Earnings and employment situation of East German men, 1990-93: an empirical investigation using panel data

"This paper deals with the development of the earnings and employment situation of East German men in the sequel of the German unification. The economic transition led to massive job losses, while the wages of those still employed were gradually raised to a level which is meanwhile close to the one prevailing in the West. The paper is organized as follows: Chapter 2 describes the econometric approach on wich the empirical investigation is based upon. Chapter 3 contains a summary description of the data used for estimation, and the empirical results are collected and commented upon in chapter 4. A short summary (chapter 5) concludes the artic1e."Die Transformation der ostdeutschen Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft nach der Wiedervereinigung hat zu einer massiven strukturellen Arbeitslosigkeit geführt, während sich die Löhne der Beschäftigten kontinuierlich dem Westniveau angenähert haben. Die Studie analysiert anhand der Daten des Sozioökonomischen Panels die Faktoren, die die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines männlichen Arbeitnehmers, in den neuen Bundesländern beschäftigt bzw. arbeitlos zu sein, beeinflussen. Hauptziel der Studie ist die Überprüfung der Zusammenhänge zwischen den sogenannten "human capital" Variablen (Schulbildung, allgemeine Qualifikation und Arbeitserfahrungen) und der Entwicklung des individuellen Einkommens und dem Arbeitsmarktstatus. Als modifizierende Variablen werden das Alter der Probanden und ihr Gesundheitsstatus berücksichtigt. (pre

Drug resistance profile and biofilm forming potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from contact lenses in Karachi-Pakistan

BACKGROUND: The contaminated contact lens provides Pseudomonas aeruginosa an ideal site for attachment and biofilm production. Continuous contact of the eye to the biofilm-infested lens can lead to serious ocular diseases, such as keratitis (corneal ulcers). The biofilms also prevent effective penetration of the antibiotics, which increase the chances of antibiotic resistance. METHODS: For this study, 22 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were obtained from 36 contact lenses and 14 contact lens protective fluid samples. These isolates were tested against eight commonly used antibiotics using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The biofilm forming potential of these isolates was also evaluated using various qualitative and quantitative techniques. Finally, a relationship between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance was also examined. RESULTS: The isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa tested were found resistant to most of the antibiotics tested. Qualitative and quantitative biofilm analysis revealed that most of the isolates exhibited strong biofilm production. The biofilm production was significantly higher in isolates that were multi-drug resistant (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that multi-drug resistant, biofilm forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates are mainly involved in contact lens associated infections. This appears to be the first report from Pakistan, which analyzes both antibiotic resistance profile and biofilm forming potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from contact lens of the patients with contact lens associated infections

Achieving sustained competitive advantage in retail and consumer service firms: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage.

The vital role of entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage in creating sustained competitive advantage in retail and consumer service firms is increasingly acknowledged in modern markets. Using data from 246 retail and consumer service firms (hereafter R&CSFs) in Japan, this paper develops and empirically tests a framework delineating how entrepreneurial-oriented R&CSFs strategically combine existing resources while managing risks to differentiate their service portfolios to be competitive. The findings reveal that entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial bricolage influence differentiation advantage and risk management, which, in turn, is associated with creating a sustained competitive advantage (hereafter SCA). This paper adds novel insights to the dynamic capabilities view and retail and service marketing literature by identifying entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial bricolage, and risk management as dynamic capabilities, which allows R&CSFs to create service innovations in resource-constrained environments

Early Retirement in West Germany: A Sequential Model of Discrete Choice

In this paper, I describe a structural model of retirement behaviour, which accounts for the multiplicity of alternative retirement ages, the possibility of unobserved heterogeneity and the „absorbing state" property of the retirement decision. The results of its implementation for a panel dataset of West Geman males reveal that a person's health status plays a key role in determining the timing of retirement, and that the relative intensity of the individual preference for leisure among public sector employees is, ceteris paribus, below average. A policy-related simulation experiment demonstrates the relevance of pension benefits for the freqency distribution of retirement ages

The pension incentive to retire: Empirical evidence for West Germany

In this paper, the impact of the West German pension system on the retirement decisions of elderly citizens is analyzed within the framework of a discrete-time hazard rate model deduced from a micro-economic decision rule. The model is estimated using a panel dataset of elderly West German citizens. In order to improve the precision of the estimates obtained, the data from the sample are combined with aggregate-level information on the labour force participation behaviour of the elderly. Policy simulations based on the estimates reveal that the probability of early retirement can be reduced significantly by appropriate changes in the pension system. JEL classification: C32, C41, J26Retirement · pensions · hazard rates

Can interest rate changes help predict future stock price movements? Evidence from the German market

By applying a linear regression model to monthly time series data from the German equity and money markets, this paper challenges the conventional viewpoint that historical data do not possess any explanatory power for future stock market returns.

A flexible parametric approach to the binary outcome model

One of the major difficulties associated with econometric models for binary dependent variables is the fact that erroneous distributional assumptions regarding the error term are bound to result in inconsistent parameter estimates. This paper introduces a family of fully parametric, univariate density functions designed for use in connection with binary outcome models,which is capable of providing an arbitraly close approximation to the standard logistic and Burr II densities but can also represent a wealth of skewed and multi-modal distributions. The applicability of the approach under discussion is demonstrated by means of an application to an econometric model of self-employment. A simple, residual –based specification test applied in this context clearly rejects the standard logit, probit and Burr II specifications used as reference models. Moreover, most of the flexible parametric specifications under consideration clearly outperform the reference models if measured by the number of correct predictions

Hedgefonds und die Stabilität des internationalen Finanzsystems: Was können staatliche Regulierungen leisten?

The text at hand deals with the activities of hedge funds and their potentially disadvantageous implications for financial market stability. It shows that an enhanced market transparency, along with the introduction of centralised clearing houses for bilateral trades in derivatives, can make important contributions to the mitigation of such risks. Moreover, it recommends creating the legal preconditions for a compulsory governmental recapitalisation of financial institutes on the brink of insolvency, thus effectively preventing losses due to hedge fund defaults from spreading to uninvolved market participants.Received: June 22, 2010Accepted: January 17, 201