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West Germany (west + germany)
Selected Abstracts"I asked my parents why a wall was so important": Teaching about the GDR and Post-Reunification GermanyDIE UNTERRICHTSPRAXIS/TEACHING GERMAN, Issue 2 2008Bernhard Streitwieser Fifteen years after the ,peaceful revolutions' brought about the collapse of communism and the reunification of East and West Germany, a heated debate rages over the legacy of communism and the continuing impact of 1989. This paper describes a new course that explores the contentious issues in this debate through the innovative use of the course management system Blackboard. The paper describes how using Internet technology (video and audio links to archival and documentary footage, historic recordings, web linked academic articles, newspaper reports, internet sites, on-line quizzes and virtual discussions) has brought today's undergraduates into the current debate and engaged them technologically in ways that deviate from more traditional teaching models. Such a course is not as prevalent as one would expect, least of all in undergraduate curricula in Germany and the United States. [source] Shaky attachments: Individual-level stability and change of partisanship among West German voters, 1984,2001EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2006RÜDIGER SCHMITT-BECK In this article, the authors take advantage of a unique longitudinal database , the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) , to test the basic premise of partisanship's high persistence. Analysing individual-level data from 18 annual panel waves conducted in West Germany between 1984 and 2001, it was found that only a minority of the electorate appears steadfast with regard to partisanship over the entire period. Using event history analysis, the authors demonstrate how movements from partisanship into independence and changes between parties are affected by: personal attributes of voters, especially cognitive mobilisation; by properties of their social contexts, in particular spousal relationships and family constellations; by situational contexts, specifically election campaigns; and by the type of party with which voters identify. [source] Sectoral Transformation, Turbulence and Labor Market Dynamics in GermanyGERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Ronald Bachmann Gross worker flows; sectoral and occupational mobility; turbulence Abstract. This paper analyzes the interaction between structural change and labor market dynamics in West Germany, during a period when industrial employment declined by more than 30% and service sector employment more than doubled. Using transition data on individual workers, we document a marked increase in structural change and turbulence, in particular since 1990. Net employment changes resulted partly from an increase in gross flows, but also from an increase in the net transition ,yield' at any given gross worker turnover. In growing sectors, net structural change was driven by accessions from non-participation rather than unemployment; contracting sectors reduced their net employment primarily via lower accessions from non-participation. German reunification and Eastern enlargement appear to have contributed significantly to this accelerated pace of structural change. [source] Convergence in West German Regional Unemployment RatesGERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2007Christian Bayer Stochastic convergence; unemployment; structural break; unit root Abstract. Differences in regional unemployment rates are often used to describe regional economic inequality. This paper asks whether changes in regional unemployment differences in West Germany are persistent over time. Understanding the persistency of regional unemployment differences helps us to assess how effective regional policy can be. While univariate tests suggest that changes in regional unemployment differences are persistent in West Germany, more powerful panel tests lend some support to the hypothesis that regional unemployment rates converge. However, these tests reveal a moderate speed of convergence at best. Because there is a structural break following the second oil crisis, we also use tests that allow for such a break. This provides evidence for both convergence and quick adjustment to an equilibrium distribution of regional unemployment rates that is, however, subject to a structural break. [source] Gender Wage Differences in West Germany: A Cohort AnalysisGERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2002Bernd Fitzenberger A comprehensive descriptive analysis of gender wage differences over a long time period does not exist for West Germany. Using an empirical approach which explicitly takes into account changes of wage distributions for both males and females as well as life,cycle and birth cohort effects, we go beyond conventional decomposition techniques of the average gender wage gap. The paper provides stylized facts of the level and dynamics of the gender wage gap from 1975,95. The empirical analysis is based upon the IAB employment subsample. Our findings confirm the importance of distributional effects relating to skill level and employment status. While life,cycle wage growth is in general much lower for females compared to males, comparing their estimated time trends implies that the gender wage gap has narrowed substantially in the lower part of the wage distribution especially for low, and medium,skilled females but much less so in the upper part of the wage distribution. Surprisingly, we do not find any cohort effects for wages of female employees. [source] Catching-up of East German Labour Productivity in the 1990sGERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2000Ray Barrell We provide empirical evidence for exogenous and endogenous catching-up of East