Schlafstörungen im Alter

Herausforderung für Pflege und Therapie - Gesunder Schlaf ist ein wesentliches Gesundheitsgut, das es zu bewahren und zu f?rdern gilt. Da ein gest?rter Schlaf weitreichende Folgen hat, sollten Pflegende Einflussfaktoren kennen, die die Schlafprobleme verursachen und verst?rken, um darauf in ihrem berufspraktischen Alltag reagieren zu k?nnen.     

Testing regression coefficients after model selection through sign restrictions

Following a general-to-specific modelling strategy, empirical economists sometimes delete variables with “wrong” signs from a regression equation. Such an elementary model selection step may affect subsequent inference. We determine the post-model-selection [PMS] effect analytically and numerically.     

Intermediation and (Mis‐)Matching in Insurance Markets—Who Should Pay the Insurance Broker?

This article addresses the role of independent insurance intermediaries in markets where matching is important. We compare fee‐based and commission‐based compensation systems and show that they are payoff equivalent if the intermediary is completely honest. Allowing for strategic behavior, we discuss the impact of remuneration on the quality of advice. The possibility of mismatching gives the intermediary substantial market power, which will not translate into mismatching if consumers are rational. Furthermore, we offer a rationale for the use of contingent commissions and address whether or not the ban of any commission payments is an appropriate market intervention.     

Zur Verminderung der Ratingabhängigkeit der deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft

The reliance of the German insurance industry on external credit ratings is strong and increasing. It relates to the assets and the liabilities of the insurer. For the first time, the paper systematically describes this reliance and combines it with the lessons from the current financial crises. The paper discusses measures to reduce the overreliance on external credit ratings and provides a new proposal in order to smooth the rating over time.     

The Institutional Context of an ‘Empirical Law’: The Wage Curve under Different Regimes of Collective Bargaining

The wage curve postulates that the wage level is a decreasing function of the regional unemployment rate. In testing this hypothesis, most studies have not taken into account that differences in the institutional framework may have an impact on the existence (or the slope) of a wage curve. Using a large‐scale linked employer–employee dataset for Western Germany, this article provides a first direct test of the relevance of different bargaining regimes (and of works councils) for the existence of a wage curve. In pooled regressions for the period 1998 to 2006, as well as in worker‐level or plant‐level fixed‐effects estimations, we obtain evidence for a wage curve for plants with a collective bargaining agreement at firm level. The point estimates for this group of plants are close to the ?0.1 elasticity of wages with respect to unemployment postulated by Blanchflower and Oswald. In this regime, we also find that works councils dampen the adjustment of wages to the regional unemployment situation. In the other regimes of plants that either do not make use of collective contracts or apply sectoral agreements, we do not find a wage curve.     

Optimal seedings in elimination tournaments

We study an elimination tournament with heterogenous contestants whose ability is common-knowledge. Each pair-wise match is modeled as an all-pay auction. Equilibrium efforts are in mixed strategies, yielding complex dynamics: endogenous win probabilities in each match depend on other matches’ outcome through the identity of the expected opponent in the next round. The designer seeds competitors according to their ranks. For tournaments with four players we find optimal seedings for three different criteria: (1) maximization of total tournament effort; (2) maximization of the probability of a final among the two top ranked teams; (3) maximization of the win probability for the top player. We also find the seedings ensuring that higher ranked players have a higher winning probability. We compare our predictions with data from NCAA basketball tournaments.