Applying Macro-prudence in Financial Standard Setting: Systemically Sensitive Prompt Corrective Action

The systemic crisis has shown that far from being an obscure and arcane debate about measurement, accounting issues take on a huge significance for financial stability. This paper presents a macro-prudential model outline of financial standard setting, i.e. the idea that fair value accounting’s prior aim is no longer to correctly depict market values but to capture the broader impact of accounting on economic and financial systems. This approach differs from current accounting research in two ways: It addresses the possibility that fair value accounting can be, at least, a partial solution to the problem of systemic crises, rather than a mere problem contributor or crisis accelerator. Additionally, it questions the acclaimed role of accounting standard setters to provide decision useful information and thereby concentrate solely on ensuring that accounting values reflect current terms of trade between willing parties rather than cooperating with the prudential regulators in their endeavor for financial stability. The paper is thus able to offer a vision for how a new bank accounting regime for systemic stability could be designed

Wirtschaftsethik - Individualmoral oder Rahmenordnung? Ein Beitrag zum Einfluss der Verhaltensökonomik auf die Wirtschaftsethik

"Dieser Aufsatz untersucht den Einfluss von neuesten Erkenntnissen der Verhaltensökonomik auf die Plausibilität wirtschaftsethischer Ansätze. Bekanntlich hat die Verhaltensökonomik in den letzten Jahren die ausschließliche Fokussierung auf den Homo Oeconomicus als Idealtyp des wirtschaftlichen Akteurs aufgebrochen und durch ein differenzierteres, insbesondere auch altruistischen Handlungsmotiven gerecht werdendes Bild menschlichen Verhaltens weitgehend ersetzt. Im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Untersuchungen wollen die Autoren zeigen, dass diese Erkenntnisse weniger wirtschaftsethische Ansätze stützen, die den Ort der Moral primär beim Individuum sehen, als vielmehr solche, die den Ort der Moral vor allem in der Rahmenordnung erblicken." (Autorenreferat)"This essay examines the influence of the latest findings in behavioral economics on the plausibility of approaches in business ethics. As is well known, the former has broken up the supremacy of economic man as the prototype of an economic actor and, by and large, replaced it with a more nuanced picture that does, among other things, justice to altruistic intentions of actors. As opposed to prior research we argue that these findings do not support approaches in business ethics that regard the individual as the primary place of morality but rather ones that find the place of morality first and foremost in an economy's framework." (author's abstract

Aggression and Preference for First-Person Shooter and Action Games: Data From a Large-Scale Survey of German Gamers Aged 14 and Above

Cross-sectional studies on video game violence and aggression have yielded contradictory results. Parts of this inconclusiveness can be attributed to the limitation to particular age groups. The present study investigated the relationship between preference for action and first-person shooter (FPS) games and aggression for the groups of adolescents (14-18), younger (19-39), and older adults (40+) in a sample of German gamers (N = 4,500). The strength of the association differed between age groups. Even after controlling for gender, education, social support, self-efficacy, and overall video game use, we found a significant relationship between preference for action and FPS games and physical aggression that was strongest for the adolescents. We found no such association for anger and verbal aggression. The results indicate that potential selection or socialization effects are likely to differ with age and that research on video games and aggression can benefit from the inclusion of more heterogeneous samples

Violent video games and physical aggression: evidence for a selection effect among adolescents

Longitudinal studies investigating the relationship of aggression and violent video games are still scarce. Most of the previous studies focused on children or younger adolescents and relied on convenience samples. This paper presents data from a 1-year longitudinal study of N = 276 video game players aged 14 to 21 drawn from a representative sample of German gamers. We tested both whether the use of violent games predicts physical aggression (i.e., the socialization hypothesis) and whether physical aggression predicts the subsequent use of violent games (i.e., the selection hypothesis). The results support the selection hypotheses for the group of adolescents aged 14 to 17. For the group of young adults (18–21), we found no evidence for both the socialization and the selection hypothesis. Our findings suggest that the use of violent video games is not a substantial predictor of physical aggression, at least in the later phases of adolescence and early adulthood. The differences we found between the age groups show that age plays an important role in the relationship of aggression and violent video games and that research in this area can benefit from a more individualistic perspective that takes into account both intraindividual developmental change and interindividual differences between players

International gaming: comparative survey research on digital gaming

Computer and console gaming has become a major entertainment sector around the globe. Still, the diffusion rates and the general acceptance of gaming vary between countries. There is some anecdotal evidence that there are countries and regions which are more open to technological advancement and gaming in particular. However, until now, researchers had to rely mostly on market research and industry information when trying to identify the state of gaming in their respective countries. In a unique effort to solve the problem of missing cross-national research, this panel brings together several international teams of researchers, presenting several large-scale surveys in a comparative manner

