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This paper analyses the effect of offshoring (i.e., the relocation of activities previously performed in-house to foreign countries) on various firm outcomes (domestic employment, production, and productivity). It uses data from the International Sourcing Survey (ISS) 2017 for Germany, linked to other firm level data such as business register and ITGS data. First, we find that offshoring is a rare event: In the sample of firms with 50 or more persons employed, only about 3% of manufacturing firms and 1% of business service firms have performed offshoring in the period 2014-2016. Second, difference-in-differences propensity score matching estimates reveal a negative effect of offshoring on domestic employment and production. Most of this negative effect is not because the offshoring firms shrink, but rather because they don't grow as fast as the non-offshoring firms. We further decompose the underlying employment dynamics by using direct survey evidence on how many jobs the firms destroyed/created due to offshoring. Moreover, we do not find an effect on labour productivity, since the negative effect on domestic employment and production are more or less of the same size. Third, the German data confirm previous findings for Denmark that offshoring is associated with an increase in the share of 'produced goods imports', i.e. offshoring firms increase their imports for the same goods they continue to produce domestically. In contrast, it is not the case that offshoring firms increase the share of intermediate goods imports (a commonly used proxy for offshoring), as defined by the BEC Rev. 5 classification.

Main description: Der immensen Bedeutung der Sozialversicherung trägt das Grundgesetz durch ein spezifisches Kompetenzengefüge hinsichtlich Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Organisation sowie Lastenverteilung Rechnung. Dezidiert untersucht Markus Zimmermann diesen durch Art. 74 Abs. 1 Nr. 12, Art. 87 Abs. 2 und Art. 120 Abs. 1 S. 4 gezogenen Verfassungsrahmen und beleuchtet zudem denjenigen für soziale Absicherung durch die Privatversicherung.Welche sind die konstituierenden Strukturelemente des Verfassungsbegriffs "Sozialversicherung"? Worin liegt die rechtliche Bedeutung des Versicherungs-, Äquivalenz- oder Solidarprinzips? Wäre eine "Bürgerversicherung" noch kompetenzgemäß? Wie weit können der Privatversicherung Elemente einer Sozialversicherung auferlegt werden?Das umfassende Werk beantwortet systematisch diese und andere Fragen und leistet einen elementaren Beitrag zu den Grundlagen der Sozialversicherung wie auch der Privatversicherung. Vor dem Hintergrund anhaltender Reformdiskussionen bietet es zudem einen unverzichtbaren Leitfaden für künftige Aus- und Umgestaltungen der sozialen Sicherungssysteme.

We study the importance of intangible capital (R&D, software, patents) for the measurement of productivity using firm-level panel data from German manufacturing. We first document a number of facts on the evolution of intangible investment over time, and its distribution across firms. Aggregate intangible investment increased over time. However, the distribution of intangible investment, even more so than that of physical investment, is heavily right-skewed, with many firms investing nothing or little, and a few firms having very large intensities. Intangible investment is also lumpy. Firms that invest more intensively in intangibles (per capita or as sales share) also tend to be more productive. In a second step, we estimate production functions with and without intangible capital using recent control function approaches to account for the simultaneity of input choice and unobserved productivity shocks. We find a positive output elasticity for research and development (R&D) and, to a lesser extent, software and patent investment. Moreover, the production function estimates show substantial heterogeneity in the output elasticities across industries and firms. While intangible capital has small effects for firms with low intangible intensity, there are strong positive effects for high-intensity firms. Finally, including intangibles in a gross output production function reduces productivity dispersion (measured by the 90-10 decile range) on average by 3%, in some industries as much as nearly 9%.

