Private Schools in Germany: Attendance up, but Not Among the Children of Less Educated Parents

The percentage of children attending private school in Germany has increased sharply in recent years. According to data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), 7% of all students now attend private school. The SOEP, which contains a range of household data, shows that the children of parents with a university entry degree ("Abitur") are more likely to attend private school than those with less educated parents. This trend has become more pronounced in recent years: between 1997 and 2007, the percentage of students with better-educated parents attending private school increased by 77%. By contrast, the corresponding increase for students with less-educated parents was only 12%. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that increasing selection in favor of better-educated groups is particularly evident at the secondary school level. At the primary school level, full-time employment of the mother and regional factors significantly increase the chances of private school attendance. Educational policy should focus on preventing children from better-educated groups from leaving the public school system. If competition among schools is to be encouraged as a matter of policy, efforts should also be made to ensure less educated families consider sending their children to private schools.Private schools, Selection

Social Context and Behavior under Uncertainty

This dissertation consists of five papers that investigate behavior under uncertainty across various social contexts

Private Schools in Germany: Attendance up, but Not Among the Children of Less Educated Parents

The percentage of children attending private school in Germany has increased sharply in recent years. According to data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), 7% of all students now attend private school. The SOEP, which contains a range of household data, shows that the children of parents with a university entry degree ("Abitur") are more likely to attend private school than those with less educated parents. This trend has become more pronounced in recent years: between 1997 and 2007, the percentage of students with better-educated parents attending private school increased by 77%. By contrast, the corresponding increase for students with less-educated parents was only 12%. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that increasing selection in favor of better-educated groups is particularly evident at the secondary school level. At the primary school level, full-time employment of the mother and regional factors significantly increase the chances of private school attendance. Educational policy should focus on preventing children from better-educated groups from leaving the public school system. If competition among schools is to be encouraged as a matter of policy, efforts should also be made to ensure less educated families consider sending their children to private schools

Der Trend zur Privatschule geht an bildungsfernen Eltern vorbei

Der Anteil von Kindern, die eine Privatschule besuchen, hat in den letzten Jahren stark zugenommen. Nach Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) besuchen sieben Prozent aller Schüler eine Privatschule. Die Daten geben auch Auskunft über die Eltern von Privatschülern. Demnach besuchen Schüler, deren Eltern ein Abitur haben, häufiger eine Privatschule als Schüler aus bildungsferneren Elternhäusern. Dieser Trend hat sich in den letzten Jahren verstärkt: So ist der Anteil der Privatschüler aus "bildungsnahen" Elternhäusern zwischen 1997 und 2007 um 77 Prozent gestiegen. Bei Schülern aus bildungsfernen Elternhäusern beträgt der Anstieg lediglich zwölf Prozent. Multivariate Analysen zeigen, dass die zunehmende Selektion hin zu bildungsnahen Schichten insbesondere in der Sekundarstufe auftritt. Im Grundschulbereich erhöhen regionale Faktoren sowie eine Vollerwerbstätigkeit der Mutter die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Privatschulbesuchs signifikant. Bildungspolitisch sollte verhindert werden, dass insbesondere Kinder aus bildungsnahen Schichten den öffentlichen Schulbereich verlassen. Wird ein Schulwettbewerb grundsätzlich für sinnvoll gehalten sollten Bemühungen unternommen werden, dass auch bildungsferne Schichten Privatschulen in Erwägung ziehen

Der Trend zur Privatschule geht an bildungsfernen Eltern vorbei

Der Anteil von Kindern, die eine Privatschule besuchen, hat in den letzten Jahren stark zugenommen. Nach Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) besuchen sieben Prozent aller Schüler eine Privatschule. Die Daten geben auch Auskunft über die Eltern von Privatschülern. Demnach besuchen Schüler, deren Eltern ein Abitur haben, häufiger eine Privatschule als Schüler aus bildungsferneren Elternhäusern. Dieser Trend hat sich in den letzten Jahren verstärkt: So ist der Anteil der Privatschüler aus "bildungsnahen" Elternhäusern zwischen 1997 und 2007 um 77 Prozent gestiegen. Bei Schülern aus bildungsfernen Elternhäusern beträgt der Anstieg lediglich zwölf Prozent. Multivariate Analysen zeigen, dass die zunehmende Selektion hin zu bildungsnahen Schichten insbesondere in der Sekundarstufe auftritt. Im Grundschulbereich erhöhen regionale Faktoren sowie eine Vollerwerbstätigkeit der Mutter die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Privatschulbesuchs signifikant. Bildungspolitisch sollte verhindert werden, dass insbesondere Kinder aus bildungsnahen Schichten den öffentlichen Schulbereich verlassen. Wird ein Schulwettbewerb grundsätzlich für sinnvoll gehalten sollten Bemühungen unternommen werden, dass auch bildungsferne Schichten Privatschulen in Erwägung ziehen.Private schools, Selection

