Fast ein Viertel der Privathaushalte in Deutschland mit Konsumentenkreditverpflichtungen

Der Anteil der Haushalte mit Konsumentenkreditverpflichtungen ist von 1997 bis 2001 gestiegen. Im gesamten Bundesgebiet hatte im Jahre 2001 fast jeder vierte Haushalt Konsumentenkredite abzuzahlen; vier Jahre zuvor war es nicht einmal jeder fünfte Haushalt. Das zeigen Analysen auf Basis des vom DIW Berlin in Zusammenarbeit mit Infratest Sozialforschung erhobenen Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP). Bei den Verschuldungsquoten und der Verschuldungsentwicklung gibt es zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschland wesentliche Unterschiede: So liegt der Anteil der ostdeutschen Haushalte mit Kreditverpflichtungen im Schnitt um 7 Prozentpunkte über dem im Westen. Neben der Verschuldungsquote sind auch die durchschnittlichen Beträge, die Haushalte monatlich zur Tilgung und für Zinszahlungen aufbringen müssen, gestiegen. Familien sind in der Gruppe der Haushalte mit Kreditbelastungen besonders stark vertreten; ihre Verschuldung hat stark zugenommen. Aber auch einkommensarme Haushalte gehen Konsumentenkreditverpflichtungen ein, die für sie eine hohe Belastung bedeuten: Im Durchschnitt des Untersuchungszeitraums verwendeten diese Haushalte 22 % ihres monatlichen Haushaltsnettoeinkommens zur Begleichung von Schulden, während es bei anderen Haushalten nur 16 % waren. Für stark verschuldete Haushalte spielt der weitere Ausbau einer qualifizierten Schuldnerberatung eine zentrale Rolle. Zunehmend sollte aber auch auf präventive Maßnahmen gesetzt werden. Hier wäre unter anderem an familienfreundliche Darlehen zu denken. Dabei könnten sowohl vom Staat als auch vom Bankensektor verstärkt Initiativen ausgehen. Da die vorliegenden Daten nur fünf Jahre umfassen und lediglich bis 2001 reichen, bleibt offen, wie sich die Aufnahme von Konsumentenkrediten danach entwickelt hat. Zu vermuten ist aber, dass es einen Rückgang gegeben hat, weil Haushalte in konjunkturschwachen Phasen erfahrungsgemäß vorsichtiger agieren.

Neighborhood Deprivation, Life Satisfaction, and Earnings: Comparative Analyses of Neighborhood Effects at Bespoke Scales

Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has a profound impact on individuals’ earnings and life satisfaction. Since definitions of the neighborhood and research designs vary greatly across studies, it is difficult to ascertain which neighborhoods and outcomes matter the most. By conducting parallel analyses of the impact of neighborhood deprivation on life satisfaction and earnings at multiple scales, we provide a direct empirical test of which scale matters the most, and whether the effects vary between outcomes. Our identification strategy combines rich longitudinal information on individual characteristics, family background and initial job conditions for England and Wales with econometric estimators that address residential sorting bias, and we compare results for individuals living in choice-restricted social housing with those living in self-selected privately rented housing. We find that the effect of neighborhood deprivation on life satisfaction and wages is negative for both outcomes and largely explained by strong residential sorting on both individual and neighborhood characteristics rather than a genuine causal effect. We also find that the results overall do not vary by neighborhood scale

Organic Matter Sources in North Atlantic Fjord Sediments

To better constrain the global carbon cycle fundamental knowledge of the role of carbon cycling on continental margins is crucial. Fjords are particularly important shelf areas for carbon burial due to relatively high sedimentation rates and high organic matter fluxes. As terrigenous organic matter is more resistant to remineralization than marine organic matter, a comprehensive knowledge of the carbon source is critical to better constrain the efficiency of organic carbon burial in fjord sediments. Here we investigated highly productive fjords in northern Norway and compare our results with both existing and new organic carbon to organic nitrogen ratios and carbon stable isotope compositions from fjords in mid‐Norway, west Svalbard, and east Greenland. The marine organic carbon contribution varies significantly between these fjords, and the contribution of marine organic carbon in Norwegian fjords is much larger than previously suggested for fjords in NW Europe and also globally. Additionally, northern Norwegian fjords show very high marine carbon burial rates (73.6 gC · m‐2 · year‐1) suggesting that these fjords are probably very distinct carbon burial hotspots. We argue that the North Atlantic Current inflow sustains these high burial rates and changes in the current strength due to ongoing climate change are likely to have a pronounced effect on carbon burial in North Atlantic fjords

