German Municipal Research Articles

Long-Term Monitoring of Microplastics in a German Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been identified as important point sources for microplastics (MPs) in the environment; monitoring MP emissions in the WWTP effluent is therefore essential for contamination control. The aim of this study is to acquire a large number of samples (320) over a period of two years and three months to determine the temporal variations in microplastic contamination in the outlet of the municipal WWTP Landau-Mörlheim. The effluent of the third cleaning stage is sampled with a 10 µm filter cartridge, processed in the laboratory using a hydrogen peroxide treatment, and MPs are then detected by fluorescence staining. The results show high temporal variations in the microplastic concentrations in the effluent of the WWTP. This indicates that high numbers of samples are necessary to obtain a representative assessment of the microplastic emissions; single samples are not representative. The average microplastic concentration in the effluent was 27.8 ± 29.8 MP/L, ranging from 0.6 MP/L to 194.0 MP/L. This leads to a yearly emission of 1.5 × 1011 MP for the WWTP Landau-Mörlheim, corresponding to an emission of 2.8 × 106 MP/inhabitant and year. Statistically significant seasonal variations could not be observed, although there is a trend towards lower MP concentrations in summer. Further, no correlations with other wastewater or weather parameters could be found.

Adaptable Process Design as a Key for Sustainability Upgrades in Wastewater Treatment: Comparative Study on the Removal of Micropollutants by Advanced Oxidation and Granular Activated Carbon Processing at a German Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

Micropollutants have been increasingly detected at low concentrations in surface waters and may have harmful effects on humans, organisms, and the environment. As wastewater treatment plants are one of the main sources of micropollutants, conventional wastewater treatment methods and plants (mainly one to three cleaning stages) must be improved through an advanced (fourth) treatment stage. The optimal fourth treatment stage should be determined based not only on removal efficiencies but also on a holistic sustainability assessment that further considers the process’s adaptability, economic, environmental, and social parameters. The ability of a tertiary wastewater treatment plant to remove organic pollutants was investigated over four months using two different advanced treatment methods: (1) an advanced oxidation process (AOP) (using UV + H2O2) and (2) granular activated carbon (GAC). The resulting average micropollutant removal efficiencies were 76.4 ± 6.2% for AOP and 90.0 ± 4.6% for GAC. As the GAC became saturated, it showed a decreasing performance from 97.6% in week one to 80.7% in week 13, after 2184 bed volumes were processed. For the AOP, adjusting the UV and H2O2 doses results in higher removal efficiencies. With 40 ppm H2O2 and 10 kJ/m2 UV, a removal of 97.1% was achieved. Furthermore, the flexibility and adaptability of the AOP process to adjust to real-time water quality, along with a lower resource consumption and waste disposal, make it a more promising technology when comparing the sustainability aspects of the two methods.

Usability and actual use of performance information in German municipal budgets: the perspective of local politicians

IMPACT German municipalities have prepared performance budgets for over 10 years. The incorporation of performance information into the budget is, however, still work in progress. Local politicians perceive the usability of non-financial information in the budget as low and do not use such information intensively for budget composition or other purposes. German municipal budgets are usually voluminous because of their highly detailed structure and the large amount of displayed performance data which rarely informs about outcomes. Such information does not meet the needs of councillors, for example in their struggles with political opponents. Some options for improving the usability of budgetary information are presented.

Representative Bureaucracy and Public Hiring Preferences: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment among German Municipal Civil Servants and Private Sector Employees

AbstractDrawing on Weber, this study tests whether the normative principles of merit orientation and impartiality are more prevalent in shaping public hiring preferences among civil servants—both junior and senior—than among private sector employees. In a conjoint experiment, respondents are asked to compare two hypothetical applicants for an office job in a municipal administration and to decide which they would hire. The application profiles vary with respect to a set of meritocratic and nonmeritocratic attributes. The empirical findings suggest that first, in all three samples, hiring decisions are primarily based on meritocratic attributes. Second, there is evidence of ethnic discrimination in the private employee sample, while there is no such effect in either of the two civil servant samples. Third, private employees’ hiring preferences are influenced by personal political beliefs, while civil servants are less likely to let political attitudes affect their hiring choices. Thus, while civil servants hiring preferences are largely consistent with passive representation and nondiscrimination, support for a representative bureaucracy among citizens should be improved.

