Europäische Volkswirtschaften im Lichte der Kreislauftheorie der Einkommensverteilung

In this paper, we present a combination of Keynesian and Kaldorian macroeconomic distribution theory. An important outcome of our research is that the (total) savings ratio is a positive function of the profit quota. In the empirical section of the paper, we first present the development of the saving quotas, of the profit quotas and of the total tax quotas among 8 European countries between 1999 and 2014. Furthermore, we conduct a linear regression analysis for the countries mentioned and find empirical support for a savings function in the vein of Nicholas Kaldor. We also find empirical support for the (modified) so-called second Keynesian equation. Finally, some economic policy thoughts and a summary with a scope for future research close our exposition

Towards equilibrium in income distribution: Theoretical background and empirical evidence for European countries

The paper first aims at showing that personal income distribution - at least after government intervention - tends to be a stationary variable for many European countries. This finding backs earlier results achieved by Ramser (1987). Furthermore, personal incomes follow a log-normal distribution, regardless of time and location. The authors set up a theoretical equilibrium concept for personal income distribution which is located in status theory and which can explain why a certain or likewise 'optimal' degree of inequality is warranted in the society. In the empirical section of the paper, the authors present an in-depth analysis of personal income distribution (before and after government intervention) in 17 European countries (2004-2012). Linear regression exercises - which make use of Gini coefficients 'ex-ante' and Gini coefficients 'ex-post' - show that the total sample can be clustered into three subgroups. The main group of 10 countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Slovenia, Estonia, France, Luxembourg and Austria) seems to have already achieved equilibrium in income distribution. The other two, smaller groups (the so-called 'GIIPS': Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain on the one hand and Poland and Slovakia on the other hand) seem to be on the way to let their personal income distribution converge towards equilibrium, either 'from below' or 'from above'

Reward effects and incentive effects on the labor market: Empirical evidence for European countries

In this investigation, a political economy model of the labor market is proposed, where unions offer their (old and new) affiliates the combinations between the average real wage level and the standard deviation of wages or salaries. Globalization and other forces, however, have made it recently more difficult to the unions to pursue their policy in the backdrop of a declining union density. This has been established empirically for selected European countries. In an econometric exercise, we have also tested directly the impact of changes in real wages, minimum wage rate, and the effect of 90 to 10 decile ratio on the change in the degree of affiliation, which the unions were able to achieve in the recent past

On the distributional effects of minimum wages: A note

In this note, we recall that unions traditionally pursue a policy of pushing higher average wages and, at the same time, for a compression of the structure of wages and salaries, which is some sort of equity. Given the precipitous fall of union density in many, if not all, OECD countries, the actual good climate for minimum wage policy comes at no surprise. Despite the fact that unions do dislike the intervention of labor market policy to the detriment of tariff autonomy, we can show that minimum wages are capable of serving both of the above-mentioned goals of unions and also help increase the overall wage quota in the economy. Hence, It can be concluded that the unions have a double dividend when inviting policy makers to pursue a policy of minimum wages: both the average wage rate can be increased and the dispersion of wages be lowered, ceteris paribus

Solving Classical Insight Problems Without Aha! Experience: 9 Dot, 8 Coin, and Matchstick Arithmetic Problems

Insightful problem solving is a vital part of human thinking, yet very difficult to grasp. Traditionally, insight has been investigated by using a set of established “insight tasks,” assuming that insight has taken place if these problems are solved. Instead of assuming that insight takes place during every solution of the 9 Dot, 8 Coin, and Matchstick Arithmetic Problems, this study explored the likelihood that solutions evoked the “Aha! experience,” which is often regarded as the defining characteristic of insight. It was predicted that the rates of self-reported Aha! experiences might vary based on the necessary degree of constraint relaxation. The main assumption was that the likelihood of experiencing an Aha! would decrease with increasing numbers of constraints that must be relaxed, because several steps are needed to achieve a representational change and solve the problem, and thus, the main feature of suddenness of a solution might be lacking. The results supported this prediction, and demonstrated that in many cases participants do solve these classical insight problems without any Aha! experience. These results show the importance of obtaining insight ratings from participants to determine whether any given problem is solved with insight or not

Search and Coherence-Building in Intuition and Insight Problem Solving

Coherence-building is a key concept for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of intuition and insight problem solving. There are several accounts that address certain aspects of coherence-building. However, there is still no proper framework defining the general principles of coherence-building. We propose a four-stage model of coherence-building. The first stage starts with spreading activation restricted by constraints. This dynamic is a well-defined rule based process. The second stage is characterized by detecting a coherent state. We adopted a fluency account assuming that the ease of information processing indicates the realization of a coherent state. The third stage is designated to evaluate the result of the coherence-building process and assess whether the given problem is solved or not. If the coherent state does not fit the requirements of the task, the process re-enters at stage 1. These three stages characterize intuition. For insight problem solving a fourth stage is necessary, which restructures the given representation after repeated failure, so that a new search space results. The new search space enables new coherent states. We provide a review of the most important findings, outline our model, present a large number of examples, deduce potential new paradigms and measures that might help to decipher the underlying cognitive processes

Insight into the ten-penny problem: guiding search by constraints and maximization

