Structure Of Germany Research Articles

The German Energiewende: is the manufacturing sector at risk?

The abandonment of nuclear power and the new focus on renewable energy sources represent a fundamental change in the structure of Germany's electricity supply. In the wake of this change in energy policy (which is widely referred to as the energy turnaround), prices immediately started to rise and further increases are to be expected in the years ahead. In the case of the manufacturing sector, this cost burden has been mitigated by exempting the energy-intensive sectors that are most affected. However, this causes high levels of uncertainty for large electricity consumers as their current exceptional status may be called into question at some point in the future. Moreover, the price and cost effects of the German energy policy are not only restricted to energy-intensive enterprises. While the metal production industry, parts of the chemical industry and others have to deal with higher price risks, other industries are closely linked to these electricity consumers in complex value chains. Large segments of the manufacturing sector work closely with energy-intensive companies. These dense networks particularly bear fruit in the joint development of innovations, one of German industry's main competitive advantages. This strength of the German economy may turn into a risk if the future of electricity-intensive industries is hampered by rising national energy prices. A potential relocation of energy-intensive companies to other countries would thus also weaken the competitiveness of other areas of German industry. These risks need to be compared with the new market opportunities provided by the energy turnaround. The industry sees such opportunities especially in renewable energies and techniques for improving energy efficiency.

Contemporary German Cinema by Paul Cooke (review)

Reviewed by: Contemporary German Cinema by Paul Cooke Cheryl Dueck Contemporary German Cinema. By Paul Cooke. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2012. Pp. 312. Paper $23.70. ISBN 978-0719076190. We were due for an updated study of contemporary German cinema that examines the directions taken by films in the 2000s, and Paul Cooke delivers an eminently readable and engaging analysis. The film corpus for this book consists of predominantly feature films from the decade 2000–2010, touching on over 300 titles, with individual readings of some two dozen films to illustrate his arguments. To situate the work, Cooke takes seriously Sabine Hake’s question from her 2008 book: how should we define a national cinema? He sets out to consider the weight given to politics over aesthetics, filmmakers over film audiences, and shows how the role of the medium is currently contested. Cooke positions himself as a fan of New German Cinema, with an interest in how contemporary films engage with this period, and references the New German Cinema in each chapter as a comparative marker for recent developments. The study combines a text-based approach to readings of significant films with a focus on industry. A particular strength of this book is the first chapter (of seven) on the effects of film finance structures in Germany. Beginning with statistical information on the recent success of German cinema on all fronts (financial returns, popularity with audiences, and critical acclaim), the chapter goes on to offer a detailed view of the impact that the film economy, including the increase in transnational funding, has on [End Page 719] the types of films being produced. New German Cinema pitted art against commerce, while contemporary filmmakers are more divided: Henckel von Donnersmarck, for example, considers it possible to have success in both spheres, while Haneke perceives the ambition for both as undermining the industry. Cooke rightly points out that authenticity is a signifier that has gained importance in the 2000s, in part, as a reaction to what Rentschler termed the “cinema of consensus” of the 1990’s. Two chapters of the book are occupied with questions of authenticity: chapter 2 explores how questions of authenticity and realism are answered differently by reality TV or mockumentary, then by Andreas Dresen, who draws on his DEFA background to offer constructed forms of everyday life, and finally, by filmmakers of the Berlin School, Angela Schanelec and Christian Petzold, who present new images of individuals in a globalized society. The examination of authenticity is drawn into chapter 3, which enters the fraught territory of heritage cinema; that is, the popular, but much maligned movies drawn from Germany’s National Socialist past and from the oppression in the GDR. Cooke leads us cogently through the scholarly debates around authenticity in heritage films: as a selling point, critiqued as fetishization, or an access to new ways of relating to the past. He reflects on the more active role that spectators have taken in film responses, through mashups of Der Untergang, through fan fiction, or blogger responses to learning about history through film. Like the question of authenticity, transnationalism in cinema is a thread that is drawn through several chapters. The work deals with the funding structures that encourage the development of a European Cinema, and the pressures to present transnational stories that risk becoming homogeneous “Europudding,” references the focus on the national in relation to the international in New German Cinema, and articulates ways in which some films, such as Fatih Akin’s, can uncover the creative potential of transnational identity formation. There are several detailed accounts of how transnationalism features in specific films, and Cooke concludes the discussion of transnationalism by saying that German national identity continues to be a major force in German cinematic production, perhaps now with an increased global awareness. Chapter 5 covers the legacy of women’s filmmaking in New German Cinema as it relates to current production, particularly the market share and role of women directors. The numbers of women in the film industry have increased significantly, and this chapter shows women directors’ particular contributions both to heritage cinema and to the transnational themes. Other topics covered are projections of America in New German...

