4,907 research outputs found
Wage Distributions by Bargaining Regime: Linked Employer-Employee Data Evidence from Germany
Using linked employer-employee data from the German Structure of Earnings Survey 2001, this paper provides a comprehensive picture of the wage structure in three wage-setting regimes prevalent in the German system of industrial relations. We analyze wage distributions for various labor market subgroups by means of kernel density estimation, variance decompositions, and individual and firm-level wage regressions. Unions' impact through collective and firm-level bargaining mainly works towards a higher wage level and reduced overall and residual wage dispersion. Yet observed effects are considerably heterogeneous across different labor market groups. There is no clear evidence for wage floors formed by collectively bargained low wage brackets which would operate as minimum wages for different groups of workers.Collective wage bargaining, wage structure, kernel density estimation, variance decomposition, wage equations, German Structure of Earnings Survey
Union Density and Varieties of Coverage: The Anatomy of Union Wage Effects in Germany
Collective bargaining in Germany takes place either at the industry level or at the firm level; collective bargaining coverage is much higher than union density; and not all employees in a covered firm are necessarily covered. This institutional setup suggests to explicitly distinguish union power as measured by net union density (NUD) in a labor market segment, coverage at the firm level, and coverage at the individual level. Using linked employer-employee data and applying quantile regressions, this is the first empirical paper which simultaneously analyzes these three dimensions of union influence on the structure of wages. Ceteris paribus, a higher share of employees in a firm covered by industry-wide or firm-level contracts is associated with higher wages. Yet, individual bargaining coverage in a covered firm shows a negative impact both on the wage level and on wage dispersion. A higher union density reinforces the effects of coverage, but the effect of union density is negative at all points in the wage distribution for uncovered employees. In line with an insurance motive, higher union density compresses the wage structure and, at the same time, it is associated with a uniform leftward movement of the distribution for uncovered employees.linked employer-employee data, quantile regression, wage structure, collective bargaining coverage, union density, Structure of Earnings Survey 2001, Germany
Advantages and challenges in coupling an ideal gas to atomistic models in adaptive resolution simulations
In adaptive resolution simulations, molecular fluids are modeled employing
different levels of resolution in different subregions of the system. When
traveling from one region to the other, particles change their resolution on
the fly. One of the main advantages of such approaches is the computational
efficiency gained in the coarse-grained region. In this respect the best
coarse-grained system to employ in the low resolution region would be the ideal
gas, making intermolecular force calculations in the coarse-grained subdomain
redundant. In this case, however, a smooth coupling is challenging due to the
high energetic imbalance between typical liquids and a system of
non-interacting particles. In the present work, we investigate this approach,
using as a test case the most biologically relevant fluid, water. We
demonstrate that a successful coupling of water to the ideal gas can be
achieved with current adaptive resolution methods, and discuss the issues that
remain to be addressed
Union Density and Varieties of Coverage: The Anatomy of Union Wage Effects in Germany
Collective bargaining in Germany takes place either at the industry level or at the firm level; collective bargaining coverage is much higher than union density; and not all employees in a covered firm are necessarily covered. This institutional setup suggests to distinguish explicitly union power as measured by net union density (NUD) in a labor market segment, coverage at the firm level, and coverage at the individual level. Using linked employer-employee data and applying quantile regressions, this is the first empirical paper which simultaneously analyzes these three dimensions of union influence on the structure of wages. Ceteris paribus, a higher share of employees in a firm covered by industry-wide or firm-level contracts is associated with higher wages. Yet, individual bargaining coverage in a covered firm shows a negative impact both on the wage level and on wage dispersion. A higher union density is negative at all points in the wage distribution for uncovered employees. In line with an insurance motive, higher union density compresses the wage structure and, at the same time, it is associated with a uniform leftward movement of the distribution for uncovered employees.Union density, collective bargaining coverage, wage structure, quantile regression,linked employer-employer data, Structure of Earnings Survey 2001, Germany.
Current-induced gap opening in interacting topological insulator surfaces
Two-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) host gapless helical edge states
that are predicted to support a quantized two-terminal conductance.
Quantization is protected by time-reversal symmetry, which forbids elastic
backscattering. Paradoxically, the current-carrying state itself breaks the
time-reversal symmetry that protects it. Here we show that the combination of
electron-electron interactions and momentum-dependent spin polarization in
helical edge states gives rise to feedback through which an applied current
opens a gap in the edge state dispersion, thereby breaking the protection
against elastic backscattering. Current-induced gap opening is manifested via a
nonlinear contribution to the system's characteristic, which persists
down to zero temperature. We discuss prospects for realizations in recently
discovered large bulk band gap TIs, and an analogous current-induced gap
opening mechanism for the surface states of three-dimensional TIs.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, published versio
Observation of squeezed states with strong photon number oscillations
Squeezed states of light constitute an important nonclassical resource in the
field of high-precision measurements, e.g. gravitational wave detection, as
well as in the field of quantum information, e.g. for teleportation, quantum
cryptography, and distribution of entanglement in quantum computation networks.
