bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Classical, Modern, and New Game Theory / Klassische, Moderne und Neue Spieltheorie
Authors: Holler Manfred J. 
Published: April 2016

Summary
This paper is a brief history of game theory with its main theme being the nature of the decision makers assumed in the various stages of its historical development. It demonstrates that changes in the “image of man” nourished the developments of what many believe to be progress in game theory. The first stage, classical game theory, is defined by John von Neumann’s and Oskar Morgenstern’s pioneering book “Game Theory and Economic Behavior” which introduced the concept of individual rational players and focuses on conflicting interests. The second stage, modern game theory, is defined by the Nash player who is not only rational but, at least implicitly, assumes that all players are rational to such a degree that players can coordinate their strategies so that a Nash equilibrium prevails. The third stage, new game theory, is defined by the Harsanyi player who is rational but knows very little about the other players, e.g., their payoff functions or the way they form beliefs about other players’ payoff functions or beliefs. The Harsanyi player either plays a highly sophisticated epistemic game on the forming of beliefs or rests content with himself by imitating the observed successful behavior of other agents.
Regional and Industrial Wage Dynamics in West Germany and the United States / Regionale und industrielle Lohndynamik in Westdeutschland und den USA
Authors: Mertens Antje 
Published: April 2016

Summary
It is commonly known that every economy is faced with the problem of unevenly distributed labour demand changes across industries, occupations and regions. In competitive labour markets flexible wages and the mobility of labour would lead to a new equilibrium distribution of wages and employment. Regional or industrial unemployment dispersion in Germany is often blamed on a lack of wage adjustments and the lack of labour mobility when economic fortunes are not distributed evenly, but this hypothesis is hardly ever tested. This paper asks how wage reactions in Germany compare with responses in the United States using individual level data. As a first step labour demand shocks are estimated from employment time series data using deterministic detrending and the Hodrick-Prescott filter. These are then included in typical wage regressions based on micro data. The results propose that German labour markets are not as inflexible as simple evidence might suggest. Although wages are regionally only flexible in the United States, wages are found to react to industrial labour demand shocks in both countries. Especially for more experienced and therefore less mobile groups in the German labour market wages react to industrial labour demand shocks.
Höheres Beschäftigungswachstum durch Venture Capital? / Does Venture Capital Affect New Firms' Growth?
Authors: Engel Dirk 
Published: April 2016

Zusammenfassung
Fragestellung des Papieres ist, ob junge Unternehmen durch die Inanspruchnahme einer Beteiligungsfinanzierung (Untersuchungsgruppe) eine bessere unternehmerische Performance erzielen können im Vergleich zu einer „repräsentativen" Menge von nicht mit Beteiligungskapital finanzierten Unternehmen (Kontrollgruppe). Da sich Beteiligungskapitalgeber bei ihren Investments an den zu erwartenden Wachstumsaussichten der Unternehmen orientieren, kann mit der zufälligen Auswahl von Unternehmen ohne Beteiligungsfinanzierung keine geeignete Kontrollgruppe gebildet werden. In der Mehrzahl der Studien wurden bisher nur wenige oder keine Determinanten berücksichtigt, um eine adäquate Kontrollgruppe auszuwählen. Eine Verzerrung des ausgewiesenen Beitrages der Beteiligungsfinanzierung zum unternehmerischen Wachstum ist daher nicht auszuschließen.
In der vorliegenden Studie wird ein statistisches Evaluationsverfahren eingesetzt, um eine Kontrollgruppe zu bestimmen, welche in deutlich mehr beobachtbaren Charakteristika eine hinreichende Ähnlichkeit mit der Untersuchungsgruppe aufweist. Der anschließende Vergleich der Beschäftigungswachstumsraten zwischen der Untersuchungs- und Kontrollgruppe nach dem Matching zeigt, dass eine offene Beteiligung eines Beteiligungskapitalgebers zu einem höheren Wachstum junger Unternehmen in Deutschland führt. Die Beschäftigungswirkung fällt jedoch, verglichen mit den bisherigen Studien, deutlich geringer aus. Zudem sind einige branchen- und regionsspezifische Unterschiede offensichtlich.
Zur ökonomischen Rationalität von Lohnrigiditäten aus der Sicht von Unternehmen / The Rationale for Wage Rigidity: Employers' Viewpoint
Authors: Franz Wolfgang , Pfeiffer Friedhelm 
Published: April 2016

