Refine
Year of publication
- 2010 (124) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (47)
- Part of a Book (34)
- Editorship book (12)
- Working Paper (10)
- Book (7)
- Contribution to a Periodical (6)
- Review (4)
- Case Study (1)
- Course Material (1)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Keywords
- Social Entrepreneurship (3)
- Fertility (2)
- Germany (2)
- Regulierung (2)
- Adolescent (1)
- Auctions (1)
- Balkan states, South-Eastern Europe (1)
- Belief management (1)
- Bildungsungleichheit (1)
- Birth order (1)
El artículo se propone ofrecer un análisis integral sobre la manera en que ha sido abordada la cuestión de la inestabilidad de las políticas públicas: su impacto en el desarrollo económico de los países, la heterogeneidad de enfoques teóricos que la estudian, las maneras en que ha sido conceptualizada y las posibles causas que la literatura ha delineado explicando el fenómeno. Ofrece asimismo un diagnóstico sobre los niveles de inestabilidad de las políticas en Argentina y Brasil entre los años 1995 y 2006 y discute brevemente algunas previsiones de la teoría a la luz de los resultados observados. Estos resultados arrojan una serie de conclusiones: a) hay un nivel sustancialmente más alto de inestabilidad de las políticas en Argentina que en Brasil; b) hay una desproporción entre la importancia del concepto como determinante del desarrollo y su sistematización como variable independiente, y c) se produce una serie de contradicciones entre diferentes corrientes neoinstitucionales, y entre algunas de estas teorías y la evidencia empírica. ABSTRACT: The article aims to present a comprehensive analysis of different aspects concerning the concept of policy instability: its impacts on economic development, the multiple and hetereogeneus theoretical approaches that address it, the construction of its definition and the possible causes behind it. It also offers a diagnosis of policy instability levels in Argentina and Brazil between 1995 and 2006, and discusses some of the theoretical previsions in light of the evidence found. The general findings suggest that: a) there is a significantly higher level of policy instability in Argentina than in Brazil, b) there is a mismatch between the importance of policy stability as a determinant of development and its systematization as independent variable, and c) a series of contradictions can be found between different rational choice neoinstitutionalist theories, and between some of these theories and the empirical evidence.
Abstract : Many observers agree that the multilateral liberalization of service trade was a response to the intense lobbying efforts of financial service companies. In contrast, many of the firms that were affected by the General Agreement on the Trade of Services did not know where their interests lay in the multilateral negotiations and only began to work with their governments very late in the process. This paper shows that the preference evolution of service companies - both the first movers and the late comers - cannot be explained with reference to material rationality only. As a radically new trade issue, service trade was a realm of great uncertainty for business and they relied on social devices rather than pure economic calculations to determine how to position themselves on liberalization. In times of uncertainty, the differential logic of social embeddedness and the institutional constraints of a firm's national setting are therefore a more appropriate indicator for business demands than material incentives arising from the global economy.
This article examines the importance of action-theoretical considerations in European studies. By outlining the notion of ‘usage’ of the European Union, we argue for a more systematically sociological consideration of strategic action in the study of European transformations. The recent turns towards constructivism and comparative political sociology allow analyzing the rationality of political actors without falling in the trap of overly reductionist rational choice assumptions. Concentrating on intentional action helps to reveal the importance of three aspects of the multi-level polity: (1) informal and non-constraining procedures; (2) the effects of ways in which actors move in between the different levels of the European political system; and (3) the ambiguous and often surprising coalitions that come together despite often considerable disagreement over their final goals.
White–Black relations have historically been the defining form of intergroup relations in the study of prejudice and discrimination. The present article suggests that there are limitations to applying this model to understanding bias toward other groups and proposes that a comprehensive view of the dynamics of the Anglos’ bias toward Latinos requires consideration of the distinctive elements of this form of intergroup relations. In four empirical studies, we experimentally document discrimination against Latinos (Study 1), explore the potential dimensions that underlie bias against Latinos (Study 2), and examine the effect of a particular social identity cue, accentedness, on perceptions of acceptance and belongingness of Latinos and members of other groups (Studies 3 and 4). These studies consider general processes of prejudice and identify how particular facets of bias against Latinos can shape their experiences and, taken together, illustrate how understanding bias against Latinos can reciprocally inform contemporary theories of prejudice.
Advancing the business & human rights agenda: Dialogue, empowerment and constructive engagement
(2010)
As corporations are going global, they are increasingly confronted with human rights challenges. As such, new ways to deal with human rights challenges in corporate operations must be developed as traditional governance mechanisms are not always able to tackle them. This article presents five different views on innovative solutions for the relationships between business and human rights that all build on empowerment, dialogue and constructive engagement. The different approaches highlight an emerging trend toward a more active role for corporations in the protection of human rights. The first examines the need for enhanced dialogue between corporations and their stakeholders. The next three each examine a different facet of empowerment, a critical factor for the respect and protection of human rights: empowerment of the poor, of communities, and of consumers. The final one presents a case study of constructive corporate engagement in Myanmar (Burma). Altogether, these research projects provide insight into the complex relationships between corporate operations and human rights, by highlighting the importance of stakeholder dialogue and empowerment. All the five projects were presented during the Second Swiss Master Class in Corporate Social Responsibility, held in Lausanne, Switzerland on December 12, 2008. The audience for this conference, which examined business and human rights, was composed of researchers, governmental representatives, and business and non-governmental organization practitioners.
Recent research on international trade focuses on firm‐product‐level heterogeneity and the role of uncertainty in shaping international trade. This article contributes to the literature by examining product‐level dynamics within firms in the context of Mexican trade integration under NAFTA. The data show intense product churning within firms and confirm the existence of within‐firm product heterogeneity. The data indicate that new exporters enter foreign markets with a small number of varieties, most of which were previously sold at home, and with a small export small volume. The data also suggest that export discoveries are relatively rare and are imitated within a short period of time.
