GEHA--the pan-European "Genetics of Healthy Aging" project

The pan-European "Genetics of Healthy Aging" (GEHA) consortium is undertaking a large study of long-lived individuals, which officially began on 22 May 2004. The consortium aims to identify genes that promote longevity and good health during the process of aging. The project will involve scientists working in multiple disciplines and using a variety of techniques.     

Attitudes of nurses towards 8-h and 12-h shift systems

Twelve-hour shift schedules are becoming increasingly popular. The present study was designed to investigate the attitudes of nurses, their priorities with respect to working time and other aspects of the working conditions, and to analyse the conditions leading to a diminished satisfaction with the shift schedule and to aspirations for a change of schedule. Questionnaires were returned by 880 nurses (78% return rate) from 12 hospitals. A total of 65% worked 12-h shifts and 35% worked 8-h shifts. A considerable proportion of both groups showed a low satisfaction with their schedule and a desire to change the schedule (44% of those working 12-h shifts, 47% of those working 8-h shifts). Concerning effects of the shift schedule on work strain, continuity of service, health, family and leisure time, 8-h shifts were rated more favourably, especially by those working these shifts, but also by nurses working 12-h systems, with the exception of effects on leisure time and to some extent also on continuity of service and on family. Effects of the shift schedule on social responsibilities and leisure time activities turned out to be a major moderating variable in both groups with respect to schedule satisfaction and attitudes towards a change of schedule. Apparently neither type of shift system, traditional 12-h shift rosters or rotating 8-h shifts, is very appealing to the nurses. A stronger relationship between social consequences and health state in nurses working 12-h shifts indicates that in this group negative effects on family and leisure time might be due to an increased need for recuperation, which reduces effective leisure time.     

Experiments on bilateral bargaining in markets

We present experimental data on a simple market game. Several solution concepts from cooperative game theory are applied to predict the observed payoff distributions. Notably, a recently introduced solution concept meant to capture the influence of outside options on the payoff distribution within groups fares better than most other solution concepts under consideration. Our results shed some light on the effects of scarcity relations on markets on bargaining outcomes within negotiating dyads.     

Dependency of Crop Production between Global Breadbaskets: A Copula Approach for the Assessment of Global and Regional Risk Pools

As recent events have shown, simultaneous crop losses in different parts of the world can cause serious risks to global food security. However, to date, little is known about the spatial dependency of lower than expected crop yields from global breadbaskets. This especially applies in the case of extreme events, i.e., where one or more breadbaskets are experiencing far below average yields. Without such information, risk management approaches cannot be applied and vulnerability to extremes may remain high or even increase in the future around the world. We tackle both issues from an empirical perspective focusing on wheat yield. Interdependencies between historically observed wheat yield deviations in five breadbaskets (United States, Argentina, India, China, and Australia) are estimated via copula approaches that can incorporate increasing tail dependencies. In doing so, we are able to attach probabilities to interregional as well as global yield losses. To address the robustness of our results, we apply three different methods for constructing multivariate copulas: vine copulas, ordered coupling using a minimax approach, and hierarchical structuring. We found interdependencies between states within breadbaskets that led us to the conclusion that risk pooling for extremes is less favorable on the regional level. However, notwithstanding evidence of global climatic teleconnections that may influence crop production, we also demonstrate empirically that wheat production losses are independent between global breadbaskets, which strengthens the case for interregional risk pooling strategies. We argue that through interregional risk pooling, postdisaster liabilities of governments and international donors could be decreased.     

Sind die Regeln der externen Unternehmensrechnung auf die kommunale Rechnungslegung übertragbar?

The replacement of public sector accounting methods in municipalities by double-entry bookkeeping has been discussed as well as implemented for some time now. This paper examines whether municipal accounting comprises accounting purposes which are comparable to the purposes of external financial reporting and whether the recognition and valuation rules used in firms can also be applied to municipal accounting. We argue that municipalities and businesses have similar accounting purposes. However, the application of financial reporting, including the corresponding recognition and valuation rules, to municipal accounting requires a critical look for several reasons. First, the concept of accounting income is not suitable in terms of decision-facilitating and decision-influencing in municipalities. Furthermore, it is doubtful how meaningful the valuations of municipal assets in annual financial statements are. The equivalent of providing dividend restrictions based on accounting income is often thought to consist in ensuring intergenerational fairness by asset preservation in municipalities. However, this element of municipal accounting requires rules that are not based on an asymmetrical recording of risks and chances according to the principle of prudence and that take into account the assessment of future generations regarding the benefits of municipal projects.     

Was müssen Führungskräfte können?

Ethics Education complements business administration only if it teaches strategic competencies that help managers to become better leaders. To this end, this article sketches an ordonomic approach to an economic ethics for competitive markets, to a business ethics for firms (corporate citizens), and to a process ethics for new governance. The core idea of this ordonomic approach is the win-win concept of mutually beneficial value creation. Thus, ordonomics is compatible with the market economy and at the same time supplements the management education in business schools: This approach systematically identifies strategic competencies that enable managers to display the kind of entrepreneurial leadership that is necessary for firms to fulfill their social function of value creation—by making use of moral commitments as a factor of production.     

Coaching für die Chefärztin der Chirurgischen Abteilung eines Kreiskrankenhauses

Coaching the head physician of a surgical department The author presents an individual coaching of a female head physician, who is leading the surgical department of a hospital for half a year. The motive were conflicts in the relationship to the colleagues, mainly an interactional conflict with the assistant medical director, caused by dysfunctional patterns of understanding and behaviour. Together with the coach objectives were developed to find a more planning, structuring and communicative leading style. Further more, interventions were prepared and the interactions with the assistant analyzed. Finally, as a first conflict intervention a team discussion is prepared and successfully supported.     

Die Institutionalisierung von Managementkonzepten. Eine strukturationstheoretisch-mikropolitische Perspektive

New management concepts keep being discussed in academic studies and business practice. It remains unclear in what way some of them become institutionalized. This is where the article sets out from: The starting point of the analysis is the Sociological New Institutionalism. By means of enlarging its range by a micro political approach as inspired by the Theory of Structuration, acts and political game playing of different agents become the focus of the analysis. Referring to the dimensions of social structures signification, legitimation, and domination, this yields as a result an agent-oriented explanation of processes of institutionalization. The resulting analytical framework is exemplified through the introduction of Diversity Management in Germany.     

Identification of Marginal Effects in Nonseparable Models Without Monotonicity

Nonseparable models do not impose any type of additivity between the unobserved part and the observable regressors, and are therefore ideal for many economic applications. To identify these models using the entire joint distribution of the data as summarized in regression quantiles, monotonicity in unobservables has frequently been assumed. This paper establishes that in the absence of monotonicity, the quantiles identify local average structural derivatives of nonseparable models.