The impact of firm characteristics on the success of employment subsidies : a decomposition analysis of treatment effects

"In this paper we show that firm characteristics have an influence on the success of employment subsidies e.g. wage subsidies and in-work benefits, as they can strengthen positive effects or mitigate negative effects. We consider firm characteristics as post treatment variables, which are realised after the (placement officer's or the unemployed job seeker's) decision regarding programme participation has taken place. Therefore in a first step we estimate pairwise treatment effects by propensity score matching, controlling for pre-treatment characteristics of the treated and control individuals only. In a second step as a methodological contribution we propose a decomposition of the pairwise treatment effects using an Oaxaca/Blinder style decomposition analysis on the matched samples. In this decomposition we include the post-treatment firm characteristics as explanatory variables. Because employment status is a binary outcome variable in our empirical application, we use a generalisation of the decomposition analysis to nonlinear regressions developed by Fairlie (2005). This procedure allows us to distinguish between the part of a treatment effect that is due to differences in firm characteristics between treated and controls (the 'explained' part) and the part that is independent of those differences (the 'unexplained' part)." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Eingliederungszuschuss - Erfolgskontrolle, Lohnsubvention, Unternehmen, Beschäftigungsförderung, Arbeitslose, berufliche Reintegration, Beschäftigungsdauer, Sozialhilfeempfänger, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien, Beschäftigungseffekte - Determinanten, Unternehmensgröße, Lohnhöhe, Beschäftigtenstruktur, Qualifikationsstruktur, Wirtschaftszweige

A NEW “FERROVUM” SPECIES IN A SCHWERTMANNITE-PRODUCING PLANT FOR MINE WATER TREATMENT

Mining activities for metals or coal often result in the development of acid mine drainage due to the oxidation of sulfidic minerals which get exposed to oxygen. The acidic mine waters are characterized by low pH, high concentrations of sulfate and ferrous iron, and possibly dissolved heavy metals or metalloids. Conventional treatment comprises neutralization and oxidation yielding a sludge of iron oxides/hydroxides

Remotely Controlled Diffusion from Magnetic Liposome Microgels

The reversible, temperature-dependent change in the permeability of a phospholipid bilayer has been used for controlling the diffusion rate of encapsulated molecular payload from liposomes. Liposomes were preloaded with a fluorescent dye and immobilized in calcium alginate hydrogel microparticles that also contained iron oxide nanoparticles. The composite microparticles were produced by a drop-on-demand inkjet method. The ability of iron oxide nanoparticles to locally dissipate heat upon exposure to a radio-frequency (RF) alternating magnetic field was used to control the local temperature and therefore diffusion from the liposomes in a contactless way using an RF coil. Several different release patterns were realized, including repeated on-demand release. The internal structure of the composite alginate–liposome–magnetite microparticles was investigated, and the influence of microparticle concentration on the heating rate was determined. In order to achieve a temperature rise required for the liposome membrane melting, the concentration of alginate beads should be at least 25% of their maximum packing density for the nanoparticle concentration and specific absorption rate used

Pyridine as novel substrate for regioselective oxygenation with aromatic peroxygenase from Agrocybe aegerita

AbstractAgrocybe aegerita peroxidase (AaP) is a versatile extracellular biocatalyst that can oxygenate aromatic compounds. Here, we report on the selective oxidation of pyridine (PY) yielding pyridine N-oxide as sole product. Using H218O2 as co-substrate, the origin of oxygen was confirmed to be the peroxide. Therefore, AaP can be regarded as a true peroxygenase transferring one oxygen atom from peroxide to the substrate. To our best knowledge, there are only two types of enzymes oxidizing PY at the nitrogen: bacterial methane monooxygenase and a few P450 monooxygenases. AaP is the first extracellular enzyme and the first peroxidase that catalyzes this reaction, and it converted also substituted PYs into the corresponding N-oxides