German labour productivity to West German levels. We argue that labour productivity in East Germany has caught up faster than has happened elsewhere. The sudden formation of the German Monetary Union was followed by large transfers to East Germany, migration of workers to West Germany, reorganization and privatization of East German firms. This has quickly led to a partial closing of the organizational, idea and object gaps that existed between East and West Germany. This paper analyses labour productivity in East and West Germany using both aggregate German data and unbalanced panel analysis of developments in East and West Germany. Factors affecting the organization of production, and especially privatization and ,foreign' firms, are found to be particularly important in this context. [source] Transformationsraum Fotografie: Berlin-Hellersdorf am Übergang von DDR Zu BRDGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 4 2010Svea Bräunert ABSTRACT Built between 1979 and 1991, the housing complex Berlin-Hellersdorf was one of the last and most ambitious construction projects of the GDR. Located at the interstice between East and West Germany, Hellersdorf can thus be seen as a space conducive to thinking about the 1990s post-socialist transformations. The 1998 interdisciplinary project,Peripherie als Ort. Das Hellersdorf Projekt,picks up on this idea. Focusing on the works of Ulrich Wüst and Helga Paris, who have contributed to the,Hellersdorf Project, the following essay analyses the role photography and architecture play as indices of socio-political and spatial transitions. Entering into a dialogue with photography, East German prefab housing, commonly referred to as ,Platte', becomes a mnemonic space whose parallactic perspectives are materially bound to the past without denying the changing present. As such, Hellersdorf presents itself as a complex space outside Berlin's city centre that invites reflections about the transformations that have taken place since German unification. Die zwischen 1979 und 1991 errichtete Großsiedlung Berlin-Hellersdorf war eines der letzten und ehrgeizigsten Wohnungsbauprojekte der DDR. Solcherart am direkten Übergang von DDR zu BRD lokalisiert, kann Hellersdorf als Denkraum verstanden werden, anhand dessen sich die postsozialistischen Transformationsprozesse der 1990er-Jahre exemplarisch nachvollziehen und problematisieren lassen. An diesen Gedanken anknüpfend, entstand 1998 das interdisziplinäre Vorhaben,Peripherie als Ort. Das Hellersdorf Projekt, an dem sich unter anderem die Fotograf/innen Ulrich Wüst und Helga Paris beteiligten. Von ihren Arbeiten ausgehend, untersucht der vorliegende Essay die Bedeutung von Fotografie und Architektur als Indizes des Übergangs. Im Dialog mit der Fotografie wird der Plattenbau zum parallaktischen Erinnerungsraum, der in einer materiellen Verbindung mit der Vergangenheit steht, ohne jedoch die Veränderungen der Gegenwart leugnen zu können. Damit bietet Hellersdorf einen komplexen Raum abseits des Berliner Zentrums, der zum Nachdenken über die Transformationsprozesse seit der deutschen Vereinigung einlädt. [source] Barriers for dental treatment of primary teeth in East and West GermanyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2009CHRISTIAN H. SPLIETH Background., In many countries, restorative treatment in primary teeth is suboptimal. Aim., Thus, this study tried to detect barriers for dentists to restore primary teeth in kindergarten children (3,6 years). Design., For a representative survey, 320 dentists (184 West, 136 East Germany) were randomly selected from the dental associations' registers and asked to answer a questionnaire on their profile, their view of the National Health System, and possible barriers for restoring primary teeth. Results., The analysis (response rate 57.7%) showed that the parents were no barrier and the dentists felt the need of restoring primary teeth. In addition to the children's anxiety, the inadequate reimbursement for fillings were perceived as clear barrier. The comparison of West and East German dentists detected statistically significantly higher barriers in West Germany, where , in contrast to the German Democratic Republic , no structured training in paediatric dentistry was compulsory before unification. Only 35% of the East German dentists rated restorative treatment in 3- to 6-year-olds as stressful in contrast to 65% in West Germany, where especially male dentists found no time to treat children. Conclusion., This study reveals that dentists can also be a considerable barrier to restorative treatment in small children, especially without adequate training in dental schools. [source] The Cost of Flexibility at the Margin.LABOUR, Issue 4-5 2007Comparing the Wage Penalty for Fixed-term Contracts in Germany, Spain using Quantile Regression Using quantile regression we find that in West Germany the earnings of permanent and fixed-term workers are most similar among high earners and most dissimilar among low earners. In Spain, the wage penalty shows little variation across the distribution of wages. This pattern was also found for different occupational groups, although there are clear differences in the absolute wage penalty across occupations. In conclusion we caution against generalizing findings from Spain to other ,rigid' European labour markets. [source] Do Temporary Workers Receive Risk Premiums?LABOUR, Issue 4 2002Assessing the Wage Effects of Fixed, term Contracts in West Germany by a Matching Estimator Compared with Parametric Approaches The wage effects of fixed,term contracts (FTCs) are analysed with the German Socio,Economic Panel (GSOEP) for West Germany. Taking selection on observables into account results in an estimated wage effect of ,6 percent up to ,10 percent. Controlling additionally for selection on unobservables leads to wage effects of ,23 percent, which may be explained by self,selection of workers. The results also highlight the importance of asymmetric information as an explanation for the incentive for employers as well as workers to enter FTCs. [source] Employer Wage Differentials in Germany: A Comparative NoteLABOUR, Issue 3 2002Gesine Stephan The paper contributes to the growing empirical literature on employer wage differentials, presenting first estimates for West Germany and comparing them with recent findings from other studies for the USA, France and Denmark. The empirical results show that the variation of global employer wage differentials is comparatively low in West Germany and has remained stable during the first half of the 1990s. This low dispersion results from wage setting for blue-collar workers, while cross-country differences are negligible for white-collar workers. Employer wage differentials have, however, become more important for the remuneration of West German blue-collar workers during the period investigated. [source] Culture and Economic SystemsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY, Issue 4 2007Frederic L. Pryor Applying a cluster analysis to the results of the World Value Study, this article shows that the OECD nations have five distinct patterns of cultural characteristics. Moreover, these five cultural systems are almost the same as a classification of economic systems that have been derived from a cluster analysis of their economic institutions. A comparison of the cultural characteristics of East and West Germany suggests that the economic system has relatively little influence on the cultural systems. Instead, in a democracy, where the economic system is not imposed by force, the cultural characteristics are more likely to determine the economic system, rather than the reverse. [source] Ein einheitliches Rentensystem für Ost- und Westdeutschland: Simulationsrechnungen zum Reformvorschlag des SachverständigenratesPERSPEKTIVEN DER WIRTSCHAFTSPOLITIK, Issue 1 2010Axel Börsch-Supan In this paper, we quantify the effects of this proposal. We show that the direction and size of the effects largely depend on the development of future wages. In the most realistic case we assume that the average wages in East Germany remain a constant fraction of the average wage in the West over time. In this case, the Council's proposal only weakly affects the size of pensions in East and West Germany. Thus, the effect on the contribution rate to the pension system is also weak. On the contrary, if average wages in East and West fully converge in the future, this reform would lead to redistribution from pensioners in the East to pensioners in the West. In the most unrealistic case, where average wages in East and West Germany continue to diverge in the future, pensioners in both East and West Germany would be worse off with the reform. However, contribution rates to the pension system would be relatively lower, leading to redistribution from the old to the young. [source] Die Auswirkungen der demographischen Veränderungen auf die Budgetstrukturen der öffentlichen HaushaltePERSPEKTIVEN DER WIRTSCHAFTSPOLITIK, Issue 2 2007Helmut Seitz Special attention is given to differences between East and West Germany. Whereas East German state and local governments can expect significant savings from shrinking population size and from shifts in the age structure, subnational government budgets in the West are only slightly affected. Federal government spending will increase due to the rise in spending on the elderly. The results suggest that significant adjustments of public budgets at the expenditure side are necessary in order to cope with the fiscal challenges of demographic change. [source] The East German wage structure after transition,THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 4 2009Robert Orlowski Wage structure; life-cycle earnings; returns to tenure; returns to experience Abstract We extend the literature on transition economies' wage structures by investigating the returns to tenure and experience. This study applies recent panel data and estimation approaches that control for hitherto neglected biases. We compare the life-cycle structure of East and West German wages for fulltime employed men in the private sector. The patterns in the returns to seniority are similar for the two regional labour markets. The returns to experience lag behind in the East German labour market, even almost 20 years after unification, with significant differences particularly for high-skill workers. The results are robust when only individuals who started their labour market career in the market economy are considered. We expect that the different returns are related to the heterogeneity of work experience gathered in East as compared with West Germany. [source] Working in East German Socialism in 1980 and in Capitalism 15 Years Later: A Trend Analysis of a Transitional Economy's Working ConditionsAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2000Doris Fay Many studies document the changes that have taken place in the new German states, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), since the end of socialism. Most research looks at the changes that took place after the unification of East and West Germany, but little is known about the differences between the present, somewhat settled situation in the new German states and the stable situation in the GDR before the system change. The goal of this study was to enlarge our knowledge on these differences. With a trend analysis, aspects of work in the GDR in 1980 (n=337) were compared with the new German states in 1995 (n=168). Results showed that there was more job control and complexity, more activity in work improvement and better work organisation in the new German states than in the GDR. There was no difference in stress