Germany's Strategy Research Articles

Germany's strategy for sustainable development

AbstractIn April of 2002, the Federal Government of Germany outlined its “Strategy for Sustainable Development.” It includes 21 targets and indicators for sustainable development, and outlines perspectives for a 21st century Germany, that is sustainable into the future. The aim of this strategy is a careful balance between the needs of today's generation and the life perspectives of future generations. This paper presents the main thrusts behind Germany's plans to maintain that balance. Adapted from a press release issued announcing the strategy, it identifies seven “priority action” areas, where “changes of course” are needed to achieve a system of sustainable development. These focus points re p resent, in concrete form, principles of sustainable development relevant to actions of the Federal Government and other players.

The dynamics of store hour changes and consumption behavior

Americans who travel internationally are often shocked to discover retail outlets closed during weekend and evening hours in cities such as Paris, Rome and Berlin. Based on the implicit assumption that demand clearly exists, retailers at various locations throughout the globe have increased their hours of operation. While political debate regarding a variety of issues (costs, the rights of labor, religion, etc.) often rages, there has been an implicit assumption that latent demand for longer hours of operations exists. This study investigates through a longitudinal examination consumer perceptions of Saturday shopping in a country where such an activity was previously restricted. Specifically, studies perceptions of Saturday shopping among a sample of German college students who were raised with limited Saturday shopping hours. Data were gathered in 1996 – the year German legislation allowed expanded hours for retailers – and again in 1999, and comparisons are made. Strong differences are found between consumer attitudes towards Saturday shopping at the time of expansion and three years later, indicating the need for differentiating retail strategies in Germany and in other parts of the world that may soon be providing similar expanded retail access.

One Hundred Years of Nakedness in German Performance

Nothing in theatre elevates the identity of actor over character more completely than nudity. Yet as a performance or spectacle, nudity remains a form of masking, insofar as it amplifies the desire to discover, to expose something hidden by clothing. But what happens when nudity becomes less and less containable within conventional theatre spaces and urges performers to expose the theatricality of spaces that otherwise seem imperturbably “real”? Toepfer analyzes nude performance aesthetic strategies in Germany over a 100-year period, from 1893 to 1992.

Therapy of hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism is a common disorder and affects approximately 2 % of women and 0.2 % of men. The review focuses on the therapy of overt hyperthyroidism with special emphasis on treatment strategies in Germany and Europe. Current treatment schedules for the different causes of hyperthyroidism are described and new therapeutic aspects are discussed. Special sections deal with the treatment of hyperthyroidism in pregnancy, neonates and children, and the treatment of thyrotoxic storm.

Spatial Policies for Metropolitan Regions—Identity, Participation and Integration

In times of globalization the attention of spatial planning obviously changes from rural to metropolitan regions. This change of perspective goes along with the expectation that metropolitan regions are key factors for a dynamic development of the nation as a whole. This article refers to metropolitan strategies in Germany and considers one special strategy element in greater detail: spatial planning completed a policy for metropolitan regions as a 'top down' approach. In addition, a network of German Metropolitan Regions was established from below. Recently the members of this network have prepared a common strategy paper that includes eight demands for metropolitan strategies. One of the demands is dedicated to regional identity, participation and integration. Aspects concerning this demand are discussed in this article.

Interaction Effects in Mixed-Member Electoral Systems

The past decade has witnessed a surprising growth in the popularity of mixed-member electoral systems. Under these systems, voters choose representatives simultaneously under both proportional representation (PR) and single-member district plurality (SMDP) rules. It is widely accepted that SMDP rules tend to winnow competition down toward two large parties, and evidence from mixed systems suggests that this Duvergerian “gravity” reduces the number of parties surviving SMDP competition under mixed systems as well. Nevertheless, we argue, simultaneous balloting under PR rules softens this winnowing effect, operating as a “centrifugal force” that prevents Duvergerian gravity from reducing competition to the degree it does under pure SMDP systems. Thus, these newsystems produce effects unanticipated by their designers. To test for the presence of this centrifugal force, we examine elite-level electoral strategies in Germany, Japan, and Italy and compare district-level SMDP election results from pure systems with those of mixed-member systems.

Adaptive business intelligence based on evolution strategies: some application examples of self-adaptive software

Self-adaptive software is one of the key discoveries in the field of evolutionary computation, originally invented in the framework of so-called Evolution Strategies in Germany. Self-adaptivity enables the algorithm to dynamically adapt to the problem characteristics and even to cope with changing environmental conditions – as they occur in unforeseeable ways in many real-world business applications. In evolution strategies, self-adaptability is generated by means of an evolutionary search process that operates on the solutions generated by the method as well as on the evolution strategy’s parameters, i.e., the algorithm itself. By focusing on a basic algorithmic variant of evolution strategies, the fundamental idea of self-adaptation is outlined in this paper. Applications of evolution strategies for NuTech’s clients include the whole range of business tasks, including R&D, technical design, control, production, quality control, logistics, and management decision support. While such examples can of course not be disclosed, we illustrate the capabilities of evolution strategies by giving some simpler application examples to problems occurring in traffic control and engineering.

