Suchergebnisse

PurposePoverty transitions can be explained by two opposing theories: the traditional sociological approach that focusses on social stratification and individualisation theory, which emphasises on life course risks for all strata. Both perspectives have been investigated extensively for income poverty while neglecting other important poverty indicators, such as deprivation or the receipt of social assistance. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the latter to investigate the impact of social stratification (e.g. social class), life course risks (e.g. health problems), and their interactions on the probability of social assistance entry for Germany.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis utilises survey data containing a sample of first-time social assistance entrants and a sample of the residential population. Applying case-control methodology, logistic regression is conducted to model the impact of social stratification determinants, life course risks, and their interactions on the probability of social assistance entry.FindingsSocial stratification determinants, particularly social class, have a significant effect. However, their effect is weaker than the effect of life course risks. Contrary to the prediction of individualisation theory, the poverty-triggering impact of life course risks varies substantially by social stratum. The combination of both theories yields high predictive power.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to comprehensively test social stratification and individualisation theory with respect to social assistance receipt as a poverty indicator. It is the first paper that investigates the entire population at risk of social assistance entry in Germany.

This thesis provides a differentiated picture of two interventions and one policy reform to alleviate economic inequality. In two chapters this dissertation examines whether out-of-school activities affect behavioral outcomes reflecting character, social and executive function skills. The first essay in this thesis analyzes the effect of performing sports on a regular basis on the formation of character and social skills. The findings confirm that sports is generally a social activity. For youths from less advantaged family backgrounds sports constitutes often the only quality pastime they engage in. Athletic involvement has beneficial effects on a broad range of character skills. These effects are largely driven by youths who do not engage in any other structured activity. Further, the effects can be interpreted as a broader effect of having access to an enriched social environment. The second essay examines the effect of working part-time while attending full-time schooling on the development of character skills and occupational choice strategies. Comparing adolescents who hold a job with adolescents who do not work, the former spend less time in front of a screen and invest more time in academic learning. Focusing on the time use of employed adolescents, working part-time has an ambivalent effect on time invested in other activities. It reduces their homework time as well as their nonproductive screen time. The results imply that holding a paid job while still in school reduces the uncertainty about own interests and talents and reduces the dependency on parents. A third essay evaluates the impact of the Tenancy Law Reform Act in 2001, a policy which targets to protect especially low-income households against rent increase. Germany is one of the European countries with the highest percentage of the population who lives in tenancies. This illustrates the importance of a functioning tenancy law, socially and economically. This essay analyzes the effect of the reform on the level of rents as well as on the ...

Most countries show a residency discount in rents for sitting tenants. In the wake of strong rent increases and housing shortages, Germany implemented a reform in 2001 to curtail rent increases. Based on linked housing-tenant data for Germany, this paper estimates panel OLS and quantile regressions of rents within tenancies. The results show that rents deflated by the CPI increase strongly from 1984 until the reform in 2001, and there is a reversal in the trend afterwards. Before the reform, there is a significant residence discount which decreases in absolute value with tenure. The reform reduces rents, in particular for expensive apartments and for new leases. There is no residency discount after the reform.

Compared to other European countries rental apartments dominate the German housing market. Policymakers and a large part of the population alike worry about the amount of affordable living space. Especially in metropolitan areas a high demand for living space exists and has been leading to a shortage and as a consequence to increasing rents. In 2001 the German government passed the Tenancy Law Reform Act to restrict the growth in rents (at least partially) and to strengthen the tenant's position. Up to now the efficacy of this reform has not been examined on national level. A further point of interest is the identification of a length of tenancy discount. The existing literature confirms such a discount where long-term tenants have to pay a lower real valued rent than short-term tenants. Our empirical analysis exploits data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) that offers the unique advantage of a large and representative sample. We find that the Tenancy Law Reform Act in 2001 appears to have been successful in the restriction of exorbitant rents. Further, we identify a significant duration discount in the first years of a tenancy. This discount is significantly larger in the upper part of the conditional rent distribution.

Abstract
Activation is an efficacious policy paradigm in modern welfare states. Taking the case of Germany, we study the relationship between the embeddedness of benefit recipients in activating labor market institutions and individual labor supply. Using panel data, we estimate the effects of transitions between key institutional states with different degrees of activation on reservation wages (RWs). We show that RWs react to activation: the transition from gainful employment to unemployment benefit receipt leads to an average decrease of 3.1% in RWs. The transition from gainful employment to welfare benefit receipt—an institutional state with far more rigorous activation—leads to a stronger decrease of 4.9%. Mediation analyses show that the income associated with different institutional states is the predominant mechanism that drives the effect on RWs. However, subjective social status also partly mediates the effect. Implications of these findings for active labor market policies are discussed.

