Bestimmung kostenoptimaler Parameter für den kontinuierlichen Stichprobenplan vonDodge

Summary Dodge's sampling plan for a continuous production process is determined by two constantsi andk. Under some assumptions about the statistical properties of the production process the average loss due to the costs for inspection and for replacing defective units by good ones is described by a loss function. It is shown that there are always constantsi andk which minimize the loss function in a special sense. Tables of these optimum parameters are computed.     

Pension Reform, Capital Markets and the Rate of Return

Abstract. This paper discusses the consequences of population aging and a fundamental pension reform – that is, a shift towards more pre‐funding – for capital markets in Germany. We use a stylized closed‐economy, overlapping‐generations model to compare the effects of the recent German pension reform with those of a more decisive reform that would freeze the current pay‐as‐you‐go contribution rate and thus result in a larger funded component of the pension system. We predict rates of return to capital under both reform scenarios over a long horizon, taking demographic projections as given. Our main finding is that the future decrease in the rate of return is much smaller than often claimed in the public debate. Our simulations show that the capital stock will decrease once the baby‐boom generations enter retirement, even if there were no fundamental pension reform. The corresponding decrease in the rate of return, the direct effect of population aging, is around 0.7 percentage points. While the capital market effects of the recent German pension reform are marginal, the rate of return to capital would decrease by an additional 0.5 percentage points under the more decisive reform proposal.     

EEC action in regard to consumer safety,particularly in the food sector

The paper discusses trends and actions of the European Economic Community (EEC) in the field of consumer safety. EEC law has no fast principle of consumer safety nor special agencies responsible for it. EEC actions are restricted to specific measures, especially in the area of foodstuffs (additives, colouring agents etc.). EEC law suffers a number of deficiencies. There is — with the exception of pharmaceutical products — no regulation on EEC-wide market withdrawals. Member state safety decisions may be in conflict and put strain on the EEC principle of free movement of goods. Certain directives contain only minimum standards and therefore do not make for common safety regulations in the EEC. There are gaps in the information exchange systems among the EEC and member states even though an EEC decision of 1984 improved the situation. The author goes on to make some suggestions for future action.

---

Gemeinschaftsaktionen zugunsten der Sicherheit des Verbrauchers unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Lebensmittelrechts

Zusammenfassung Die Europäischen Gemeinschaften (EG) haben nur begrenzte Kompetenzen im Bereich der Verbrauchersicherheit. Deshalb ist dem EG-Recht ein allgemeines Prinzip unbekannt, das die Sicherheitsinteressen des Verbrauchers produktunabhängig schützt. Vielmehr geht die EG problembezogen vor; das Einstimmigkeitsprinzip und die fehlende Öffentlichkeit erzwingen eine Beschränkung auf sehr konkrete und sehr spezifische Maßnahmen. Umfängliche Regelungen gibt es vor allem im Bereich von Lebensmitteln, insbes. hinsichtlich von Zusatzstoffen.Das EG-Recht weist eine Reihe von Lücken auf. Es fehlt — bis auf die Ausnahme der Arzneimittel — eine Regelung über den Rückruf von Produkten. Konflikte zwischen dem freien Warenverkehr und mitgliedstaatlichen Schutzinteressen aus Gründen tatsächlicher oder vermeintlicher Verbrauchersicherheit sind an der Tagesordnung. Der Informationsaustausch über Produktrisiken ist unzureichend; eine entsprechende Gemeinschaftsinitative erfaßt nicht freiwillige Maßnahmen.Der Beitrag erörtert schließlich die Möglichkeiten für künftige Gemeinschaftsaktionen.The paper is a slightly changed and updated version of a paper given at a seminar in Paris on 8 November 1983, organized by the Association Française pour le Droit de l'Alimentation and dealing with safety and food.

---

---

Ludwig Krämer works at the EC Commission, Directorate General XI (Environment, Consumer Protection, and Nuclear Safety), 10 rue Guimard, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium. The views expressed in this paper are purely personal.     

Cross-country differences in the contribution of future migration to old-age financing

As life expectancy increases and fertility declines, population aging puts pressure on the financing of welfare states in Europe and other developed countries. Given that immigrant workers are younger than the domestic population, a continuous flow of immigrants reduces the old-age dependency ratio and improves financing. Existing general equilibrium estimates of the public finance contribution of migration, performed with different models, are not comparable across countries and sometimes differ even in sign. We use the same overlapping-generations model with a detailed representation of institutions and labor market activity to provide comparable estimates of the impact of immigration on public finance in four European countries. We find that future projected immigration flows are equivalent to 14.3 % points labor income taxes in Austria, 7.3 points in Germany, 6.2 points in the UK and 1.7 points in Poland in 2060. These differences are due to the projected volume of immigration and institutional setups, among other factors. For comparable volumes of immigration, future flows have largest impact in Germany and smallest in the UK.     

The iLUC dilemma: How to deal with indirect land use changes when governing energy crops?

Due to land use effects, bioenergy use may cause adverse effects on biodiversity, soil and water and may even fail to guarantee a GHG emissions reduction compared to fossil fuel use. Accounting methodologies and policy instruments were elaborated to prevent these effects, but there is still no sound and consensual methodology to take into account indirect land use change that substantially contributes to GHG emissions as well as a loss of biodiversity. While the iLUC hypothesis, that is the potentiality of adverse effects arising from indirect land use change related to biomass cultivation, is hardly subject to dispute, the quantification of these effects and especially their policy implications are however contentious. Hence, bioenergy policies worldwide face a dilemma: Neglecting iLUC effects that do in fact exist or taking them into account although no sound methodology is available? The article covers the current state of the discussion and also analyses the approaches developed for taking indirect land use change into account. Assessment criteria for coping with the iLUC dilemma are developed and policy recommendations are derived from that.     

Prioritising land to be preserved for agriculture: A context-specific value tree

In Belgium as in many other countries, agricultural land is under pressure for development of other land uses. This paper presents a method for setting priorities for preservation of land for agriculture. The method is based on a participatory approach through which a value tree is formulated. This results in a list of criteria to define farmland value, which is explicitly linked to the objectives for farmland preservation. The value tree allows the list of criteria to be determined in a structured and consistent way. The participatory process contributes to the development of a shared vision on farmland preservation. The approach also incorporates context specificity, as shown by its application for farmland preservation in Flanders.