The evolution of job stability and wages after the implementation of the Hartz reforms

We address the concerns about rising inequality in the German labour market after the implementation of the Hartz reforms between 2003 and 2005. We focus on the quality of new jobs started between 1998 and 2010 in West Germany in terms of job stability and level of earnings. Using social security data drawn from the Integrated Employment Biographies, we analyse the distributions of job durations and wages and model their determinants at the worker level. Our results show a high degree of job stability during and after the reform years, decreasing wage levels and increasing wage dispersion

Doing well in reforming the labour market? Recent trends in job stability and wages in Germany

The German employment miracle with a weak decline in employment and low unemployment during the great recession seems to be a good example for a successful labour market reform. While the aggregate level of job turnover seems to be stable over time, there are nevertheless concerns about rising inequality in the labour market. In this paper we analyze the quality of newly started jobs between 1998 and 2010 using a huge administrative data set which allows to look at job durations and earnings for different groups of workers over time. Microeconometric models of job stability and wages are estimated to control for a wide range of individual, firm and regional characteristics. Our results show a fairly constant level of overall job stability but decreasing wages and rising wage dispersion over time, which is in line with wage moderation explanations of the employment miracle. In a further analysis we focus on certain groups of workers with disadvantages in job duration and wages, like low skilled, formerly unemployed and temporary agency workers. Again, we find evidence of a rise in job durations of new jobs accompanied by a decrease in wages

Is There Such a Thing as a Family Constitution? : A Test Based on Credit Rationing

The paper aims to ascertain whether voluntary money transfers may be explained by the existence of self-enforcing family constitutions. We identify a circumstance in which an agent will behave differently if she is optimizing subject to a family constitution, than if she is moved by either altruistic or exchange motivations. The circumstance is the presence of a binding credit ration, which may raise the probability of making a money transfer (and the amount of money transferred) if a family constitution exists, but will have the opposite effect if the transfer is either a gift, or payments for services rendered. Allowing for possible endogeneity, we find that rationing has a positive effect on the probability of giving money, and on the amount given, if the potential giver is under the age of retirement and has children, but no significant effect if the person has no children, or is over the retirement age. This rejects the hypothesis that money transfers are motivated by either altruistic or straight exchange motives, but not the one that these transfers are governed by family constitutions

Treatment satisfaction, adherence and behavioral assessment in patients de – escalating from natalizumab to interferon beta

Background: De-escalating natalizumab (NTZ) to interferon beta 1b (IFN B 1B) is a possible treatment option in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients interrupting NTZ because of increased risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The aim of this study was to evaluate satisfaction and adherence to treatment, behavioral and fatigue changes in patients switched to IFN B 1B compared to continued NTZ treatment. Methods: A 1 year, prospective, randomized, rater-blinded, parallel-group study. Nineteen relapsing remitting (RR) MS patients, randomly assigned to undergo either NTZ (n = 10) or IFN B 1B (n = 9) treatment, who had previously received NTZ for at least 12 months with disease stability and fearing or at risk for PML were included. Patients underwent behavioral and treatment assessments at baseline, after 24-week and 1 year follow-up. Behavioral assessment included measures of cognition, fatigue and quality of life. Treatment assessment included measures of satisfaction, persistence and adherence to treatment. Clinical-radiological disease activity and safety were also assessed. Results: Baseline characteristics of patients were similar between groups except for Euro Quality Visual Analogue Scale, being higher in the NTZ group (p = 0.04). Within-group comparisons at the three time points, as well as interaction analysis of treatment effect over time did not show any statistically significant differences in behavioral or treatment assessments, but a coherent trend favoring NTZ over IFN B 1B. Conclusions: De-escalating NTZ to IFN B 1B is feasible and associated with overall good patient related outcome and persistently stable behavioral measures