Strong squeezing in combination with high purity, high bandwidth and high
spatial mode quality is desirable in order to achieve significantly improved
performances contrasting any classical protocols. Here we report on the
observation of the strongest squeezing to date of 11.5 dB, together with
unprecedented high state purity corresponding to a vacuum contribution of less
than 5%, and a squeezing bandwidth of about 170 MHz. The analysis of our
squeezed states reveals a significant production of higher-order pairs of
quantum-correlated photons, and the existence of strong photon number
oscillations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Chytridiomycosis of marine diatoms : the role of stress physiology and resistance in parasite-host recognition and accumulation of defense molecules
Little is known about the role of chemotaxis in the location and attachment of chytrid zoospores to potential diatom hosts. Hypothesizing that environmental stress parameters affect parasite-host recognition, four chytrid-diatom tandem cultures (Chytridium sp./Navicula sp., Rhizophydium type I/Nitzschia sp., Rhizophydium type IIa/Rhizosolenia sp., Rhizophydium type IIb/Chaetoceros sp.) were used to test the chemotaxis of chytrid zoospores and the presence of potential defense molecules in a non-contact-co-culturing approach. As potential triggers in the chemotaxis experiments, standards of eight carbohydrates, six amino acids, five fatty acids, and three compounds known as compatible solutes were used in individual and mixed solutions, respectively. In all tested cases, the whole-cell extracts of the light-stressed (continuous light exposure combined with 6 h UV radiation) hosts attracted the highest numbers of zoospores (86%), followed by the combined carbohydrate standard solution (76%), while all other compounds acted as weak triggers only. The results of the phytochemical screening, using biomass and supernatant extracts of susceptible and resistant host-diatom cultures, indicated in most of the tested extracts the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids, phenols, and aldehydes, whereas the bioactivity screenings showed that the zoospores of the chytrid parasites were only significantly affected by the ethanolic supernatant extract of the resistant hosts
Designing -stacked molecular structures to control heat transport through molecular junctions
We propose and analyze a new way of using stacking to design molecular
junctions that either enhance or suppress a phononic heat current, but at the
same time remain conductors for an electric current. Such functionality is
highly desirable in thermoelectric energy converters, as well as in other
electronic components where heat dissipation should be minimized or maximized.
We suggest a molecular design consisting of two masses coupled to each other
with one mass coupled to each lead. By having a small coupling (spring
constant) between the masses, it is possible to either reduce, or perhaps more
surprisingly enhance the phonon conductance. We investigate a simple model
system to identify optimal parameter regimes and then use first principle
calculations to extract model parameters for a number of specific molecular
realizations, confirming that our proposal can indeed be realized using
standard molecular building blocks.Comment: 5 pages + supplemental material, 3 figure
FELIX, a full acceptance detector for the CERN LHC
Plans for FELIX, a full acceptance detector for the future CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), are described. The physics goals include detailed studies of the strong interactions (QCD), the forward energy flow and diffractive processes (Pomeron interactions), electroweak rapidity gaps, and elastic scattering. The precise measurement of particle production at a centre-of-mass energy of 14 TeV, well above the cosmic ray ``knee", will be fundamental for the interpretation of the highest energy cosmic ray events and may clarify some of the anomalies indicated by some cosmic ray experiments. The magnetic architecture and some of the design issues are briefly reviewed
Magneto-optic Kerr effect in a spin-polarized zero-moment ferrimagnet
The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) is often assumed to be proportional to
the magnetisation of a magnetically ordered metallic sample; in metallic
ferrimagnets with chemically distinct sublattices, such as rare-earth
transition-metal alloys, it depends on the difference between the sublattice
contributions. Here we show that in a highly spin polarized, fully compensated
ferrimagnet, where the sublattices are chemically similar, MOKE is observed
even when the net moment is strictly zero. We analyse the spectral ellipsometry
and MOKE of Mn 2 Ru x Ga, and show that this behaviour is due to a highly
spin-polarized conduction band dominated by one of the two manganese
sublattices which creates helicity-dependent reflectivity determined by a broad
Drude tail. Our findings open new prospects for studying spin dynamics in the
infra-red.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
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