Hedonic Price Indices for the Paris Housing Market

In this paper, we calculate a transaction-based price index for apartments in Paris (France). The heterogeneous character of real estate is taken into account using an hedonic model. The functional form is specified using a general Box-Cox function. The data basis covers 84 686 transactions of the housing market in 1990:01-1999:12, which is one of the largest samples ever used in comparable studies. Low correlations of the price index with stock and bond indices (first differences) indicate diversification benefits from the inclusion of real estate in a mixed asset portfolio

Does Schooling Affect Health Behavior? Evidence from the Educational Expansion in Western Germany

During the postwar period German states pursued policies to increase the share of young Germans obtaining a university entrance diploma (Abitur) by building more academic track schools, but the timing of educational expansion differed between states. This creates exogenous variation in the availability of higher education, which allows estimating the causal effect of education on health behaviors. Using the number of academic track schools in a state as an instrumental variable for years of schooling, we investigate the causal effect of schooling on health behavior such as smoking and related outcomes such as obesity. We find large negative effects of education on smoking. These effects can mostly be attributed to reductions in starting rates rather than increases in quitting rates. We find no causal effect of education on reduced overweight and obesity.education, smoking, obesity

Visualization and comparison of classical structures and quantum states of 4D maps

For generic 4D symplectic maps we propose the use of 3D phase-space slices which allow for the global visualization of the geometrical organization and coexistence of regular and chaotic motion. As an example we consider two coupled standard maps. The advantages of the 3D phase-space slices are presented in comparison to standard methods like 3D projections of orbits, the frequency analysis, and a chaos indicator. Quantum mechanically, the 3D phase-space slices allow for the first comparison of Husimi functions of eigenstates of 4D maps with classical phase space structures. This confirms the semi-classical eigenfunction hypothesis for 4D maps.Comment: For videos with rotated view of the 3D phase-space slices in high resolution see http://www.comp-phys.tu-dresden.de/supp

Mechanochemical Synthesis of Cu2MgSn3S8 and Ag2MgSn3S8

Two new thiospinels of the type AI2BIICIV3SVI8 were successfully synthesized via a mechanochemical route using binary sulfides and sulfur. Cu2MgSn3S8 and Ag2MgSn3S8 are the first AI2BIICIV3SVI8 compounds with magnesium as divalent cation. The crystal structures of Cu2MgSn3S8 and Ag2MgSn3S8 were refined in the cubic space group Fd3m using X‐ray powder diffraction. According to UV/Vis measurements, a direct optical bandgap of ca. 1.65 eV was determined for both Cu2MgSn3S8 and Ag2MgSn3S8. Temperature‐dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements of the Cu2MgSn3S8 sample indicate diamagnetism. A 119Sn Mössbauer spectrum confirms the tetravalent state of tin, underlining the electron‐precise description.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 202

Deutsche und Polen im und nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg: Beiträge der 2. Krobnitzer Gespräche vom 20. Oktober 2011 auf Schloss Krobnitz, Oberlausitz

Die zweiten "Krobnitzer Gespräche" vom 20. Oktober 2011 gingen der Nachbarschaft von "Deutschen und Polen in Schlesien und Pommern" in der Zeit zwischen dem Ersten Weltkrieg und der NS-Herrschaft nach. Die Beiträge deutscher und polnischer Referenten aus Chemnitz, Rostock, Thorn/Toruń und Krakau/Kraków unterstreichen, dass nur im gemeinsamen Dialog das Verständnis für die Sichtweise des jeweils Anderen wachsen kann