The Polarization of Employment in German Local Labor Markets

This paper uses the task-based view of technological change to study employment and wage polarization at the level of local labor markets in Germany between 1979 and 2007. In order to directly relate technological change to subsequent employment trends, we exploit variation in the regional task structure which reflects a region’s potential of being affected by computerization. We build a measure of regional routine intensity to test whether there has been a reallocation from routine towards non-routine labor conditional on a region’s initial computerization potential. We find that routine intensive regions have witnessed a differential reallocation towards non-routine employment and an increase in low- and medium-skilled service occupations. Our results corroborate the predictions of the task-based framework and confirm previous evidence on employment polarization in Germany in the sense that employment growth deteriorates at the middle of the skill distribution relative to the lower and the upper tail of the distribution.Job Tasks, Polarization, Technological Change, Service Occupations, Regional Labor Markets

Technological change, polarization and inequality

Die vorliegende Dissertation umfasst vier Essays, in denen die Rolle von technologischem Fortschritt für die Beschäftigungs- und Lohnentwicklung in Deutschland in den vergangenen 30 Jahren untersucht wird. Die empirische Analyse nutzt die räumliche Variation in der Verteilung der Beschäftigungsanteile von Routinetätigkeiten, die durch Informationstechnologien substituierbar sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Arbeitsmärkte, die besonders durch Automatisierung betroffen sind, eine stärkere Polarisierung der Berufsstruktur zwischen 1979 und 2006 erfahren haben, d.h. eine Verschiebung der Beschäftigung von Routineberufen (Büro- und Produktionsberufe) hin zu kognitiven und manuellen Nicht-Routineberufen (Fach- und Führungskräfte bzw. Dienstleistungsberufe). Aufbauend auf diesen Ergebnissen zeigt der zweite Aufsatz, dass technologischer Fortschritt positiv zu intra- und interregionaler Lohnungleichheit beiträgt. Der dritte Aufsatz untersucht die Wechselwirkung zwischen dem durch technologischen Wandel getriebenen Beschäftigungsanstieg am unteren Ende der Lohnverteilung und Beschäftigungschancen von Arbeitnehmern mit Migrationshintergrund. Die Ergebnisse stehen im Einklang mit der Hypothese, dass der technologisch bedingte Rückgang in der Nachfrage nach Routinetätigkeiten und die damit verbundene Reallokation in Berufe mit geringem Qualifikationslevel zu einem Anstieg des Wettbewerbsdrucks im Niedriglohnsektor führt, in dem ausländische Arbeitnehmer oftmals Beschäftigung finden. Der vierte Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit der langfristigen Entwicklung der Zeitarbeit in den regionalen Arbeitsmärkten in Deutschland in den vergangenen 30 Jahren und zeigt, dass die anfängliche Verteilung der Beschäftigungsanteile für manuelle Nicht-Routinetätigkeiten und insbesondere für Routinetätigkeiten eine starke Vorhersagekraft für das regionale Beschäftigungswachstum von Zeitarbeit in Deutschland besitzt.This thesis studies the role of technological change as a determinant of employment and wage trends in Germany over the past 30 years. The econometric analysis exploits spatial variation in the exposure to technological progress which arises due to initial regional specialization in routine task-intensive activities. The empirical evidence suggests that the occupational structure of labor markets that were particularly susceptible to technological change has polarized, as employment shifted from middle-skilled routine clerical and production occupations not only to high-paying professional occupations but also to low-paying service and construction occupations. Building on these results, the second essay explores whether and to what extent increasing labor market inequality within and across regions is driven by technological change and establishes a positive link between intra-regional wage inequality and computerization. Because of substantial variation in the degree of technology exposure across German regions, technological change can also in part explain rising inter-regional wage inequality. The third essay investigates the interaction between polarization in the native labor market and employment opportunities of immigrant workers in Germany. The findings are consistent with a technology induced reallocation of labor from middle-paying routine tasks towards lower-paying non-routine manual tasks inducing additional competitive pressure in this labor market segment in which immigrant workers are typically employed. Finally, the fourth essay provides an empirical analysis of the diverging patterns of employment in temporary help services across labor markets in Germany over the last 30 years. The differential growth pattern both at the level of occupations and across regional labor markets are found to be related to the initial intensity of routine and non-routine manual tasks

Nested bounds for the Perron root of a nonnegative matrix

AbstractIt is well known that for a nonnegative matrix A, the smallest row sum R′(A) and the largest row sum R″(A) provide lower and upper bounds, respectively, for the Perron root of A. These bounds are generalized for a partitioned nonnegative matrix A. The new bounds are better than R′(A) and R″(A), and they can be further improved by a refinement of the partition. Known monotonicity and convergence properties of R′(A) and R″(A) are generalized for the new bounds