A Vision of the European Energy Future? The Impact of the German Response to the Fukushima Earthquake

The German response to the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident was possibly the most significant change of policy towards nuclear power outside Japan, leading to a sudden and very significant shift in the underlying power generation structure in Germany. This provides a very useful natural experiment on the impact of increasing proportions of renewable compared to conventional fuel inputs into power production, helping us to see how changed proportions in future as a result of policy moves in favour of renewables are likely to impact. We find through quasi-experimental exploration of a modified demand-supply framework that despite the swift, unpredicted change, the main impact was a significant increase in prices, partly caused by more frequent situations with unilateral market power. The price impact was also most significant in off-peak hours, leading to changed investment incentives. There were no appreciable quantity effects on the market, such as power outages, contrary to some views that the impacts would be significant. Furthermore, we find the sudden and unilateral phase-out decision by the German government has significantly affected electricity prices and thus competitiveness in neighbouring countries.

Non-State Actors, Political Opportunity Structures and Foreign Relations: The Case of Germany's Federation of Expellees and the ‘Foundation Flight, Expulsion and Reconciliation’

This article examines the political process leading to the creation of the controversial ‘Foundation Flight, Expulsion and Reconciliation’ in Germany. The foundation aims to establish a permanent exhibition by 2016 showcasing the flight and expulsion of up to fifteen million Germans from the East following the Second World War. The foundation was the result of lobbying by the Federation of Expellees (BdV); it caused frictions in Germany's relations with its eastern neighbours and jeopardised Germany's reconciliation process with these states. The process reveals that the structure of Germany's polity, paired with astute alliance building and its members' rhetoric, aided the BdV's cause. Thus, non-state actors can utilise favourable domestic structures for the lack of material resources in order to maximise their lobbying ‘power’. This contributes to the growing literature on reconciliation in international relations which neglects domestic structures as a variable determining reconciliation processes in favour of more normative policy instruments.

Performance-Based Fire Safety Design of Special Structures in Germany

The objective of this article is the illustration of the calculation of natural fires and fire resistance of structural members based on the Eurocodes of two types of special structures, in this case a railway bridge and an airplane hangar. The railway bridge has a width of nearly 70 meters and consists of steel beams and a massive concrete slab that are supported by massive columns and walls and for that reason can be compared to a tunnel. The load-bearing structure of the roof of the hangars is made of steel and is supported by steel columns. The choice of a fire scenario on the safe side is crucial for the design process of the unprotected steel structure.

Transmission of Financial Stress in Europe: The Pivotal Role of Italy and Spain, but not Greece

This paper proposes a stochastic volatility model to measure sovereign financial distress. It examines how key European sovereign credit default swap (CDS) spreads affect each other; specifically, the paper analyses the volatility structure of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The stability of Germany is a close proxy for the resilience of the euro area as markets use Germany’s sovereign CDS as a hedge for systemic risk. Although most of the CDS changes for Germany during 2009–12 were due to idiosyncratic factors, market developments in Italy and Spain contributed significantly, likely due to their relative importance in the region. Changes in Greece’s sovereign CDS had no significant effect on Germany’s sovereign CDS despite initial widespread concerns about such linkages. Spain and Italy show a notable co-dependence in explaining each other’s volatility while Germany also plays an important role. It is found that extreme bad news led to persistent and nearly permanent effects on the stochastic volatility of European sovereign CDS spreads.

