Crowding out or crowding in? Public and private transfers in Germany.

Intergenerational support regains attention in course of population aging. This paper focuses on the relationship between private and public financial transfers to and from the elderly. Based on German data we find that the giving of private transfers is influenced by public transfers. The close link between public transfers to the elderly and the financial support they give to others represents an inefficient backflow of pay-as-you-go financed pensions to the young generation. This mechanism can be interpreted as a private compensation device for the generations. We can also show that at the same time the receipt of public transfers by the elderly crowd-out private financial support they would have received otherwise in the German welfare state.

Crowding out or crowding in?

Intergenerational support regains attention in course of population aging. This paper focuses on the relationship between private and public financial transfers to and from the elderly. Based on German data we find that the giving of private transfers is influenced by public transfers. The close link between public transfers to the elderly and the financial support they give to others represents an inefficient backflow of pay-as-you-go financed pensions to the young generation. This mechanism can be interpreted as a private compensation device for the generations. We can also show that at the same time the receipt of public transfers by the elderly crowd-out private financial support they would have received otherwise in the German welfare state.

Estimates of consumer instalment credit extended and repaid, 1929-1939

Consumer credit

Mutualism, Parasitism, and Evolutionary Adaptation

Our investigations concern the role of symbiosis as an enabling mechanism in evolutionary adaptation. Previous work has illustrated how the formation of mutualist groups can guide genetic variation so as to enable the evolution of ultimately independent organisms that would otherwise be unobtainable. The new experiments reported here show that this effect applies not just in genetically related organisms but may also occur from symbiosis between distinct species. In addition, a new detail is revealed: when the symbiotic group members are drawn from two separate species only one of these species achieves eventual independence and the other remains parasitic. It is nonetheless the case that this second species, formerly mutualistic, was critical in enabling the independence of the first. We offer a biological example that is suggestive of the effect and discuss the implications for evolving complex organisms, natural and artificial

SalSA: A Teraton UHE Neutrino Detector

The observed spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays virtually guarantees the presence of ultra-high energy neutrinos due to their interaction with the cosmic microwave background. Unlike cosmic rays, each of these neutrinos will point back directly to its source and will arrive at the Earth unattenuated, from sources perhaps as distant as z = 20. The neutrino telescopes currently under construction, should discover a handful of these events, probably too few for detailed study. This paper describes how an array of VHF and UHF antennas embedded in a large salt dome, SalSA (Salt dome Shower Array) promises to yield a teraton detector (> 500 km{sup 3 sr}) for contained neutrino events with energies above 10{sup 17} eV. Our simulations show that such a detector may observe several hundreds of these neutrinos over its lifetime with excellent angular resolution providing source locations

Foodism in Ireland 2019: feeding foodie philosophy or showing a shift in contemporary food culture?

“Everybody eats and drinks; yet only few appreciate the taste of food” Confucius (551- 479BC). This research study examines contemporary food culture in Ireland through the phenomenon of foodism and the habits and traits expressed through the subculture of foodies. Elements and actors of the Irish foodscape are also considered. Other topics it discusses are Irish food history, Ireland’s gastronomical global position and the modern Irish chef. The thesis defined foodism as: “A keen or exaggerated interest in food, especially in the minute details of preparation, presentation, and consumption of food” (‘Foodism’, 2018a). In order to answer the five sub-research questions posed, it applied qualitative research which featured a selection of six in-depth interviews with experts from the tourism sector, educational sector, food sector and a state food agency. The study draws insights from the fields of sociology and cultural studies. It adopted a philosophical standpoint from the paradigm of interpretivism. Thematic analysis was used as part of the methodology process, from which five themes developed from the data findings. The research data established that, in 2019, food industry experts and academics concur that Irish food culture has ‘evolved’ and is evolving, from a more traditional Irish cuisine. In addition, it was noted that there is a ‘hunger for food’ amongst a small but growing cohort of the population, in relation to access to information through food media and for food experiences such as culinary courses, gastro tours and food festival events. The research offers a perspective of perceptions formed around Irish foodism and the psyche of the foodie persona. There are a number of avenues from the findings of this study that could be explored for future research

Wellness Policy Awareness Among School Leaders and the Impact on Written Policy Scores

Background: All schools participating in the National School Lunch Program must possess a written School Wellness Policy (SWP) as mandated by the Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids Act of 2010.1 School officials and leaders play a major role in SWP implementation. It is essential to written SWP implementation that school level officials and leaders in the district are aware of the SWP. However, the association between school leader awareness of SWP and policy quality has not yet been studied. Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine if school leader awareness of a SWP impacts the written SWP quality. Methods: 24 Eastern SD elementary school principals from 22 school districts participated. Principal awareness of written SWP was assessed by their answer to having read, not read, or partially read their SWP. Written SWPs were assessed for quality using the WellSAT 2.0 and principal responses were obtained using the WellSAT-i. Written SWP scores in areas of strength and comprehensiveness were compared with principal responses. Results: Most principals (66.7%) answered that they had fully read their SWP and a smaller percentage of principals (33.3%) answered that they had either not read or only partially read their SWP. No association was found between principal awareness of their SWP, assessed by having read or not read, and written policy scores in areas of overall comprehensiveness, overall strength, or the strength and comprehensiveness of each content section. Conclusion: Although no association was found between a principal’s awareness of the written SWP and the written SWP scores, school leaders can be identified as those beyond general administration or principals. Future research should focus on other professionals within the school as being wellness policy leaders and assess the implementation of a written SWP and leader awareness of the SWP in a more objective way

Projection methods and scenarios for public and private pension information

Public pensions - the primary pillar of old-age income provision - will, in the future, be less generous than they have been in the past, in particular owing to the impact of demographic change. The pension gap is supposed to be plugged by the second and third pillars of pension provision. However, people require reliable planning information if they are to exercise greater individual responsibility. It is therefore absolutely essential that adequate information is made available about the level of pension benefits that will be generated by each pillar of old-age pension provision. This paper outlines a number of different means of presenting the level of future pensions and the assumptions on which such extrapolations are necessarily based. Our work is based on an assumed average rate of inflation of 1.5% and an average rate of real income growth not exceeding 1.5%. This last figure is derived from calculations made in the framework of a macroeconomic simulation model. This model also shows that while the funded pillar of old-age pension provision is not entirely immune to population aging, it is not substantially threatened by a substantial decrease in stock market prices, the so-called "asset meltdown".

How an Unfunded Pension System looks like Defined Benefits but works like Defined Contributions: The German Pension Reform

This paper describes the German pension reform process 1992-2007 with a stress on a remark-able development: the public pay-as-you-go-financed pension system has almost silently moved from a traditional defined benefit system to a system which works in many respects like a defined contribution system. The paper combines economic with political considerations, hopefully offering a few lessons that are useful also for other countries.