Demographic development in North and South - global trends and challenges for education

After looking at today\u27s demographic situation, this paper will attempt to demonstrate the need for lifelong learning. It will briefly review the current world situation in terms of ageing, health, poverty and hunger, urbanisation and migration. It will then show that lifelong learning, in particular when conceived as an overarching sector-wide approach, can enable individuals to meet the challenges in their private lives and in social and work environments in today\u27s fast-changing world. The importance of literacy and adult learning and education - as the foundation and major component of lifelong learning - will be underlined. (DIPF/Orig.)In diesem Artikel wird versucht die Notwendigkeit des lebenslangen Lernens aufzuzeigen, indem die heutige demographische Situation betrachtet wird. Es wird kurz die derzeitige weltweite Lage im Bezug auf Alterung, Gesundheit, Armut und Hunger, Urbanisierung und Migration dargestellt. Es wird gezeigt, dass lebenslanges Lernen eine allumfassende Methode ist, die Personen dazu befähigen kann, in einer sich schnell wandelnden Welt zu leben und zu arbeiten. Die Bedeutung der Alphabetisierung und Erwachsenenbildung - als Grundlage des lebenslangen Lernens - und der Bedarf der Entwicklung von Schlüsselkompetenzen werden betont. Es wird für eine dringend notwendige Anerkennung und Bestätigung der formellen und informellen Bildung plädiert. (DIPF/Orig.

Cuntz-Pimsner C*-algebras associated with subshifts

By using C*-correspondences and Cuntz-Pimsner algebras, we associate to every subshift (also called a shift space) $X$ a C*-algebra $O_X$, which is a generalization of the Cuntz-Krieger algebras. We show that $O_X$ is the universal C*-algebra generated by partial isometries satisfying relations given by $X$. We also show that $O_X$ is a one-sided conjugacy invariant of $X$.Comment: 28 pages. This is a slightly updated version of a preprint from 2004. Submitted for publication. In version 2 the Introduction has been changed, two remarks (Remark 7.6 and 7.7) have been added and the list of references has been update

Migration, Local Fiscal Variables and Local Economic Conditions

The paper examines the effects of local fiscal variables and local economic conditions on exit decisions of Norwegian households. The study takes advantage of a unique survey data set in which respondents evaluate a range of local amenities and report whether they intend to relocate. We find that municipal services are important to exit decisions. Norwegian municipalities can increase the population share of young, educated households by improving living conditions for children and the quality of schools and cultural services. The estimated effects of personal unemployment, local unemployment and local wages on migration plans become weaker when amenity variables are included, indicating that capitalization of amenities cannot explain weak effects of local economic conditions on migration in Europe.Migration, local fiscal variables, local economic conditions

Do local authorities set local fiscal variables to influence population flows?

The paper presents an empirical test of local fiscal competition in Norway based on the observation that interregional migration during the business cycle creates very different incentives for rural and urban municipalities to influence population movements. Panel-data evidence is presented suggesting that municipalities indeed attempt to control population flows. The sensitivity of municipal spending and revenue decisions to population movements varies between municipalities in a way that is consistent with the municipalities' incentives to influence location decisions of households.Fiscal competition; Local government

Algebraic Cuntz-Pimsner rings

From a system consisting of a right non-degenerate ring $R$, a pair of $R$-bimodules $Q$ and $P$ and an $R$-bimodule homomorphism $\psi:P\otimes Q\longrightarrow R$ we construct a $\Z$-graded ring $\mathcal{T}_{(P,Q,\psi)}$ called the Toeplitz ring and (for certain systems) a $\Z$-graded quotient $\mathcal{O}_{(P,Q,\psi)}$ of $\mathcal{T}_{(P,Q,\psi)}$ called the Cuntz-Pimsner ring. These rings are the algebraic analogs of the Toeplitz $C^*$-algebra and the Cuntz-Pimsner $C^*$-algebra associated to a $C^*$-correspondence (also called a Hilbert bimodule). This new construction generalizes for example the algebraic crossed product by a single automorphism, corner skew Laurent polynomial ring by a single corner automorphism and Leavitt path algebras. We also describe the structure of the graded ideals of our graded rings in terms of pairs of ideals of the coefficient ring.Comment: 55 pages. Version 3 is a complete rewrite of version 2. In version 4 Def. 3.14, Def. 4.6, Def. 4.8 and Remark 4.9 have been added and some minor adjustments have been mad