Gemeinsam einsam: Entfremdung in der Arbeit heute

Gleichzeitig zu der in den letzten Jahren geringer werdenden Akzeptanz des globalen Kapitalismus ist eine kritische Philosophie der Arbeit wieder erstarkt, die nach den normativen Anforderungen fragt, denen moderne Arbeitsformen Rechnung zu tragen haben. Diese Philosophie der Arbeit soll hier in begrifflicher Hinsicht durch eine Anbindung an empirische Untersuchungen zu den Erfahrungen der Arbeiter weitergeführt werden. Der Blick auf diese empirischen Untersuchungen macht eine neue Art von Entfremdung evident – hier genannt: Entfremdung von sozialen Kontakten. Auf dieser empirischen Erkenntnis und auch auf deren wissenschaftstheoretischen Implikationen basierend argumentiert der Aufsatz für eine Erweiterung von Axel Honneths Theorie der Arbeit

Die erosionsprotektive Wirkung von ätherischen Ölen und Adstringenzien auf bovinen Zahnschmelz im in vivo/in vitro Versuch

Ziel der Studie: In der vorliegenden Studie sollte die erosionsprotektive Wirkung eines Adstringenz (Tanninsäure) und eines Mundsprays, welches ätherische Öle beinhaltet (Theranovis), untersucht und beurteilt werden. Material und Methode: 54 Prüfkörper wurden aus den Schneidezähnen adulter Rinder gewonnen und für die Experimente vorbereitet. Mithilfe des Mikrohärteprüfverfahrens nach Vickers wurden sie anschließend standardisiert, um reproduzierbare Ausgangsbedingungen für die Experimente zu gewährleisten. Die Prüfkörper wurden in den In-vivo-Versuchen von vier Probanden über 2,5 h getragen. Während dieser Zeit spülten die Versuchsteilnehmer fünf Mal mit der jeweiligen Spüllösung bzw. sterilem Wasser (Kontrollgruppe). Anschließend erfolgte für 3 min eine Ätzung mit einprozentiger Zitronensäure. Um die Auswirkung der Spüllösungen auf den Schmelz direkt beurteilen zu können, wurde die Pellikel, die sich innerhalb der Tragezeit bilden konnte, entfernt. Zusätzlich wurde eine In-vitro-Versuchsreihe durchgeführt, bei der Versuchsaufbau und Spülmodus analog zu den In-vivo-Versuchen beibehalten wurden. Hierdurch sollte der Effekt der Spüllösungen ohne die Einwirkung der Pellikel ermittelt werden. Bei den Versuchen mit bzw. ohne Pellikel wurden sowohl die Oberflächenrauigkeit, als auch die Mikrohärte der Prüfkörper im geätzten und im ungeätzten Bereich ermittelt. Anschließend erfolgte die Begutachtung der Prüfkörperoberfläche mittels Rasterelektronenmikroskop. Ergebnisse: Es konnte kein eindeutiger Beweis für die protektive Potenz der Spüllösungen erbracht werden. Es wurden große inter- und intraindividuelle Unterschiede bei den Probanden festgestellt. Allein die Zunahme der Oberflächenrauheit war nach der Behandlung mit Tanninsäure signifikant verringert im Vergleich zu der Kontrollgruppe. Dies erlaubte die Annahme, dass das Adstringenz gegen Säureangriffe einen gewissen Schutz bietet. Für Theranovis konnte kein schützender Effekt nachgewiesen werden.The aim of the study: The protective potential of two different mouthrinses against an erosive attack on tooth enamel, should be verified. One rinse is an astringent (tannic acid) and the other contains essential oils (Theranovis). Material and method: 54 specimens were cut out of bovine incisors and prepared for the experiments. To ensure each of the samples to be of the same hardness, it was necessary to standardize them before starting the experiments. This procedure made it possible to avoid mistakes according to uneven qualities of the specimens. Four healthy volunteers agreed to participate in the study. They carried four samples, two mounted on two splints on either side of the upper jaw. Within a period of 2,5 h, they rinsed 5 times with the astringent, respectively the oil-containing rinse or sterilised water. After this time, one half of the specimens' surfaces was etched with citric acid (1 %) for 3 min. Afterwards the acquired pellicle was removed from the samples, with the result that the protective effects on the specimens' surface could directly be investigated. It was also interesting to analyse the protective potential of the mouthrinses when they can act straightaway on the samples without pellicle between them. On that account, in-vitroexperiments were performed analogously to the in vivo ones. Both, the experiments with and without pellicle formation, were analysed by using devices for profilometry and microhardness measurements. In addition to that, a scanning electron microscope was utilised to visualize the effect on the surface of the enamel. Results of the study: It was not possible to verify a protective potential after rinses with tannic acid or Theranovis. Tannic acid was able to improve surface roughness in comparison to the control. Microhardness, instead, was not improved significantly. Great differences between volunteers were measured. The results clearly show that the process of pellicle formation and erosion are highly affected by individual influences

Pragmatistische Erneuerung der globalen Gerechtigkeitsdebatte

The article explicates how the pragmatic account of justice which is called ‘justice as historic experimentalism' can be applied to the debate on global justice. It investigates thereby the role that normative justifications of the nation-state ought to play in global theories of justice. It argues that one distinctive element of pragmatic approaches, as opposed to the dominant approaches in the field of global justice, is that arguments on the role of the nation-state do not occupy a central position. Rather, it is concrete problems of justice and their experimental and historic examination that guide the pragmatist inquiry. The role of the nation-state has to fall in line. The problem of global economic in equalities is invoked to illustrate the merits of the pragmatist approach to justice here presented