Exploiting differences in occupation status in East Germany in the last days of World War II and shortly thereafter, we find that regions which - due to their occupation status - experienced a drastic supply problem caused by the influx of great numbers of refugees fleeing from the Red Army in 1945 had a disproportionate increase in AfD votes from 2013 to 2017. We conclude that the "refugee crisis" in 2015, which dominated the campaign of the federal elections in 2017 and is considered as main determinant of voting for the AfD, activated the collective memory of this long-gone historic event and thereby shaped the current political landscape.
Hans-Jürgen Krupp, der im April 2018 seinen 85. Geburtstag feierte, hat die Politikberatung von beiden Seiten erlebt: unter anderem als Professor an der Universität Frankfurt, als Präsident des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin, als Mitglied des Sachverständigenrats zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung und als Finanz- und Wirtschaftssenator in Hamburg. Hier stellt er Überlegungen an, wie die Politikberatung besser gelingen kann. Er beklagt die rückläufi ge Zahl an Lehrstühlen für Sozialpolitik, begrüßt aber die neuen Bemühungen des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales, die sozialpolitische Forschung zu fördern. Die Autonomie der Universitäten hält er für ein wichtiges Gut, gibt aber zu bedenken, dass deren Strategien anderen Zielen folgen als die Wahrung von Pluralität in der Forschung zur Unterstützung der Politikberatung. ; The foundations of research-based economic policy advice - particularly in the realm of social policy - have been gradually eroded over the last few decades, as university professorships have been eliminated and the scope of academic teaching and research in economics has narrowed. University autonomy has not prevented but rather encouraged this development. Yet the possibility that research autonomy may lead to undesirable developments is no reason to fundamentally question this autonomy. Research requires autonomy. The experiences described in this article warn against idealising the autonomy of research. Numerous examples of state-funded research and science policy can be cited that have promoted progress in science and generally helped to improve the quality of policy advice. The common goal should be to strike a sensible balance between scientifi c autonomy and the safeguarding of societal interests.
Verschiedene repräsentative Erhebungen und methodische Ansätze zeigen, dass gegenwärtig das Thema 'Fluchtzuwanderung' ganz weit oben auf der Liste der politischen Themen steht. Gleichzeitig ist die Bedeutung der Kategorie 'Gerechtigkeit' zurückgegangen. Offenbar verbinden viele Menschen das Thema Fluchtzuwanderung mit Gerechtigkeitsüberlegungen, d.h. viele empfinden die Aufnahme von Geflüchteten im Vergleich mit ihrer eigenen Situation als ungerecht. Ein kleiner Teil hält es allerdings explizit für ungerecht, wie mit Geflüchteten umgegangen wird, und ein relativ großer Anteil macht sich Sorgen um Ausländerfeindlichkeit in Deutschland. ; Limiting the number of refugees is not an issue 'in itself' for registered voters in Germany. Justice, peace, and social harmony are important to people - and peace and social security are part of the overall quality of life in Germany. Limiting and excluding refugees are by no means important goals for the majority of people - but people also do not want to be adversely affected in their own lives.
We exploit the natural experiment of German division and reunification to address the question whether individuals who feel distress from social comparisons in terms of income reveal more negative attitudes towards foreigners. Our empirical approach rests upon individuals from the German Democratic Republic, who have West German peers. We use the variation of wealth of West German peers shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to identify a causal effect of distress from social comparisons among East Germans. We find robust evidence that East Germans expose strong negative attitudes towards foreigners if they worry about their economic status compared to better-off peers in West Germany. Our analysis also reveals that this adverse effect of upward social comparisons is more pronounced towards foreigners stemming from low-wage countries.
The aim of this research is to examine the possible effects of labour market institutional characteristics on young people's perceptions of their internship experiences as expressed on Twitter. By looking at these opinions (satisfaction versus dissatisfaction) in relation to certain features of internships as well as to the more general labour market regulatory framework, this project aims to give a voice to young people, enabling them (indirectly) to provide policy suggestions to law-makers. Furthermore, we propose a preview of a possible empirical model for data collection based on the manual coding of Tweets. By employing a Probit regression and Blinder-Oaxaca and Fairlie decompositions, we have tried to establish a link between the perceived evaluation of internships and the country where the internship is based, the latter being used as a proxy for the legal system. In all our tests we found that the country in which the internship is placed is the main factor in the positive or negative perception. Ultimately we shall propose the use of Twitter not only as a relevant research tool, but also as an instrument for bringing young people's needs to the attention of law-makers.
In psychological games, higher-order beliefs, emotions, and motives - in addition to actions - affect players' payoffs. Suppose you are tolerated as opposed to being genuinely accepted by your peers and friends . In particular, suppose you are invited to a party, movie, dinner, etc not because your company is desired but because the inviter would feel guilty if she did not invite you. In all of these cases, it is conceivable that the intention behind the action will matter and hence will affect your payoffs. I model intentions in a dynamic psychological game under incomplete information. I find a complex social interaction in this game. In particular, a player may stick to a strategy of accepting every invitation with the goal of discouraging insincere invitations. This may lead one to erroneously infer that this player is eagerly waiting for an invitation, when indeed his behavior is driven more by strategic considerations than by an excessive desire for social acceptance. I discuss how being tolerated but not being truly accepted can explain the rejection of mutually beneficial trades, the choice of identity, social exclusion, marital divorce, and its implication for political correctness and affirmative action.
In psychological games, higher-order beliefs, emotions, and motives - in addition to actions - affect players' payoffs. Suppose you are invited to a party, movie, dinner, etc not because your company is desired but because the inviter would feel guilty if she did not invite you. In all of these cases, it is conceivable that the intention behind the action will matter and hence will affect your payoffs. I show that this social interaction is a psychological game. However, under certain conditions, it is a special case of games with interdependent preference types as studied in Gul and Pesendorfer (2005). I find a complex social interaction in this game. In particular, there exists a unique equilibrium in which a player may stick to a strategy of accepting every invitation with the goal of discouraging insincere invitations. This may lead one to erroneously infer that this player is eagerly waiting for an invitation, when indeed his behavior is driven more by strategic considerations than by an excessive desire for social acceptance. The discussion shows that while games with interdependent preference types can capture phenomena that psychological games seek to address, the intuition, motivation, or explanation for the same phenomenon may be different. I discuss how being tolerated but not being truly accepted can explain the rejection of mutually beneficial trades, the choice of identity, social exclusion, marital divorce, and political correctness.
The complex historical environment, in which constitutional law and policy were established, has at times made it difficult for outsiders to the policy process to understand what forces are really affecting neutrality. While many of the Cold War constraints on neutrality disappeared with the fall of the Soviet Union, new ones have evolved to replace them. There is no discounting the fact that neutrality was originally considered a foreign policy tool, designed to minimize Austrian participation in future conflicts; however, it quickly evolved into much more. By 1956, it was an integral part of Austrian security and defense policy, as well as an instrument for constructing a uniquely Austrian identity removed from a "Germanic" one. In addition to having restored independence and national sovereignty, neutrality also secured domestic stability in the form of Consociational Democracy. In the hands of Austria's determined leadership, elements of consociationalism were adapted to form the Social Partnership, Corporatism, and Proporz, which created a unique form of "domestic neutrality", where conflict was to be avoided at all cost.
