The agglomeration wage differential reconsidered - an investigation with German micro data 1984-1997

The paper analyzes the agglomeration wage differerential using panel micro data with regional information for the time period 1984-1997. Referring to new contributions to regional economics, several theoretical explanations for spatial wage differentials are discussed. The empirical approach differentiates between two sectors of the economy (Manufacturing and Services), three skill groups and the position in the wage hierarchy. After presenting some descriptive evidence we use Chamberlain´s (1996) method of quantile regressons for the estimatons. According to our findings an agglomeration differential does exist except for low-skilled service workers. The agglomeration wage differential depends positively on the skill level, is typically higher in the manufacturing than in the service sector and tends to increase with the decile of the wage distribution. Our results indicate that a doubling of employment density leads to gross wage increase of 2.5 percent in the average.

Qualifizierungstrends und regionale Disparitäten : eine Untersuchung auf Grundlage der IAB-Regionalstichprobe aus der Beschäftigtenstatistik (Training trends and regional disparities : a study with the regional sample from the employment statistics)

"Against the background of the general trend towards higher levels of education and training the question arises as to how the regional disparities in the workers' average qualification levels develop over time. With regard to spatial disparities it is of great importance whether the training and education trend leads to an interregional balancing out or to an increasing divergence of the workers' qualification levels. New industries and service trades in generally conspicuous regional clusters point to a dynamic development. Nevertheless it can be assumed that both the possibilities for education and training and also the demands made of the education and training system are strongly characterised by regional circumstances and are only slow to change. The starting point is a descriptive analysis with the IAB regional sample for the period 1980- 1997 according to qualification groups, federal state (Land) and type of region. Furthermore a panel model with delayed endogenous variables is estimated in order to model the adjustment process of the changes in the workers' qualification levels. Our results show an apparent paradox: on the one hand the qualification intensity of production is increasing in the core cities in relation to the average of all regions although on the other hand the spatial concentration of the highly qualified is decreasing." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))berufliche Qualifikation, regionale Disparität, Qualifikationsstruktur, Hochqualifizierte, Qualifikationsniveau, Bundesländer, Weiterbildung, IAB-Regionalstichprobe, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Repair and Prepare: Strengthening Europe's Economies after the Crisis. Bertelsmann Studies

Europe is often portrayed as a ship with sails of different colours from different countries pushing the common boat in the right direction. From 2010 to 2012, that ship faced the perfect storm: The euro area almost caused the ship to sink, there was massive disagreement on how to get out of the storm, and it was unclear who was steering the ship. However, Euro-Europe eventually managed to buoy the ship while in the eye of the storm, and the decisive action by ECB President Mario Draghi, arguably not the captain of the ship, managed to steer the common project away from imminent danger

Mecanic vallée : Interactions entre système productif local et formation

Cet article étudie le phénomène de renforcement interactif de la politique de formation et du système productif local. Il s’intéresse plus particulièrement aux mécanismes concourant au développement des coopérations interentreprises et entre les sphères publique et privée locales. Le processus de renforcement mis en exergue suit le principe de la boucle récursive. Selon ce modèle, la progression des coopérations induit des investissements dans le domaine de la formation locale, et inversement, les investissements en matière d’infrastructures de formation font progresser les coopérations. Le projet de système productif local « Mecanic Vallée » est exemplaire à cet égard.This paper deals with the mutually supportive interactions occurring between investment in local training and the densification of local socioeconomic systems. It focuses in particular on the mechanisms contributing to inter-firm and public-private cooperation, which obey feedback loop principles. According to this model, local cooperation leads to investments being made in the field of vocational and job training and vice-versa, investment in training infrastructures promotes cooperative projects in other fields in the local socio-economic system. The "Mecanic Vallée" industrial cluster provides an excellent example of how these processes work.Im vorliegenden Beitrag untersucht der Autor die auf lokaler Ebene bestehende Interaktion zwischen Bildungspolitik und Unternehmens-Netzwerken. Im Vordergrund dieser Untersuchung stehen dabei die Mechanismen, die einer intensiven Kooperation zwischen den Unternehmen (KMU) sowie den öffentlichen Einrichtungen und privaten Akteuren auf lokaler Ebene förderlich sind. Diese Mechanismen basieren auf dem Prinzip der Rückkopplung. So hat die verstärkte Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Unternehmen höhere Investitionen im lokalen Bildungsbereich zur Folge, und umgekehrt wirken sich Bildungs-Investitionen positiv auf den Ausbau von Unternehmens-Netzwerken aus. Das Clusterprojekt Mecanic Vallée ist in dieser Hinsicht ein Vorbild