variables and social support by colleagues between both groups. Relationships with supervisors and appreciation for suggestions for work improvement were better in the GDR than after the introduction of capitalism. Beaucoup d'e´tudes portent sur les changements qui ont eu lieu depuis la fin du socialisme dans les nouveaux La¨nder allemands, à savoir l'ancienne Re´publique De´mocratique d'Allemagne (R.D.A.). La plupart des recherches s'occupent des changements apparus après la re´unification, mais on sait peu de choses des diffe´rences entre la situation actuelle, plus ou moins stabilise´e, et la situation telle qu'elle e´tait avant l'effondrement du système. Ce travail avait pour objectif d'approfondir nos connaissances sur ces diffe´rences. On a compare´ des dimensions du travail en R.D.A. en 1980 (N=337) et dans les nouveaux Länder en 1995 (N=168). Les re´sultats montrent qu'en R.D.A. le travail e´tait moins complexe, moins contrôle, moins bien organise´ avec un moindre souci d'ame´lioration. Aucune diffe´rence n'est apparue entre les deux groupes quant à la tension nerveuse et au soutien social apporte´ par les collègues. Les relations avec le supe´rieur et la reconnaissance pour les suggestions concernant les am¨eliorations à apporter au travail étaient moins satisfaisantes après l'introduction du capitalisme qu'elles ne l'e´taient antérieurement en R.D.A. [source] Changes in vegetation types and Ellenberg indicator values after 65 years of fertilizer application in the Rengen Grassland Experiment, GermanyAPPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 2 2009Milan Chytrý Abstract Question: How does semi-natural grassland diversify after 65 years of differential application of Ca, N, P, and K fertilizers? Is fertilizer application adequately reflected by the Ellenberg indicator values (EIVs)? Location: Eifel Mountains, West Germany. Methods: The Rengen Grassland Experiment (RGE) was established in an oligotrophic grassland in 1941. Six fertilizer treatments (Ca, CaN, CaNP, CaNP-KCl, CaNP-K2SO4, and unfertilized control) were applied annually in five complete randomized blocks. Species composition of experimental plots was sampled in 2006 and compared with constancy tables representing grassland types in a phytosociological monograph of a wider area. Each plot was matched to the most similar community type using the Associa method. Mean EIVs were calculated for each treatment. Results: The control plots supported oligotrophic Nardus grassland of the Polygalo-Nardetum association (Violion caninae alliance). Vegetation in the Ca and CaN treatments mostly resembled montane meadow of Geranio-Trisetetum (Polygono-Trisetion). Transitional types between Poo-Trisetetum and Arrhenatheretum (both from the Arrhenatherion alliance) developed in the CaNP treatment. In the CaNP-KCl and CaNP-K2SO4 treatments, vegetation corresponded to the mesotrophic Arrhenatheretum meadow. Major discontinuity in species composition was found between control, Ca, and CaN treatments, and all treatments with P application. EIVs for both nutrients and soil reaction were considerably higher in P treatments than in Ca and CaN treatments. Surprisingly, the control plots had the lowest EIVs for continentality and moisture, although these factors had not been manipulated in the experiment. Conclusions: Long-term fertilizer application can create different plant communities belonging to different phytosociological alliances and classes, even within a distance of a few meters. Due to their correlated nature, EIVs can erroneously indicate changes in factors that actually did not change, but co-varied with factors that did change. In P-limited ecosystems, EIVs for nutrients may indicate availability of P rather than N. [source] SUBJECT, OBJECT, MIMESIS: THE AESTHETIC WORLD OF THE BECHERS' PHOTOGRAPHYART HISTORY, Issue 5 2009SARAH E. JAMES This paper will examine the critical relationship between subjectivity and objecthood established in Bernd and Hilla Bechers' photography. Building upon existing readings by Blake Stimson and Michael Fried, I argue that Adorno's aesthetic thought, and especially his category of mimesis, offers a way in which both to frame the politics of the subject and object experiences in the Bechers' photography, and to situate these culturally, contextualizing their work within a critical juncture in German history. The Bechers' rejection of the subject and the pursuit of an objective photography are explored in relation to the ,post-Auschwitz taboo on beauty' and the anti-ideology that dominated West Germany of the 1950s. The Bechers' attempt to redeem expression by presenting the frail objectivity and historicity of things is examined in relation to the negative dialectical framework and desubjectifying model of aesthetics formulated by Adorno. [source] Talkin''Bout My Generation :Memories of 1968 in Recent German NovelsGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 2 2006Monika Shafi This article examines the depiction of 1968 in the novel Rot (2001) by Uwe Timm, in the narrative Mein Jahrhundert (1999) by Günter Grass, and in the autobiographical novel Die Brücke vom goldenen Horn (1998) by Emine Sevgi Özdamar, asking to what extent the concept of generation, understood sociologically and symbolically, is useful in analysing West Germany's 1968 generation and its legacy. The three authors display not only contrasting generational, literary and political profiles, they also entertain a different relationship to German mainstream culture. It becomes clear that Özdamar's novel unsettles precisely this dichotomy between the German mainstream and a multicultural niche-discourse in its intense engagement with the 1968 movement in Germany and Europe. Her text therefore invites us to reconsider the value of the generational parameter in assessing the events of 1968. [source] | |||||||||||||