Dynamic Distributed Simulation of DEVS Models on the OSGi Service Platform

Interoperability among simulators is one of the key factors in distributed simulations. Several interoperability infrastructures such as HLA and DEVS/SOA have been utilised, but most of them do not provide any dynamics. This paper introduces the use of the OSGi service platform as universal middleware for dynamic distributed simulation of DEVS models. We have designed and implemented the DEVS/OSGi simulation framework, which is an approach similar to DEVS/SOA, but relies on an integrated service-oriented and protocol independent architecture. It enables standardized plug-and-play capabilities and dynamic reconfiguration within distributed simulations. The architecture and implementation has been validated in an analytical context against a traffic simulation model. We conclude that the standardised interoperability and run-time dynamics provided by the OSGi service platform are highly valuable for distributed simulations

The impact of firm characteristics on the success of employment subsidies: a decomposition analysis of treatment effects

"In this paper we show that firm characteristics have an influence on the success of employment subsidies e.g. wage subsidies and in-work benefits, as they can strengthen positive effects or mitigate negative effects. We consider firm characteristics as post treatment variables, which are realised after the (placement officer's or the unemployed job seeker's) decision regarding programme participation has taken place. Therefore in a first step we estimate pairwise treatment effects by propensity score matching, controlling for pre-treatment characteristics of the treated and control individuals only. In a second step as a methodological contribution we propose a decomposition of the pairwise treatment effects using an Oaxaca/ Blinder style decomposition analysis on the matched samples. In this decomposition we include the post-treatment firm characteristics as explanatory variables. Because employment status is a binary outcome variable in our empirical application, we use a generalisation of the decomposition analysis to nonlinear regressions developed by Fairlie (2005). This procedure allows us to distinguish between the part of a treatment effect that is due to differences in firm characteristics between treated and controls (the 'explained' part) and the part that is independent of those differences (the 'unexplained' part)." (author's abstract)Der Beitrag zeigt, dass betriebliche Merkmale einen Einfluss auf den Erfolg von Beschäftigungsförderung, wie z.B. Lohnsubventionen und Unterstützungsleistungen für Erwerbstätige haben, indem sie positive Effekte verstärken und negative Effekte abschwächen. Die Autoren betrachten betriebliche Merkmale als Nachbehandlungsvariablen, welche nach der Entscheidung zur Programmteilnahme (durch den Arbeitsvermittler oder den Arbeitsuchenden) realisiert werden. In einem ersten Schritt werden paarweise Behandlungseffekte mittels Propensity Score Matching geschätzt, unter Kontrolle der Vorbehandlungsmerkmale der Teilnehmer und der Kontrollgruppe. In einem zweiten Schritt wird eine Zerlegung der paarweisen Behandlungseffekte mittels Oaxaca/ Blinder-Dekompositions-Analyse vorgenommen. Hierbei werden die betrieblichen Merkmale nach der Teilnahme als erklärende Variable einbezogen. Da der Erwerbsstatus eine binäre Ergebnisvariable darstellt, wird eine Verallgemeinerung der Dekompositions-Analyse zu einer nichtlinearen Regression - entwickelt von Fairlie (2005) vorgenommen. Diese Prozedur erlaubt eine Unterscheidung zwischen Behandlungseffekten zwischen Teilnehmern und Kontrollgruppe, welche auf unterschiedliche betriebliche Merkmale zurückzuführen sind und anderen 'unerklärten' Effekten. (IAB

Dynamic Distributed Simulation of DEVS Models on the OSGi Service Platform

Interoperability among simulators is one of the key factors in distributed simulations. Several interoperability infrastructures such as HLA and DEVS/SOA have been utilised, but most of them do not provide any dynamics. This paper introduces the use of the OSGi service platform as universal middleware for dynamic distributed simulation of DEVS models. We have designed and implemented the DEVS/OSGi simulation framework, which is an approach similar to DEVS/SOA, but relies on an integrated service-oriented and protocol independent architecture. It enables standardized plug-and-play capabilities and dynamic reconfiguration within distributed simulations. The architecture and implementation has been validated in an analytical context against a traffic simulation model. We conclude that the standardised interoperability and run-time dynamics provided by the OSGi service platform are highly valuable for distributed simulations