Negative Wigner function at telecommunication wavelength from homodyne detection

Quantum states of light having a Wigner function with negative values represent a key resource in quantum communication and quantum information processing. Here, we present the generation of such a state at the telecommunication wavelength of 1550nm. The state is generated by means of photon subtraction from a weakly squeezed vacuum state and is heralded by the `click' of a single photon counter. Balanced homodyne detection is applied to reconstruct the Wigner function, also yielding the state's photon number distribution. The heralding photons are frequency up-converted to 532nm to allow for the use of a room-temperature (silicon) avalanche photo diode. The Wigner function reads W(0,0)=-0.063 +/- 0.004 at the origin of phase space, which certifies negativity with more than 15 standard deviations

Trade Union Membership and Dismissals

In Germany, there is no trade union membership wage premium, while the membership fee amounts to 1% of the gross wage. Therefore, prima facie, there are strong incentives to freeride on the benefits of trade unionism. We establish empirical evidence for a private gain from trade union membership which has hitherto not been documented: in West Germany, union members are less likely to lose their jobs than non-members. In particular, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel we can show that roughly 50% of the observed raw differential in individual dismissal rates can be explained by the estimated average partial effect of union membership.free-riding, trade union membership, survey data

Are You Well Prepared for Long-term Care? – Assessing Financial Gaps in Private German Care Provision

The development of expenditure for care services is one of the most intensively debated topics in public. However, studies calculating financial provision gaps only focus on the macro-level implications for the compulsory care insurance. In contrast, this paper examines the individuals’ micro-level perspective. We use survey as well as regional and national statistical data to calculate expected individual costs of long-term care on a very detailed care arrangement and care level basis. Afterwards, we compare these costs with the individuals’ total wealth. In our most conservative policy scenario, our results show that about a third of statutorily insured individuals will have to face a financial care provision gap. Among homeowners, an even higher share will have to liquidate the main residence. The privately insured are affected to a somewhat lower extent. In both groups, the situation will become much more severe if the development of public transfers does not keep up with future increases of long-term care costs. Furthermore, regression analyses show that provision gaps are more frequent among statutorily insured individuals, females, and individuals in single households.Long-term care costs; care prevalence; life expectancy; provision gap

Works Councils and Heterogeneous Firms

Theoretical analyses of the effects of works councils show ambiguous results. Therefore an empirical investigation of the issue is inevitable. The results so far are mixed, frequently a positive effect on productivity, but a negative one on profits is found. The problem of both theoretical and empirical studies is the assumption of firm homogeneity. To close this gap, we take into account firm heterogeneity proxied by the percentage of highly qualified employees in the workforce. The theoretical result that the positive productivity effect is more pronounced in firms with well-defined majorities is confirmed in the empirical part of the paper. The results on profitability are less favourable for works councils: in those firms where the productivity effect is significant, the profitability effect is negative, except for firms with a very high percentage of highly qualified employees. Turning to the effect of collective agreements, they seem to mitigate the problem of reduced profitability in firms with no clear majority in the structure of qualifications.firm heterogeneity, works councils, productivity, profitability, IAB Establishment-Panel

Portfolio decisions on life annuities and financial assets with longevity and income uncertainty

There are two stylised facts, namely weak demand for life-annuities and flat age-wealth profile that contradict the life-cycle hypothesis. In this paper we design a theoretical framework, which combines plausible arguments, which have been put forward in the literature to reconcile theory with empirical evidence. Besides the existence of an annuity market and of a public pension system we assume risk-averse individuals who are uncertain about lifetime and disposable income and who have preferences for leaving bequests. It is shown that this framework can contribute to explain the observed portfolio decision in favour of financial assets relatively to annuities.savings; life annuities; bequests; uncertain lifetime; uncertain income; social security

Trade Union Membership and Dismissals

In Germany, there is no trade union membership wage premium, while the membership fee amounts to 1% of the gross wage. Therefore, prima facie, there are strong incentives to free-ride on the benefits of trade unionism. We establish empirical evidence for a private gain from trade union membership which has hitherto not been documented: in West Germany, union members are less likely to lose their jobs than non-members. In particular, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel we can show that roughly 50% of the observed raw differential in individual dismissal rates can be explained by the estimated average partial effect of union membership.dismissal, free-riding, trade union membership, survey data