In the study of risk regulation, grid‐group cultural theory has attracted considerable interest. There has, however, been a lack of a systematic interest in its claims and in methodological issues. In this article, we present five claims that are drawn from cultural theory and assess them in the light of failure in meat inspections in Germany. These claims are assessed through the analysis of argumentation as recorded in newspapers. In the light of its empirical findings, this article argues that the claims and methodology employed offer a promising avenue for further work to investigate the usefulness of this particular theoretical approach.
2010 feiert Hartz IV seinen fünften Geburtstag. Die fast täglichen Debatten zeigen, dass das "Herzstück" der Agenda 2010 die Bundesrepublik grundlegender verändert hat als jede andere Reform der letzten Jahrzehnte. Basierend auf Gesprächen mit damaligen Akteuren untersuchen Anke Hassel und Christof Schiller die Hintergründe der Hartz-Reformen: Wer waren die zentralen Entscheidungsträger? Wurde der Reformstau überwunden und ist das deutsche Regierungssystem heute besser in der Lage, auf die derzeitigen Herausforderungen zu reagieren? Dieses Buch liefert erstmals eine lückenlose Analyse der Entscheidungsprozesse, die zu Hartz IV geführt haben, und gibt einen Ausblick auf die aktuellen Herausforderungen der Arbeitsmarktpolitik. Die Autoren räumen mit gängigen Vorurteilen über die rot-grünen Reformen auf und zeichnen ein kenntnisreiches Bild der wirtschaftlichen und politischen Zusammenhänge in der deutschen Politik. Sie kommen zu dem Schluss, dass die Hartz-IV-Reform, obgleich extrem, durchaus typisch für Reformpolitik in Deutschland ist und dass durch das Zusammenspiel von Föderalismus, Parteienwettbewerb und Sozialpartnern auch in Zukunft ähnliche Maßnahmen zu erwarten sind.
How does trade liberalization that raises a country’s import competition affect the innovative activity of its firms? We exploit the strong growth of Chinese exports resulting from China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 as a competitive shock to, specifically, Mexican manufacturing firms. Innovation is captured through information on the adoption of specific production techniques such as just in time inventory methods, quality control, and job rotation. Our results indicate that China’s rise in global trade did not affect by much Mexico’s rate of innovation, which contrasts with the substantial gains that others have found in the case of bilateral liberalization. At the same time, there is a striking heterogeneity in the responses across firms: productive firms innovate more while less productive firms innovate less. This leads to positive selection in that initial differences in firm performance are sharpened by the advent of new competition. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of trade and innovation.
In this article, we study how firm heterogeneity influences productivity catching up using plant-level data from Mexico. The article addresses three issues: first, it evaluates the process of convergence towards the global versus the local technological frontier in a middle-income country such as Mexico. Second, it systematically evaluates the role of technological efforts in determining the speed of convergence towards each of these technological frontiers. Third, it assesses the role of openness and trade integration in determining the speed of convergence and presents a horse race between integration and technological effort in explaining the determinants of heterogeneity in influencing the process of convergence toward both the domestic and the global technological frontier. Our results suggest that building firm-level technological capabilities is important for catching up with the global frontier. A policy focused on trade alone will facilitate convergence towards the best technological practices available locally, but it will fall short of encouraging convergence with the global frontier.
The decision to establish direct elections to the European Parliament was intended by many to establish a direct link between the individual citizen and decision making at the European level. Elections were meant to help to establish a common identity among the peoples of Europe, to legitimise policy through the normal electoral processes and provide a public space within which Europeans could exert a more direct control over their collective future. Critics disagreed, arguing that direct elections to the European Parliament would further undermine the sovereignty of member states, and may not deliver on the promise that so many were making on behalf of that process. In particular, some wondered whether elections alone could mobilise European publics to take a much greater interest in European matters, with the possibility of European elections being contested simply on national matters. Evaluating these divergent views, the subject of this article is to review the literature on direct elections to the European Parliament in the context of the role these elections play in governance of the European Union. The seminal work by Reif and Schmitt serves as the starting point of our review. These authors were the first to discuss elections to the European Parliament as second-order national elections. Results of second-order elections are influenced not only by second-order factors, but also by the situation in the first-order arena at the time of the second-order election. In the 30 years and six more sets of European Parliament elections since the publication of their work, the concept has become the dominant one in any academic discussion of European elections. In this article we review that work in order to assess the continuing value of the second-order national election concept today, and to consider some of the more fruitful areas for research which might build on the advance made by Reif and Schmitt. While the concept has proven useful in studies of a range of elections beyond just those for the European Parliament, including those for regional and local assemblies as well as referendums, this review will concentrate solely on EP elections. Concluding that Reif and Schmitt’s characterisation remains broadly valid today, the article allows that while this does not mean there is necessarily a democratic deficit within the EU, there may be changes that could be made to encourage a more effective electoral process.
Negotiated “policy-arrangements” and their institutionalization are at the heart of global governance. This chapter focuses on the European Union (EU) as one particular arena that produces binding decisions beyond the nation state. For scholars of global governance, the EU constitutes an interesting but idiosyncratic case: the EU’s system of decision-making and enforcement is highly institutionalized; the EU covers a broad policy-remit, touching upon core areas of national sovereignty such as monetary policy or border control; and the EU is exceptionally intrusive and effective, producing binding laws that are widely complied with in its member states. At the same time, the nature of supranational governance – famously described as “less than a federation, more than a regime” (Wallace 1983) – remains open and undefined. For scholars of argumentation, deliberation and persuasion, the European Union is an equally fruitful object of study: the EU’s deliberative decision-style is used to explain compliance with European law (Neyer 2004); the EU is conceptualized as an actor that projects “normative” rather than military power (Manners 2002) and the supranational decision-process serves as testing ground for theories of deliberation (Eriksen and Fossum 2000; Joerges and Neyer 1997a, 1997b), argumentation (Naurin 2010), problem-solving (Elgström and Jönsson 2000), rhetorical action (Schimmelfennig 2001) and judgment (Kornprobst 2008).
