Rational dictators and the killing of innocents: Data from Stalin’s archives

We posit a rational choice model of dictatorship to explain the tendency of dictators to repress innocent citizens. This model demonstrates that, when the quality of information about regime enemies is low, a rational dictator will knowingly kill and imprison citizens who are not real enemies. We use the formerly secret Stalin archives to test this proposition against the stylized facts of Stalin’s three major repressions.     

Think national,forecast local: a case study of 71 German urban housing markets

In this article, we examine whether the local indicators are able to predict the city-level housing prices and rents better than national indicators. For this purpose, we assess the forecasting ability of 126 indicators and 21 types of forecast combinations using a sample of 71 large German cities. There are several predictors that are especially useful, namely price-to-rent ratios, national-level business confidence, and consumer surveys. We also find that combinations of individual forecasts are among the top forecasting models. On average, the forecast improvements attain about 20%, measured by a reduction in root mean square error, compared to the naive models.     

Evaluation of product competitiveness in the context of modern trade

The author’s method for evaluation of product competitiveness in the context of modern international trade is described with special reference to the agri-food sector. The method is based on the analysis of foreign trade and national production statistics. Significant relations in competitiveness terms are investigated and validated using a posteriori analysis. A comparative study of several types of agri-food products is made for ten countries. Problems of competitiveness variation depending on the export/import of products varying in the degree of processing are studied.     

Rufbereitschaft: Wie oft erlaubt?

In unserer Funktionsabteilung Kardiologie verfügen wir über einen Herzkathetermessplatz und stellen eine 24-Stunden- Rufbereitschaft. Zurzeit macht jeder Mitarbeiter 15 Rufbereitschaften pro Monat. In der Urlaubszeit k?nnen es bis zu 25 sein. Gibt es eine H?chstgrenze für die Zahl der Rufbereitschaften?     

Ohne Hygiene ist alles nichts

Standardhygienema?nahmen beachten - Alle Ma?nahmen, die sowohl den Patienten als auch das Personal vor übertragungen von Keimen schützen, werden unter dem Begriff „Standardhygienema?nahmen“ zusammengefasst. Obwohl sie meist einfach auszuführen und hinl?nglich bekannt sind, finden sie trotzdem oft nur mangelnde Beachtung.     

The impact of lifestyles and food knowledge on the food patterns of German children

The German youth is relatively well informed about healthy eating, but does not act in accordance with this knowledge. It is also known from empirical studies that there is an association between lifestyles, food knowledge and the eating patterns of older teenagers. However, is there a similar correlation in regard to younger children? This article shows results of a study addressing this issue by empirically investigating leisure time activities, food intake and food knowledge. The study conducted with 907 children, on average 12 years old, out of an urban region in northwest Germany using a written questionnaire, implies that food patterns and food knowledge have to be improved because they are – on average – only marginally acceptable. On this level, they are not in line with a healthy future. For the first time in Germany, food patterns and food knowledge of seventh grade pupils were analysed in relation to their lifestyles. The study revealed four lifestyles. One family‐oriented lifestyle and three non‐family oriented lifestyles: outdoor and sociable youth, culture‐oriented youth, and multimedia kids. The family‐oriented lifestyle influences the children's food patterns in a positive way; the three found non‐family‐oriented lifestyles lead to less preferable food patterns. The results imply that there is a phase of unhealthy food patterns at the beginning of the second life decade, which seems to be linked to the detachment from the parents and the gained independency, expressed by the first self‐chosen lifestyles. As lifestyles have such a vital influence on healthy eating, and family is no longer the place where children get their everyday competencies, school has to enable pupils to make healthier food and lifestyle choices.