Antisemitische Einstellungen in Deutschland Zwischen 1994 und 1998

The paper deals with the problem whether the transformation process in Germany since 1990, the year of unification of East and West Germany, has influenced the cognitive and affective structure as well as the amount of anti-Semitic attitudes. Data on these aspects come from three representative social surveys, conducted in 1994, 1996 and 1998 by three different research institutes. An attempt to cumulate the three data fileds leads to some severe problems, referring to the (in-)comparability of sampling procedures and data collection methods. Depending on the nearly complete absence of equally measured indicators, and of differing operationalizations of the remaining, it was not possible to construct a time series that would contain data on cognitive and affective aspects of anti-Semitism in the period studied. Nevertheless, the overall sample, which included information on 6671 respondents, was used to construct a summated scale of the amount of anti-Semitic attitudes in Germany. The data analysis yields evidence that the amountof anti-Semitic attitudes seems to increase slightly in East and to decrease slightly in West Germany. Results of a multiple regression analysis show that sociodemographic variables — gender, age, formal education, income — effect the amount of anti-Semitic attitudes in both parts of Germany, but differently.     

Demografischer Wandel,Alterung und Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland

Debates about the consequences of demographic change for the labor market relate to two distinct levels; both will be addressed in this chapter. First, demographic ageing changes the composition of the workforce. Theories about how labor markets work lead to the conclusion that demographic changes do not affect immediately supply and demand of labor and the structure of the workforce. Rather, consequences of demographic changes are moderated by labor market institutions.Second, demographic ageing has consequences for the organization of work. Permanent topics of sociological research are consequences of ageing workforces in the firm for productivity and innovation, consequences of ageing workforces for human resource policies of firms, extent of and coping with the problem of limited durations to perform strenuous work tasks, and consequences of ageing workforces for industrial relations. One central finding is that firms meet various challenges in their external and internal environments, among them being ageing workforces only one. Moreover, as strategic actors, different firms can choose different strategies even in similar environments. Consequences of demographic changes for work organization on enterprise level are, therefore, far from deterministic.     

Ein ganz persönlicher Überblick über den Stand von Diversity Management in Deutschland

This paper consists of a very personal overview of the development of the diversity approach in Germany from the author’s perspective. Statements are illustrated using a practice example based on the author’s consultancy work. Questions for further discussion are raised.     

Studienmotivation, Erwerbspartizipation und der Einstieg in den Arbeitsmarkt

Increased student enrollment in public universities has led to a debate on curricula reform with a view to limiting the length of study, particularly by introducing tuition fees for long-time students. It is implicitly assumed in this debate that all students are full-time students. We investigate why and to what extent students participate in the labor market. Furthermore, we study the effects of part-time work on the time it takes to graduate, to find employment and on the level of earnings. We analyze two data sets, first, a survey among students enrolled at the University of Bern conducted during summer 2001 (N = 3360) and secondly, a survey of all university graduates in Switzerland conducted in 2001 (N = 7005). The results show that labor market participation increases the time it takes students to reach graduation. However, labor market experience reduces the time it takes graduates to find employment and increases their earnings by 4 percent if their experience was related to the subject being studied. Labor market participation bearing no relation to university studies has no negative effects on graduate entrance into the labor market. Thus, the study suggests that student participation in the labor market has more beneficial effects than disadvantages. In light of these results curricula reforms should take into account the possibility of gaining labor market experience.     

Reform in Deutschland

Zusammenfassung Betrachtet man die organisationelle Ausgangslage der Universit?t n?her, so liegt deren Reformf?higkeit in Humboldts Idee der Universt?t begründet, die festhielt, dass die Autonomie der Wissenschaft nur durch die Staatsabh?ngigkeit der Universit?t gesichert werden kann. Das hei?t, der Staat beschützt die Universit?t gegen externe übergriffe, indem er ihre Verwaltung und Finanzierung übernimmt. Aus einer organisationssoziologischen Perspektive l?sst sich diese Ausgangslage als Teilautonomie beschreiben, durch die die universit?ren Reformm?glichkeiten deutlich eingeschr?nkt werden. Da der Staat Universit?tspolitik zur Zeit mit Sparpolitik gleichsetzt, wird am Beispiel der ‚Haushaltsglobalisierung‘ an der Hamburger Universit?t der sp?ten 1990er Jahren gezeigt, wei sich das Sparen unter Bedingungen der Teilautonomie universit?tsintern auswirkt. Da die Ergebnisse nicht zu überzeugen verm?gen, werden zwei alternative L?sungsans?tze vorgeschlagen: Mehr Bürokratie für die Universit?t und die versch?rfte Fortsetzung der aktuellen Bildungspolitik scheinen wesentliche M?glichkeiten für die Entfaltung universit?rer Reformf?higkeit. Dieser Beitrag fasst die wesentlichen empirischen Aspekte einer Studie der Haushaltsglobalisierung an der Hamburger Universit?t in der zweiten H?lfte der 1990er Jahre zusammen (Huber 2004).     

Wenn weiße Schafe krampfhaft nach schwarzen suchen ... und sich dabei dreckig machen! Replik auf den Beitrag von Jochen Gläser

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Interethnische Freundschaften in Deutschland

This paper examines interethnic friendships between immigrants or their descendants and the majority population in Germany. The focus is on differences in cross-ethnic contacts across immigrant groups and generations. The contribution addresses the conditions which lead to differential patterns in interethnic ties and considers arguments related to opportunities, preferences and third parties. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) the longitudinal analyses reveal increasing shares of interethnic friendships across generations. At the same time, substantive differences between immigrant groups emerge: Whereas Turks less often name German friends, resettlers from Poland and the Former Soviet Union as well as immigrants from Southern European origins, more often interact with members of the German majority. These differences are related above all to German language skills and, in the case of resettlers, also to a strong orientation towards the destination country. Structural and social conditions matter as well. When considering these aspects, the initial differences largely disappear.     

Warum es kaum Pensionsfonds in Deutschland gibt. Kapitalmarktrisiken,Finanzindustrie und die Politik der Mindestverzinsung

Studies of the rise of private defined-contribution pension plans have traditionally focused on social policy concerns about the allocation of risks and costs for beneficiaries and employers. There is however another dimension of pension privatization, which situates it in the context of financial markets and—more broadly—the economic system. Here, regulations forcing private pension providers to guarantee a minimum rate of return on individuals’ pension assets make a crucial difference for financial markets because they incentivize fund managers to invest a greater chunk of plan portfolios in fixed-income securities and therefore away from equities. While different segments of the financial industry have divergent preferences over minimum return guarantees, politicians are caught in a dilemma: Should they prioritize predictable benefit levels or the development of equity markets? Using the case of the introduction of the German Riester Rente, we argue that, as politicians linked the introduction of private defined-contribution plans with cuts in statutory pensions, insurance firms in coalition with trade unions insisted on minimum guarantees, thereby restricting the expansion of equity markets in Germany.