Is It All a Question of the Electoral System? The Effects of Electoral System Types on the Representation of Women in German Municipal Councils

Election reforms have taken place in many German municipalities since the 1980s, leading to the implementation of complex systems that allow voters to cast more than one vote for a candidate (‘cumulative voting’) or to select candidates from different party lists (‘vote splitting/panachage’). Although voting with open lists gives voters more influence on the composition of parliaments, it may also lead voters to discriminate against certain groups, such as women. Considering the persistently low proportion of women in German municipal councils, despite reforms to the electoral system, this study questions whether and how different mechanisms of the electoral system affect female representation at the municipal level. The data in this study allow us to investigate the outcomes of cumulative voting and vote splitting, both the prospects of success and sequential effects on the individual level of candidates (‘order effects’). Our results show that women have a lower chance of success in open-list systems than in closed systems. Furthermore, women are elected ‘downwards’ in electoral systems with cumulative voting and vote splitting. Nevertheless, election mechanisms can only explain gender-specific differences to a limited extent.

The effect of legislature size on public spending: evidence from a regression discontinuity design

What is the effect of legislature size on public spending? An answer to this question is provided by Weingast et al. (J Polit Econ 89(4):642–664, 1981), whose “law of 1/n” posits that an increase in the number of elected representatives always leads to an increase in public spending. Because elected politicians regard the tax base as a common pool from which they can finance specific projects for their constituencies, and these specific constituencies internalize the full benefits of the projects, but only bear a fraction of the costs (projects are financed from the common tax base), fiscal inefficiency will increase with the number of representatives. In this paper, I test the validity of the “law of 1/n” using a dataset of 9325 German municipalities between 2008 and 2010. Through the application of a regression discontinuity design, many of the methodological pitfalls of previous studies can be avoided and a valid estimation of the causal effect of legislature size on public spending for German municipalities can be determined. The results do not corroborate the positive findings of previous studies, which generally supported the implications of the “law of 1/n”. For the years 2008–2010, I find a negative effect of legislature size on public spending in German municipal councils.

PilotTesting of Struvite Recovery from Centrate of a German Municipal WWTP Through Electrochemical Precipitation (ePhos® Technology)

PilotTesting of Struvite Recovery from Centrate of a German Municipal WWTP Through Electrochemical Precipitation (ePhos® Technology)

The Influence of Management Accounting Departments Within German Municipal Administrations

The achievement of better performance from municipal administrations is an ongoing challenge. We use the contingency theory perspective, which concentrates on the specific environmental settings of organisations, to examine the influence of management accounting departments within German municipal administrations. Our findings indicate that as the size of municipalities increases, the level of their administrative performance decreases. We additionally show that this negative effect can be mitigated when management accounting is seen as being highly relevant and when the management accounting department performs well. Furthermore, a comparison of the accounting systems (cash versus accrual accounting) used in municipal administrations reveals that a successful working management accounting department can only exert a positive effect when the municipal administration acts under an accrual accounting regime.

PilotTesting of Struvite Recovery from Centrate of a German Municipal WWTP Through Electrochemical Precipitation (ePhos Technology)

PilotTesting of Struvite Recovery from Centrate of a German Municipal WWTP Through Electrochemical Precipitation (ePhos Technology)

Barriers and Resources in Transcultural Interaction Situations of German Municipal Administrations

Although potential “barriers” and “bridges” can be identified in translation processes, how can these provide concepts or ideas for organizations and individuals in relation to the topic of cultural diversity? The aim of this article is to answer this question. It is part of current research work within the context of a German project entitled TransVer‐Offensive (TransVer‐Initiative). It seeks to answer the questions, Which barriers and resources in interaction situations become visible under the influence of cultural diversity between various groups of actors within German municipal administrations, and how can these be handled in meaningful ways?