The Chakhama Valley, a remote area in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, was badly damaged by the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck India and Pakistan on 8 October 2005. More than 5% of the population lost their lives, and about 90% of the existing housing was irreparably damaged or completely destroyed. In early 2006, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) initiated a multisector, community-driven reconstruction program in the Chakhama Valley on the premise that the scale of the disaster required a response that would address all aspects of people's lives. One important aspect covered the promotion of disaster risk management for sustainable recovery in a safe environment. Accordingly, prevailing hazards (rockfalls, landslides, and debris flow, in addition to earthquake hazards) and existing risks were thoroughly assessed, and the information was incorporated into the main planning processes. Hazard maps, detailed site investigations, and proposals for precautionary measures assisted engineers in supporting the reconstruction of private homes in safe locations to render investments disaster resilient. The information was also used for community-based land use decisions and disaster mitigation and preparedness. The work revealed three main problems: (1) thorough assessment of hazards and incorporation of this assessment into planning processes is time consuming and often little understood by the population directly affected, but it pays off in the long run; (2) relocating people out of dangerous places is a highly sensitive issue that requires the support of clear and forceful government policies; and (3) the involvement of local communities is essential for the success of mitigation and preparedness.

This volume gives an overview of what is known from an academic perspective about the end of life in Switzerland. The authors, who represent different academic disciplines, deal with crucial questions, such as experiences of individuals, personal decisions concerning their own end of life, care situations, costs, legal regulations, and ideals of dying.

This volume gives an overview of what is known from an academic perspective about the end of life in Switzerland. The authors, who represent different academic disciplines, deal with crucial questions, such as experiences of individuals, personal decisions concerning their own end of life, care situations, costs, legal regulations, and ideals of dying.

Intro -- Haupttitel -- Impressum -- Inhalt -- Vorwort -- I. THEORETISCHE KONZEPTIONALISIERUNG -- Torsten Meireis: Macht der Fürsorge? -- Markus Zimmermann: Legitimationskrise des Helfens? Gedanken zur Ambivalenz der christlichen Caritas -- Frank Mathwig: Fürsorge als gesellschaftliche Aufgabe. Die politische Perspektive . -- II. PERSPEKTIVEN UND INTERESSEN IM GESUNDHEITSWESEN -- Monika Bobbert: Keine Autonomie ohne Kompetenz und Fürsorge. Plädoyer für die Reflexion innerer und äusserer Voraussetzungen -- Simon Hofstetter: Und was ist mit uns? Die Angehörigen -- III. EMPIRISCHE FORSCHUNGSZUGÄNGE UND DIDAKTIK.

Seit mindestens 2400 Jahren, seit den hippokratischen Schriften, schwören ärztliche und andere Gesundheitsberufe, ihre Patienten nicht nach Kaufkraft und Stand, sondern allein nach ihren Bedürfnissen zu behandeln - und wenn sie dafür auf jedes Honorar verzichten müssten. Seit mindestens 70 Jahren hilft ihnen die solidarische Finanzierung durch Steuern oder Sozialversicherung, ihren Schwur einzuhalten. Kann die Finanzierungsgarantie eine gleiche Behandlung sichern? Im Anschluss an die Theorien von A. Sen und P. Bourdieu wird diese Frage empirisch am Beispiel präventiver Rehabilitation erörtert

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic the government of the state of Bavaria, Germany, declared a state of emergency for its entire territory for the first time in history. Some areas in eastern Bavaria were among the most severely affected communities in Germany, prompting authorities and hospitals to build up capacities for a surge of COVID-19 patients. In some areas, intensive care unit (ICU) capacities were heavily engaged, which occasionally made a redistribution of patients necessary. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For managing COVID-19-related hospital capacities and patient allocation, crisis management squads in Bavaria were expanded by disaster task force medical officers ("Ärztlicher Leiter Führungsgruppe Katastrophenschutz" [MO]) with substantial executive authority. The authors report their experiences as MO concerning the superordinate patient allocation management in the district of Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) in eastern Bavaria. RESULTS: By abandoning routine patient care and building up additional ICU resources, surge capacity for the treatment of COVID-19 patients was generated in hospitals. In parts of the Oberpfalz, ICU capacities were almost entirely occupied by patients with corona virus infections, making reallocation to other hospitals within the district and beyond necessary. The MO managed patient pathways in an escalating manner by defining local (within the region of responsibility of a single MO), regional (within the district), and cross-regional (over district borders) reallocation lanes, as needed. When regional or cross-regional reallocation lanes had to be established, an additional management level located at the district government was involved. Within the determined reallocation lanes, emitting and receiving hospitals mutually agreed on any patient transfer without explicitly involving the MO, thereby maintaining the established interhospital routine transfer procedures. The number of patients and available treatment resources at each hospital ...