258 research outputs found
Inflation-Unemployment Tradeoff and Regional Labor Market Data
We estimate a linear and a piecewise linear Phillips curve model with regional labor market data for West German and Neue LĂ€nder. Employing regional observations allows us to country difference the data. This eliminates, under the assumption of homogeneous LĂ€nder, supply shocks and changes in the formation of expectations as possible identification failures. With seemingly unrelated regressions we find a flat Phillips curve in the Neue LĂ€nder. For the West German LĂ€nder a piecewise linear model with a higher inflation-unemployment tradeoff for the regime of low unemployment rates fits the data very well. The results hold true if we control for endogeneity of the unemployment rate. With a kinked but upward sloping aggregate supply curve there seems to be room for stabilization policies, at least in the range of aggregate demand shifts that our data covers.inflation-unemployment tradeoff, NAIRU, regional labor market data, seemingly unrelated regression
Who Do We Think We Are? A Qualitative Exploration of Social Work Identity
Since the inception of the profession, social workers have struggled to identify a common understanding of social work, its fundamental activity, and the role of the worker. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study explored the following questions: 1) What is the participantâs lived experience of social work identity? and 2) How is this understanding of identity similar to or different from that of other helping professionals who perform similar activities? Semi-structured interviews, conducted with 22 social workers in the field, diverse in education, practice area, and experience, highlighted parallels among the various experiences, and advanced the exploration of the essence of social work identity. The interviews investigated the presence of role ambiguity and/or role conflict in the experience of each social work participant, as well as their response orientation to conflict (i.e., expedient, moral, and moral-expedient) and the possible effects of ambiguity (i.e., super and sub identities) on their understanding of their own social work identity. While saturation was not reached, the analysis indicated that the participantâs job description, workplace expectations, and their inability to adequately distinguish their role and activity from that of other helping professional preforming the same task or occupying the same role affected the understanding many had of their own social work identity. Themes included super and subordinate orientations, role or activity dominance, identity modifiers, and conflict resolution orientations. These findings may be used to inform future research of social work identity as well as the unifying element(s) of the profession
Non-associative Deformations of Geometry in Double Field Theory
Non-geometric string backgrounds were proposed to be related to a
non-associative deformation of the space-time geometry. In the flux formulation
of double field theory (DFT), the structure of mathematically possible
non-associative deformations is analyzed in detail. It is argued that on-shell
there should not be any violation of associativity in the effective DFT action.
For imposing either the strong or the weaker closure constraint we discuss two
possible non-associative deformations of DFT featuring two different ways how
on-shell associativity can still be kept.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure, v2: major revision of section 4, discussion of
closure constraint change
Chapter 2: A New Crisis Mechanism for the Euro Area
The European debt crisis followed the US financial crisis with a delay of one and a half years. While its first signs were visible in November and December of 2009 when the rating agency Fitch downgraded Ireland and Greece, it culminated on 28 April 2010 when the intra-day interest rate for two-year Greek government bonds peaked at 38 percent. Since then capital markets have been extremely unstable, showing signs of distrust in the creditworthiness of the GIPS countries: Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. The European Union reacted by preparing voluminous rescue plans that, at this writing (January 2011), have been resorted to by Greece and Ireland.
Sleep disturbances and circadian CLOCK genes in borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterised
by a deep-reaching pattern of affective instability,
incoherent identity, self-injury, suicide attempts, and disturbed
interpersonal relations and lifestyle. The daily
activities of BPD patients are often chaotic and disorganized,
with patients often staying up late while sleeping
during the day. These behavioural patterns suggest that
altered circadian rhythms may be associated with BPD.
Furthermore, BPD patients frequently report suffering from
sleep disturbances. In this review, we overview the evidence
that circadian rhythms and sleep are disturbed in
BPD, and we explore the possibility that personality traits
that are pertinent for BPD may be associated with circadian
typology, and perhaps to circadian genotypes. With regards
to sleep architecture, we review the evidence that BPD
patients display altered non-REM and REM sleep. A possible
cue to a deeper understanding of this temporal dysregulation
might be an analysis of the circadian clock at the
molecular and cellular level, as well as behavioural studies using actigraphy and we suggest avenues for further
exploration of these factors
Chapter 1: The Macroeconomic Outlook
The structural problems brought to light by the financial crisis have largely remained in place or shifted from the private (banking) sector to the public sector. In the United States, despite increased saving, household debt remains high; their wealth position has deteriorated substantially due to the bursting of the house price bubble. The real estate sector has shrunk, and the financial sector has still not fully recovered.
Chapter 3: Greece
As most European countries were coming out of recession at the end of 2009, Greece was entering a tumultuous period. The announcement of the newly elected Greek government in October 2009 that the projected budget deficit for 2009 would be 12.7 percent of GDP2 (rather than the 5.1 percent projection that appeared in the 2009 Spring Commission forecast), was initially met with shock and opprobrium in Brussels and other euro-area capitals. The initial reaction of policymakers across the European Union was that the risk of contagion was minimal, and that the right way to deal with the situation was to let Greece âswing in the windâ.
Chapter 4: Spain
Spain has suffered a lot from the current crisis and is the first large economy that may find itself in need of fiscal rescue. If this happens it may prove quite damaging to the euro. Yet, since the mid-1990s, Spain was a champion of growth and fiscal stability; its unemployment had fallen rapidly to the levels that prevailed in the rest of the European Union. This chapter discusses the reasons why such a virtuous initial situation deteriorated so sharply since the start of the crisis. Was this just bad luck or were the booming years just a mirage?
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