Enhancing environmental quality in agricultural systems

Greenhouses have been extremely successful in providing abundant, cheap and high-quality produce, by using resources (water, minerals, pesticides) with a very high economic efficiency. Marginal agricultural land is being rapidly converted into protected cultivation in many (semi-arid) regions of the world, hoping to pros-per both from primary and secondary activities. Water use efficiency of greenhouse production is about five times as high as field production of vegetables. However, in spite of using resources more efficiently, greenhouse areas have an enormous visual and environmental impact: diversion of limited good water resources; contamina-tion due to pollutants released with over-abundant irrigation; production of plastic and mineral waste and biological by-products; contamination due to plant protec-tion chemicals and emission of ¿greenhouse¿ gases (CO2) by heating with fossil fuels in Northern countries. In addition, greenhouse production has an ¿image¿ problem: there is a general perception among European consumers that such an ¿industrial¿ production of food is non-natural and unhealthy, although in the Americas, for instance, the ¿cleanliness¿ of the production process is considered an advantage. Since, the ¿polluter pays¿ very seldom, environment-friendly production is more expensive. Therefore a large market in ¿eco-labels¿ has developed in response to consumers¿ misgivings and in the hope of recovering (part of) the costs through higher prices. However, there is little clarity about agricultural practices associated to each label and there are doubts about enforcement. This paper analyses advan-tages and draw-backs of greenhouse production, and attempts to review the items where improvement is necessary in order to ensure that greenhouse production is sustainable, yet profitable also in the future

Ice-sheet melt drove methane emissions in the Arctic during the last two interglacials

Circum-Arctic glacial ice is melting in an unprecedented mode, and release of currently trapped geological methane may act as a positive feedback on ice-sheet retreat during global warming. Evidence for methane release during the penultimate (Eemian, ca. 125 ka) interglacial, a period with less glacial sea ice and higher temperatures than today, is currently absent. Here, we argue that based on foraminiferal isotope studies on drill holes from offshore Svalbard, Norway, methane leakage occurred upon the abrupt Eurasian ice-sheet wastage during terminations of the last (Weichselian) and penultimate (Saalian) glaciations. Progressive increase of methane emissions seems to be first recorded by depleted benthic foraminiferal δ13C. This is quickly followed by the precipitation of methane-derived authigenic carbonate as overgrowth inside and outside foraminiferal shells, characterized by heavy δ18O and depleted δ13C of both benthic and planktonic foraminifera. The similarities between the events observed over both terminations advocate for a common driver for the episodic release of geological methane stocks. Our favored model is recurrent leakage of shallow gas reservoirs below the gas hydrate stability zone along the margin of western Svalbard that can be reactivated upon initial instability of the grounded, marine-based ice sheets. Analogous to this model, with the current acceleration of the Greenland ice melt, instabilities of existing methane reservoirs below and nearby the ice sheet are likely

Neighbourhood deprivation, life satisfaction and earnings: Comparative analyses of neighbourhood effects at bespoke scales

Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage has a profound impact on individuals’ earnings and life satisfaction. Since definitions of the neighbourhood and research designs vary greatly across studies, it is difficult to ascertain which neighbourhoods and outcomes matter the most. By conducting parallel analyses of the impact of neighbourhood deprivation on life satisfaction and earnings at multiple scales, we provide a direct empirical test of which scale matters the most and whether the effects vary between outcomes. Our identification strategy combines rich longitudinal information on individual characteristics, family background and initial job conditions for England and Wales with econometric estimators that address residential sorting bias, and we compare results for individuals living in choice-restricted social housing with results for those living in self-selected privately rented housing. We find that the effect of neighbourhood deprivation on life satisfaction and wages is negative for both outcomes and largely explained by strong residential sorting on both individual and neighbourhood characteristics rather than a genuine causal effect. We also find that the results overall do not vary by neighbourhood scale. </jats:p

Geochemical characterisation of northern Norwegian fjord surface sediments: a baseline for further paleo-environmental investigations

Norwegian fjord sediments are promising archives for very high resolution records of past environmental changes. Recent investigations of the modern depositional environment within fjords revealed that the accurate quantification of the inputs, sources, and sedimentary preservation of organic and inorganic material is crucial to decipher long term past climate signals in the sedimentary record of a certain fjord. Here, we investigate the elemental composition, bulk mineral assemblage and grain size distribution of forty-one surface sediment samples from a northern Norwegian fjord system. We reveal modern geochemical and sedimentological processes that occur within the Vestfjord, Ofotfjord and Tysfjord. Our results indicate a very heterogeneous sediment supply and intricate sedimentation processes. We propose that this is related to the complex fjord bathymetry, a low hydrodynamic energy environment, differences in the hinterland bedrock composition and a relatively small drainage area causing a rather diffuse freshwater inflow. Moreover, we show that marine carbonate productivity is the main calcite and Ca source in all three fjords

University of Maryland Libraries: Digital Preservation Policy

The University of Maryland (UMD) Libraries, in keeping with its mission “To enable the intellectual inquiry and learning required to meet the education, research and community outreach mission of the university,” serves as a trusted caretaker of the UMD Libraries’ collections, including those in digital format. The Digital Preservation Policy supports this mission and is the highest-level digital preservation policy document in the UMD Libraries. The Policy makes explicit the UMD Libraries’ commitment to preserving content selected for retention by collection managers. It defines a comprehensive digital preservation program for both born-analog and born-digital collections. The audience for this policy includes UMD Libraries employees, digital content contributors, donors, and users