Strategic Interaction in the Market for Physician Services: The Treadmill Effect in a Fixed Budget System

We examine the strategic interaction in the market for physician services when the total budget for reimbursement is fixed. We show that this prospective payment system involves ƒ{ compared to a fee-for-service remuneration system ƒ{ a severe coordination problem, which potentially leads to the "treadmill effect". For the institutional setting of German primary physician service we provide evidence for decreasing reimbursement per treatment, which is consistent with theoretical predictions. When market entry is possible, a budget can be efficiency enhancing, if in addition a price floor is used.Health economics, supplier-induced demand, remuneration systems, coodination device

Prospects for a European Animal Welfare Label from the German Perspective: Supply Chain Barriers

The Federal Government of Germany as well as the European Commission are discussing the establishment of an animal welfare label. This label should enable consumers to make a conscious purchasing decision on animal welfare products. Various studies show that many consumers (in Germany around 20 %) prefer products produced under animal friendly conditions. However, the supply of such products is limited. The following study examines the source of this discrepancy by way of an action‐based analytical approach and identifies different barriers within the supply chain that prevent the establishment of a market segment for animal welfare products. Although consumer demand will be decisive for long‐term success, first of all the stakeholders of the supply chain must be convinced. If the stakeholders are not prepared to participate in an animal welfare program the diffusion phase can take a very long time or even fail. This study presents such supply chain barriers and interprets them in the light of neoinstitutionalism.animal welfare, label, supply chain, neo‐institutionalism., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,

The role of cGMP and PKG-I in spinal nociceptive processing

First paragraph (this article has no abstract) Persistent stimulation of nociceptors results in sensitization of nociceptive sensory neurons, which is associated with hyperalgesia and allodynia. The release of NO and subsequent synthesis of cGMP in the spinal cord are involved in this process. cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKG-I) has been suggested to act as a downstream target of cGMP, but its exact role in nociception hadn't been characterized yet. To further evaluate the NO/cGMP/PKG-I pathway in nociception we assessed the effects of PKG-I inhibiton and activaton in the rat formalin assay and analyzed the nociceptive behavior of PKG-I-/- mice. Open access article

Prospects for a European Animal Welfare Label from the German Perspective: Supply Chain Barriers

The Federal Government of Germany as well as the European Commission are discussing the establishment of an animal welfare label. This label should enable consumers to make a conscious purchasing decision on animal welfare products. Various studies show that many consumers (in Germany around 20 %) prefer products produced under animal friendly conditions. However, the supply of such products is limited. The following study examines the source of this discrepancy by way of an action-based analytical approach and identifies different barriers within the supply chain that prevent the establishment of a market segment for animal welfare products. Although consumer demand will be decisive for long-term success, first of all the stakeholders of the supply chain must be convinced. If the stakeholders are not prepared to participate in an animal welfare program the diffusion phase can take a very long time or even fail. This study presents such supply chain barriers and interprets them in the light of neo-institutionalism

Consumer preferences for meat: self-service counter or service counter?

Many people view animal welfare standards in the agricultural industry as critical and some consumers would prefer to buy high welfare meat. In order to successfully introduce high welfare meat products onto the market, some important marketing decisions must be made. Due to limited shelf space, niche products like high welfare meat cannot be placed both at the self-service counter and at the service counter. In order to analyze where to place it best an online survey of 642 German consumers was conducted. By means of factor and cluster analyses, consumers’ animal welfare attitudes and their preference for a point of purchase were combined. The different target groups were combined using cross tabulation analysis. The results show that consumers in the target group show a more positive attitude to the service counter

Consumer Preferences for High Welfare Meat in Germany: Self-service Counter or Service Counter?

Many people view animal welfare standards in the agricultural industry as critical and some consumers would prefer to buy high welfare meat. In order to successfully introduce high welfare meat products onto the market, some important marketing decisions must be made. Due to limited shelf space in retail outlets, niche products like high welfare meat cannot be placed both at the self-service counter and at the service counter. In order to analyze where to place it best an online survey of 642 German consumers was conducted. By means of factor and cluster analyses, consumers’ animal welfare attitudes and their preference for a point of purchase were combined. The different target groups were joint using cross tabulation analysis. The results reveal that consumers in the target group show a more positive attitude to the service counter

JOKARUS - Design of a compact optical iodine frequency reference for a sounding rocket mission

We present the design of a compact absolute optical frequency reference for space applications based on hyperfine transitions in molecular iodine with a targeted fractional frequency instability of better than $3\cdot 10^{-14}$. It is based on a micro-integrated extended cavity diode laser with integrated optical amplifier, fiber pigtailed second harmonic generation wave-guide modules, and a quasi-monolithic spectroscopy setup with operating electronics. The instrument described here is scheduled for launch end of 2017 aboard the TEXUS 54 sounding rocket as an important qualification step towards space application of iodine frequency references and related technologies. The payload will operate autonomously and its optical frequency will be compared to an optical frequency comb during its space flight

Modelltheoretische Grundlagen wirtschaftspolitischer Kontroversen: eine computergestützte Aufbereitung

Mainstream-Wirtschaftstheorie beherrscht den wirtschaftspolitischen Diskurs sowie die wissenschaftliche und Lehrbuch-Literatur. Die Verwendung digitaler Instrumente in der makroökonomischen Bildung hat erheblich zugenommen, erleichtert den Lernprozess und bietet eine praktische Darstellung der Makroökonomik, ihrer Instrumente und Ziele. In den verfügbaren makroökonomischen Simulatoren fehlt eine klare Diskussion der ökonomischen Theorie, die hinter der Konstruktion des Modells steht. Darüber hinaus spiegelt sich die Dominanz der neo-klassischen Theorie in der wirtschaftspolitischen Diskussion und Ausbildung wider. Das Projekt: Wir entwickeln eine digitale Lernplattform mit einem interaktiven Online-Lehrbuch, um Kontroversen auf den Grundlagen der makroökonomischen Theorie zu präsentieren und zu untersuchen Unser Ziel ist es, anhand des Simulators den Pluralismus in den Mittelpunkt makroökonomischer Bildung und politischer Diskussionen zu bringen