Activation policies in Germany : from status protection to basic income support

"This paper provides an overview of the sequential shift towards activating labour market and social policy in Germany. It not only shows the changes in the instruments of active and passives labour market policies but also analyzes the implications of this change for the political economy, the governance and the legal structure of a 'Bismarckian' welfare state. Our study points at the changes in Germany's status- and occupation-oriented unemployment benefit regime that has been relinquished for a larger share of dependent population. Unemployment insurance benefit duration is shorter now and newly created basic income support for needy persons is not earnings-related anymore. Pressure on unemployed to take up jobs has increased considerably while more persons than before have access to employment assistance. The paper also aims at a preliminary assessment of the effects of activating labour market policy on labour market as well as social outcomes and sets out probable paths of future adaptation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Sozialpolitik, Reformpolitik, Hartz-Reform, aktivierende Arbeitsmarktpolitik, aktivierende Sozialpolitik, Aktivierung, Leitbild, Wohlfahrtsstaat, Arbeitslosenunterstützung, Sozialleistungen, Leistungsanspruch, Leistungsbezug, Anspruchsvoraussetzung, Leistungshöhe, Grundsicherung nach SGB XII, Grundsicherung nach SGB II, Zielgruppe, Arbeitslosengeld II-Empfänger, Erwerbsfähigkeit, Sanktion, Arbeitslose, Existenzminimum, Eigentum, Berufswahlfreiheit, Arbeitsverwaltung, Kompetenzverteilung, organisatorischer Wandel, Job-Center, ARGE, aktivierende Arbeitsmarktpolitik - Erfolgskontrolle, öffentliche Ausgaben, Armut, politischer Wandel, Politikumsetzung

Hybrid Spectrum Sharing in mmWave Cellular Networks

While spectrum at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies is less scarce than at traditional frequencies below 6 GHz, still it is not unlimited, in particular if we consider the requirements from other services using the same band and the need to license mmWave bands to multiple mobile operators. Therefore, an efficient spectrum access scheme is critical to harvest the maximum benefit from emerging mmWave technologies. In this paper, we introduce a new hybrid spectrum access scheme for mmWave networks, where data is aggregated through two mmWave carriers with different characteristics. In particular, we consider the case of a hybrid spectrum scheme between a mmWave band with exclusive access and a mmWave band where spectrum is pooled between multiple operators. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study proposing hybrid spectrum access for mmWave networks and providing a quantitative assessment of its benefits. Our results show that this approach provides major advantages with respect to traditional fully licensed or fully unlicensed spectrum access schemes, though further work is needed to achieve a more complete understanding of both technical and non technical implications

Bursting the broadband bubble

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Broadband has revolutionised the way the Internet is used and has become the critical enabling infrastructure of our modem and knowledge-based economy. Its widespread introduction has not only greatly enhanced the speed at which information online can be accessed, but also the range and sophistication of the content available. It is still penetrating the telecommunication market and is seen by some as the most significant evolutionary step since the emergence of the Internet. However in the rush to achieve market share, there is a risk that insufficient attention may be paid to quality issues, the central theme of this research. The research addresses the issues of broadband quality with a stated objective of assessing broadband quality by means of an integrated framework that encompasses factors beyond strict technical characteristics of broadband networks. Indeed, the concept of quality is a multi-facetted one, for which various perspectives can be distinguished. In this work, broadband quality as perceived by users, ISP and Government in the United Kingdom (UK) is looked at and a survey report is given and analysed. The aim of this doctoral research was to provide much needed empirical broadband quality framework that would guide the service provider as well as the UK government in the provision of quality broadband to its consumers. It will also stand as a benchmark to countries wanting to provide quality broadband to its citizens. A survey research approach was employed to achieve the overall aim and objective of this research. This was conducted using the response of 133 participants located in various boroughs in the UK. The results of the survey show that quality, though desired by many, has been short-changed by the desire to have access to the Internet via broadband at the lowest cost possible. However, this has not encouraged some consumers to switch to broadband from dial-up service despite continuous low prices being offered by service providers. Furthermore, the results also indicated that focusing on broadband quality will improve and promote investment in broadband capacity and decrease the uncertainty in consumer demand for applications such as multi-media content delivery, enhanced electronic commerce and telecommuting that exploit broadband access