Innovation-oriented Land-use Policy at the Sub-national Level: Case Study from Germany

This study investigates major features of land-use strategies that German municipalities have adopted to attract innovative firms (IFs). In this context a two-stage competition model is introduced: firstly a municipality should solve economic and interest conflicts related to its preference for high-quality sites for IFs against the land needs of simple manufacturers. The second part of the model describes location competition among municipalities with high-quality sites for the location of IFs. German municipal land-use policy is well combined with industrial policy; this paper reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the urban real estate market in Potsdam, and its future opportunities and risks as the location of different economic activities are determined in the planning process. Science Park Adlershof (Berlin) is an output of the spatialoriented technology policy, which creates incubators for innovative SMEs. Municipalities also cooperate, since it provides larger sites, generates economies of scale and contributes to a smooth suburbanisation process (see Leipzig). JEL Classification: H42, H54, L3, O18, O3, R14, R52, R58

Innovation-Oriented Land-Use Policy at the Sub-National Level: Case Study Germany

This study investigates major features of land-use strategies that German municipalities have adopted to attract innovative firms (IFs). In this context a two-stage competition model is introduced: firstly a municipality should solve economic and interest conflicts related to its preference for high-quality sites for IFs against the land needs of simple manufacturers. The second part of the model describes location competition among municipalities with high-quality sites for the location of IFs. German municipal land-use policy is well combined with industrial policy; this paper reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the urban real estate market in Potsdam, and its future opportunities and risks as the location of different economic activities are determined in the planning process. Science Park Adlershof (Berlin) is an output of the spatial-oriented technology policy, which creates incubators for innovative SMEs. Municipalities also cooperate, since it provides larger sites, generates economies of scale and contributes to a smooth suburbanisation process (see Leipzig).

The Influence of Controlling Departments within German Municipal Administrations

The achievement of better performance from municipal administrations is an ongoing challenge. We use the contingency theory perspective, which concentrates on the specific environmental settings of organisations, to examine the influence of management accounting departments within German municipal administrations. Our findings indicate that as the size of municipalities increases, the level of their administrative performance decreases. We additionally show that this negative effect can be mitigated when management accounting is seen as being highly relevant and when the management accounting department performs well. Furthermore, a comparison of the accounting systems (cash versus accrual accounting) used in municipal administrations reveals that a successful working management accounting department can only exert a positive effect when the municipal administration acts under an accrual accounting regime.

Networks of Nazi persecution: bureaucracy, business, and the organization of the Holocaust

List of Figures List of Abbreviations Introduction: The Holocaust as Division-of-Labor-Based Crime-Evidence and Analytical Challenges Gerald D. Feldman and Wolfgang Seibel PART I: RIVALRY AND COMPETITION Chapter 1. Introduction to Rivalry and Competition Christian Gerlach Chapter 2. The SS Security Service and the Gestapo in the National Socialist Persecution of the Jews 1933-1939 Wolfgang Dierker Chapter 3. Aryanization and the Role of the German Banks, 1933-1938 Dieter Ziegler Chapter 4. The Looting of Jewish Property and Franco-German Rivalry, 1940-1944 Philippe Verheyde Chapter 5. Seizure of Jewish Property and Inter-Agency Rivalry in the Reich and in the Occupied Soviet Territories Martin C. Dean Chapter 6. The Polycratic Nature of Art Looting: The Dynamic Balance of the Third Reich Jonathan Petropoulos Chapter 7. The Holocaust and Corruption Frank Bajohr Part II: SMOOTH COOPERATION Chapter 8. Introduction to Smooth Gerhard Hirschfeld and Wolfgang Seibel Chapter 9. The Looting of Jewish Property and the German Financial Administration Alfons Kenkmann Chapter 10. Organized Looting: The Nazi Seizure of Jewish Property in the Netherlands, 1940-1945 Gerard Aalders Chapter 11. Perpetrator Networks and the Holocaust. The Spoliation of Jewish Property in France, 1940-1944 Marc Olivier Baruch Chapter 12. Ethnic Resettlement and Inter-Agency Cooperation in the Occupied Eastern Territories Isabel Heinemann Chapter 13. Der reibungslose Holocaust? The German Military and Civilian Implementation of the Final Solution in Ukraine, 1941-1944 Wendy Lower PART III: DECENTRAL INITIATIVE AND VERTICAL INTEGRATION Chapter 14. A Bureaucratic Holocaust: Toward a New Consensus Micheal Thad Allen Chapter 15. Local Initiatives, Central Coordination: German Municipal Administration and the Holocaust Wolf Gruner Chapter 16. The Reichskristallnacht and the Insurance Industry: The Politics of Damage Control Gerald D. Feldman PART IV: STRUCTURE, AGENCY, AND THE LOGIC OF RADICALIZATION Chapter 17. More than Just a Metaphor: the Network Concept and Its Potential in Holocaust Research Joerg Raab Chapter 18. Restraining or Radicalizing? Division of Labor and Persecution Effectiveness Wolfgang Seibel Notes on Contributors Index