Zusammenfassung
Die Studie analysiert die Ursachen von Lohnrigidititäten, darunter Tarifverträge, Effizienzlöhne, implizite Kontrakte und Insider-Outsider-Verhalten, auf der Basis einer schriftlichen Befragung von 801 Unternehmen und stellt einen Vergleich mit US-amerikanischen Ergebnissen an. Unternehmen stimmen den ökonomischen Erklärungsansätzen in differenzierter Art und Weise zu. Für gering qualifizierte Arbeitnehmer stellen (aus der Sicht der Unternehmen) Tarifverträge und implizite Lohnkontrakte wesentliche Ursachen für Lohnrigiditäten dar. Für Hochqualifizierte stehen Personalbeschaffungskosten, betriebsspezifisches Humankapital und negative Signale für Neueinstellungen im Vordergrund. Unternehmen sehen von Lohnsenkungen für alle Qualifikationsgruppen ab, um die Gefahr der Abwanderung produktiver Arbeitnehmer zu vermindern und um die Arbeitsleistung zu halten. Die seit Mitte der neunziger Jahre vermehrt in die Tarifverträge eingeführten Härte- und Offnungsklauseln und die betrieblichen Bündnisse für Arbeit werden, auch das zeigt die Erhebung, nicht sehr häufig angewendet. Als Ursache dafür kommen Effizienzlohnmechanismen in Betracht, die zusätzlich zu Tarifverträgen für Lohnrigiditäten sorgen. Die Untersuchung weist auf eine erhebliche Heterogenität von Unternehmen in der Lohnbildung hin, die ein abgestimmtes Verhalten im Hinblick auf eine generelle Lohnzurückhaltung erschweren wird, die beispielsweise im Rahmen des „Bündnisses für Arbeit" vereinbart werden könnte. Im Vergleich zu den USA stimmen hierzulande mehr Unternehmen der Aussage zu, dass Tarifverträge, Insider-Outsider-Verhalten und betriebsspezifisches Humankapital für Lohnrigiditäten verantwortlich sind.
Social Statistics: Its History and Some Modern Issues / Zur Geschichte der Sozialstatistik und einiger moderner Probleme
Authors: Sheynin Oscar 
Published: April 2016

Summary
Based on my previous publications and many other sources, I trace the history of social statistics before the 20th century and link it with the development of the statistical method in natural sciences. Many recent statistical issues had scarcely, or not at all existed then, and before Lexis probability theory had hardly entered statistics. Moreover, its introduction met with real and imaginary difficulties.
Other topics discussed here are the present situation regarding “mathematical” versus “theoretical” statistics and the similarities and differences between statistics and the theory of errors.
Zum Problem räumlicher Nutzen-Spillover zentralörtlicher Leistungen. Einige empirische Ergebnisse aus dem Schweizer Föderalismus / Inter-jurisdictional Spillover Effects from Central Public Infrastructure. Evidence from the Swiss Federalism
Authors: Schaltegger Christoph A. 
Published: April 2016

Zusammenfassung
In der Theorie des fiskalischen Föderalismus werden räumliche Nutzen-Spillover als wesentliches Problem für die dezentrale Finanzpolitik betrachtet. Stellt eine Region öffentliche Güter bereit, die auch Bewohnern anderer Regionen zugute kommen, so können sich letztere Regionen als free-rider verhalten und ihre eigenen Ausgaben und dementsprechend ihre Steuerbelastung senken. Ihre Einwohner profitieren von Leistungen, ohne dafür einen adäquaten Finanzierungsanteil beisteuern zu müssen. Solche räumlichen Externalitäten fördern den Prozess der Suburbanisierung und führen in letzter Konsequenz zu einer Unterversorgung mit zentralörtlichen Leistungen. Dieses Papier untersucht, in welchem Ausmaß sich empirische Evidenz für räumliche Nutzen- Spillover im Schweizer Föderalismus finden lässt. Die Resultate zeigen, dass auf kantonaler Ebene solchen Nutzenüberschwappeffekten keine signifikante Bedeutung zukommt.
The Impact of Personal Characteristics and the Regional Milieu on the Transition from Unemployment to Self-employment: Empirical Evidence for Germany / Zur Bedeutung von individuellen Charakteristika und regionalem Milieu für Existenzgründungen aus der Arbeitslosigkeit: Empirische Ergebnisse für Deutschland
Authors: Wagner Joachim 
Published: April 2016

