Income and Longevity Revisited: Do High-Earning Women Live Longer?

The empirical relationship between income and longevity has been addressed by a large number of studies, but most were confined to men. In particular, administrative data from public pension systems are less reliable for women because of the loose relationship between own earnings and household income. Following the procedure first used by Hupfeld (2010), we analyze a large data set from the German public pension scheme on women who died between 1994 and 2005, employing both non-parametric and parametric methods. To overcome the problem mentioned above we concentrate on women with relatively long earnings history. We find that the relationship between earnings and life expectancy is very similar for women as for men: Among women who contributed at least for 25 years, a woman at the 90th percentile of the income distribution can expect to live 3 years longer than a woman at the 10th percentile.Life expectancy and income, women, public pensions, Germany

Die Ergebnisse des Bonner Klimagipfels: Strategisches Verhandeln unter den Bedingungen globaler Umweltgüter

Durch die Aufweichung des Kyoto-Protokolls gelang es während des Bonner Klimagipfels die aus Sicht ihrer jeweiligen Interessenlage heterogenen Länder Japan, Australien, Kanada und Rußland trotz Absage der USA in den internationalen Klimaschutz einzubinden. Mit Hilfe des Optionswertes des Wartens wird untersucht, welche Entscheidungsanreize für diese Länder, aber auch für ihren Gegenspieler, die EU, bestanden haben und warum eine Einigung möglich wurde. Diese Ergebnisse lassen Rückschlüsse zu, wann es auch für die USA sinnvoll sein wird, zum Klimaschutz beizutragen.The Climate Summit of Bonn in 2001 was able to rescue the Kyoto protocol at the price of softening its provisions: Despite the unwillingness of the US government to sign any contract, major players with quite heterogeneous interests, such as Japan, Australia, Canada and Russia could be convinced to share a treaty on the protection of the global climate. In this paper, it is our aim to explain the incentives of the involved parties, their strategies and the logic of the agreement which was finally achieved. We do this by adopting a model which has already proved to be robust and successful in the theory of foreign direct investment: the option value of waiting. Furthermore, our results tend to suggest when and why it will be profitable and wise for the US authorities to join the protection of the global climate

Vertrauen: Substitut oder Komplement zu formellen Institutionen?

In diesem Beitrag diskutieren wir den in der Literatur heftig umstrittenen Aspekt, ob Vertrauen (Institutionen) nur ein Komplement zu formellen Institutionen (Vertrauen) sein oder diese(s) möglicherweise sogar substituieren kann (können). Wir fassen Vertrauen als spezifische, kooperative Investition auf. Dem Vertrauensgeber geht es dabei um die Verlässlichkeit des Vertrauensnehmers ("reliability"). Der Wert einer Vertrauensbeziehung besteht in nicht weniger als in dem sozialen Überschuss, den sie entstehen lassen kann. Ohne weiteres (Reputationseffekte, Trigger Strategien etc.) kommt diese Beziehung aber nicht zustande. Auch anreizkompatible Verträge können das Dilemma nicht lösen. Dafür aber kann die Zahlung des individuell geregelten Schadensersatzes (perfekte Jurisdiktion) dafür Sorge tragen, die Parteien zur Realisierung der sozial optimalen Lösung zu bewegen. Ein ähnlich hoher sozialer Überschuss kann auch dann erreicht werden, wenn bei imperfekter Jurisdiktion der Vertrauensgeber den größeren Teil dieses Überschusses verantwortet.In this paper, we discuss the heavily debated issue whether trust (formal institutions) can only serve as complement(s) or rather as substitute(s) of formal institutions (trust). We take trust as a specific, cooperative investment. The trustor is mainly interested in the reliability of the trustee. The value of a trust relationship amounts and equals to not less than the social surplus which it can generate. Without additional provisions such as trigger strategies, reputation effects etc., however, a trust relationship will not evolve in a one shot game. Not even incentive compatible contracts can solve the dilemma. In a perfect jurisdiction world, a social optimal solution is feasible in the case where both parties agree on "liquidated damages". A comparable social surplus can also be achieved in a non-perfect jurisdiction world. A necessary condition is that the trustor is responsible for the larger part of the social surplus