Economic Policy
(2010)
Written by four recognized experts with senior experience in research and government, this text is the first comprehensive survival kit for students and practitioners of economic policy. It is set to become an indispensable resource for everyone involved or interested in modern economic policy. Academic scholars willing to engage in policy discussions and students at graduate or advanced undergraduate levels will find it an essential bridge to the policy world.
What makes the book unique is that it combines like no other, facts-based analysis, state-of-the art theories and models, and insights from first-hand policy experience at national and international levels. The book has grown out of ten years of experience teaching economic policy at the graduate level. It provides an intellectually coherent framework to understand the potentialities and limits of economic policy. It addresses positive dimensions (how do policies impact on modern economies?), normative dimensions (what should policymakers aim to achieve and against what should their action be judged?) and political-economy constraints (which are the limits and obstacles to public intervention?). It fills an important gap by reconciling in each major policy area stylized facts of recent economic history, key questions faced by contemporary policymakers, and essential lessons from theory which are captured and explained in a clear, concise, and self-contained way.
All major areas of domestic and international policymaking are covered: fiscal policy, monetary policy, international finance and exchange-rate policy, tax policy, and long-term growth policies. The book concludes with a special chapter on the lessons of the financial crisis.
The authors are intellectually non-partisan and they draw examples from various countries and experiences; from emerging markets to developing economies, shedding light when necessary on local specificities such as European Union rules and instruments. Economic Policy: Theory and Practice is the essential guide to economic policy in the new post-crisis context.
L'euro en 2019
(2010)
Dans ce numéro, la Revue propose de réfléchir au futur de la monnaie unique. De grands décideurs et des experts renommés ont été invités à répondre à la question suivante : « Quelles sont selon vous les évolutions les plus susceptibles d'influencer et, le cas échéant, de transformer la zone euro et son fonctionnement dans les dix années à venir ? ». L'ensemble des contributions est donc orienté vers l'avenir plutôt que vers l'évaluation des résultats du passé.
L'euro est considéré comme un succès, mais le bilan de l'UEM est plus controversé. Les auteurs nous livrent une réflexion sans complaisance qui met en valeur les défis de la prochaine décennie :
- si l'euro a bravement traversé la tempête de la crise financière et économique, des réparations et des aménagements s'imposent ;
- les outils de gestion macroéconomique de la zone euro doivent être plus efficaces ;
- il faut achever la construction du marché unique ;
- la stratégie d'élargissement doit être clarifiée ;
- le rôle international de l'euro va devoir être discuté dans un contexte marqué par les déséquilibres globaux et la contestation de la domination du dollar ;
- les Européens devront choisir de renforcer leurs institutions politiques s'ils tiennent à l'engrenage entre union monétaire et union politique.
Les différents enjeux sont clairement exprimés par les auteurs et il en résulte que si les dix premières années ont parfois été mouvementées, les dix prochaines ne le seront sans doute pas moins.
This article examines the domestic impact of supranational human rights litigation on acknowledgment of state violence in the context of macroprocesses of global governance. The article's argument is that the impact of supranational human rights litigation on the process of acknowledgment must be seen through counternarratives on state violence. The article undertakes a detailed textual analysis of the truth claims and denial strategies that emerged from the European Court of Human Rights proceedings on state violence during Turkey's struggle against the armed group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It assesses these in the context of the human rights reforms that were created following pressure from European-level governance processes. The article argues that attention must be paid to agency in acknowledgment and truth-telling processes, and points to the limits of technical-bureaucratic forms of human rights reform interventions in the context of state violence.
Reserve Prices as Reference Points : Evidence from Auctions for Football Players at Hattrick.org
(2010)
We study the impact of sellers’ reserve prices on transfer prices in online auctions of virtual football players at Hattrick.org. We introduce an empirical model that distinguishes between two separate effects from public reserve prices: (1) a mechanical effect, which is driven by the design of the English auction and (2) a psychological reference-dependence effect through reserve prices serving as reference points. The psychological effect has recently been introduced in behavioral models of situations where agents are uncertain about their own willingness-to-pay, while the mechanical effect is well captured by standard auction theory. Controlling for censoring when players are not sold, both effects are observed. Once we account for the potential endogeneity of reserve prices, however, we do not find evidence for reference dependence in Hattrick auctions.
This paper incorporates tax morale into the Allingham and Sandmo (1972) model of income tax evasion. Tax morale is modeled as a social norm for tax compliance. The strength of the norm is shaped endogenously, depending on the share of evaders in the society. Taxpayers act conditionally cooperative as their evasion depends on the others' compliance. We characterize the equilibrium which accounts for this interdependence and study the implications for tax and enforcement policies. The analysis is extended to the case of a society consisting of heterogenous communities. Individual evasion decisions are then embedded in a complex social structure and behavior is influenced by the norm compliance among morale reference groups. Within this framework, we highlight the role of belief management as an alternative policy tool.
