Assimilation and Cohort Effects for German Immigrants

Demographic change and the rising demand for highly qualified labor in Germany attracts notice to the analysis of immigration. In addition, the pattern of immigration changed markedly during the past decades. Therefore we use the latest data of the German Socioeconomic Panel up to the year 2006 in order to investigate the economic performance of immigrants. We perform regressions of three pooled cross sections (1986, 1996, 2006) to estimate assimilation and quality of immigrants as reflected by their earnings. Further we take the heterogeneity of immigrants into account by separating them by country of origin. The rising wage inequality in Germany since the mid nineties will also be considered. We find a negative wage gap and a yearly assimilation rate of 2.3 percent. Due to a changing immigration pattern the cohort quality is declining.Assimilation, immigrants, cohort quality, Germany

What Determines the Duration of Stay of Immigrants in Germany?: Evidence from a Longitudinal Duration Analysis

We analyze the return-migration of German immigrants using the latest data of the German Socio- Economic Panel from 1984 to 2006. We conduct a Cox proportional hazard model with years of residence in Germany as waiting time. The analysis reveals that return migration is heavily influenced by country of origin. Individuals from countries with free labor movement agreements with Germany show a considerably higher likelihood of leaving the country relative to the others. The main finding is, with respect to the self-selection process we discovered that highly skilled are more likely to return than the less skilled. In addition, the results give plenty of information regarding the design of German immigration policy.Remigration, Cox proportional hazard model, Germany

Assimilation and cohort effects for German immigrants

Demographic change and the rising demand for highly qualified labor in Germany attracts notice to the analysis of immigration. In addition, the pattern of immigration changed markedly during the past decades. Therefore we use the latest data of the German Socioeconomic Panel up to the year 2006 in order to investigate the economic performance of immigrants. We perform regressions of three pooled cross sections (1986, 1996, 2006) to estimate assimilation and quality of immigrants as reflected by their earnings. Further we take the heterogeneity of immigrants into account by separating them by country of origin. The rising wage inequality in Germany since the mid nineties will also be considered. We find a negative wage gap and a yearly assimilation rate of 2.3 percent. Due to a changing immigration pattern the cohort quality is declining. --

Simulating Organogenesis in COMSOL: Comparison Of Methods For Simulating Branching Morphogenesis

During organogenesis tissue grows and deforms. The growth processes are controlled by diffusible proteins, so-called morphogens. Many different patterning mechanisms have been proposed. The stereotypic branching program during lung development can be recapitulated by a receptor-ligand based Turing model. Our group has previously used the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) framework for solving the receptor-ligand Turing model on growing lung domains. However, complex mesh deformations which occur during lung growth severely limit the number of branch generations that can be simulated. A new Phase-Field implementation avoids mesh deformations by considering the surface of the modelling domains as interfaces between phases, and by coupling the reaction-diffusion framework to these surfaces. In this paper, we present a rigorous comparison between the Phase-Field approach and the ALE-based simulation

A case-control study of the effect of infant feeding on celiac disease

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the duration of breast-feeding and the age at the first gluten introduction into the infant diet and the incidence and age at onset of celiac disease. Methods: In a case-control study, 143 children with celiac disease and 137 randomly recruited gender- and age-matched control children were administered a standardized questionnaire. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (OR) as estimates of the relative risk and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Results: The risk of developing celiac disease decreased significantly by 63% for children breast-fed for more than 2 months (OR 0.37, 95% Cl 0.21-0.64) as compared with children breast-fed for 2 months or less. The age at first gluten introduction had no significant influence on the incidence of celiac disease (OR 0.72, 95% Cl 0.29-1.79 comparing first gluten introduction into infant diet >3 months vs. less than or equal to3 months). Conclusions: A significant protective effect on the incidence of celiac disease was suggested by the duration of breast-feeding (partial breastfeeding as well as exclusive breast-feeding). The data did not support an influence of the age at first dietary gluten exposure on the incidence of celiac disease. However, the age at first gluten exposure appeared to affect the age at onset of symptoms. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

COVID-19 impact on teleactivities: Role of built environment and implications for mobility

This paper presents new evidence on changes in a broad range of teleactivities due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and investigates how the built environment relates to these changes. The paper relies on survey and geospatial data from Oslo and its surrounding Viken region in Norway. Findings suggest that most teleactivities increased due to COVID-19. Telework, teleconferencing, online learning, telehealth, and virtual meetings with friends and family all increased during COVID-19 compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. The next step in the analysis examined relationships between built environment characteristics and teleactivities before and during COVID-19. Telework and virtual meetings increased to a greater extent in denser neighborhoods than in lower-density neighborhoods. A larger increase in online learning was associated with lower neighborhood density, lower accessibility to public transport, and more local facilities. Numerous local facilities were associated with more frequent telework and virtual meetings both before and during COVID-19. The substantial COVID-19-induced increase in teleactivities found in the study highlights the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) for replacing travel for various activities.publishedVersio

Welche Immigranten kehren Deutschland den Rücken? Eine Paneldatenuntersuchung für Deutschland

Immigration is of crucial interest for the actual and future demographic and economic situation in Germany. While immigration is present in public debates and economic research remigration has been of minor interest so far. This paper analyses the determinants of remigration of immigrants in Germany using the German Socio-economic Panel for the period 1994-2005. We conducted a random-effects panel probit regression and find that country of origin, years since migration, age and integration heavily influence the likelihood to remigrate. Of special interest is the finding that high qualified workers more likely leave Germany than less qualified persons. --Remigration,Random-Effects Probit-Modell,Deutschland

Good Authors = Good Articles? - How Wikis Work

Wikis are websites to develop content collaboratively. The question arises to what extent the reputation of participants influences the quality of wiki sites. We analyze the impact of author reputation using the example of Wikipedia. We extend previous research by considering a set of different reputation metrics and a new model for aggregating reputation values. Since anonymous authors tend to have a lower reputation, we also quantify the level of participation of anonymous authors as an indicator for the reputation of the crowd. Our analysis finds out that reputation matters, but strongly depends on the used reputation metric and therefore on the corresponding author characteristics. The study shows that the experience of authors in the development of high-quality articles is highly relevant whereas the number of edits and the quality of contributions are of lower importance. Finally, our investigation proves the open editing model and the self-healing mechanism of wikis

Managed Wikis - A New Approach for Web 2.0

Wiki projects can be edited by everyday web users directly within the web browser. Consequently, undesirable contributions like vandalism and spam cannot be ruled out. In this paper, Managed Wikis are introduced as a new approach to avoid such undesirable contributions. Editing rights are assigned according to author reputation, the quality of articles and the occurrence of patterns of suspicious edits. In the paper, the concept of Managed Wikis is evaluated by means of a simulation on the basis of Wikipedia data. The analysis proves that undesirable contributions are blocked effectively. In contrast, desirable contributions are rarely affected by the editing rights restriction. The concept of Managed Wikis addresses open as well as corporate wiki projects where undesirable edits cause significant harm. Furthermore, it can be applied to make traditional websites accessible for the web community