Interreg II--European regional study of chronic respiratory tract diseases in children in the Germany-Netherlands border zone

In Westelijke Mijnstreek (WM), Midden-Limburg (ML), both The Netherlands, and Kreis Heinsberg (HS), Germany, the relationship between quality of the indoor environment and respiratory symptoms in children was studied, finally resulting in proposals for prevention of respiratory symptoms in the three regions. This paper presents the results of the first part of the study, investigating prevalences of respiratory complaints. A brief questionnaire was used to document prevalences of respiratory complaints, physicians diagnoses and treatment in about 7,000 children 5-6 resp. 7-8 years of age from HS, ML and WM, in 1995 and 1997. Prevalences of respiratory symptoms differed slightly between the regions, but there were differences in physician-diagnosed asthma and bronchitis and treatment of the children. The brief questionnaire is a useful instrument to get an overview on respiratory symptoms. Since 1995, it is used by several German Municipal Health Services for Public Health Reports.

The Town and the Ministeriality. A Record of the 9th Working Meeting of the Association for Research into South-West German Municipal History, held at Freiburg in Breisgau, November 13–15, 1970

The Town and the Ministeriality. A Record of the 9th Working Meeting of the Association for Research into South-West German Municipal History, held at Freiburg in Breisgau, November 13–15, 1970

Soc. Au Grand Marché v. City of Metz.

Belligerent Occupation — Administrative Acts of the Occupant — Whether Binding on Lawful Authorities — German “Annexation” of Alsace-Lorraine — Acts of German Municipal Administrator.

Concordat (Secrecy of Confessions) Case.

Treaties — Special Kinds of — Concordats.Treaties — Operation of — Concordats.116Holy See — Concordat between Holy See and Germany — Provisions of Concordat as Part of German Municipal Law — Right of Priest to Refuse Testimony — Equality of Rights as between Catholic and Protestant Clergy.

GERMAN MUNICIPAL INFORMATION AND PRESS BUREAUS

Annals of Public and Cooperative EconomicsVolume 7, Issue 1 p. 95-112 GERMAN MUNICIPAL INFORMATION AND PRESS BUREAUS Prof. Dr. Maximilian MEYER, Prof. Dr. Maximilian MEYER Director of the Statistical Office and of the Information, Election, and Inhabitants' Office of Nuremberg.Search for more papers by this author Prof. Dr. Maximilian MEYER, Prof. Dr. Maximilian MEYER Director of the Statistical Office and of the Information, Election, and Inhabitants' Office of Nuremberg.Search for more papers by this author First published: January 1931 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.1931.tb01268.x (Translated by G. Spiller, London.) AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume7, Issue1January 1931Pages 95-112 RelatedInformation

THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF GERMAN MUNICIPALITIES.

Annals of Public and Cooperative EconomicsVolume 5, Issue 3 p. 209-270 THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF GERMAN MUNICIPALITIES. Dr. Oskar MULERT, Dr. Oskar MULERT President of the German Municipal Union.Search for more papers by this author Dr. Oskar MULERT, Dr. Oskar MULERT President of the German Municipal Union.Search for more papers by this author First published: September 1929 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.1929.tb01740.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume5, Issue3September 1929Pages 209-270 RelatedInformation