While many histories of the Balkans have been published, some very good and others poor, there is as yet no history of institutions in the Balkans. This is what the contributors to Ottomans into European offer the reader: a history of the most salient political institutions of the region: bureaucracies, judiciaries, democratic elections, free media, local and central government – and their frequently strained relations with traditional institutions. They also examine the selection, evolution, and performance of institutions in the post-Ottoman Balkans, and try to account for variations throughout the region. In writing this institutional history of the Balkans the contributors set themselves two key questions: did the post-Ottoman wave of Europeanization and Western-type institution building fail in the Balkans, and does this explain the region’s continuing political fragility? And if this is the case, are there underlying structural determinants explaining that failure which might manifest themselves again in present attempts to re-integrate the region, from Turkey to Albania?
Consumer Emissions
(2010)
CITIES: Car Industry, Road Transport and an international Emission Trading Scheme. Policy options
(2010)
A non-fiction book about the social engineering operated in rural Eastern Europe by the Communist regime, based on the history of two villages in Romania. One of the two villages is the birthplace of Nicolae Ceausescu, the former Communist dictator, Scornicesti, which received massive investment during communist years and was turned into a mixture of underdeveloped village and industrial town. The other is Nucsoara, the Carpathian cradle of peasants' resistance against Communism, where half the village was executed or imprisoned and their lands divided between the other half. The state intervention failed in both villages to attain the planned objectives, but it nevertheless changed fundamentally the life of villagers. This book is mostly about the consequences of unlimited state power over people and communities.
Model analysis within the ADAM project has shown that achieving low greenhouse gas concentration levels, e.g. at 400ppm CO 2 -eq, is technologically feasible at costs of a few percent of GDP. However, models simplify the dynamics involved in implementing climate policy and the results depend on critical model assumptions such as global participation in climate policy and full availability of current and newly evolving technologies. The design of a low stabilization policy regime in the real world depends on factors that can only be partly covered by models. In this context, the paper reflects on limits of the integrated assessment models used to explore climate policy and addresses the issues of (i) how global participation might be achieved, (ii) which kind of options are available to induce deep GHG reductions inside and outside the energy sector, and (iii) which risks and which co-benefits of mitigation options are not assessed by the models.
This article argues that a legally binding, multilateral agreement is a necessary condition for achieving the highest levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions consistent with limiting warming to below either 2°C or below 1.5°C. Clear legally binding commitments within a multilaterally agreed process with strong legal and institutional characteristics are needed to give countries the confidence that their economic interests are being fairly and equally treated. Common accounting rules are needed for comparability of effort, and in order to protect environmental integrity, to demonstrate transparency, for effective monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions and actions, and to facilitate and support a strong international carbon market. Securing full implementation will depend, in part, on the strength of an agreement's compliance mechanism. The Copenhagen Accord, by itself, represents a quintessential ‘bottom-up’/‘pledge and review’ approach. It is open to interpretation whether the Accord can become a stepping stone on the way to strengthening the legally binding, multilateral framework to fight climate change, building on both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, or whether it will lead to the unravelling and fragmentation of all that has been built up to date. Legal architecture choices made in 2010 and beyond are likely to be determinative.
The word most frequently uttered by Greece and Turkey with regard to their Muslim1 and non-Muslim minorities, respectively, is most probably ‘reciprocity.’ For more than half a century, in both countries, virtually all administrations,irrespective of their political leanings and ideological base, resorted to the good old ‘reciprocity argument’ to legitimize their laws, policies, and practices restricting the minority rights of Muslim and non-Muslim communities.
Both states have for decades justified their policies on the basis of a theory that argues that Article 45 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne provided the legal basis for reciprocity. Deliberately distorting a crystal-clear provision, which simply confers parallel obligations on Greece and Turkey for the protection of the Muslim and non-Muslim minorities, respectively, both states have for decades held their own citizens hostage, pitting them against each other in the name of defeating the other in foreign policy. Disregarding the objections of international lawyers and institutions that the reciprocity principle does not apply to human rights treaties and that states cannot condition the protection of the fundamental rights of their citizens on the policies of other states, both Greece and Turkey have successfully manipulated their national
public opinion into believing in the legitimacy of treating minorities as lesser citizens. This report analyzes the implications of reciprocity policies on the day-to-day lives of Muslim and
non-Muslim minorities in Greece and Turkey, specifically their impact on the community foundations2 belonging to these minorities. With a specific focus on the property and self-management issues of Muslim and non-Muslim community foundations in Greece and Turkey, the report situates the issue in its historical context and trace the evolution of the ‘community foundation issue’ from Lausanne to the present day. Drawing similarities and differences between the laws, policies, and practices of Greek and Turkish states vis-à-vis their minority foundations, the report critically assesses the progress made to this day as well as identify the outstanding issues.
Ach, Europa!
(2010)
Die Kosten des Wachstums
(2010)
Das Thema Politikberatung hat in den vergangenen Jahren zunehmend Beachtung gefunden und wichtige wissenschaftliche Debatten über die zugrunde liegenden Theorien und Konzepte ausgelöst. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die These der Autoren verteidigt, dass sich in Deutschland parallel zu den klassischen dezisionistischen Beratungsstrukturen eine Variante der Politikberatung entwickelt hat, die auf dauerhafter diskursiv-kooperativer Interaktion zwischen Beratern und Beratenen beruht. Das durch solche Beratung gewonnene Wissen ist nicht nur externe Legitimationsquelle oder Entscheidungsgrundlage. Es ist vielmehr im politischen Prozess verankert und kann Wirkung entfalten, sofern es den Gütekriterien der epistemischen und politischen Robustheit genügt.
Politikberatungsforschung
(2010)
Public Affairs: Was ist das?
