The Bigger the Children, the Bigger the Worries: Are Preschoolers and Adolescents Affected Differently by Family Instability with Regard to Non-cognitive Skills?

Substantial research on the relationship between family structures and child outcomes represents a considerable part of the literature. However, family structure provides a rather static view of the relationship of children's living arrangements and their well-being, revealing hardly anything about the stability of a family for a longer period. This paper focuses on the impact of family instability on children. In light of human capital accumulation, we hypothesize that a stable family (either a two parent or a single parent family) might be beneficial for child outcomes, in particular for non-cognitive skills. We use skills, such as socio-emotional behavior or locus of control, as our primary measure of child outcomes. The paper focuses on the potential impact of family instability occurring at different childhood stages on non-cognitive skills of preschoolers (aged five to six) and of adolescents (aged seventeen). Our analysis is based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). Family instability is defined by yearly observed maternal partnership variations. Our results suggest that differences in family stability account for some of the gradient in social-behavioral difficulties for preschool children. By using sibling differences for our adolescents' sample, we find that multiple partnership transitions experienced early in life are negatively correlated with non-cognitive skills in adolescence, e.g., such adolescents are less likely to be active or self-determined in life.Child development, family dynamics, locus of control, non-cognitive skills

Automorphisms of Harbater-Katz-Gabber curves

Let k be a perfect field of characteristic p > 0, and let G be a finite group. We consider the pointed G-curves over k associated by Harbater, Katz, and Gabber to faithful actions of G on k[[t]] over k. We use such "HKG G-curves" to classify the automorphisms of k[[t]] of p-power order that can be expressed by particularly explicit formulas, namely those mapping t to a power series lying in a Z/pZ Artin-Schreier extension of k(t). In addition, we give necessary and sufficient criteria to decide when an HKG G-curve with an action of a larger finite group J is also an HKG J-curve.Comment: 25 pages. The introduction was rewritten. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00208-016-1490-

Child Care Choices in Western Germany Also Correlated with Mother's Personality

The expansion of formal child care, particularly for children under the age of three, has resulted in more and more children from this age group attending day care facilities. This formal child care setting is frequently combined with care provided by grandparents or other individuals. The combination and number of child care settings made use of is influenced by a variety of socio-economic factors and the range of options available. Maternal personality can also explain differences in child care choices, if only to a relatively limited extent and predominantly in families residing in western Germany. Analyses based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) show that mothers in western Germany who are very open to new experiences are more likely to combine the use of formal with informal child care. Mothers, who classify themselves as conscientious, in line with personality research, are less likely to use this setting as the sole additional type of child care alongside parental care. The analyses emphasize just how different parental preferences are. A policy that is focused on freedom of choice and on creating the conditions for this by expanding the child care infrastructure should take these differences into account.Child care, personality factors, maternal employment

Economic Effects of Renewable Energy Expansion: A Model-Based Analysis for Germany

Increasing utilization of renewable energy sources (RES) is a priority worldwide. Germany has been a forerunner in the deployment of RES and has ambitious goals for the future. The support and use of renewables affects the economy: It creates business opportunities in sectors producing renewable energy facilities, but also comes along with costs for supporting the deployment of renewables. This paper analyses and quantifies the net balance of economic effects associated with renewable energy deployment in Germany until 2030. To this end, we use a novel model, the 'Sectoral Energy-Economic Econometric Model' (SEEEM). SEEEM is an econometric multi-country model which, for Germany, contains a detailed representation of industries, including 14 renewable energy technology sectors. Our results show that renewable energy expansion can be achieved without compromising growth or employment. The analysis reveals a positive net effect on economic growth in Germany. Net employment effects are positive. Their size depends strongly on labour market conditions and policies. Results at the industry level indicate the size and direction of the need for restructuring across the sectors of the Germany economy.