Shaping Europe's Migration Policy New Regimes for the Employment of Third Country Nationals: A Comparison of Strategies in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK

During the 1990s, Justice and Home Affairs moved, in an unexpected way, to centre stage in the European debate. Concern had been growing about policy since the Maastricht Treaty institutionalised the third pillar of the European Union. This concern had been stimulated by several factors – the persistence of irregular migration and tragic incidents, such as the one in Dover in July 2000 in which 58 Chinese nationals lost their lives trying to enter illegally into the United Kingdom, the need for immigrant workers in some sectors, and the spectre of an ageing European population. More generally, the Treaty of Amsterdam, since its entry into force in 1999, represents a major development in overall Justice and Home Affairs policy, and the implementation of the treaty provisions in Justice and Home Affairs was described as the next major EU initiative after the single currency. Moreover, the Conclusions of the European Council in Tampere (15th and 16th October 1999); gave an additional push for the adoption of the measures considered necessary for the realisation of an area of Freedom, Security and Justice, reaffirming traditional and integrating new principles in these fields. In March 2000, a very controversial report of the United Nations based on demographic considerations has been published (UN Secretariat ESA/P/WP.160). Resting on the analysis of the current population trends in the world and projections for the period 1995-2050, this report pleaded for replacement immigration in order to compensate for the inevitable population decline in Europe and in other parts of the world. The “provocative” observations of the report stimulated an intense public debate in the European press on this question, but they also contributed to re-open the issue on in the European institutions and member states at a time of reflection on how to implement the new Amsterdam provisions. A proposal for a Directive dealing with the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of paid employment and self-employed economic activities has been published on 11 July 2001, the same day as the publication of a Commission Communication on an open method of co-ordination for the Community policy. Migration alone is unlikely to be the answer to Europe’s demographic problem. Policies for legal migration of labour can also be coupled with other less politically sensitive ways, which could reduce the governments’ costs of an ageing population, such as increasing labour force participation among older people and women. Some EU member states have already developed concrete policy initiatives to address on one hand labour market shortages as well as the increasing demographic issue. This paper examines the evolving laws in the field of labour in four countries: UK, Germany; Sweden and the Netherlands, situating the policies being developed in the overall European context.

Entsteht ein Markt für Unternehmenskontrolle? Der Fall Mannesmann

The article examines the development of a market for corporate control in Germany through a case study of the hostile takeover of Mannesmann AG by Vodafone-Airtouch. The institutional factors limiting markets for corporate control in Germany through the mid-1990s are described along four dimensions: ownership structure, the influence of banks, codetermination and union strength, and state regulation of corporate law and capital markets. The case of Mannesmann demonstrates how institutional changes have loosened these barriers to hostile takeovers in German corporate governance and facilitated a „free“ market for corporate control. Although claims about the efficiency effects of markets for corporate control remain controversial, hostile takeovers have clear redistributive effects in favor of capital owners. This view predicts a growing diffusion of shareholder-value strategies in Germany as a consequence of an emerging market for corporate control.

PDB13: OPTIMIZATION OF DIABETES MANAGEMENT IN GERMANY USING A COMPUTER BASED OUTCOME PROGNOSES MODEL

OBJECTIVES: Optimization of type 2 diabetes intervention strategies in Germany based on stepwise prognoses of expected medical and economic outcomes in population subgroups. METHODS: A published, editable diabetes model was used to assess the outcomes of different degrees of secondary prevention measures for different diabetes type 2 patient sub-groups in Germany. Clinical data were derived from German diabetes quality of care circles. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated as the differences of average lifetime cost divided by the difference of average life expectancy. Optimization was approximated by calculating ICERs for stepwise modified prevention strategies, including screening and complication treatments for variable population risk characteristics. RESULTS: Compared to the prognosis of overall life expectancy and cost consequences the more refined stepwise approach generates a series of results for all combinations of intervention strategy and population subgroup. At certain risk levels the ICER based treatment recommendation may change if subgroup prognosis is applied. But for all age groups of diabetes patients secondary prevention of complication is the dominant variant. Medical outcomes and incremental cost-effectiveness are improved by additional secondary prevention measures except for patients with non-reversible risks. The potential savings from improved prevention amount to 10% of total expenditures for diabetes care in Germany, i.e., DEM 3000 million. CONCLUSIONS: With the stepwise assessment of subgroup outcomes a treatment optimization and optimal allocation of diabetes management to patient subgroups is feasible. Using average data to calculate overall ICER for the total diabetes population may ignore the best treatment strategy in different population subgroups. Subgroup analysis represents a helpful tool in the health economic evaluation of diabetes treatment strategies when variable population risk characteristics and baseline complications affect the clinical and economic outcome.