9 páginas, 2 tablas, 2 figuras ; Plants host taxonomically and functionally complex communities of microbes. However, ecological studies on plant-microbe interactions rarely address the role of multiple co-occurring plant-associated microbes. Here, we contend that plant-associated microbes interact with each other and can have joint consequences for higher trophic levels. In this study we recorded the occurrence of the plant seed pathogenic fungus Claviceps purpurea and aphids (Sitobion sp.) on an established field experiment with red fescue (Festuca rubra) plants symbiotic to a seed transmitted endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae (E+) or non-symbiotic (E-). Both fungi are known to produce animal-toxic alkaloids. The study was conducted in a semi-natural setting, where E+ and E- plants from different origins (Spain and Northern Finland) were planted in a randomized design in a fenced common garden at Kevo Subarctic Research Station in Northern Finland. The results reveal that 45% of E+ plants were infected with Claviceps compared to 31% of E- plants. Uninfected plants had 4.5 times more aphids than Claviceps infected plants. By contrast, aphid infestation was unaffected by Epichloë symbiosis. Claviceps alkaloid concentrations correlated with a decrease in aphid numbers, which indicates their insect deterring features. These results show that plant mutualistic fungi can increase the infection probability of a pathogenic fungus, which then becomes beneficial to the plant by controlling herbivorous insects. Our study highlights the complexity and context dependency of species-species and multi-trophic interactions, thus challenging the labeling of species as plant mutualists or pathogens. ; This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (KS, Grant Nos. 295976 and 326226; MH, Grant No. 311077; BF, Grant No. 324523), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and FEDER grant PID2019-109133RB-I00, and from the project CLU-2019-05—IRNASA/CSIC Unit of Excellence funded by Junta de Castilla y León and cofinanced by the European Union (ERDF Europe drives our growth). ; Peer reviewed

Mit dem Panel Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung (PASS) baut das IAB seit 2007 einen zentralen Datensatz für die Arbeitsmarkt-, Armuts- und SGB-II-Forschung in Deutschland auf. Befragt werden in jährlichem Rhythmus zum einen Haushalte, die Transferleistungen beziehen und zum anderen Haushalte der allgemeinen Wohnbevölkerung. In jedem dieser Haushalte wird zunächst mit einer Person ein Haushaltsinterview und anschließend mit jeder Person ab 15 Jahren ein Personeninterview geführt. Mit Hilfe des PASS können zentrale Forschungsfragen, wie beispielsweise die Dynamik des Bezugs von Arbeitslosengeld II sowie die Auswirkungen des Transferleistungsbezugs auf die wirtschaftliche und soziale Lage der betroffenen Haushalte und Personen untersucht werden. Aber auch über den Kernbereich Beschäftigung und Arbeitslosigkeit hinaus bietet das PASS ein breites Fragenspektrum, das z.B. auch zahlreiche soziodemographische Merkmale oder subjektive Indikatoren (wie Zufriedenheit, Ängste und Sorgen, Erwerbsorientierung) beinhaltet.

Mit dem Panel Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung (PASS) baut das IAB seit 2007 einen zentralen Datensatz für die Arbeitsmarkt-, Armuts- und SGB-II-Forschung in Deutschland auf. Befragt werden in jährlichem Rhythmus zum einen Haushalte, die Transferleistungen beziehen und zum anderen Haushalte der allgemeinen Wohnbevölkerung. In jedem dieser Haushalte wird zunächst mit einer Person ein Haushaltsinterview und anschließend mit jeder Person ab 15 Jahren ein Personeninterview geführt. Mit Hilfe des PASS können zentrale Forschungsfragen, wie beispielsweise die Dynamik des Bezugs von Arbeitslosengeld II sowie die Auswirkungen des Transferleistungsbezugs auf die wirtschaftliche und soziale Lage der betroffenen Haushalte und Personen untersucht werden. Aber auch über den Kernbereich Beschäftigung und Arbeitslosigkeit hinaus bietet das PASS ein breites Fragenspektrum, das z.B. auch zahlreiche soziodemographische Merkmale oder subjektive Indikatoren (wie Zufriedenheit, Ängste und Sorgen, Erwerbsorientierung) beinhaltet.