Certification européenne : rapprochement des structures nationales de formation ?

Afin de favoriser la libre circulation des personnes, la Communauté européenne encourage la normalisation des qualifications dans certains secteurs d’activité. De nouvelles modalités de certifications s’imposent aux États membres sous forme de règlements européens. La transposition de ces règlements dépend des systèmes nationaux de production et de reconnaissance des qualifications qui ont leur propre cohérence. Il est donc intéressant d’analyser ce processus de transposition dans des pays réputés posséder chacun des caractéristiques fortes en matière de formation et de certification. Cette contribution s’appuie sur l’étude du cas particulier des nouvelles certifications en vigueur dans le secteur de la maintenance aéronautique.In order to promote the free movement of persons, the European Community is taking steps to encourage the standardization of qualifications in some sectors of activity. New forms of qualification are being imposed on member States in the framework of European regulations. The ways in which these regulations are applied depend, however, on how qualifications have always been set up and recognized in the various countries, since each country has its own traditional approach to these matters. It therefore seemed to be worth analysing this process of transposition in some countries reputed for their strong traditions as far as vocational training and qualification are concerned. The present paper was based on the results of a survey on the latest system of qualifications adopted in France in the field of aircraft maintenance.Um den freien Personenverkehr innerhalb des Europäischen Wirtschaftraums zu fördern, setzt sich die EU verstärkt für die Vereinheitlichung und Vergleichbarkeit von Qualifikationen in bestimmten Wirtschaftsbereichen ein. Neue Formen der Anerkennung und Zertifizierung beruflicher Qualifikationen werden nun mehr durch (sektorale) europäische Richtlinien geregelt. Die Umsetzung dieser Richtlinien in den Mitgliedstaaten erfolgt jedoch durch die einzelstaatlichen Bildungs und Ausbildungsträger, die für die Vergabe und Anerkennung beruflicher Abschlüsse und anderer Bildungszertifikate zuständig sind. Deshalb ist die Frage, wie dieser Umsetzungsprozess in den Ländern erfolgt, die ein besonders stark ausgeprägtes System der Ausbildung und beruflichen Reglementierung aufweisen, von besonderem Interesse. Im vorliegenden Beitrag untersuchen die Autoren diese Frage anhand der neuen, im Wartungsbereich des Luftfahrtsektors geltenden Richtlinien

Creating Supply Chain Resilience Through Scenario Planning: How a Digital Twin Can Be Used To Enhance Supply Chain Resilience Through Scenario Planning

This book focusses on the concept of supply chain disruptions and how supply chain resilience can contribute to both preparing for and reacting to the event causing disruption. For building a digital twin of a supply chain, a software named Supply Chain Guru has been used. The software is a supply chain design tool which can be used for different kinds of supply chain network optimisation. The book outlines four scenarios: Covid-19 lockdown, Brexit without deal, Conflagration at a dairy and Political regulations on transport. The scenarios all contain a problem that needs to be solved. This problem is considered as the main disruption for the supply chain. Running the scenario in Supply Chain Guru, constraints are added to the AS-IS model. The constraints are identified as implications of the event in the scenarios. By adding the constraints and running the model, Supply Chain Guru identifies suggestions to solve the problems which were described. The solutions within the scenarios are held up against the theory of supply chain resilience, to describe how the scenario planning can be used to enhance supply chain resilience. Finally, the book discuss how scenario planning can be related to supply chain resilience as well as how scenario planning can be used to increase supply chain resilience