Exercise Referral in Germany

Primary care physicians in Germany are potentially in a pivotal position to provide physical activity counselling and exercise referral for their patients. The preventative prescription scheme dates back to the late 1970s. This scheme called “green prescription” (Grünes Rezept), however, could not be established as exercise referral scheme in primary care on a regular and systematic basis. After the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), the German Association for Sports Medicine and Prevention (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin und Prävention) and the German Olympic Sports Federation (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund) had developed the standardized national quality criteria of Physical Activity on Prescription in a joint effort, the German Medical Association has adopted them in 2011 and now recommends them to the Medical Associations of the Federal States for implementation. These national criteria establish a framework, but given the federal structure of Germany, schemes are not implemented in a uniform or centralized way. The federal states rather develop their own delivery methods according to local possibilities and needs. Exercise as a therapeutic means in the rehabilitation phase of a large number of chronic conditions as well as for people with disabilities is a legally established part of health care. The current legal and financial bases as well as the level of institutionalised support for the prescription of physical activity and exercise within health care are markedly different in the areas of prevention and therapy, respectively. While patients with chronic conditions are entitled to receive free exercise as a means of therapy (within certain limitations), no such “right” exists in the area of prevention. Exercise referrals rely on group offers with defined high standards in organised sports, making use of easily accessible sport clubs which are a traditional part of community life. Rigorous scientific evaluations are needed to provide guidance on how to further develop Germany´s exercise referral schemes.

Institutional Change in Germany’s Farmers Associations: Impacts of the Dairy Conflict

The abolishment of the milk quota, increasing fluctuation in milk prices and further economic and emotional factors resulted in the so called dairy conflict. The paper focuses specifically on the conflict between the German Farmers’ Association and the Federal Dairy Farmers Association resulting in two milk delivery strikes as culmination points within the conflict. Objectives of the study were to analyze the main conflict indicators, the conflict pattern and the process of change in the agricultural association structure in Germany. The basic methodology is a qualitative research approach. Main data collection methods are in-depth interviews and qualitative document analysis. Results show a high cross-linking between the abolishment of the milk quota and identified emotional key drivers. Structural consequences of this conflict can be seen in the reduction of political influence of the German Farmers’ Association.

Forecasting supply and demand in nursing professions: impacts of occupational flexibility and employment structure in Germany

BackgroundIn light of Germany's ageing society, demand for nursing professionals is expected to increase in the coming years. This will pose a challenge for policy makers to increase the supply of nursing professionals.MethodologyTo portray the different possible developments in the supply of nursing professionals, we projected the supply of formally trained nurses and the potential supply of persons who are able to work in a nursing profession. This potential supply of nursing professionals was calculated on the basis of empirical information on occupational mobility provided by the German Microcensus 2005 (Labour Force Survey). We also calculated how the supply of full-time equivalents (FTEs) will develop if current employment structures develop in the direction of employment behaviour in nursing professions in eastern and western Germany. We then compared these different supply scenarios with two demand projections ('status quo' and 'compression of morbidity' scenarios) from Germany's Federal Statistical Office.ResultsOur results show that, even as early as 2005, meeting demand for FTEs in nursing professions was not arithmetically possible when only persons with formal qualification in a nursing profession were taken into account on the supply side. When additional semi-skilled nursing professionals are included in the calculation, a shortage of labour in nursing professions can be expected in 2018 when the employment structure for all nursing professionals remains the same as the employment structure seen in Germany in 2005 (demand: 'status quo scenario'). Furthermore, given an employment structure as in eastern Germany, where more nursing professionals work on a full-time basis with longer working hours, a theoretical shortage of nursing professionals could be delayed until 2024.ConclusionsOur analysis of occupational flexibility in the nursing field indicates that additional potential supply could be generated by especially training more young people for a nursing profession as they tend to stay in their initial occupation. Furthermore, the number of FTEs in nursing professions could be increased by promoting more full-time contracts in Western Germany. Additionally, employment contracts for just a small number of weekly working hours (marginal employment) cannot be considered an adequate instrument for keeping formally trained nursing professionals employed in the nursing field.