Summary
The focus of this paper is on the choice of the unemployed between becoming an entrepreneur or not. It contributes to the literature by empirically investigating the impact of personal characteristics and attitudes, and of the regional “entrepreneurial milieu”, on the individual decision to start a new business out of unemployment. The econometric study is based on data from a recent representative survey of the population in ten German planning regions. We use a version of the logit model that takes care of both the rare events nature of the transition from unemployment to self-employment, and of the regional stratification of the data, and the results of the non linear models are carefully interpreted and illustrated. We show that lack of personal contact with a young entrepreneur reduces the probability of starting one’s own business. A favourable ‘regional entrepreneurial milieu’ (proxied by higher levels of current start-up activity and larger shares of unemployed among the starters in a region) has a positive effect on the individual propensity to step into self-employment. All these impacts are not only statistically significant, but economically important, too. A comparison of unemployed with employed and not employed nascent entrepreneurs reveals remarkable differences regarding the impact of sex, age, and higher education, while the positive impact of personal contacts with a young entrepreneur and of a comparable high share of nascent entrepreneurs in the region holds across all groups.
Preisanpassung im Oligopol: Wie aussagekräftig ist ein Zahlenbeispiel? / Price Adjustment in Oligopoly: How Powerful is an Example?
Authors: Luderer Bernd , Zeh Antje 
Published: April 2016

Zusammenfassung
Der Preisanpassungsprozess im Oligopol wird untersucht. Unter recht allgemeinen Voraussetzungen an die (lineare) Preis-Nachfrage-Funktionen der Akteure werden verschiedene Strategien diskutiert, wie z. B. die klassische Cournot-Nash-Lösung, die Launhardt-Hotelling-Strategie, die Stackelbergsche Asymmetrielösung und das beidseitige Setzen von Abhängigkeitspreisen bzw. Unabhängigkeitspreisen. Spezielle Aufmerksamkeit wird der Maximallinienlösung gewidmet, als deren Spezialfälle sich die Monopolpunkte und das Gesamtgewinnmaximum erweisen. Einige der in Helmedag (1991) erzielten Resultate werden präzisiert und exakte Bedingungen für die Gültigkeit getroffener Aussagen angegeben.
State Preferences and the Provision of Public Goods / Staatspräferenzen und die Bereitstellung öffentlicher Güter
Authors: Matschke Xenia 
Published: April 2016

Summary
Countries differ substantially in the emphasis on the public sector and the ratio between state consumption and provision of public goods. It seems that these differences are often not well explained by only assuming a heterogeneous population. In this paper, I take differing state preferences as given and investigate how changes in state preferences affect the provision of a public good. The provision of the public good is modelled as a two-stage game with the state and the citizens as players. I find that the Nash equilibrium provision of the public good is independent of a so-called "welfare state" parameter. In contrast, an increase in a parameter measuring the relative importance of public good provision vs. state consumption leads to an increase in the overall public good provision, while private provision declines.
Was reizt Sozial hi Ifeempfänger zum Ausstieg?. Eine empirische Untersuchung mit dem Niedrigeinkommens-Panel / Why do Recipients of German Social Assistance Opt Out?. An Empirical Investigation of Incentives with the Low Income Panel
Authors: Wilde Joachim 
Published: April 2016