Embrittlement of MISSE 5 Polymers After 13 Months of Space Exposure

Understanding space environment induced degradation of spacecraft materials is essential when designing durable and stable spacecraft components. As a result of space radiation, debris impacts, atomic oxygen interaction, and thermal cycling, the outer surfaces of space materials degrade when exposed to low Earth orbit (LEO). The objective of this study was to measure the embrittlement of 37 thin film polymers after LEO space exposure. The polymers were flown aboard the International Space Station and exposed to the LEO space environment as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 5 (MISSE 5). The samples were flown in a nadir-facing position for 13 months and were exposed to thermal cycling along with low doses of atomic oxygen, direct solar radiation and omnidirectional charged particle radiation. The samples were analyzed for space-induced embrittlement using a bend-test procedure in which the strain necessary to induce surface cracking was determined. Bend-testing was conducted using successively smaller mandrels to apply a surface strain to samples placed on a semi-suspended pliable platform. A pristine sample was also tested for each flight sample. Eighteen of the 37 flight samples experienced some degree of surface cracking during bend-testing, while none of the pristine samples experienced any degree of cracking. The results indicate that 49 percent of the MISSE 5 thin film polymers became embrittled in the space environment even though they were exposed to low doses (approx.2.75 krad (Si) dose through 127 mm Kapton) of ionizing radiation

Exploring the future of tourism and quality of life

Few studies to date have examined the impact of tourism on quality of life (QoL) as conventional research has tended to focus, instead, on resident attitudes towards tourism and tourism ’s impacts in particular (Smith, 1977; 1989). Even less research has addressed whether tourism can drive or facilitate sustainable development (Miller and Twining-Ward, 2005) or whether tourism can contribute to the subjective wellbeing of those involved in travel and tourism. Impact studies generally ask residents to agree or disagree with statements regarding perceived impacts from tourism on their community. By contrast, QoL research aims to understand how these impacts are internalised and influence an individual’s overall life satisfaction (Andereck et al, 2007). With terms used interchangeably QoL, happiness and well-being refer to one’s satisfaction with life, and feelings of contentment or fulfilment with one’s experiences in the world (ibid.). Whether tourism as phenomena and practice may support the growing body of evidence that demonstrates a positive relationship between existential factors such as life purpose / meaning, personal growth and wellbeing (Vella-Brodrick, 2007) was the topic of intense debate during the 2008 Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel Education Network (BEST EN) Think Tank VIII

Erosion Results of the MISSE 8 Polymers Experiment After 2 Years of Space Exposure on the International Space Station

Polymers and other oxidizable materials on the exterior of spacecraft in the low Earth orbit (LEO) space environment can be eroded due to reaction with atomic oxygen (AO). Therefore, in order to design durable spacecraft, it is important to know the LEO AO erosion yield (E(sub y), volume loss per incident oxygen atom) of materials susceptible to AO reaction. A spaceflight experiment, called the Polymers Experiment, which contained 42 samples, was developed to determine the effect of solar exposure on the AO E(sub y) of fluoropolymers flown in ram, wake, or zenith orientations. The Polymers Experiment was exposed to the LEO space environment on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 8 (MISSE 8) mission. The MISSE 8 mission included samples flown in a zenith/nadir orientation for 2.14 years in the MISSE 8 Passive Experiment Container (PEC), and samples flown in a ram/wake orientation for 2.0 years in the Optical Reflector Materials Experiment-III (ORMatEIII) tray. The experiment included Kapton H (Registered Trademark) witness samples for AO fluence determination in each orientation. This paper provides an overview of the MISSE 8 mission, a description of the flight experiment with details on the polymers flown, the characterization techniques used, the AO fluence for each exposure orientation, and the LEO E(sub y) results. The E(sub y) of Teflon fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) samples flown in ram, wake, and zenith orientations have been compared, and the E(sub y) was found to be highly dependent on orientation and therefore environmental exposure. The FEP E(sub y) was found to directly correlate with the solar exposure/AO fluence ratio showing the effect of solar radiation and/or heating due to solar exposure on FEP erosion. In addition, back-surface carbon painted FEP (C-FEP) flown in the zenith orientation had a significantly higher E(sub y) than clear FEP or Al-FEP further indicating that heating has a significant impact on the erosion of FEP. This experiment provides valuable LEO flight data on the erosion of Teflon FEP, a commonly used spacecraft thermal insulation