Measurement of Low-Energy Cosmic-Ray Antiprotons at Solar Minimum

The absolute fluxes of the cosmic-ray antiprotons at solar minimum are measured in the energy range 0.18 to 1.4 GeV, based on 43 events unambiguously detected in BESS '95 data. The resultant energy spectrum appears to be flat below 1 GeV, compatible with a possible admixture of primary antiproton component with a soft energy spectrum, while the possibility of secondary antiprotons alone explaining the data cannot be excluded with the present accuracy. Further improvement of statistical accuracy and extension of the energy range are planned in future BESS flights.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages including 4 eps figures. Submitted to PR

Wage effects of works councils and opening clauses: the German case

"German employment relations are characterized by a distinct dual system. First, working conditions and wages are determined by industry-level collective bargaining agreements. Second, on the establishment-level, the works council is responsible for employer - employee negotiations. However, since the mid-1980s, an increasing number of areas of regulation have been transferred from the industry- to the establishment-level using so-called opening clauses. The analysis in this article relies on rich German establishment data and reveals new insights into the institutional machinery of wage bargaining. While the existence of such clauses is related to higher wages, their application results in wage cuts of roughly the same size. The results also suggest that works councils, on average, are able to prevent the negative wage effects of opening clauses." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)

Firm heterogeneity and wages under different bargaining regimes : does a centralised union care for low-productivity firms?

This paper studies the relationship between wages and the degree of firm heterogeneity in a given industry under different wage setting structures. To derive testable hypotheses, we set up a theoretical model that analyses the sensitivity of wages to the variability in productivity conditions in a unionsised oligopoly framework. The model distinguishes centralised and decentralised wage determination. The theoretical results predict wages to be negatively associated with the degree of firm heterogeneity under centralised wage-setting, as unions internalise negative externalities of a wage increase for low-productivity firms. We test this prediction using a linked employeremployee panel data set from the German mining and manufacturing sector. Consistent with our hypotheses, the empirical results suggest that under industry-level bargaining workers in more heterogeneous sectors receive lower wages than workers in more homogeneous sectors. In contrast, the degree of firm heterogeneity is found to have no negative impact on wages in uncovered firms and under firm-level contracts