Zusammenfassung
Als Hauptursache für die hohe Zahl der Sozialhilfeempfänger in Deutschland wird häufig angenommen, dass sich die Aufnahme einer Erwerbstätigkeit finanziell nicht lohne und viele Menschen deshalb freiwillig in der Sozialhilfe verblieben (sogenannte Armuts- bzw. Sozialhilfefalle). Die vorliegende Studie prüft mittels der Daten des Niedrigeinkommens-Panels, ob diese These und die ihr zugrunde liegenden Annahmen tatsächlich gültig sind und ob es weitere Anreizfaktoren gibt, welche die Ausstiegsentscheidung der Haushalte beeinflussen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass der Einfluss der z. T. ungünstigen finanziellen Anreizstruktur auf die Ausstiegsentscheidung erheblich geringer ist als allgemein angenommen. Dem gegenüber ist beispielsweise das Verhalten der Mitarbeiter des Sozialamts von signifikanter Bedeutung für die Ausstiegswahrscheinlichkeit. Eine Beschränkung der Reformdiskussion auf die Ausgestaltung der finanziellen Anreize ist deshalb nicht sinnvoll.
The Neural Feedback Response to Error As a Teaching Signal for the Motor Learning System
Authors: Albert Scott T. , Shadmehr Reza 
Published: April 2016

When we experience an error during a movement, we update our motor commands to partially correct for this error on the next trial. How does experience of error produce the improvement in the subsequent motor commands? During the course of an erroneous reaching movement, proprioceptive and visual sensory pathways not only sense the error, but also engage feedback mechanisms, resulting in corrective motor responses that continue until the hand arrives at its goal. One possibility is that this feedback response is co-opted by the learning system and used as a template to improve performance on the next attempt. Here we used electromyography (EMG) to compare neural correlates of learning and feedback to test the hypothesis that the feedback response to error acts as a template for learning. We designed a task in which mixtures of error-clamp and force-field perturbation trials were used to deconstruct EMG time courses into error-feedback and learning components. We observed that the error-feedback response was composed of excitation of some muscles, and inhibition of others, producing a complex activation/deactivation pattern during the reach. Despite this complexity, across muscles the learning response was consistently a scaled version of the error-feedback response, but shifted 125 ms earlier in time. Across people, individuals who produced a greater feedback response to error, also learned more from error. This suggests that the feedback response to error serves as a teaching signal for the brain. Individuals who learn faster have a better teacher in their feedback control system.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTOur sensory organs transduce errors in behavior. To improve performance, we must generate better motor commands. How does the nervous system transform an error in sensory coordinates into better motor commands in muscle coordinates? Here we show that when an error occurs during a movement, the reflexes transform the sensory representation of error into motor commands. To learn from error, the nervous system scales this feedback response and then shifts it earlier in time, adding it to the previously generated motor commands. This addition serves as an update to the motor commands, constituting the learning signal. Therefore, by providing a coordinate transformation, the feedback system generates a template for learning from error.
Responses to Pop-Out Stimuli in the Barn Owl's Optic Tectum Can Emerge through Stimulus-Specific Adaptation
Authors: Dutta Arkadeb , Wagner Hermann , Gutfreund Yoram 
Published: April 2016

Here, we studied neural correlates of orientation-contrast-based saliency in the optic tectum (OT) of barn owls. Neural responses in the intermediate/deep layers of the OT were recorded from lightly anesthetized owls confronted with arrays of bars in which one bar (the target) was orthogonal to the remaining bars (the distractors). Responses to target bars were compared with responses to distractor bars in the receptive field (RF). Initially, no orientation-contrast sensitivity was observed. However, if the position of the target bar in the array was randomly shuffled across trials so that it occasionally appeared in the RF, then such sensitivity emerged. The effect started to become significant after three or four positional changes of the target bar and strengthened with additional trials. Our data further suggest that this effect arises due to specific adaptation to the stimulus in the RF combined with suppression from the surround. By jittering the position of the bar inside the RF across trials, we demonstrate that the adaptation has two components, one position specific and one orientation specific. The findings give rise to the hypothesis that barn owls, by active scanning of the scene, can induce adaptation of the tectal circuitry to the common orientation and thus achieve a “pop-out” of rare orientations. Such a model is consistent with several behavioral observations in owls and may be relevant to other visual features and species.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTNatural scenes are often characterized by a dominant orientation, such as the scenery of a pine forest or the sand dunes in a windy desert. Therefore, orientation that contrasts the regularity of the scene is perceived salient for many animals as a means to break camouflage. By actively moving the scene between each trial, we show here that neurons in the retinotopic map of the barn owl's optic tectum specifically adapt to the common orientation, giving rise to preferential representation of odd orientations. Based on this, we suggest a new mechanism for orientation-based camouflage breaking that links active scanning of scenes with neural adaptation. This mechanism may be relevant to pop-out in other species and visual features.
Behavioral, Neurophysiological, and Synaptic Impairment in a Transgenic Neuregulin1 (NRG1-IV) Murine Schizophrenia Model
Authors: Papaleo Francesco , Yang Feng , Paterson Clare , Palumbo Sara , Carr Gregory V. , Wang Yanhong , Floyd Kirsten , Huang Wenwei , Thomas Craig J. , Chen Jingshan , Weinberger Daniel R. , Law Amanda J. 
Published: April 2016

