Vom Beruf unserer Zeit zur nationalen Gesetzgebung

There is a broad consensus with regard to the necessity of reforming the german insurance contract law. Considerations about the necessary changes should include the globalisation of markets in a unified Europe, as well as methodical and other developments of the law in the recent past. Until recently, the international transfer of services was discussed rather theoretically and had less practical relevance. This has changed since the use of the internet has increased dramatically. Therefore, an explicit regulation in the law with regard to the applicable law and jurisdiction for insurance contracts with an international context is required.Alongside these changes, a reform of the insurance contract law code will have to include the development of the jurisdiction of German courts especially with regard to consumer protection clauses. The extent of this reform depends on the interpretation of the concept of a ?mature and responsible consumer“. Regarding jumbo risks, the question remains whether complete contractual autonomy should apply. With respect to the control of general terms and conditions by the courts, a more detailed regulation of dispositive clauses in the insurance contract law might be considered which one could revest to on in case of nullity of such conditions.There are many specific regulations that are susceptible to changes and amelioration. Every change needs to find a balance between the need to guarantee the autonomy of the contracting parties and the protection of the consumers / insured. For instance, a general right of the insured to withdraw from a contractual obligation would be inconsistent with essential principles of contract law.Lastly, certain branches of the insurance industry, which are not specifically addressed in the law, such as professional incapacity insurance, should be regulated in the future.     

发现当代艺术?(下)——上海当代艺术博览会讲座系列

此次专题承接第10期上海当代艺术博览会讲座系列,继续发表来自古奥德莫克·美迪那,玛莎·罗斯勒,卢迎华,彦·沃尔沃特以及汉斯·乌尔里希·奥布里斯特四位批评家的文章。四篇文章分别从不同的侧面继续了关于当代性的讨论。古奥德莫克·美迪那以论纲的形式,从不同方面列举了当代艺术发展中的十一个特性;玛莎·罗斯勒以美国当代艺术发展的状况为例,探讨了当代艺术何以仍然具有政治批判性及社会批判性;而卢迎华则从回顾关于中国当代艺术本土化的讨论出发,特别引用了栗宪庭与费大为的通信,表达了对于中国当代艺术在未来的发展中必须确立自身原则,积极主动的诉求;彦·沃尔沃特则以某种类似自白的方式,略带意识流的手法表达了自己关于当代的惶然与期待;汉斯·奥布里斯特用独特的碎片形式,向我们展示了他近期关于创新及双/三年展的思考。     

THE ESTIMATION OF POVERTY DYNAMICS USING DIFFERENT MEASUREMENTS OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME

If surveys offer two different measurements of household income, one can use them simultaneously to identify the potential effects of measurement error on the observed-income mobility of the poor. In this paper we investigate transition tables between subsequent income states. Latent Markov models are used to model incorrect classifications of income states. Misclassifications are interpreted as measurement error or spurious changes that are not consistent with a simple transition table model. The empirical results for the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) show that the observed transition tables overestimate the mobility between poverty states.     

Versicherungsnachfrage und Ausfallerwartung

Recently, several undesirable feature of classical risk measure like variance or value-at-risk have been mentioned in the literature. Due to this drawbacks, alternative risk measures as the lower partial moments receive increasing attention. The present paper analyzes the lower partial moments with respect to their compatibility to expected utility theory as well as their psychological plausibility. With respect to the latter point, shortfall expectation seems to be more realistic than the other lower partial moments. We proceed by analyzing demand for coinsurance in the context of risk measurement by shortfall expectation.     

Knock-out for descriptive utility or experimental-design error?

Using an experimental design of stating equivalent probabilities for 252 stimulus lottery pairs, Chechile and Cooke (1997) alleged to have refuted generic-utility theory which itself comprises many modern utility theories. The present paper systematically investigates the feasibility of the Chechile-Cooke experimental design using numerical methods. We examine 1,277 utility setups (involving 17 parameter sets for four probability-weighting functions and 11 parameter sets for three component utility functions) which represent ten different utility theories. Our results demonstrate that on average for more than one third of all stimulus lottery pairs no equivalent probabilities exist. That is, the Chechile-Cooke experimental design prevents subjects from stating their true probability equivalents. Therefore, they cannot claim to have refuted generic-utility theory and the members of its family.This paper was submitted to theJournal of Risk and Uncertainty on January 14, 1999. It was, however, rejected on April 16, 1999.     

China’s economic policy on a new course

Since Mao’s death China has greatly strengthened its contacts with Western industrialized states. This year the People’s Republic has concluded trade agreements with Japan and the European Community, amongst others. All these activities suggest that China’s economic policy is set on a new course.     

Real business cycles, sticky wages or sticky prices? The impact of technology shocks on US manufacturing

In this paper, we examine empirically the predictions of a range of theoretical models which give a prominent role to technology shocks in explaining business cycles. To this end, we estimate (4-digit SIC) industry-level VAR models for US manufacturing using real output, the real wage and utilization corrected measures of technology and labor input. Our results support both sticky-wage DGE and RBC models over sticky-price DGE models. Moreover, they cast some doubt on the importance of technology shocks as propulsive mechanism for business cycles at the industry level.     

Labour Market Policy in Post-Soviet Economies: The Case of Azerbaijan

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -     

Gesucht: Symbol für gute Pflege

Zusammenfassung   Bis 30. September müssen Pflegeanbieter und Krankenkassen entscheiden, wie die rund 21.000 station?ren und ambulanten Pflegeeinrichtungen in Deutschland künftig die Qualit?t ihrer Leistungen darstellen sollen – ob als Sterne, Ampeln oder Smileys. Doch welches der Symbole ist wirklich geeignet? Experten gelangen zu unterschiedlichen Einsch?tzungen.