Politicians’ social welfare criteria: an experiment with German legislators

Much economic analysis derives policy recommendations based on social welfare criteria intended to model the preferences of a policy maker. Yet, little is known about policy maker’s normative views in a way amenable to this use. In a behavioral experiment, we elicit German legislators’ social welfare criteria unconfounded by political economy constraints. When resolving preference conflicts across individuals, politicians place substantially more importance on least-favored than on most-favored alternatives, contrasting with both common aggregation mechanisms and the equal weighting inherent in utilitarianism and the Kaldor-Hicks criterion. When resolving preference conflicts within individuals, we find no support for the commonly used “long-run criterion” which insists that choices merit intervention only if the lure of immediacy may bias intertemporal choice. Politicians’ and the public’s social welfare criteria largely coincide

Politicians’ social welfare criteria – an experiment with german legislators

Much economic analysis derives policy recommendations based on social welfare criteria intended to model the preferences of a policy maker. Yet, little is known about policy maker’s normative views in a way amenable to this use. In a behavioral experiment, we elicit German legislators’ social welfare criteria unconfounded by political economy constraints. When resolving preference conflicts across individuals, politicians place substantially more importance on least-favored than on most-favored alternatives, contrasting with both common aggregation mechanisms and the equal weighting inherent in utilitarianism and the Kaldor-Hicks criterion. When resolving preference conflicts within individuals, we find no support for the commonly used “long-run criterion” which insists that choices merit intervention only if the lure of immediacy may bias intertemporal choice. Politicians’ and the public’s social welfare criteria largely coincide

Nuclear coherent population transfer with x-ray laser pulses

Coherent population transfer between nuclear states using x-ray laser pulses is studied. The laser pulses drive two nuclear transitions between three nuclear states in a setup reminding of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage used for atomic coherent population transfer. To compensate for the lack of $\gamma$-ray laser sources, we envisage accelerated nuclei interacting with two copropagating or crossed x-ray laser pulses. The parameter regime for nuclear coherent population transfer using fully coherent light generated by future X-Ray Free-Electron Laser facilities and moderate or strong acceleration of nuclei is determined. We find that the most promising case requires laser intensities of $10^{17}$-$10^{19}$ W/cm$^{2}$ for complete nuclear population transfer. As relevant application, the controlled pumping or release of energy stored in long-lived nuclear states is discussed.Comment: extended argument about experimental feasibility, added references, results unchanged; v3 updated to the published versio

Science of Extreme Light Infrastructure

The infrastructure of Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) provides an unprecedented opportunity for a broad range of frontier science. Its highest ever intensity of lasers, as well as high fluence, high power, and/or ultrafast optical characteristics carve out new territories of discovery, ranging from attosecond science to photonuclear science, laser acceleration and associated beams, and high field science (Four Pillars of ELI). Its applications span from medicine, biology, engineering, energy, chemistry, physics, and fundamental understanding of the Universe. The relativistic optics that intense lasers have begun exploring may be extended into a new regime of ultra‐relativistic regime, where even protons fly relativistically in the optical fields. ELI provides the highest intensity to date such that photon fields begin to feel even the texture of vacuum. This is a singular appeal of ELI with its relatively modest infrastructure (compared to the contemporary largest scientific infrastructures), yet provides an exceptional avenue along which the 21st Century science and society need to answer the toughest questions. The intensity frontier simultaneously brings in the energy horizon (TeV and PeV) as well as temporal frontier (attoseconds and zeptoseconds). It also turns over optics of atoms and molecules into that of nuclei with the ability to produce monoenergetic collimated γ‐ray photons. As such, the ELI concept acutely demands an effort to encompass and integrate its Four Pillars