant and exceeds the subsidies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study tests the influence of culture on group decision-making behavior among respondents in Korea and Germany. For our field experiment we are using an ultimatum game design, played among participants in Korea and in a benchmark experiment in Germany. We find evidence that taking the mosaic view of culture and making subjects aware of shared affective ties, based on age, educational-institution and regional origin, leads to differences in economic decisions, contrary to what neoclassical economic theory would suggest. Our results indicate that awareness of common group membership in some cultural contexts orients decision-makers toward upholding social norms that induces a greater preference for more selfless, in-group interested decisions, while anonymity makes personal identity salient and promotes more self-interested economic decisions. These effects are more pronounced in Korean participants compared with German participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receiving information about expected costs promptly after a cancer diagnosis through psycho‐oncology care or social counselling is crucial for patients to be prepared for the financial impact. Nevertheless, less is known about financial impacts for cancer patients in countries with statutory health insurance. This study aims to explore the full scope of costs that constitute the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis in Germany and to identify the reasons for high financial decline. Semistructured interviews with 39 cancer patients were conducted between May 2017 and April 2018. Narratives were analysed via qualitative content analysis. Several factors influenced cancer patients' indirect costs and direct medical and non‐medical costs. For many patients, these changes resulted in higher indirect costs caused by income losses, especially when surcharges for shift work, travel expenses or company benefits ceased and were not reimbursed. Higher direct medical costs were caused by co‐payments and additional non‐refundable costs. Non‐medical costs were reported to increase for some patients and to decrease for others, as for example, leisure activity costs either increasing because of pampering oneself to cope with the diagnosis and undergoing therapy or decreasing because of not being able to participate in leisure activities during therapy. When analysing the financial impacts of individuals' total costs, we found that some patients experienced no financial decline or an overall financial increase. Most patients experienced overall higher costs, and income loss was the main driver of a high financial decline. Nevertheless, decreased non‐medical costs due to lower work‐related and leisure activity costs could compensate for these higher costs. Cancer patients are confronted with a variety of changes in their financial situations, even in countries with statutory health insurance. Screening for cancer patients with a high risk of financial decline should consider any effects on indirect costs and direct medical and nonmedical costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]