(2010)
Unter Fremden
(2010)
Introduction
(2010)
Post-New Public Management
(2010)
Until 2008, Germany’s vital statistics did not include information on the biological order of each birth. This resulted in a dearth of important demographic indicators, such as the mean age at fi rst birth and the level of childlessness. Researchers have tried to fill this gap by generating order-specifi c birth rates from survey data, and by combining survey data with vital statistics. This paper takes a different approach by using Perinatal Statistics to generate birth order-specific fertility rates for the period 2001 to 2008. Perinatal Statistics includes information on births that took place in German hospitals. Out-of-hospital births, which account for about 2 % of all births, are not included in the Perinatal Statistics. In a sensitivity analysis, we show how robust our estimates are to the inclusion of out-of-hospital births. Our general assessment is that the Perinatal Statistics is a valuable source for generating order-specific fertility rates, regardless of whether out-of-hospital births are included.
Nearly every European Country has experienced some increase in nonmarital childbearing, largely due to increasing births within cohabitation. Relatively few studies in Europe, however, investigate the educational gradient of childbearing within cohabitation or how it changed over time. Using retrospective union and fertility histories, we employ competing risk hazard models to examine the educational gradient of childbearing in cohabitation in eight countries across europe. In all countries studied, birth risks within cohabitation demonstrated a negative educational gradient. When directly comparing cohabiting fertility with marital fertility, the negative educational gradient persists in all countries except Italy, although differences were not significant in Austria, France, and West Germany. To explain these findings, we present an alternative explanation for the increase in childbearing within cohabitation that goes beyond the explanation of the Second Demographic Transition and provides a new interpretation of the underlying mechanisms that may influence childbearing within cohabitation.
This article investigates whether the increase in the labour force participation of mothers in western Germany has been accompanied by growing social inequalities in maternal employment. The focus is on education-related differences in full-time, part-time and marginal employment, and, in particular, changes therein over time. It is assumed that worsening labour market opportunities for the less educated and a ‘familialistic’ social policy context have resulted in growing differentials in mothers’ employment by education. Data from the scientific use files of the German micro-censuses for the years 1976 to 2004 show that the part-time and marginal employment rates of mothers have increased, while full-time employment rates have declined. Reductions in full-time employment are most pronounced among less educated mothers, resulting in growing educational differences in the employment of mothers.
This paper investigates whether uncertainties in female employment careers result in a postponement of family formation. Data for this analysis comes from the German Socio-Economic Panel, which provides longitudinal information on economic uncertainty and fertility for the period 1984 to 2006. We employ objective measures of uncertainty (unemployment) as well as subjective measures (whether the respondent is worried about her economic situation, whether she is worried about the security of her job). We find little evidence that uncertainties in female employment careers generally lead to a postponement of parenthood. Hence, the relationship between economic uncertainty and first birth varies by level of education. While more highly educated postpone parenthood when subject to employment uncertainties, women with low levels of education often respond to these situations by becoming mothers.
Die Debatte um den Wandel von Familie und Lebensformen in Ost- und Westdeutschland konzentriert sich vor allem auf Veränderungen, die während der letzten 20 Jahre erfolgt sind. Jedoch sind diese Entwicklungen in Westdeutschland genauso wie in Ostdeutschland in grundlegendere Tendenzen des demografischen Wandels seit den sechziger Jahren des letzten Jahrhunderts eingebettet, die als Europas "zweiter demografischer Übergang" bezeichnet werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund erfolgt die vorliegende Betrachtung des Wandels in Ost- und Westdeutschland in einem breiteren europäischen Kontext. Durch einen Vergleich von Deutschland Ost und West mit Frankreich und Russland werden sowohl die Spezifika der westdeutschen Situation als auch die Besonderheiten des Wandels im Osten in Folge der Systemtransformation herausgearbeitet. Der Beitrag ist wie folgt aufgebaut: Nach der Einleitung wird im zweiten Abschnitt ein Überblick über grundlegende familiendemografische Entwicklungen sowie institutionelle Kontexte des familialen Wandels in Frankreich, Russland und Deutschland gegeben. Im dritten Abschnitt werden die zu Grunde liegenden Daten vorgestellt, und im vierten Teil wird die wirtschaftliche Lage von Müttern in den drei Ländern beschrieben. Im letzten Abschnitt wird die Frage behandelt, welche Rolle Familienformen und insbesondere die Erwerbsbeteiligung von Müttern in den untersuchten Ländern für die sozioökonomische Lage von Familien spielen
In recent years, considerable progress has been made in improving the data infrastructure for fertility and morality researchers in Germany. Several large scale data sets have been made available through the research data centers: the micro-censuses of the 1970s and 1980s, the censuses of the GDR and FRG, the micro-census panel, data from the pension registers, individual level data from the vital statistics, and the central foreigner registers have become available for scientific usage. Vital statistics have been reformed, and the micro-census now includes information on number of children ever born. Despite these improvements, there are still some “weak spots” in Germany’s data infrastructure. Germany is lacking official counts of reconstituted families. We know little about the mortality risks of immigrants. In addition, the data infrastructure for studying the socio-economic differences in mortality risks could be improved, thus enabling Germany to catch up with international developments in this area. This paper concludes by making some suggestions for improving the data available.
The Human Fertility Database (HFD) is a joint project of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany and the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) in Vienna, Austria, based at MPIDR. We seek to provide free and user-friendly access to detailed and high-quality data on period and cohort fertility and thus to facilitate research on changes and inter-country differences in fertility in the past and in the modern era. The HFD is entirely based on official vital statistics and places a great emphasis on data checking and documentation and on warranting data comparability across time and countries by means of uniform methodology
PURPOSE:
Adherence to dental preventive programmes in young adults is low. The aim of the present longitudinal study was to evaluate whether tutoring peers can be a compliance-enhancing tool or not.