Lebertransplantation mit postmortalen Organen

Deceased donor liver transplantation is nowadays a routine procedure for the treatment of terminal liver failure and often represents the only chance of a cure. Under given optimal conditions excellent long-term results can be obtained with 15-year survival rates of well above 60 %.In Germany the outcome after liver transplantation has deteriorated since the introduction of an allocation policy, which is based on the medical urgency. At present 25 % of liver graft recipients die within the first year after transplantation. In contrast 1-year survival in most other countries, e.g. in the USA or the United Kingdom is around 90 % and therefore significantly better. Reasons for the inferior results in Germany are on the one hand an increasing number of critically ill recipients and on the other hand an unfavorable situation for organ donation. In comparison with other countries the organ donation rate is low and moreover the risk profile of these donors is above average. This combination of organ shortage and organ allocation represents a big challenge for the future orientation of liver transplantation and creates the potential for conflict. These cannot be solved on a medical basis but require a social consensus.Because of the present inferior results and because of the high expenses of the present system we suggest a discussion on future allocation policies as well as on future centre structures in Germany. In addition to the medical urgency the maximum benefit should also be considered for organ allocation.

Origin of small pits in martian impact craters

We propose a numerical model for the formation of the closely-spaced pits found in the thin, ejecta-related deposits superposed on the floors, interior terrace blocks, and near-rim ejecta blankets of well-preserved martian impact craters. Our model predicts the explosive degassing of water from this pitted material, which is assumed to originally be water-bearing, impact melt-rich breccia at the time of deposition. This process is analogous to what occurred in the fall-out suevite deposits at the Ries impact structure in Germany. At Ries, impact heating of water-bearing target material resulted in the rapid degassing of its water and other volatiles. The martian environment plays an important role in enhancing the effects of this degassing by increasing the flow-speed of the escaping gas. The high flow-rate of gas through particulate materials, such as suevite, tends to quickly form segregation channels or vent pipes, similar to those found in the Ries deposits. These pipes act as conduits for the efficient high-speed escape of the gas and small clasts that it entrains. Escaping gas and entrained clasts abraded and eroded the conduit walls, flaring them to form pits above a network of pipes.

Low-threshold support for families with dementia in Germany

BackgroundLow-threshold support services are a part of the German health care system and help relieving family caregivers. There is limited information available on how to construct and implement low-threshold support services for people with dementia and their families in Germany. Some studies describe separately different perspectives of experiences and expectations, but there is no study combining all the different perspectives of those involved and taking the arrangements and organisation as well as their opinions on supporting and inhibiting factors into consideration.FindingsThis protocol describes the design of the study on low-threshold support services for families with a person with dementia in two German regions. The aim is to develop recommendations on how to build up these services and how to implement them in a region. A quantitative as well as a qualitative approach will be used. The quantitative part will be a survey on characteristics of service users and providers, as well as health care structures of the two project regions and an evaluation of important aspects derived from a literature search. Group discussions and semi-structured interviews will be carried out to get a deeper insight into the facilitators and barriers for both using and providing these services. All people involved will be included, such as the people with dementia, their relatives, volunteers, coordinators and institution representatives.DiscussionResults of this study will provide important aspects for policymakers who are interested in an effective and low-threshold support for people with dementia. Furthermore the emerging recommendations can help staff and institutions to improve quality of care and can contribute to developing health and social care structures in Germany.