Action plan for deriving dynamic RES-E policies

The core objective of this project is to facilitate a continuous and significant increase in the share of RESE with minimal costs to European citizen. To identify the most important strategies (e.g. Tradable Green Certificates, Feed-In Tariffs, Investment Subsidies, Emissions Trading, CO2-taxes) in a dynamic way the computer-based toolbox Green-X has been developed. Although within the scope of this project it has not been feasible to investigate all possible issues within this field, the cases analysed cover not only the needs and opportunities at the level of the national Member States, but also those at the level ofthe EU. However, the most important ones have been treated thoroughly. This report, which is the final outcome from the Green-X project (Contract No: ENG2-CT-2002- 00607), with funding from the European Commission, DG Research, provides recommendations on the way forward for the promotion of renewable energy for electricity generation in the EU. It is addressed primarily to energy policy maker, as well as to other people interested in renewable energy and energy policy

safety, feasibility, and metabolic response

Background Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired weakness in critically ill patients is a common and significant complication affecting the course of critical illness. Whole-body vibration is known to be effective muscle training and may be an option in diminishing weakness and muscle wasting. Especially, patients who are immobilized and not available for active physiotherapy may benefit. Until now whole-body vibration was not investigated in mechanically ventilated ICU patients. We investigated the safety, feasibility, and metabolic response of whole-body vibration in critically ill patients. Methods We investigated 19 mechanically ventilated, immobilized ICU patients. Passive range of motion was performed prior to whole-body vibration therapy held in the supine position for 15 minutes. Continuous monitoring of vital signs, hemodynamics, and energy metabolism, as well as intermittent blood sampling, took place from the start of baseline measurements up to 1 hour post intervention. We performed comparative longitudinal analysis of the phases before, during, and after intervention. Results Vital signs and hemodynamic parameters remained stable with only minor changes resulting from the intervention. No application had to be interrupted. We did not observe any adverse event. Whole-body vibration did not significantly and/or clinically change vital signs and hemodynamics. A significant increase in energy expenditure during whole-body vibration could be observed. Conclusions In our study the application of whole-body vibration was safe and feasible. The technique leads to increased energy expenditure. This may offer the chance to treat patients in the ICU with whole-body vibration. Further investigations should focus on the efficacy of whole-body vibration in the prevention of ICU- acquired weakness. Trial registration Applicability and Safety of Vibration Therapy in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Patients. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01286610. Registered 28 January 2011

Detecting Activation of Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinase by Complementary DNA and Tissue Microarray Analysis

Background: Studies by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) have shown that chromosomal region 17q23 is amplified in up to 20% of primary breast cancers. We used microarray analyses to measure the expression levels of genes in this region and to explore their prognostic importance. Methods: A microarray that contained 4209 complementary DNA (cDNA) clones was used to identify genes that are overexpressed in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line as compared with normal mammary tissue. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to analyze the copy number of one overexpressed gene, ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K), and to localize it to the 17q23 region. Northern and western blot analyses were used to measure S6K gene and protein expression, and an enzymatic assay was used to measure S6K activity. Tumor tissue microarray analysis was used to study amplification of S6K and the HER-2 oncogene, another 17q-linked gene, and the relationship between amplification and prognosis was analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for data analysis, and the log-rank test was used for statistical analysis. All P values are two-sided. Results: S6K was amplified and highly overexpressed in MCF-7 cells relative to normal mammary epithelium, and protein expression and enzyme activity were increased. S6K was amplified in 59 (8.8%) of 668 primary breast tumors, and a statistically significant association between amplification and poor prognosis (P = .0021) was observed. Amplification of both S6K and HER-2 implied particularly poor survival (P = .0001). Conclusions: The combination of CGH information with cDNA and tissue microarray analyses can be used to identify amplified and overexpressed genes and to evaluate the clinical implications of such genes and genomic rearrangements. S6K is likely to be one of the genes at 17q23 that is amplified during oncogenesis and may adversely affect the prognosis of patients with this amplificatio