For a long time, insight problem solving has been either understood as nothing special or as a particular class of problem solving. The first view implicates the necessity to find efficient heuristics that restrict the search space, the second, the necessity to overcome self-imposed constraints. Recently, promising hybrid cognitive models attempt to merge both approaches. In this vein, we were interested in the interplay of constraints and heuristic search, when problem solvers were asked to solve a difficult multi-step problem, the ten-penny problem. In three experimental groups and one control group (N = 4 × 30) we aimed at revealing, what constraints drive problem difficulty in this problem, and how relaxing constraints, and providing an efficient search criterion facilitates the solution. We also investigated how the search behavior of successful problem solvers and non-solvers differ. We found that relaxing constraints was necessary but not sufficient to solve the problem. Without efficient heuristics that facilitate the restriction of the search space, and testing the progress of the problem solving process, the relaxation of constraints was not effective. Relaxing constraints and applying the search criterion are both necessary to effectively increase solution rates. We also found that successful solvers showed promising moves earlier and had a higher maximization and variation rate across solution attempts. We propose that this finding sheds light on how different strategies contribute to solving difficult problems. Finally, we speculate about the implications of our findings for insight problem solving

Cognitive architecture with evolutionary dynamics solves insight problem

In this paper, we show that a neurally implemented a cognitive architecture with evolutionary dynamics can solve the four-tree problem. Our model, called Darwinian Neurodynamics, assumes that the unconscious mechanism of problem solving during insight tasks is a Darwinian process. It is based on the evolution of patterns that represent candidate solutions to a problem, and are stored and reproduced by a population of attractor networks. In our first experiment, we used human data as a benchmark and showed that the model behaves comparably to humans: it shows an improvement in performance if it is pretrained and primed appropriately, just like human participants in Kershaw et al. (2013)'s experiment. In the second experiment, we further investigated the effects of pretraining and priming in a two-by-two design and found a beginner's luck type of effect: solution rate was highest in the condition that was primed, but not pretrained with patterns relevant for the task. In the third experiment, we showed that deficits in computational capacity and learning abilities decreased the performance of the model, as expected. We conclude that Darwinian Neurodynamics is a promising model of human problem solving that deserves further investigation

Feelings-of-Warmth Increase More Abruptly for Verbal Riddles Solved With in Contrast to Without Aha! Experience

When we are confronted with a new problem, we typically try to apply strategies that have worked in the past and which usually lead closer to the solution incrementally. However, sometimes, either during a problem-solving attempt that does not seem to lead closer to the solution, or when we have given up on problem-solving for the moment, the solution seems to appear out of nowhere. This is often called a moment of insight. Whereas the cognitive processes of getting closer to the solution are still unknown for insight problem-solving, there are two diverging theories on the subjective feeling of getting closer to the solution: (1) One that states that an intuitive feeling of closeness to the solution increases slowly, but incrementally, before it surpasses the threshold to consciousness and becomes verbalizable (=insight) (continuous approach), and (2) another that proposes that the feeling of closeness to the solution does not increase before it exceeds the threshold to consciousness (discontinuous approach). Here, we investigated the subjective feeling of closeness to the solution, assessed as feeling-of-warmth (FoW), its relationship to solving the problem versus being presented with it and whether a feeling of Aha! was experienced. Additionally, we tested whether Aha! experiences are more likely when the problem is solved actively by the participant or presented to the participant after an unsuccessful problem-solving attempt, and whether the frequency of Aha! experiences correlates with problem difficulty. To our knowledge, this is the first study combining the CRAT with FoW assessments for the named conditions (solved/unsolved, three difficulty levels, Aha!/no Aha!). We used a verbal problem-solving task, the Compound Remote Associates Task (CRAT). Our data revealed that Aha! experiences were more often reported for solutions generated by the participant compared to solutions presented after unsuccessful problem-solving. Moreover, FoW curves showed a steeper increase for the last two FoW ratings when problems were solved with Aha! in contrast to without Aha!. Based on this observation, we provide a preliminary explanation for the underlying cognitive process of solving CRA problems via insight

Should We Perform Old-For-Old Kidney Transplantation during the COVID-19 Pandemic? The Risk for Post-Operative Intensive Stay

Health care systems worldwide have been facing major challenges since the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Kidney transplantation (KT) has been tremendously affected due to limited personal protective equipment (PPE) and intensive care unit (ICU) capacities. To provide valid information on risk factors for ICU admission in a high-risk cohort of old kidney recipients from old donors in the Eurotransplant Senior Program (ESP), we retrospectively conducted a bi-centric analysis. Overall, 17 (16.2%) patients out of 105 KTs were admitted to the ICU. They had a lower BMI, and both coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertensive nephropathy were more frequent. A risk model combining BMI, CAD and hypertensive nephropathy gained a sensitivity of 94.1% and a negative predictive value of 97.8%, rendering it a valuable search test, but with low specificity (51.1%). ICU admission also proved to be an excellent parameter identifying patients at risk for short patient and graft survivals. Patients admitted to the ICU had shorter patient (1-year 57% vs. 90%) and graft (5-year 49% vs. 77%) survival. To conclude, potential kidney recipients with a low BMI, CAD and hypertensive nephropathy should only be transplanted in the ESP in times of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic if the local health situation can provide sufficient ICU capacities