Unitary cocycles and processes on the full Fock space

We consider a unitary cocycle or Sch\"urmann triple on the non-commutative unitary group fixed by a complex matrix which induces an additive free white noise or an additive free L\'evy process on the tensor algebra over the full Fock space. A L\'evy process on a Voiculescu dual semi-group is given by a generator or Sch\"urmann triple. We will show how a free L\'evy process on the non-commutative unitary group fixed by a complex matrix can be obtained by infinitesimally convolving the additive free white noise.Comment: 18 page

Cultural History of the Jews in the Early Modern Period

Review of David B. Ruderman. Early Modern Jewry: A New Cultural History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. ix + 326 pp. $35.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-691-14464-1.Rezension zu: David B. Ruderman. Early Modern Jewry: A New Cultural History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. ix + 326 pp.$35.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-691-14464-1

Designs on governance : development of policy instruments and dynamics in governance

The thesis analyses the role of policy instruments for dynamics of governance, using case studies on ‘emissisons trading’ and ‘network access regulation in the utilities’. It opens by observing a paradox: Policy instruments are criticised for misrepresenting the complex and contested reality of public policy-making by portraying it as technical problem-solving, yet, policy instruments play an increasingly central role in policy analysis, design and public debate. \ud The first part of the thesis develops a conception of policy instruments as ‘designs on governance’. This implies a double life: as models of governance and as configurations that work in real world governance contexts. Understanding the role of policy instruments requires to study the development of trajectories in governance patterns that result from the interaction of models and configurations. Concepts from innovation studies are mobilised and the notion of an ‘innovation journey’ is adopted as a heuristic framework. \ud The second part of the thesis presents two case studies examplifying different innovation patterns: design push (case of emissions trading) and dynamics pull (case of network access regulation). For each pattern typical phases and transitions as well as ironies that undermine the instrumentality of designs on governance are discussed. Conclusions of the thesis address the co-evolution of policy instruments with broader governance dynamics and specify conditions under which momentum of instruments may dominate over dynamics of problem formulation and political authority, or vice versa. Key insights are formulated with respect to the division of design labour between local and global in the context of emerging cosmopolitan governance regimes, the social life of policy instruments and the ambivalent role of technical models of governance for effectiveness as well as democratic legimitacy of public policy

Assessing the word recognition skills of german elementary students in silent reading - Psychometric properties of an item pool to generate curriculum-based measurements

Given the high proportion of struggling readers in school and the long-term negative consequences of underachievement for those affected, the question of prevention options arises. The early identification of central indicators for reading literacy is a noteworthy starting point. In this context, curriculum-based measurements have established themselves as reliable and valid instruments for monitoring the progress of learning processes. This article is dedicated to the assessment of word recognition in silent reading as an indicator of adequate reading fluency. The process of developing an item pool is described, from which instruments for learning process diagnostics can be derived. A sample of 4268 students from grades 1–4 processed a subset of items. Each student template included anchor items, which all students processed. Using Item Response Theory, item statistics were estimated for the entire sample and all items. After eliminating unsuitable items (N = 206), a one-dimensional, homogeneous pool of items remained. In addition, there are high correlations with another established reading test. This provides the first evidence that the recording of word recognition skills for silent reading can be seen as an economic indicator for reading skills. Although the item pool forms an important basis for the extraction of curriculum-based measurements, further investigations to assess the diagnostic suitability (e.g., the measurement invariance over different test times) are still pending

Policy instruments as innovation in governance: the case of emissions trading

governance, emissions trading, policy technology

Do business-related services really lag behind manufacturing industries in the business cycle?

In an a priori view, it is usually assumed that the business cycle of manufacturing industries leads the business cycle of the service sector. This seems to be even more plausible for the relationship between business-related services, whose high growth rates in recent years were largely due to increased outsourcing activities of the manufacturing sector. In this paper it is shown that the relationship is not as simple as it appears at first sight. We run Granger causality tests between sales growth rates of the business-related service sector against growth rates of various series of the manufacturing sector. It turns out that the relationship between business-related services and manufacturing is either contemporaneous or bi-directional, while no evidence is given for manufacturing leading business-related services. --business cycle,Granger causality,business-related services