METHODS:
In Part 1, two randomly selected classes (49 female students, mean age 19.8 + or - 2.3 years) were taught adult toothbrushing technique (the modified Bass technique) in a project-like manner. After the course, knowledge was tested using a class test, and compliance was evaluated using anonymous quantitative questionnaires. Compliance was defined as a reported degree of change from the easy-to-learn childhood toothbrushing techniques to the more efficient and challenging Bass technique. In Part 2 of the present longitudinal study, the compliance of these students was re-evaluated after having developed and applied themselves a programme of how to tutor peers in oral health. Re-evaluation of compliance was performed after 3 and 9 months.
RESULTS:
In Part 1, 28.5% of the students were compliant after 1 week. Compared with Part 1, the compliance in Part 2 was significantly higher (P u 0.001), both after 3 months (90%) and after 9 months (82%).
CONCLUSIONS:
Tutoring peers can significantly enhance the compliance over a period of 9 months. Tutoring can function as a form of empowerment and can establish a strong sustained health engagement. Tutoring peers in health-related subjects can readily be implemented in schools and might be an additional means of oral health promotion with fewer additional costs.
Private sector development in central China: patterns, causes, and the role of local governments
(2010)
Unter „Regulierung“ versteht man primär staatliche Eingriffe, die im öffentlichen Interesse sowohl Marktversagen korrigieren wie auch zivilisatorische Risiken mindern sollen. Der Begriff ist ein Import aus dem angelsächsischen Sprachraum und hat sich vor allem durch die EU auch in der bundesdeutschen Politik ausgebreitet. Gleichwohl gibt es hierzulande noch kein einheitliches Begriffsverständnis. Regulierung wird nicht nur in verschiedenen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen mit unterschiedlichem Bedeutungsgehalt gefüllt, sondern ist auch in der politischen Praxis ein ausdeutungsfähiges Konzept. Der Aufsatz nimmt die so entstandenen Unklarheiten zum Anlass, um die verschiedenen Teildiskurse über Regulierung sowie die spezifisch deutsche Rezeption des Begriffes nachzuzeichnen. Die zentrale These lautet, dass Unterschiede nicht einfach „wegdefiniert“ werden können, sondern eine verwirrungsfreie Verwendung des Regulierungsbegriffs nur dann möglich ist, wenn der jeweilige analytische oder auch praktische Verwendungskontext reflektiert und transparent gemacht wird.
In diesem Beitrag suchen wir nach möglichen Gründen für die seit einigen Jahrzehnten abfallende schulische Leistungsfähigkeit der jungen Männer. Hierzu analysieren wir die vorliegenden Studien und schlagen ein sozialisationstheoretisch fundiertes Erklärungsmodell vor, das die bisherigen Ansätze aufnimmt und weiterführt. Im Zentrum steht dabei das Konzept der „Entwicklungsaufgaben“. Die zentrale These lautet: Die schlechte schulische Leistungsbilanz der jungen Männer ist nicht alleine durch Faktoren zu erklären, die sich auf ihr Zurückbleiben im Bildungssystem selbst und damit auf ihre mangelnde Auseinandersetzung mit der Entwicklungsaufgabe „Qualifikation“ beziehen. Vielmehr kann sie nur dann erklärt werden, wenn auch die Probleme bei der Bewältigung der anderen für die junge Generation typischen Entwicklungsaufgaben „Bindung“, „Regeneration“ und „Partizipation“ mit herangezogen werden. Diese Bewältigung gelingt, wie die ausgewerteten Untersuchungen zeigen, unter den heutigen Sozialisationsbedingungen den Schülerinnen besser als den Schülern. Damit tritt ein soziologisch sehr seltenes Ereignis ein, nämlich die Umkehrung der Richtung einer seit Generationen etablierten sozialen Stratifikation. Nicht mehr junge Männer, sondern junge Frauen erwerben die privilegierten Titel des Bildungssystems und damit die formal aussichtsreicheren Anwartschaften auf späteren beruflichen Status. Als Schlussfolgerung ergibt sich aus dieser Analyse, dass eine isolierte Verstärkung der gezielten Leistungsförderung von männlichen Schülern nur begrenzt zielführend sein kann. Vielmehr lässt sich das relative Leistungsdefizit von jungen Männern nur dann langfristig abbauen, wenn auch ihre Kompetenzdefizite in allen anderen Entwicklungsbereichen ausgeglichen werden, die wichtigen gesellschaftlichen Erwartungen einer individualisierten Leistungsgesellschaft entsprechen.
Transforming into what?: New Governance in the EU and the “Managerial Sensibility” in Modern Law
(2010)
As part of his account of "fragmentation" in international law, Martti Koskenniemi has described the advance of a "managerial sensibility" in modern law. This sensibility incorporates two claims—first, the increasing differentiation of international rules; and second, a tendency to see law not as an end in itself, but as a managerial technique. It is not difficult to apply both tenets of managerialism to the practice of "new governance." On the one hand, methods like the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) attest to a feeling that law is too distanced a register to capture the kinds of detailed intervention that EU regulation requires, leading to differentiation between policy fields. On the other hand, this has been carried out in order to "specialize," allowing overall targets to be reached through narrow administrative elites. Managerialism is present in processes like the OMC both as a differentiation of legal procedures, and as a view of rules as "flexible" in service of the evolving goals and self-image of a particular policy community. While this managerial ethos would seem suitable for a particular vision of the EU polity—the depoliticized regulatory state—it is increasingly problematic. As the principle vehicle for the delivery of the Lisbon strategy, determining the indicators and objectives of the OMC is a far from technical task. What appears and has been marketed as a "micro-politics" of expert based benchmarking has the potential to invoke larger strategic questions for the EU while simultaneously placing them out of public view. In response, new avenues for politicizing new governance or for opening its principle procedures and indicators up to critical evaluation and scrutiny (including to a non-expert public) may be needed. While this is no easy task, this Article will explore two modest proposals—first, the scrutiny role of the European Parliament, and second, the development of the European Ombudsman as an avenue to provide non-judicial means for addressing problems of intransparency and accountability in EU governance. In both cases, while a full politicization of the method may be difficult, a partial strategy may be an important first step in reconciling new governance procedures with the democratic values upon which the Treaties of the EU claim to be based.