The shallow overturning circulation of the Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean differs from the other two large oceans in not possessing an annual-mean equatorial upwelling regime. While the subtropical cells (STCs) of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans connect subtropical subduction regimes with tropical upwelling via equatorward thermocline flows and coastal undercurrents, much of the upwelling in the Indian Ocean occurs in the coastal regimes of the northern hemisphere. Consequently, the counterpart of the STCs of the other oceans has to be a cross-equatorial cell connecting the southern subtropical subduction zone via the Somali Current with the upwelling areas off Somalia and Oman. The southward return flow is by interior Ekman transports. This annual-mean picture is accomplished by a dominance of the summer monsoon, during which only northern upwelling occurs, over the winter monsoon. Pathways of the thermocline flows related to the shallow overturning circulations are investigated here and estimates of subduction and upwelling are presented. From the observed mean northward flow of thermocline waters within the Somali Current and the interior southward cross-equatorial return flow the magnitude of the cross-equatorial cell is estimated at 6 Sv, with part of the thermocline waters being supplied by the Indonesian Throughflow. From observations we estimate that the northern upwelling occurs dominantly through the offshore outflows of the Somali Current by the Southern Gyre and Great Whirl and to a lesser degree off Oman. However, we also present model results suggesting a much lower role of Somali upwelling and a significant contribution from open-ocean upwelling in cyclonic domes around India and Sri Lanka. An interesting aspect of the Indian Ocean cross-equatorial cell is the mechanism by which the Ekman transport crosses the equator. Typically, Ekman transports during the summer (winter) monsoon are southward (northward) on both sides of the equator, while mean meridional winds on the equator are in the respective opposite direction. Earlier model evidence had suggested that this type of forcing should lead to an equatorial roll with northward surface flow and southward subsurface flow during the summer monsoon and reverse orientation during the winter monsoon. Observational evidence is presented here, based on shipboard ADCP sections, moored stations and surface drifters, confirming the existence of the equatorial roll. It is strongly developed in the western Indian Ocean during the SW monsoon where the wind conditions for the roll are best met. While in the central Indian Ocean and during the winter monsoon the roll appears to be a more transient phenomenon, superimposed by equatorial-wave currents. The evidence further suggests that the roll is mostly confined to the surface-mixed layer and is, therefore, of little consequence for the meridional heat transport

Vertrauen : Substitut oder Komplement zu formellen Institutionen?

In diesem Beitrag diskutieren wir den in der Literatur heftig umstrittenen Aspekt, ob Vertrauen (Institutionen) nur ein Komplement zu formellen Institutionen (Vertrauen) sein oder diese(s) möglicherweise sogar substituieren kann (können). Wir fassen Vertrauen als spezifische, kooperative Investition auf. Dem Vertrauensgeber geht es dabei um die Verlässlichkeit des Vertrauensnehmers ("reliability"). Der Wert einer Vertrauensbeziehung besteht in nicht weniger als in dem sozialen Überschuss, den sie entstehen lassen kann. Ohne weiteres (Reputationseffekte, Trigger Strategien etc.) kommt diese Beziehung aber nicht zustande. Auch anreizkompatible Verträge können das Dilemma nicht lösen. Dafür aber kann die Zahlung des individuell geregelten Schadensersatzes (perfekte Jurisdiktion) dafür Sorge tragen, die Parteien zur Realisierung der sozial optimalen Lösung zu bewegen. Ein ähnlich hoher sozialer Überschuss kann auch dann erreicht werden, wenn bei imperfekter Jurisdiktion der Vertrauensgeber den größeren Teil dieses Überschusses verantwortet. -- In this paper, we discuss the heavily debated issue whether trust (formal institutions) can only serve as complement(s) or rather as substitute(s) of formal institutions (trust). We take trust as a specific, cooperative investment. The trustor is mainly interested in the reliability of the trustee. The value of a trust relationship amounts and equals to not less than the social surplus which it can generate. Without additional provisions such as trigger strategies, reputation effects etc., however, a trust relationship will not evolve in a one shot game. Not even incentive compatible contracts can solve the dilemma. In a perfect jurisdiction world, a social optimal solution is feasible in the case where both parties agree on "liquidated damages". A comparable social surplus can also be achieved in a non-perfect jurisdiction world. A necessary condition is that the trustor is responsible for the larger part of the social surplus.Vertrauen,Ökonomische Theorie des Rechts,Neue Institutionenökonomik

Die Ergebnisse des Bonner Klimagipfels: Strategisches Verhandeln unter den Bedingungen globaler Umweltgüter