Social values and health priority setting in Germany

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of health priority setting structures in Germany. It reflects on how and which social values may influence decision making, and in particular investigates the role of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in integrating evidence-based decision making into the German system. The paper applies Clark and Weale's framework of analysis for Social Values and Health Priority Setting to the German context. Placing German health care decision making into Clark and Weale's framework allows for an analysis of the role and content of social values in different dimensions of decision making. Germany has witnessed significant changes in its health care decision-making procedures in recent decades. The establishment of the Institute of Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) represents an effort to introduce health technology assessment (HTA) as a formal element of decision making in health care. In doing so, Germany has made unique methodological and structural choices that reflect the social values and institutional traditions that underpin its self-governing statutory health insurance (SHI) system. The empirical evidence suggests that the principle of solidarity is upheld as a core value in health priority setting in Germany. The German case of health priority setting highlights some of the challenges involved when introducing centralised HTA structures to a self-governing SHI system. As such, this paper contributes to an understanding of the different forms that HTA can take, what social values they embody and how they can affect health priority setting in different ways.

Psychiatrische Versorgungsepidemiologie

Mental health care epidemiology seeks to investigate the practical situation of the health care system and services for individuals with mental disorders. In the past decades, mental health care structures in Germany were successively transformed from long-term inpatient treatment capacities to decentralized outpatient and day clinic services. Currently, the proportional relation between treatment facilities in different settings has been stabilized and the strategy of mental health care development focuses on innovative and integrative models of care provision. The aim is to integrate fragmented services by the introduction of network structures to overcome rigid sector boundaries. The need for health care services is associated with multiple factors such as population-based epidemiological data, usage behavior, and health politics. Due to scarce data and poor standards of care it is difficult to determine if current structures of mental health services cover the actual needs. Therefore, a substantial increase of mental health service research is needed.

The Munich Declaration - Key points for the establishment teaching in the new cross-disciplinary area 13: palliative medicine at German faculties.

The development of the teaching of palliative medicine at the medical faculties in Germany and the discussion about the inclusion of palliative care as a subject into the Medical Licensure Act follows a lengthy process [1]. Various publications repeatedly drew attention to existing skills gaps among young physicians and medical students in dealing with terminally ill and dying patients due to inadequate teaching in the field of palliative medicine in Germany [2], [3], [4], [5]. However, the Medical Licensure Act (Appendix 15 to § 29 Para 3 Sentence 2) previously only listed the subject as optional but not mandatory examination material for the second part of the medical examinations towards the end of medical studies. Thus the implementation and delivery of palliative care training remained was left to the commitment of individual universities. Against this backdrop, the development of appropriate structures in Germany was slow. In 2009 only five of 36 medical faculties in Germany had occupied chairs for palliative care, at only 6 universities were compulsory courses in palliative medicine offered, of which only half concluded the course with an exam counting towards the degree [1]. As of 5 August 2009, palliative medicine was integrated into the Medical Licensure Act as the 13th cross-disciplinary area (QB 13) [6]. This means that from 2013 onwards, all medical faculties in Germany will require students to pass relevant examinations in specialist palliative care in order to be admitted to the Practical Year. The fact that by now 34 faculties teach palliative care content - albeit with significant qualitative and quantitative differences - illustrates that in principle both access to qualified lecturers in palliative care and a broad willingness to establish teaching structures exist. So far, only those few faculties with chairs in palliative care can offer high-quality structured training, as described by Alt-Epping et al. for teaching palliative care at the University of Gottingen [7]. To ideally and appropriately facilitate the introduction of palliative care courses which are now legally required into general university curricula at less well-equipped faculties, the chairs of the universities of Aachen, Cologne and LMU Munich in cooperation with the German Society for Palliative Medicine (DGP) and the National Association of Medical Students in Germany (bvmd) organised a workshop on this topic. Lecturers and students from 25 medical schools met on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2010 at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Medicine in Munich to discuss the possibilities of implementing the new QB 13 “Palliative Care”. The central point of discussion at the event was the question of how high-quality and comparable teaching in palliative care can be established across Germany within the short timeframe and in spite of differences in resources and settings at the various faculties. Common goals and guidelines were recorded in the form of the Munich Declaration and will be presented in the following.