Global Civil Society 2011 combines activist and academic accounts of contemporary struggles to promote, negotiate and deliver justice in a global frame without a central authority. In their engagement with cultural diversity and their networked communication the contributors rethink and remake justice beyond the confines of the nation state.
Foundations play an essential part in the philanthropic activity that defines so much of American life. No other nation provides its foundations with so much autonomy and freedom of action as does the United States. Liberated both from the daily discipline of the market and from direct control by government, American foundations understandably attract great attention. As David Hammack and Helmut Anheier note in this volume, "Americans have criticized foundations for... their alleged conservatism, liberalism, elitism, radicalism, devotion to religious tradition, hostility to religion —in short, for commitments to causes whose significance can be measured, in part, by the controversies they provoke. Americans have also criticized foundations for ineffectiveness and even foolishness."
Their size alone conveys some sense of the significance of American foundations, whose assets amounted to over $530 billion in 2008 despite a dramatic decline of almost 22 percent in the previous year. And in 2008 foundation grants totaled over $45 billion. But what roles have foundations actually played over time, and what distinctive roles do they fill today? How have they shaped American society, how much difference do they make? What roles are foundations likely to play in the future?
This comprehensive volume, the product of a three-year project supported by the Aspen Institute's program on the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy, provides the most thorough effort ever to assess the impact and significance of the nation's large foundations. In it, leading researchers explore how foundations have shaped —or failed to shape —each of the key fields of foundation work.
American Foundations takes the reader on a wide-ranging tour, evaluating foundation efforts in education, scientific and medical research, health care, social welfare, international relations, arts and culture, religion, and social change.
Social science from Western countries continues to have the greatest global influence, but the field is expanding rapidly in Asia and Latin America, particularly in China and Brazil. In sub-Saharan Africa, social scientists from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya produce 75% of academic publications. In South Asia, barring some centres of excellence in India, social sciences as a whole have low priority. These are a few of the findings from World Social Science Report, 2010: “Knowledge divides”.
In the globalization 'game' there are no absolute winners and losers. Neither homogenisation nor diversity can capture its contradictory movement and character. The essays and papers collected here offer, from a variety of perspectives, a rich exploration of creativity and innovation, cultural expressions and globalization. This volume of essays, in all their diversity of contents and theoretical perspectives, demonstrates the rich value of this paradoxical, oxymoronic approach' - Stuart Hall, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Open University
Volume 3 of the Cultures & Globalization series, Creativity and Innovations, explores the interactions between globalization and the forms of cultural expression that are their basic resource. Bringing together over 25 high-profile authors from around the world, this volume addresses such questions as: What impacts does globalization have on cultural creativity and innovation? How is the evolving world 'map' of creativity related to the drivers and patterns of globalization? What are the relationships between creative acts, clusters, genres or institutions and cultural diversity? The volume is an indispensable reference tool for all scholars and students of contemporary arts and culture.
Volume 3 of the Cultures & Globalization series, Creativity and Innovations, explores the interactions between globalization and the forms of cultural expression that are their basic resource. Bringing together over 25 high-profile authors from around the world, this volume addresses such questions as: What impacts does globalization have on cultural creativity and innovation? How is the evolving world ‘map’ of creativity related to the drivers and patterns of globalization? What are the relationships between creative acts, clusters, genres or institutions and cultural diversity?
Rund 3.000 Bewohner Frankfurts und des Rhein-Main-Gebiets wurden nach ihren Lebensbedingungen und ihrer Lebenszufriedenheit befragt, und das Ergebnis ist so spannend wie die gesamte Region: Die Hertie-Studie FrankfurtRheinMain 2010 zeichnet ein vielschichtiges und lesenswertes Bild von der Lebensqualität zwischen Aschaffenburg und Mainz, Darmstadt und Gießen. Dabei schreibt sie die erfolgreiche und vieldiskutierte Hertie-Berlin-Studie 2009 fort und erweitert diese Stadtstudie neuen Typs um regionale Fragestellungen: Was verbindet Frankfurt mit dem Umland? Wie blickt die Region auf die Mainmetropole? Was eint die Menschen, was trennt sie? Spiegelt das Rhein-Main-Gebiet in der Wahrnehmung der Menschen Lebensrealität wider oder ist diese Region ein Konstrukt?
Organisation und Steuerung zentralstaatlicher Behörden. Agenturen im westeuropäischen Vergleich
(2010)
Organisation und Steuerung nachgeordneter Behörden – mittlerweile auch Agenturen genannt – zählen in der internationalen Verwaltungsforschung wie auch der Verwaltungspraxis seit einigen Jahren zu den vieldiskutierten Themen. Dieser Band resümiert die neueren Forschungserkenntnisse zu nachgeordneten Behörden in Deutschland, Großbritannien, den Niederlanden und Schweden. Die AutorInnen diskutieren zentrale Argumente der Reformdebatten sowie die Errichtung, das institutionelle Design und die Aufgaben dieser Behörden. Rechtstraditionen, Politikstile sowie aufgabenspezifische Merkmale liefern wichtige Erklärungsbeiträge für die Entwicklung und Position nachgeordneter Behörden in diesen Ländern. Ebenso wird ergebnisorientierte Steuerung über Leistungsvereinbarungen, Leistungsindikatoren und Berichtswesen in den Untersuchungsländern unterschiedlich umgesetzt. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass auch in Deutschland erste Schritte sichtbar werden, sich vorsichtig einer »neuen Steuerung« zu nähern. Der internationale Vergleich bietet zahlreiche Anhaltspunkte, welche Probleme und Möglichkeiten mit der Organisation und Steuerung moderner Behörden verbunden sein können.
