Temporary Layoffs and Unemployment Insurance: Is Experience Rating Desirable?

This paper explores how the introduction of an experience rated system of unemployment insurance affects employment and welfare in a model where implicit contracts between firms and workers give rise to wage rigidities and unemployment. In the literature, it has been argued that experience rated systems of unemployment insurance may reduce long term employment as firms anticipate the higher costs of layoffs implied by experience rating. Our analysis shows that, despite the higher costs of layoffs, the introduction of experience rating may increase long term employment. Moreover, it unambiguously increases welfare.unemployment insurance, labour markets, implicit contracts

Risk aversion does not justify the introduction of mandatory unemployment insurance in the shirking model

The introduction of unemployment insurance is usually thought to increase welfare if workers are sufficiently risk averse. We analyse the effects of introducing mandatory unemployment insurance in the shirking model. Surprisingly, we find that introducing unemployment insurance reduces welfare irrespective of the degree of risk aversion.Efficiency Wages, Shirking, Unemployment Insurance

E-homework with individual feedback for large lectures

We implemented two different blended learning concepts using STACK. The aim was to enhance continuous learning activity of up to 1600 undergraduates in each of our courses right from the beginning of a term. In both scenarios, classroom exercises were partially replaced by voluntary e-learning tasks. In the first scenario, lecture hours were used to spend more time on difficult exercises in the classroom. In the second, lecture hours were reduced and bonus points for the final exam could be earned by submitting additional e-homework. E-homework with bonus points triggers active participation in the other (online and classroom) parts of the same course and therefore improves continuous learning

Genetic Surveillance Detects Both Clonal and Epidemic Transmission of Malaria following Enhanced Intervention in Senegal

Using parasite genotyping tools, we screened patients with mild uncomplicated malaria seeking treatment at a clinic in Thiès, Senegal, from 2006 to 2011. We identified a growing frequency of infections caused by genetically identical parasite strains, coincident with increased deployment of malaria control interventions and decreased malaria deaths. Parasite genotypes in some cases persisted clonally across dry seasons. The increase in frequency of genetically identical parasite strains corresponded with decrease in the probability of multiple infections. Further, these observations support evidence of both clonal and epidemic population structures. These data provide the first evidence of a temporal correlation between the appearance of identical parasite types and increased malaria control efforts in Africa, which here included distribution of insecticide treated nets (ITNs), use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria detection, and deployment of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT). Our results imply that genetic surveillance can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of disease control strategies and assist a rational global malaria eradication campaign.Human Evolutionary BiologyOrganismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Experience Rating versus Employment Protection Laws in a Model where Firms Monitor Workers

While layoff costs in the U.S. are mostly due to experience-rated unemployment insurance, layoff costs in European labour markets are primarily a consequence of employment protection laws. In this paper we compare the effects of experience rating and employment protection laws on employment and welfare in a model where unemployment arises due to efficiency wage setting and where labour turnover is inefficiently high. We show that a revenue-neutral introduction of experience rating reduces labour turnover and increases employment and welfare. The introduction of employment protection laws may also reduce labour turnover but employment declines. Copyright The editors of the "Scandinavian Journal of Economics", 2005 .

Österreichische Außenhandelsbeziehungen mit den Mitgliedsländern des Golf-Kooperationsrates: Endbericht ; Studie im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten

aus dem Inhaltsverzeichnis: Einleitung; Neue Entwicklungen in der geopolitischen Lage der Golf-Region; Makroökonomische und sektorale Entwicklungen; Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen in den Ländern des Golf-Kooperationsrates; Entwicklung des Außenhandels ausgewählter OECD-Länder mit dem GKR; Spezialisierungsmuster zwischen ausgewählten OECD-Ländern und dem GKR; Direktinvestitionen in den Ländern des GKR; Befragungen; Zusammenfassung

BDNF as potential biomarker of epilepsy severity and psychiatric comorbidity: pitfalls in the clinical population

International audienceBackgroundSeveral studies implicate brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. In particular, preclinical data suggest that lower serum BDNF is a biomarker of epilepsy severity and psychiatric comorbidities. We tested this prediction in clinical epilepsy cohorts.MethodsPatients with epilepsy were recruited from 4 epilepsy centers in France and serum BDNF was quantified. Clinical characteristics including epilepsy duration, classification, localization, etiology, seizure frequency and drug resistance were documented. Presence of individual anti-seizure medications (ASM) was noted. Screening for depression and anxiety symptoms was carried out in all patients using the NDDI-E and the GAD-7 scales. In patients with positive screening for anxiety and/or depression, detailed psychiatric testing was performed including the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), STAI-Y, Holmes Rahe Stressful Events Scale and Beck Depression Interview. Descriptive analysis was applied. Spearman’s test and Pearson’s co-efficient were used to assess the association between BDNF level and continuous variables. For discrete variables, comparison of means (Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney u-test) was used to compare mean BDNF serum level between groups. Multivariate analysis was performed using a regression model.ResultsNo significant correlation was found between serum BDNF level and clinical features of epilepsy or measures of depression. The main group-level finding was that presence of any ASM at was associated with increased BDNF; this effect was particularly significant for valproate and perampanel.ConclusionPresence of ASM affects serum BDNF levels in patients with epilepsy. Future studies exploring BDNF as a possible biomarker of epilepsy severity and/or psychiatric comorbidity must control for ASM effects