Statistics of damages to timber structures in Germany

The paper reports results of a comprehensive failure analysis with the focus on timber structures located in Germany. Data of 550 damages and corresponding circumstances were recorded, classified and evaluated. Statistical distributions of the structure characteristics and the kind of damages are described. The majority of the damages are distributed on cracks along the grain, by far, decay, tension and shear failure follow. In about 90% of the damages glulam is affected. Nearly one thousand damage-cause-relations show that constructions resulting in stresses perpendicular to the grain, alternating climates and overloading rank as one of the main reasons for damages. Spending more time on proper design and on careful details is seen as the key consequence of this analysis.

Household's Portfolio Structure in Germany - Analysis of Financial Accounts Data 1959-2009

Based on a Financial Almost Ideal Demand System (FAIDS), this paper investigates the wealth structure of German households. The long-run wealth elasticities and interestrate elasticities were calculated using a unique new quarterly financial accounts macrodata set which covers the period from 1959 to 2009 and contains a portfolio of eight different financial assets. Descriptive analysis shows that all financial assets were characterized by substantial volatility of their weight in the portfolio of households. We found that portfolio shifts in the long run are determined significantly by changes in interest rates. The estimated model provides evidence that currency (and transferable deposits) is mainly a substitute for other assets and time deposits are typically a complement. Wealth elasticity is for most assets around unity. JEL Classification: E21, G11, C32

Aspects of outpatient palliative care in Germany—a survey among office-based physicians

BackgroundCurrently, palliative care is widely discussed. The aim of this study is to explore different aspects of the ambulatory treatment environment of palliative care patients and its structure in Germany from the viewpoint of caring physicians.MethodsA structured questionnaire was developed and sent to 1,003 office-based physicians in Germany. Topics were the delivery and effort of care, cooperation among health care providers, the subjective assessment of existing health care structures, the reimbursement system, as well as an assessment of future developments. Sub-group analyses were conducted.ResultsThree hundred fourteen questionnaires were included in the statistical analyses. Fifty percent of physicians estimate the additional time and effort for palliative care patients compared to non-palliative care patients to be 50% and more. The best cooperation is seen with caregivers; however, cooperation with psycho-social care providers should be improved. Fifty percent describe the outpatient health care situation as (very) insufficient, but improvements are expected in the future. Ninety percent assess German reimbursement structures as (very) insufficient.ConclusionsThis study gives an insight into the German outpatient health care setting for palliative care patients. Palliative care patients have higher and more complex needs with respect to health care than other patients. Further studies should focus on the collection of longitudinal patient data for more comprehensive insight.

Households’ Portfolio Structure in Germany - Analysis of Financial Accounts Data 1959-2009

Based on a Financial Almost Ideal Demand System (FAIDS), this paper investigates the wealth structure of German households. The long-run wealth elasticities and interest-rate elasticities were calculated using a unique new financial accounts macro-data set which covers the period from 1959 to 2009 and contains a portfolio of eight different financial assets. We found that portfolio shifts in the long run are mainly determined by changes in interest rates. Furthermore, the estimated model provides evidence that currency (and transferable deposits) is mainly a substitute for other assets and that time deposits are typically a complement.

Epidermolysis Bullosa Care in Germany

Until 2003, no structures existed in Germany for special care of patients with rare diseases, such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). At that point, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research announced a clinical research program-networks for rare diseases. The Network Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB Network), coordinated from the Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Freiburg, has operated since October 2003 with the goal of improving diagnostics and clinical management, elucidating disease mechanisms, and development of novel therapies for EB (www.netzwerk-eb.de). Future goals of the EB Network include securing the clinical-diagnostic and IT structures established with grant support and focusing research on molecular disease mechanisms in EB and novel biologically valid therapies. Intensive collaborations with other networks for rare genetic diseases will generate durable structures in Germany and form a basis for future international consortia.