In the study of risk regulation, grid-group cultural theory has attracted considerable interest. There has, however, been a lack of a systematic interest in its claims and in methodological issues. In this article, we present five claims that are drawn from cultural theory and assess them in the light of failure in meat inspections in Germany. These claims are assessed through the analysis of argumentation as recorded in newspapers. In the light of its empirical findings, this article argues that the claims and methodology employed offer a promising avenue for further work to investigate the usefulness of this particular theoretical approach.
Auf Basis einer deutschlandweiten Erhebung auf Bundes- und Länderebene wurden im Zeitraum von Februar bis Juni 2009 erstmalig Erfahrungen der Führungskräfte im Bezug auf Verwaltungsführung und -modernisierung systematisch untersucht. An der vom Institut für den öffentlichen Sektor unterstützten Studie der Hertie School of Governance unter Beteiligung der Universitäten Potsdam und Leipzig beteiligten sich insgesamt 351 Führungskräfte aus allen Länderverwaltungen und der Bundesverwaltung.
Die Ergebnisse der Befragung zeigen verschiedene Problemfelder auf. Zum einen werden ein zunehmender Budgetdruck und der demografische Wandel als die zentralen und langfristigen Herausforderungen für die öffentliche Verwaltung gesehen. Zum anderen wird die fehlende Flexibilität als zentrale Schwäche erkannt, die Reformen notwendig macht.
Sowohl in Deutschland als auch im europäischen Ausland setzt sich zunehmend die Einsicht durch, dass für öffentliche Verwaltungen Einsparungen und Budgetkonsolidierung die zentralen Herausforderungen der nächsten Jahre sind. Die aktuelle Finanzkrise hat den budgetären Druck auf die öffentliche Hand nochmals deutlich verschärft. Veränderte Aufgaben, wegbrechende Einnahmen und die neue Schuldenregel zwingen die öffentliche Hand zu Sparmaßnahmen. Allein auf Bundesebene müssen bis 2016 jährlich 10 Milliarden Euro eingespart werden. Die Führungskräfte der Verwaltung sind sich dieser schwierigen Aufgabe bewusst: Eine kürzlich durchgeführte Führungskräftebefragung in der staatlichen Verwaltung in Deutschland hat klar gezeigt, dass budgetärer Druck als die wichtigste Herausforderung der nächsten Dekade gesehen wird.
Der Bedarf einer Modernisierung der öffentlichen Verwaltungen ist angesichts der aktuellen Finanzsituation der öffentlichen Hand aktueller denn je und stellt insbesondere an die Führungskräfte des öffentlichen Dienstes neue Anforderungen. Auf Basis einer deutschlandweiten Erhebung auf Bundes- und Länderebene wurden im Zeitraum von Februar bis Juni 2009 erstmalig die Erfahrungen der Führungskräfte mit Fragen der Verwaltungsführung und -modernisierung systematisch untersucht. Die Studie ist ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt der Professoren Gerhard Hammerschmid (Hertie School of Governance), Manfred Röber (Universität Leipzig) sowie Isabella Proeller und Christoph Reichard (beide Universität Potsdam) mit Unterstützung des Instituts für den öffentlichen Sektor.
Öffentliche Verwaltungen sind permanent gefordert, ihre Leistungsfähigkeit unter Beweis zu stellen. Dies trifft insbesondere in Zeiten eines konjunkturellen Abschwungs und sinkender Steuereinnahmen zu. Der vorliegende Band dokumentiert die alljährliche Weiterbildungsveranstaltung des Instituts für Betriebswirtschaftslehre der gemeinwirtschaftlichen Unternehmen an der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz (Vorstand: o. Univ. Prof. Dkfm. Dr. Reinbert Schauer) zu diesem Themenbereich, die am 11. März 2010 stattfand (Verwaltungsmanagement-Tag 2010). Konzepte und Erfahrungen aus Deutschland und Österreich wurden dabei vorgestellt und einer vergleichenden Analyse unterzogen: Kommunales Verwaltungscontrolling Schlüsselkennzahlen für die Führung in Gemeinden Widerstände und Reformpotenziale in der Verwaltung. Kommunales Beteiligungsmanagement. (Buchinhalt, Verlagsangabe)
Das Thema Verwaltungsreform beschäftigt nach wie vor Bund, Länder und Gemeinden gleichermaßen. Konzeptionell sind die diskutierten Ansätze und Instrumente einem ständigen Wandel unterworfen und bei der Umsetzung von Maßnahmen besteht in großem Maße Unsicherheit und Orientierungsbedarf. Das Handbuch liefert einen Beitrag zur Einordnung unterschiedlicher Konzepte und Orientierung für die Umsetzung der Verwaltungsreform. In 66 Beiträgen werden vielfältige Ansätze der Verwaltungsreform vorgestellt, ihr Entstehungszusammenhang erläutert, praktische Anwendungsfelder beschrieben und Entwicklungsperspektiven untersucht. Die Beiträge stammen von renommierten WissenschaftlerInnen und erfahrenen PraktikerInnen. Themenblöcke: Staat und Verwaltung, Reform- und Managementkonzepte, Steuerung und Organisation, Personal, Finanzen, Ergebnisse und Wirkungen, Erfahrungen und Perspektiven. Die Hälfte der Beiträge dieser Auflage wurde komplett neu geschrieben und die restlichen Beiträge wurden gründlich überarbeitet. (Buchinhalt, Verlagsangabe)