Measuring polarization via poverty and affluence

The decline of the middle class has been investigated as a principal aspect of social polarization (Wolfson 1994, 1997). Wang and Tsui 2000 have characterized a class of polarization measures by postulates on normalization, increasing spread and increasing bipolarity. The present paper generalizes this class of measures. It defines polarization by aggregating measures of poverty and of affluence, focussing on incomes outside a middle class interval. The approach is applied to German data on income distribution. --decline of middle class,income distribution,income richness

Measuring Richness and Poverty

In this paper, we define a new class of richness measures. In contrast to the often used headcount, these new measures are sensitive to changes in rich person's income and therefore allow for a more sophisticated analysis of richness. We demonstrate the application of these new measures to analyse the development of poverty and richness over time in Germany, to compare Germany to the other EU-15 countries and to investigate the impact of tax reforms on poverty and richness. The latter analysis is based on micro data provided by the simulation model FiFoSiM using German income tax and household survey micro data. We show that it partly depends on the measure whether the development of richness in Germany is increasing or decreasing. The cross country analysis yields several groups of countries according to their values of poverty and richness indices. The new richness measures show that the effects of flat tax reform scenarios depend on the reform parameters. Using these examples, we show the importance of taking into account the dimension of changes and not only the number of people beyond a given richness line (headcount). We propose to use the new measures in addition to the headcount index for a more comprehensive analysis of richness. --richness,affluence,poverty,tax reform,flat tax

Measuring Richness and Poverty: A Micro Data Application to Europe and Germany

In this paper, we define a new class of richness measures. In contrast to the often used headcount, these new measures are sensitive to changes in rich persons' income and therefore allow for a more sophisticated analysis of richness. We demonstrate the application of these new measures to analyze the development of poverty and richness over time in Germany, to compare Germany to many other European countries and to investigate the impact of tax reforms on poverty and richness. Using these examples, we show the importance of taking into account the intensity of changes and not only the number of people beyond a given richness line (headcount). We propose to use the new measures in addition to the headcount index for a more comprehensive analysis of richness.richness, affluence, poverty, tax reform, flat tax

E-homework with individual feedback for large lectures

We implemented two different blended learning concepts using STACK. The aim was to enhance continuous learning activity of up to 1600 undergraduates in each of our courses right from the beginning of a term. In both scenarios, classroom exercises were partially replaced by voluntary e-learning tasks. In the first scenario, lecture hours were used to spend more time on difficult exercises in the classroom. In the second, lecture hours were reduced and bonus points for the final exam could be earned by submitting additional e-homework. E-homework with bonus points triggers active participation in the other (online and classroom) parts of the same course and therefore improves continuous learning

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Does work always pay in Germany? b

Does Work Always Pay in Germany?

Income redistribution in Germany is the result of a combination of several redistribution instruments: there is a complex income tax law, different obligatory social insurances and supplementary benefits. This paper estimates income redistribution by quantile regression, using German EVS data. Two results are obtained: income after redistribution does not always increase in line with income before redistribution, i.e. for people with a low income before redistribution, it does not make sense to increase their efforts, since more work means less earnings. Further, an increasing redistribution rate for higher incomes is not always observable from the data. Copyright 2009 The Author. Journal Compilation Verein für Socialpolitik and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009.

Considering the Extremely Poor: Multidimensional Poverty Measurement for Germany

This paper applies the Alkire and Foster (J Public Econ 95:476-487, 2011) index of multidimensional poverty to German data. This is done with respect to the politically most important dimensions of poverty mentioned in the German Federal Government's report on poverty and wealth. Additionally, a modification of the identification step of the Alkire-Foster index is proposed to guarantee that individuals, who are extremely poor in only few dimensions, are not omitted by the index

Homogeneity testing in a Weibull mixture model

Mixture diagnosis, Survival analysis, Hazard models, Dispersion score test, Goodness-of-fit, Weibull-to-exponential transform, Primary 62N03, Secondary 90B25,