Ein Länderfi nanzausgleich ohne Berlin — Gewinner und Verlierer

The author simulates the federal fi nancial equalisation system in Germany without Berlin with respect to the adjustment year 2011. The model assumes that the capital city is compensated by the distribution of value added tax (VAT). Hence winners as well as losers can be identifi ed at both stages of adjustment within the federal fi nancial equalisation system. The result clarifi es the position of Hesse and Bavaria, which intend to take legal action against the German federal fi nancial equalisation system. In particular these two German states should not push for the exclusion of Berlin in this context. Otherwise the scenario would lead to considerable losses for both states.     

The Quality of Insurance Intermediary Services—Empirical Evidence for Germany

Competing insurance intermediaries provide heterogeneous services that are difficult for incompletely informed consumers to assess. Transaction cost economics, search theory, and principal‐agent theory provide arguments on product quality differences between exclusive agents and independent intermediaries. This article uses a sample of 927 insurance intermediaries in Germany. By performing OLS estimations, we test the impact of the different distribution channels and other factors on intermediaries’ service quality. Depending on the proxies used for service quality, we find mixed evidence for the product quality hypothesis. Service quality depends to a large extent on the information‐gathering and processing activities of the individual intermediaries, independent of the respective distribution channel.     

Shifts in Portfolio Preferences of International Investors: An Application to Sovereign Wealth Funds

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model to analyze the macroeconomic effects of a shift in portfolio preferences of foreign investors. The model has two countries and two asset classes (equities and bonds). It is characterized by imperfect substitutability between assets and allows for endogenous adjustment in interest rates and asset prices. To illustrate the mechanics of the model, we calibrate it to analyze a transfer of reserves from central banks to sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). We look separately at two diversification paths: a shift away from dollar assets (path 1), and a shift away from US bonds to US equities (path 2). In path 1, the dollar depreciates and US net debt falls on impact and increases in the long run. In path 2, the dollar depreciates and US net debt increases in the long run.     

Aktivierende und / oder rehabilitative Pflege?

Versuch einer Begriffskl?rung - Die Begriffe „aktivierende“ und „rehabilitative“ Pflege werden meist synonym verwandt – beide Begriffen assoziieren die F?rderung der Selbstst?ndigkeit. Bislang werden allerdings rehabilitationsspezifische Pflegehandlungen kaum thematisiert. Eine Betrachtung aus pflegewissenschaftlicher Perspektive.     

The international risk sharing puzzle is at business cycle and lower frequency

Abstract We decompose the correlation between relative consumption and the real exchange rate in its dynamic components at different frequencies. Using multivariate spectral analysis techniques, we show that, at odds with a high degree of risk sharing, in most OECD countries the dynamic correlation tends to be quite negative, and significantly so, at frequencies lower than two years – the appropriate frequencies for assessing the performance of international business cycle models. Theoretically, we show that the dynamic correlation over different frequencies predicted by standard open economy models is the sum of two terms: a term constant across frequencies, which can be negative when uninsurable risk is large; a term variable across frequencies, which in bond economies is necessarily positive, reflecting the insurance intertemporal trade provides against forecastable contingencies. Numerical analysis suggests that leading mechanisms proposed by the literature to account for the puzzle are consistent with the evidence across the spectrum.     

The psychological effects on tariff choices for car insurance

Insurance customers increasingly choose between conventional flat-rate car insurance tariffs and innovative usage-based car insurance tariffs such as a pay-per-mile tariff. Usage-based car insurance tariffs require traffic telematics. In this paper, we analyze the decision-making behavior of insurance customers concerning tariff choices as well as the psychological effects. In other service areas, it can be observed that customers often prefer a flat-rate tariff even if their billing rate would be lower on a pay-per-use tariff for a given amount of usage. In study?1, we show that the purchase intention of car insurance tariffs is influenced by psychological effects as well as the customer’s personal experience with the insurance provider and that it is higher for a flat-rate car insurance tariff compared to a pay-per-mile tariff. Customers who have had positive experiences with an insurance provider induce a higher purchase intention for car insurance than customers who have had no experience with an insurance provider. In study?2, we show that the probability of choosing a flat-rate car insurance tariff is higher with increasing monthly kilometers.     

Consuming stress: exploring hidden dimensions of consumption-related strain at the intersection of gender and poverty

Abstract

Consumer stress as experienced at the nexus of gender and poverty, has received limited attention in marketing and consumer research. This empirical study applies the theoretical lens of social stress to explore gendered aspects of poverty, consumption and marketplace activity. It demonstrates that for women in poverty, consumer stress is a relational issue, involving marketplace and interpersonal (dis)connections. In particular, it surfaces the hidden, often, nuanced power relations that place additional strain on women with limited finances, as they oscillate between marketplace and intra-household pressures. By applying social stress theory, the study offers a new way of thinking about the unequal social relations and associated consumption strains bound up with the disadvantaged position of an intersectional group of women experiencing poverty.