Formulae for partial widths derived from the Lindblad equation

A method for calculating partial widths of auto-ionizing states is proposed. It combines either a complex absorbing potential or exterior complex scaling with the Lindblad equation. The corresponding classical rate equations are reproduced, and the trace conservation inherent in the Lindblad equation ensures that the partial widths sums up to the total width of the initial auto-ionizing state

High precision hybrid RF and ultrasonic chirp-based ranging for low-power IoT nodes

Hybrid acoustic-RF systems offer excellent ranging accuracy, yet they typically come at a power consumption that is too high to meet the energy constraints of mobile IoT nodes. We combine pulse compression and synchronized wake-ups to achieve a ranging solution that limits the active time of the nodes to 1 ms. Hence, an ultra low-power consumption of 9.015 µW for a single measurement is achieved. The operation time is estimated on 8.5 years on a CR2032 coin cell battery at a 1 Hz update rate, which is over 250 times larger than state-of-the-art RF-based positioning systems. Measurements based on a proof-of-concept hardware platform show median distance error values below 10 cm. Both simulations and measurements demonstrate that the accuracy is reduced at low signal-to-noise ratios and when reflections occur. We introduce three methods that enhance the distance measurements at a low extra processing power cost. Hence, we validate in realistic environments that the centimeter accuracy can be obtained within the energy budget of mobile devices and IoT nodes. The proposed hybrid signal ranging system can be extended to perform accurate, low-power indoor positioning

Ultra high definition video decoding with motion JPEG XR using the GPU

Many applications require real-time decoding of highresolution video pictures, for example, quick editing of video sequences in video editing applications. To increase decoding speed, parallelism can be exploited, yet, block-based image and video coding standards are difficult to decode in parallel because of the high number of dependencies between blocks. This paper investigates the parallel decoding capabilities of the new JPEG XR image coding standard for use on the massively-parallel architecture of the GPU. The potential of parallelism of the hierarchical frequency coding scheme used in the standard is addressed and a parallel decoding scheme is described suitable for real-time decoding of Ultra High Definition (4320p) Motion JPEG XR video sequences. Our results show a decoding speed of up to 46 frames per second for Ultra High Definition (4320p) sequences with high-dynamic range (32-bit/ 4: 2: 0) luma and chroma components

Probing the Protosolar Disk Using Dust Filtering at Gaps in the Early Solar System

Jupiter and Saturn formed early, before the gas disk dispersed. The presence of gap-opening planets affects the dynamics of the gas and embedded solids and halts the inward drift of grains above a certain size. A drift barrier can explain the absence of calcium aluminium rich inclusions (CAIs) in chondrites originating from parent bodies that accreted in the inner solar system. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, we use a $\mu$-X-Ray-fluorescence scanner to search for large CAIs and a scanning electron microscope to search for small CAIs in the ordinary chondrite NWA 5697. We carry out long-term, two-dimensional simulations including gas, dust, and planets to characterize the transport of grains within the viscous $\alpha$-disk framework exploring the scenarios of a stand-alone Jupiter, Jupiter and Saturn \textit{in situ}, or Jupiter and Saturn in a 3:2 resonance. In each case, we find a critical grain size above which drift is halted as a function of the physical conditions in the disk. From the laboratory search we find four CAIs with a largest size of $\approx$200$\,\mu$m. \Combining models and data, we provide an estimate for the upper limit of the $\alpha$-viscosity and the surface density at the location of Jupiter, using reasonable assumptions about the stellar accretion rate during inward transport of CAIs, and assuming angular momentum transport to happen exclusively through viscous effects. Moreover, we find that the compound gap structure in the presence of Saturn in a 3:2 resonance favors inward transport of grains larger than CAIs currently detected in ordinary chondrites.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, updated to match published version in Astrophysical Journa

The Superposition Principle of Waves Not Fulfilled under M. W. Evans' O(3) Hypothesis

In 1992 M.W. Evans proposed a so-called O(3) symmetry of electromagnetic fields by adding a constant longitudinal "ghost field" to the well-known transversal plane em waves. He considered this symmetry as a new law of electromagnetics. Later on, since 2002, this O(3) symmetry became the center of his Generally Covariant Unified Field Theory which he recently renamed as ECE Theory. One of the best-checked laws of electrodynamics is the principle of linear superposition of electromagnetic waves, manifesting itself in interference phenomena. Its mathematical equivalent is the representation of electric and magnetic fields as vectors. By considering the superposition of two phase-shifted waves we show that the superposition principle is incompatible with M.W. Evans' O(3) hypothesis.Comment: 5 pages, no figure