Consumer versus Expert Hazard Identification: A Mental Models Study of Mutation‐bred Rice

Novel foods have been the object of intense public debate in recent years. Despite efforts to communicate the outcomes of risk assessments to consumers, public confidence in the management of potential risks has been low. Various reasons behind this have been identified, chiefly a disagreement between technical experts and consumers over the nature of the hazards on which risk assessments should focus, and perceptions of insufficient openness about uncertainties in risk assessment. Whilst previous research has almost exclusively focused on genetically modified foods, the present paper investigates plant varieties developed by means of mutation breeding, a less‐debated class of novel foods. Two studies were conducted that investigated the mental models of experts and laypeople. The results revealed that the mental models of both groups differed in terms of scope, depth and the role of uncertainty. Furthermore, a number of misconceptions became apparent in the study of laypeople's mental models, often related to the regulatory system governing risk assessments of novel foods. Critical issue are outlined and communication needs are discussed.     

Lohnungleichheit – Gibt es eine Trendwende?

Using a large panel microdata set for the time period 1992 to 2014, the paper analyses the long-run trends in German wage inequality for full-time workers. The approach differentiates by gender and region. The analysis confirms the result of other studies that show a sharp increase in wage inequality in Germany from the mid-1990s until 2010. The increase can only partly be explained by rising skill differentials. The lion’s share is neither attributable to price effects nor to changes in the composition of the workforce. As an interesting phenomenon, the rise in the inequality indicators did not continue after 2010. The pattern is similar for male and female workers as well as for the eastern and western parts of the country. In some sub-samples we even find a marked decline. This is especially true for females. Hence there are some indications of a hiatus or even a trend reversal. At the time being it is still unclear whether the phenomenon is caused by sectoral minimum wages, a more egalitarian stance on wage policy, technological or structural developments favouring the low-skilled or other causes.     

价格水平目标制成为货币政策的新选择

通胀目标制面临挑战 过去20年之中,通胀目标制已成为当代央行操作的基准模式。大多数央行都设定了某种形式的通胀目标,而且它们决定利率水平的主要着眼点在于,将中期通胀率稳定在目标值附近。然而,近期的经济动向对实行通胀目标制的央行构成了重大挑战,原因有两方面：     

迟缓复苏恰到好处，上行风险被忽视（上）——2010、2011年全球经济展望

【摩根士丹利9月14日】2009年态势：强力政策造就复苏,下半年增速将超过4％ 我们在3个月前指出,在强力刺激政策的推动下,全球经济已在2季度恢复了增长,中国及亚洲其他经济体率先复苏,美国、欧洲等落后者也将在今年下半年跟进。此后公布的数据证实,2季度全球经济确实恢复了增长,而且按年率计算,     

The relationship between risk attitudes and heuristics in search tasks: A laboratory experiment

Experimental studies of search behavior suggest that individuals stop searching earlier than the optimal, risk-neutral stopping rule predicts. Two different classes of decision rules could generate this behavior: rules that are optimal conditional on utility functions departing from risk neutrality, or heuristics derived from limited cognitive processing capacities and satisficing. To discriminate between these possibilities, we conducted an experiment that consists of a search task as well as a lottery task designed to elicit utility functions. We find that search heuristics are not related to measures of risk aversion, but to measures of loss aversion.     

The subjective well-being of workfare participants: insights from a day reconstruction survey

In this article, we shed more light on the subjective well-being of workfare participants and compare it to the well-being of unemployed and employed workers. We use data from a self-conducted survey among participants in workfare schemes in Germany. We examine two subdimensions of subjective well-being – life satisfaction and emotional well-being – separately to obtain a more comprehensive view of the subjective well-being of workfare participants. Our results show that the life satisfaction of people in this group is between that of employed and unemployed people. In contrast, their emotional well-being is the highest of these three groups.     

20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit

Am 1. Juli 1990 trat die Wirtschafts-, W?hrungs- und Sozialunion der beiden deutschen Staaten in Kraft. Der Prozess des ?konomischen Zusammenwachsens von Ost- und Westdeutschland erwies sich jedoch als schwieriger als erwartet. Warum ist das so? Und was k?nnte getan werden, um in Ostdeutschland eine eigenst?ndige Wirtschaftsdynamik zu etablieren?     

Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency among Coffee Farmers in Côte d’Ivoire: Evidence from the Centre West Region

This paper presents measures of technical efficiency for a sample of 81 peasant farmers in the low‐income region of Côte d’Ivoire. DEA techniques were used to compute farm‐level technical efficiency (TE) measures. The analysis reveals average levels of technical efficiency equal to 36 per cent and 47 per cent respectively for the CCR ( Charnes et al., 1978 ) and BCC ( Banker et al., 1984 ) models. These results suggest that substantial gains in output and/or decreases in cost can be attained given existing technology. In a second step analysis, two‐limit Tobit regression techniques were used to examine the relationship between TE and various farm/farmer characteristics. From a policy point of view, an important conclusion stemming from the analysis of our sample is that family size, membership to farmer's club or association and the origin of the farmer are the variables found to be most promising for action. The analysis suggests that policymakers should foster the development of the formal farmers’ club or association by building the capacity of the farmers. Our analysis also supports the argument for public sector involvement in the provision of information on labour force management to peasant farmers as a means to improve efficiency levels, and thus household incomes.     

Does Preferential Trade Benefit Poor Countries? A General Equilibrium Assessment with Nonhomothetic Preferences

We develop a Ricardian model of trade with nonhomothetic preferences to analyze preferential trade agreements (PTAs) among countries of different stages of economic development. The richer a country is, the more likely will PTAs improve its terms of trade, also when it is a non‐member. Rich non‐member countries are also less likely to incur welfare losses from PTAs. PTA membership only guarantees welfare gains for countries that are too poor to import the goods rich countries produce. For all other countries, the welfare effects of joining PTAs depend on the world income distribution and on the strength of comparative advantages.