Anthropogenic seed dispersal: rethinking the origins of plant domestication

It is well documented that ancient sickle harvesting led to tough rachises, but the other seed dispersal properties in crop progenitors are rarely discussed. The first steps toward domestication are evolutionary responses for the recruitment of humans as dispersers. Seed dispersal–based mutualism evolved from heavy human herbivory or seed predation. Plants that evolved traits to support human-mediated seed dispersal express greater fitness in increasingly anthropogenic ecosystems. The loss of dormancy, reduction in seed coat thickness, increased seed size, pericarp density, and sugar concentration all led to more-focused seed dispersal through seed saving and sowing. Some of the earliest plants to evolve domestication traits had weak seed dispersal processes in the wild, often due to the extinction of animal dispersers or short-distance mechanical dispersal

The establishment history panel 1975-2006 : handbook Version 2.0.1

"The Establishment History Panel (BHP) for 1975 to 2006 includes all of the establishments throughout Germany which have at least one employee liable to social security as of the 30th of June of a given year or which have also had at least one marginal part-time employee as of 1999. For establishments in West Germany the observation period is the period 1975 to 2006 and for establishments in East Germany 1991 to 2006. The data source for the BHP is the Employee and Benefit Recipient History (BLH) of the IAB. The data on individuals contained in the BLH are aggregated to establishment level using the establishment numbers. The BHP covers between 1.3 and 2.7 million establishments per year. The individual annual waves can be linked to a panel dataset via the identifier 'artificial establishment number', which can be found in the dataset. This data report describes the variables of the weakly anonymous version of the 1975-2006 BHP basic dataset, which is available to researchers for on-site use at the Research Data Centre (FDZ) or for remote data access also. These BHP data are predominantly original data, with the sole exception that the original establishment numbers, which are direct identifiers for the different establishments, were replaced by artificial establishment numbers. The sensitive characteristics contained in the dataset, i.e. German Classification of Economic Activities 93 as 5- digit codes, German Classification of Economic Activities 03 as 5-digit codes, and Place of Work (District), are made available in the original on request and in well-founded cases only; all other users are given these variables in their aggregate forms only (as 3-digit codes or according to German States). This report will begin with a brief description of the sources used for the BHP, as well as the generation and processing of the BHP, followed by individual detailed explanations on the variables of the BHP 1975-2006. This data report contains no frequency tables for the individual variables. These are given in a separate text file that can be found on the FDZ homepage. To begin with, a brief overview of the changes to the BHP 1975-2006 in relation to the previous version from 1975-2005 is provided. This will help users of this version come to terms with the new version." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) Additional Information Here you find frequency tables for the individual variables. Here you can find the German version.IAB-Betriebs-Historik-Panel, IAB-Beschäftigtenhistorik, IAB-Leistungsempfängerhistorik, Datenaufbereitung, Forschungsdatenzentrum, Arbeitsmarktforschung, Datenorganisation, Betrieb, Wirtschaftszweige, regionale Verteilung, Unternehmensgründung, Betriebsstilllegung, Beschäftigtenstruktur, sozialversicherungspflichtige Arbeitnehmer, erwerbstätige Frauen, Inländer, Ungelernte, Qualifikationsniveau, Bildungsabschluss, Schulbildung, Berufsausbildung, Studienabschluss, Fachhochschule, Hochschule, Vollzeitarbeit, Stellung im Beruf, Auszubildende, nicht formal Qualifizierte, Facharbeiter, Polier, Meister, Angestellte, Teilzeitarbeitnehmer, Heimarbeitnehmer, geringfügige Beschäftigung, Altersstruktur, Lohnstruktur, Lohnhöhe, Vollzeitarbeit, Nationalität, Jugoslawe, Osteuropäer, Pole, Spanier, Portugiese, Türke, Beschäftigtenstatistik

Is Being 'Soft on Crime' the Solution to Rising Crime Rates?: Evidence from Germany

Based on a theoretical framework on informal, custodial and non-custodial sentencing, the paper provides econometric tests on the effectiveness of police, public prosecution and courts. Using a unique dataset covering German states for the period 1977- 2001, a comprehensive system of criminal prosecution indicators is derived and subsequently related to the incidence of six major offence categories using panel-econometrics. Empirical evidence suggests that the criminal policy of diversion failed as increasing shares of dismissals by prosecutors and judges enhance crime rates in Germany. Crime is significantly deterred by higher clearance and conviction rates, while the effects of indicators representing type (fine, probation, imprisonment) and severity (length of prison sentence, amount of fine) of punishment are often small and insignificant.