Contrarian and Momentum Strategies in Germany

Contrarian and Momentum Strategies in Germany

Coping with economic integration: Corporatist strategies in Germany and Austria in the 1990s

While Germany is facing the wholesale disorganisation of sectoral collective bargaining, the Austrian social partnership has gained new strength in the 1990s. Comparatively, Austro‐corporatism proved able to undergo a process of skilful adaptation. This divergence in performance poses a puzzle, given Germany's commanding presence both in international markets and in the European Union, and given Austria's traditional hostility to modernisation. This article explains German—Austrian differences in the performance and resilience of corporatist governance in the face of modernisation and market integration in terms of (i) the organisational differences between German and Austrian corporatism (sectoral concentration versus vertical centralisation and little horizontal formalisation); (ii) the long term policy strategies employed by labour unions in either system (co‐determination versus macro‐level policy influence); and (Hi) by the different responses to modernisation chosen by German and Austrian corporatist actors (internal organisational reforms verus becoming modernisation brokers).

Contrarian and Momentum Strategies in Germany

Two traditional methods of managing equity portfolios are investing based on price momentum and value-based contrarian investing. These strategies may be motivated by a behavioral theory of under- and overreaction to news or by empirical research, mostly for the NYSE, that has found persistence in price movements over short horizons and reversion to the mean over longer horizons. However, the apparent success of these strategies may be due to institutional factors and the mismeasurement of risk, or it may result from data mining. For these reasons, we studied all major German companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the three decades between 1961 and 1991. The dynamics of stock prices in Frankfurt are remarkably similar to New York. The data suggest that equity prices reflect investor forecasts of company profits that are predictably wrong.

Fostering Talents in Vocational Training: current strategies in Germany

This article presents an overview of the status and organisation of vocational education in Germany in general, and discusses a pioneering effort of providing for the vocationally gifted in particular. The basis for this presentation is personal observation and research, particularly in the light of a major multidisciplinary research project, launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Science, aimed at evaluating recent efforts to promote vocational giftedness and to suggest a workable understanding of the theoretical construct. The effort of focusing vocational giftedness is still in its infancy, but results so far are promising and bode well for the future.

Economics of varicella vaccination strategies in Germany

Economics of varicella vaccination strategies in Germany

Work and Citizenship in the New Europe.

Part 1 Work and citizenship in central and eastern Europe: citizenship and the right to work in Bulgaria, Dimitrina Dimitrova and Stefan Dimitrov citizenship and the organization of work under perestroika, Gregory Andrusz unification, solidarity and equality - dilemmas of trade union strategies in Germany, Jens Bastian. Part 2 The erosion of the welfare state and social citizenship rights: modern poverty and second-class citizenship, Godfried Engbersen citizenship and the underclass, Robert Moore welfare, work and training for the unemployed in Britain - a historical review, John Jacobs citizenship and the modern welfare state - social integration, competence and the reciprocity of rights and duties in social policy, Romke van der Veen. Part 3 The transformation of work and industrial citizenship: with every pair of hands you get a free brain, Stephen Heycock participation and autonomy at work - a segmented privilege, Peter Leisink and Leni Beukema. Part 4 Work, rights and obligations: labour force participation, citizenship and a sustainable welfare state in the Netherlands, Hans Adriaansens and Willem Dercksen a non-productivist design for social policies, Claus Offe between obligation and right - the concept of work in the trade unions, Harry Coenen basic income, citizenship and solidarity - towards a dynamic for social renewal, Jacques Vilrokx.

Implementation of bleed and feed procedures in Siemens PWRs

In the last few years work in the field of emergency operating procedures has concentrated on the development, validation and implementation of bleed and feed procedures. This is part of a national strategy in Germany aiming at a further reduction of the residual risk. Designing bleed and feed procedures for all relevant event sequences would have the potential to reduce the core damage frequency by at least a factor of 4 from 3.1 × 10 −6 to 7.5 × 10 −7 per year for the Konvoi plants. A further reduction to 4.4 × 10 −7 per year seems to be achievable if loss of scram in the case of small-break loss-of-coolant accidents and SGTR turns out to be of minor importance. At present procedures are being developed to cope with the complete loss of steam generator feed either by mechanical system failures or by loss of a.c. power supply. Preference is given to the secondary-side bleed and feed procedure and it has been shown that this procedure has the potential to prevent or delay the necessity of primary-side bleed initiation even if it is only partially successful. The failure probability of the two bleed and feed procedures has been estimated to be of the order of 10 −2. The result is dominated by operator errors. Failures of mechanical system functions are negligible. This shows that there is still a potential for improving the procedures with regard to the man-machine interface. Since some retrofitting is required it will still take 1–2 years before the procedures become fully operational in all Siemens pressurized-water reactors.

The Development of Nonprofit Housing Strategies in Germany before World War I : A Case Study of Industrial City Essen, Ruhr Area

The Development of Nonprofit Housing Strategies in Germany before World War I : A Case Study of Industrial City Essen, Ruhr Area

Forward Strategy in Germany

(1968). Forward Strategy in Germany. Royal United Services Institution. Journal: Vol. 113, No. 649, pp. 27-33.