Economic Opportunities and Structural Effects of Sustainable Energy Supply

Renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency are not only crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts of conventional energy supply; they also hold enormous economic opportunity. Significant and dynamically growing sectors have emerged in the area of renewable energy over the last several years. In 2010, 26.6 billion euros were invested in Germany alone in renewable energy facilities. Altogether, renewable energy sources created 35.5 billion euros in demand for the German economy. Gross employment in the area of renewable energy is estimated at 367,400 persons for 2010. Likewise, the net economic balance for the expansion of renewables is positive. Model calculations conducted by DIW Berlin show that the gross domestic product is by 2.9 percent higher in 2030 in the "Expansion Scenario" than following a "Null Scenario" with no expansion. Depending on the labor market conditions, the net employment effects appear to be weak to moderate, but in any case positive. These scenario calculations also illustrate that the impact of the expansion differs across sectors. Furthermore, the transition from the current energy supply regime to one where renewable energy sources contribute a large share and energy efficiency has been substantially increased will require a structural change in business and the working world that will have to be followed closely in the future.Renewable energy, economic impacts, structural change, Germany

Behavioral Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment

Children with lower socioeconomic status (SES) tend to benefit more from early child care, but are substantially less likely to be enrolled. We study whether reducing behavioral barriers in the application process increases enrollment in child care for lower-SES children. In our RCT in Germany with highly subsidized child care (n > 600), treated families receive application information and personal assistance for applications. For lower-SES families, the treatment increases child care application rates by 21 pp and enrollment rates by 16 pp. Higher-SES families are not affected by the treatment. Thus, alleviating behavioral barriers closes half of the SES gap in early child care enrollment

Wahl der Kinderbetreuung hängt in Westdeutschland auch mit der Persönlichkeit der Mütter zusammen

Mit dem Ausbau der außerhäuslichen Betreuungsangebote, insbesondere für Kinder unter drei Jahren, nutzen immer mehr Kinder dieser Altersgruppe Kindertageseinrichtungen. Diese formelle Betreuung wird häufig mit der Betreuung durch Großeltern oder andere Personen kombiniert. Welche Betreuungskombinationen und wie viele genutzt werden, hängt mit einer Vielzahl von sozioökonomischen Merkmalen und dem Angebot zusammen. Die Persönlichkeit der Mutter kann darüber hinaus Unterschiede in der Betreuungswahl erklären - wenn auch nur einen relativ geringen Anteil und vorrangig bei Familien, die in Westdeutschland leben. Analysen auf der Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) haben für Westdeutschland gezeigt, dass Mütter, die sehr offen für Neues sind, eher die Nutzung einer Kindertageseinrichtung mit Formen informeller Betreuung kombinieren. Mütter, die sich im Sinne der Persönlichkeitsforschung als gewissenhaft einstufen, nutzen diese Angebote seltener als alleinige Betreuungsform neben der elterlichen Betreuung. Die Analysen zeigen einmal mehr, wie unterschiedlich die Präferenzen von Eltern sind. Eine Politik, die auf Wahlfreiheit setzt und durch einen Ausbau der Betreuungsinfrastruktur die Voraussetzungen dafür schafft, kann diesen Unterschieden gerecht werden.Child care, personality factors, maternal employment

Financial sector and output dynamics in the euro area countries

Die Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise hat die Notwendigkeit für ein besseres Verständnis von destabilisierenden Effekten des Finanzsektors und deren Auswirkung auf die reale Ökonomie verdeutlicht. Umgekehrt kann aber auch die schlechte Wirtschaftslage wiederum Druck auf den Finanzsektor ausüben, was zu weiteren negativen Feedbackeffekten führen kann. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschäftigt sich eine Studie im Rahmen des ZEW-Forschungsprogramms SEEK mit der Rolle destabilisierender Effekte, die aus dem Finanzsektor entstehen. Die Studie zeigt, dass sich Finanzmarktstress nicht immer negativ auf den Output auswirkt

Acquiring L2 sentence comprehension : a longitudinal study of word monitoring in noise

This study investigated the development of second language online auditory processing with ab initio German learners of Dutch. We assessed the influence of different levels of background noise and different levels of semantic and syntactic target word predictability on word-monitoring latencies. There was evidence of syntactic, but not lexical-semantic, transfer from the L1 to the L2 from the onset of L2 learning. An initial stronger adverse effect of noise on syntactic compared to phonological processing disappeared after two weeks of learning Dutch suggesting a change towards more robust syntactic processing. At the same time the L2 learners started to exploit semantic constraints predicting upcoming target words. The use of semantic predictability remained less efficient compared to native speakers until the end of the observation period. The improvement and the persistent problems in semantic processing we found were independent of noise and rather seem to reflect the need for more context information to build up online semantic representations in L2 listening.peer-reviewe