Problems on the road to high skill: a sectoral lesson from the transfer of the dual system of vocational training to eastern Germany

The central challenge of transferring the dual system of education and training to eastern Germany is to convince companies to bear the in-firm costs of apprenticeship training. Two prominent explanatory variables in the social scientificliterature - national institutions and social capital - offer certain predictions aboutwhich factors will be most important in facilitating the transfer of the dual system toeastern Germany. Data from interviews with thirty-four firms in the metal andelectronics industry suggest that institutionalist theory mis-specifies the role ofemployers in coordinated market economies. Employers' associations in both eastern and western Germany have neither the access to inside information nor theinformal sanctioning capacity attributed to them in this literature, nor do they play anyrole in the regular diffusion of strategies of best practice. Ownership by westernGerman companies, however, appears to be of particular significance in the decisionof eastern German companies to train, a link which may support the institutional emphasis on access to long-term finance. Social capital is unable to explainsignificant variance in the ability of companies to cooperate in order to create additional apprenticeship places. The role of policy design in the new federal statesappears to have an important effect in explaining the ability of firms in some states tocooperate in training apprentices. The ability to craft effective policies depends oncoordination among state governments and employers' organizations, but the distributive conflicts inherent in these subsidies can hamper cooperation among employers. -- Die zentrale Herausforderung bei der Übertragung des dualen Berufsausbildungssystems nach Ostdeutschland ist es, die Unternehmen davon zuüberzeugen, die internen Kosten der Ausbildung zu tragen. Besonders zwe iVariablen in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Literatur - das nationale Institutionengefüge und das Sozialkapital - weisen auf vorab benennbare Faktoren hin, die wichtig sind, um den Transfer des dualen Systems nach Ostdeutschland zuerleichtern.Informationen und Daten aus Interviews in 34 Unternehmen der Metall- und Elektronikindustrie führen zu der Annahme, daß die Institutionen-Theorie die Rolle von Unternehmern in koordinierten Marktwirtschaften mißinterpretiert.Unternehmensverbände in Ost- und Westdeutschland haben weder Zugang zu Insider-Informationen noch eine wie auch immer geartete Sanktionsmöglichkeit - wieihnen in der Literatur zugeschrieben wird -, und sie spielen auch keine Rolle in derüblichen Verbreitung von best-practice-Erfahrungen. Wenn ein Unternehmen in Ostdeutschland einem westdeutschen Unternehmen gehört, so scheint dies allerdings eine wichtige Rolle bei der Entscheidung für eine berufliche Erstausbildung in dem ostdeutschen Unternehmen zu spielen. Dies könnte in einemZusammenhang mit der Diskussion um die Bedeutung von Institutionen und dabei um den Zugang zu langfristigem Kapital gesehen werden.Die These vom Sozialen Kapital kann die erheblichen Unterschiede in der Fähigkeitder Unternehmen, durch Kooperation zusätzliche Ausbildungsplätze zu schaffen, nicht erklären. Die je spezifische Art, wie politische Prozesse in den neuen Bundesländern gestaltet werden, scheint dagegen ein wichtiger Indikator zu sein, umdie in einigen Bundesländern vorhandene Kooperationsfähigkeit von Unternehmenbei der Lehrlingsausbildung zu erklären.Die Fähigkeit, wirksame politische Lösungen zu entwickeln, hängt von der Art der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Länderregierungen und Unternehmensverbänden ab, doch können Verteilungskonflikte, die immanent zu Subventionen gehören, dieKooperation zwischen Unternehmern behindern

Learning sparse representations of depth

This paper introduces a new method for learning and inferring sparse representations of depth (disparity) maps. The proposed algorithm relaxes the usual assumption of the stationary noise model in sparse coding. This enables learning from data corrupted with spatially varying noise or uncertainty, typically obtained by laser range scanners or structured light depth cameras. Sparse representations are learned from the Middlebury database disparity maps and then exploited in a two-layer graphical model for inferring depth from stereo, by including a sparsity prior on the learned features. Since they capture higher-order dependencies in the depth structure, these priors can complement smoothness priors commonly used in depth inference based on Markov Random Field (MRF) models. Inference on the proposed graph is achieved using an alternating iterative optimization technique, where the first layer is solved using an existing MRF-based stereo matching algorithm, then held fixed as the second layer is solved using the proposed non-stationary sparse coding algorithm. This leads to a general method for improving solutions of state of the art MRF-based depth estimation algorithms. Our experimental results first show that depth inference using learned representations leads to state of the art denoising of depth maps obtained from laser range scanners and a time of flight camera. Furthermore, we show that adding sparse priors improves the results of two depth estimation methods: the classical graph cut algorithm by Boykov et al. and the more recent algorithm of Woodford et al.Comment: 12 page

On the Cost of Negation for Dynamic Pruning

Negated query terms allow documents containing such terms to be filtered out of a search results list, supporting disambiguation. In this work, the effect of negation on the efficiency of disjunctive, top-k retrieval is examined. First, we show how negation can be integrated efficiently into two popular dynamic pruning algorithms. Then, we explore the efficiency of our approach, and show that while often efficient, negation can negatively impact the dynamic pruning effectiveness for certain queries

God and Country? A Review of The Religion of American Greatness

Miller reveals his conservative leanings at the very beginning of the book and notes that he has critiques of progressivism that he would like to share as well. Posting about ­­­­­­­­the book The Religion of American Greatness from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/god-and-country-a-review-of-the-religion-of-american-greatness

Visually Mapping the Narrative System of Dostoevsky\u27s The Idiot

This research creates a visual system for analyzing Dostoevsky’s The Idiot. I define five factors—space, time, character (individual actor), network (unique aggregate of certain actors), and narrative voice—and visually explore their dyadic and triadic relationships. Taking the dyad of character and network, I identify all named entities within the novel and describe each person to whom they are connected. I then define factors for determining the degree of closeness in each of these relationships, and represent the degree via line value; those more closely related will be connected by thicker, darker lines. Other dyads and triads rely on visualizing schemes inspired by music notation, thermal imaging, and set theory. In visualizing and representing the novel’s varied mechanisms and parts, I track the evolution of Dostoevsky’s narrative and artistic system at a bird’s eye view. The Idiot is a vast narrative universe rich in events, actors, and narratorial turns; the reader’s task is additionally overwhelmed by the novel’s sheer mass and density. The Idiot’s layered sources of complexity invite the visual approach undertaken in this study

Rhetoric in the Worship and Witness of the Church: A Review of Seasoned Speech

Seasoned Speech contains a convincing appeal for Christians to take seriously the role of rhetoric in framing Christian life and witness, both individually and corporately. Posting about the book Seasoned Speech from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/rhetoric-in-the-worship-and-witness-of-the-church-a-review-of-seasoned-speech

The Reformations and the Genesis of Popular Christian Media

How we can learn the lessons from a mixed legacy of Christian engagement with popular media and create media that will impact present and future generations for the glory of God, as well as the good of humanity? Posting about cultural influence through the centuries from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/the-reformations-and-the-genesis-of-popular-christian-media

How Evangelical Fears Paved the Way for Donald Trump: A Review of Believe Me

Believe Me chronicles the story of evangelical political engagement in American history and seeks to come to grips with the stark paradox of evangelical support for a president whose character falls so short of their professed ideals. Posting about ­­­­­­­­the book Believe Me from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. https://inallthings.org/how-evangelical-fears-paved-the-way-for-donald-trump-a-review-of-believe-me