A Stock Options Metaphor for Content Delivery Networks

The concept of Stock Options is used to address the scarcity of resources, not adequately addressed by the previous tools of our Prediction Mechanism. Using a Predictive Reservation Scheme, network and disk resources are being monitored through well-established techniques (Kernel Regression Estimators) in a given time frame. Next, an Secondary Market mechanism significantly improves the efficiency and robustness of our Predictive Reservation Scheme by allowing the fast exchange of unused (remaining) resources between the Origin Servers (CDN Clients). This exchange can happen, either by implementing socially optimal practices or by allowing automatic electronic auctions at the end of the day or at shorter time intervals. Finally, we further enhance our Prediction Mechanism; Stock Options are obtained and exercised, depending on the lack of resources at the end of day. As a result, Origin Servers may acquire resources (if required) at a normal price. The effectiveness of our mechanism further improves.Comment: 35 pages, 13 figure

Strategies in Underwriting the Costs of Catastrophic Disease

In this thesis we address the problem of integrated software pipelining for clustered VLIW architectures. The phases that are integrated and solved as one combined problem are: cluster assignment, instruction selection, scheduling, register allocation and spilling. As a first step we describe two methods for integrated code generation of basic blocks. The first method is optimal and based on integer linear programming. The second method is a heuristic based on genetic algorithms. We then extend the integer linear programming model to modulo scheduling. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time anybody has optimally solved the modulo scheduling problem for clustered architectures with instruction selection and cluster assignment integrated. We also show that optimal spilling is closely related to optimal register allocation when the register files are clustered. In fact, optimal spilling is as simple as adding an additional virtual register file representing the memory and have transfer instructions to and from this register file corresponding to stores and loads. Our algorithm for modulo scheduling iteratively considers schedules with increasing number of schedule slots. A problem with such an iterative method is that if the initiation interval is not equal to the lower bound there is no way to determine whether the found solution is optimal or not. We have proven that for a class of architectures that we call transfer free, we can set an upper bound on the schedule length. I.e., we can prove when a found modulo schedule with initiation interval larger than the lower bound is optimal. Experiments have been conducted to show the usefulness and limitations of our optimal methods. For the basic block case we compare the optimal method to the heuristic based on genetic algorithms. This work has been supported by The Swedish national graduate school in computer science (CUGS) and Vetenskapsrådet (VR)

Spartan Daily, September 15, 1986

Volume 87, Issue 12https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/7469/thumbnail.jp

Reforming the Defined-Benefit Pension System

Defined-benefit pensions typically expose workers to a form of financial risk that they are ill positioned to bear and unable to hedge. If workers understand that risk, they will offer employers a lower “price” (in the form of salary concessions) than the capital markets would offer for the same cash flow. The resulting financial inefficiency reduces the value of the firm sponsoring the pension plan. The paper identifies reforms that would essentially eliminate the financial risk borne by workers and hence the financial inefficiency inherent in risky pensions. It would also essentially eliminate the substantial financial exposure currently borne by taxpayers. The key reform elements are tighter rules governing funding and portfolio investment, market-oriented pricing of the insurance offered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and improved disclosure of information related to pension plans in firms’ public financial statements, in the federal budget, and in statements provided to workers.macroeconomics, defined-benefit pension, pension system, financial risk

Poor choices: the limits of competitive markets in the provision of essential services to low-income consumers

A major study of the problems faced by the poor in the market for seven essential services in the UK - energy, food, housing, water, telecoms, transport, and financial services. Together these represent 60% of spending by the poorest 30% of households

The Management of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs)

Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) originated to accomplish several objectives: (1) to meet energy efficiency goals mandated by executive orders and energy policies; (2) to improve federal government facilities using funds allocated for utility bills; and (3) to receive repayment of expenditures through energy savings reflected in reduced utility bills. In ESPC\u27s, the contractor guarantees savings to the federal government agency. 10 CFR 436 limits the time necessary for payback. However, this regulation and others were written prior to the deregulation of utility companies. This theory is based on the underlying premise that the contractor payback is a direct result of the energy savings. The population of study is all of the Air Force ESPCs. The sampling frame used will be the ESPCs and their task orders (TO\u27s) listed in the Air Force Civil Engineering Support Agency (AFCESA) database. The primary unit of analysis will be the individual task order. Data will be collected from interviews, observations, conferences, archives, and other task order related documents. Using case study methodology, contract financial data, energy rates contract decision memorandums, contract clauses and statements of work, observation, open interviews, and other relevant meetings and materials will be evaluated to determine whether deregulation has an effect on contractor payback and what the effect entails