Durch die Aufweichung des Kyoto-Protokolls gelang es während des Bonner Klimagipfels die aus Sicht ihrer jeweiligen Interessenlage heterogenen Länder Japan, Australien, Kanada und Rußland trotz Absage der USA in den internationalen Klimaschutz einzubinden. Mit Hilfe des Optionswertes des Wartens wird untersucht, welche Entscheidungsanreize für diese Länder, aber auch für ihren Gegenspieler, die EU, bestanden haben und warum eine Einigung möglich wurde. Diese Ergebnisse lassen Rückschlüsse zu, wann es auch für die USA sinnvoll sein wird, zum Klimaschutz beizutragen. -- The Climate Summit of Bonn in 2001 was able to rescue the Kyoto protocol at the price of softening its provisions: Despite the unwillingness of the US government to sign any contract, major players with quite heterogeneous interests, such as Japan, Australia, Canada and Russia could be convinced to share a treaty on the protection of the global climate. In this paper, it is our aim to explain the incentives of the involved parties, their strategies and the logic of the agreement which was finally achieved. We do this by adopting a model which has already proved to be robust and successful in the theory of foreign direct investment: the option value of waiting. Furthermore, our results tend to suggest when and why it will be profitable and wise for the US authorities to join the protection of the global climate.Klimapolitik,Umweltgüter,Optionswert des Wartens,Climate Policy,Environmental Goods,Option Value of Waiting

Coherent Multi-Sentence Video Description with Variable Level of Detail

Humans can easily describe what they see in a coherent way and at varying level of detail. However, existing approaches for automatic video description are mainly focused on single sentence generation and produce descriptions at a fixed level of detail. In this paper, we address both of these limitations: for a variable level of detail we produce coherent multi-sentence descriptions of complex videos. We follow a two-step approach where we first learn to predict a semantic representation (SR) from video and then generate natural language descriptions from the SR. To produce consistent multi-sentence descriptions, we model across-sentence consistency at the level of the SR by enforcing a consistent topic. We also contribute both to the visual recognition of objects proposing a hand-centric approach as well as to the robust generation of sentences using a word lattice. Human judges rate our multi-sentence descriptions as more readable, correct, and relevant than related work. To understand the difference between more detailed and shorter descriptions, we collect and analyze a video description corpus of three levels of detail.Comment: 10 page

Cloud Computing in SMEs: A Qualitative Approach to Identify and Evaluate Influential Factors

In the age of ubiquitous digitalization, there are opportunities to relocate miscellaneous activities to the cloud, e.g. data storage, computing operations or even entire services. This has a massive impact on nearly all branches of industries as well as for private individuals. However, the reasons for adoption or rejection of these technologies are still underrepresented in academic literature. During the study at hand, qualitative expert interviews are designed and conducted to elicit reasons for the adoption of cloud services in German small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The study presents a list of explored influencing factors, ranked in order to their relevance. In addition to the ones abstracted from the literature, the study identifies five more factors with an influence on the adoption of cloud services in the investigated area. The result of the evaluation is that the security and handling of data have the highest significance for German SMEs. Thus, trust, privacy and security are the most relevant influencing factors

A Spectral Independence View on Hard Spheres via Block Dynamics

The hard-sphere model is one of the most extensively studied models in statistical physics. It describes the continuous distribution of spherical particles, governed by hard-core interactions. An important quantity of this model is the normalizing factor of this distribution, called the partition function. We propose a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for approximating the grand-canonical partition function of the hard-sphere model in d dimensions. Up to a fugacity of ? < e/2^d, the runtime of our algorithm is polynomial in the volume of the system. This covers the entire known real-valued regime for the uniqueness of the Gibbs measure. Key to our approach is to define a discretization that closely approximates the partition function of the continuous model. This results in a discrete hard-core instance that is exponential in the size of the initial hard-sphere model. Our approximation bound follows directly from the correlation decay threshold of an infinite regular tree with degree equal to the maximum degree of our discretization. To cope with the exponential blow-up of the discrete instance we use clique dynamics, a Markov chain that was recently introduced in the setting of abstract polymer models. We prove rapid mixing of clique dynamics up to the tree threshold of the univariate hard-core model. This is achieved by relating clique dynamics to block dynamics and adapting the spectral expansion method, which was recently used to bound the mixing time of Glauber dynamics within the same parameter regime