Schizophrenia is a chronic, disabling neuropsychiatric disorder with complex genetic origins. The development of strategies for genome manipulation in rodents provides a platform for understanding the pathogenic role of genes and for testing novel therapeutic agents. Neuregulin 1 (NRG1), a critical developmental neurotrophin, is associated with schizophrenia. The NRG1 gene undergoes extensive alternative splicing and, to date, little is known about the neurobiology of a novel NRG1 isoform, NRG1-IV, which is increased in the brains of individuals with schizophrenia and associated with genetic risk variation. Here, we developed a transgenic mouse model (NRG1-IV/NSE-tTA) in which human NRG1-IV is selectively overexpressed in a neuronal specific manner. Using a combination of molecular, biochemical, electrophysiological, and behavioral analyses, we demonstrate that NRG1-IV/NSE-tTA mice exhibit abnormal behaviors relevant to schizophrenia, including impaired sensorimotor gating, discrimination memory, and social behaviors. These neurobehavioral phenotypes are accompanied by increases in cortical expression of the NRG1 receptor, ErbB4 and the downstream signaling target, PIK3-p110δ, along with disrupted dendritic development, synaptic pathology, and altered prefrontal cortical excitatory–inhibitory balance. Pharmacological inhibition of p110δ reversed sensorimotor gating and cognitive deficits. These data demonstrate a novel role for NRG1-IV in learning, memory, and neural circuit formation and a potential neurobiological mechanism for schizophrenia risk; show that deficits are pharmacologically reversible in adulthood; and further highlight p110δ as a target for antipsychotic drug development.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSchizophrenia is a disabling psychiatric disorder with neurodevelopmental origins. Genes that increase risk for schizophrenia have been identified. Understanding how these genes affect brain development and function is necessary. This work is the first report of a newly generated humanized transgenic mouse model engineered to express human NRG1-IV, an isoform of the NRG1 (Neuregulin 1) gene that is increased in the brains of patients with schizophrenia in association with genetic risk. Using behavioral neuroscience, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and pharmacology, we identify a role for NRG1-IV in learning, memory, and cognition and determine that this relates to brain excitatory–inhibitory balance and changes in ErbB4/PI3K/AKT signaling. Moreover, the study further highlights the potential of targeting the PI3K pathway for the treatment of schizophrenia.
Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce the Necrotizing Enterocolitis Rate in Premature Infants
Authors: Talavera Maria M. , Bixler Gary , Cozzi Corin , Dail James , Miller Randy R. , McClead Richard , Reber Kristina 
Published: April 2016

OBJECTIVE:
To reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants admitted to 8 intensive care nurseries from a 2010 baseline of 8.0% to &lt;4.0% by 2012 and sustain for 6 months using quality improvement (QI) methodology.

METHODS:
A multidisciplinary NEC QI team used the Vermont Oxford Network definition of NEC and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement model. The specific aims were evidenced based and included (1) standardized early human milk feedings, (2) conservative feeding guidelines during blood transfusions and indomethacin treatment, and (3) restriction of ranitidine use in VLBW infants. Inclusion criteria included VLBW infants admitted within the study period without NEC. Exclusion criteria included established NEC or spontaneous intestinal perforation unrelated to NEC. The incidence of NEC and NEC-related surgery were tracked using statistical process control methodology.

RESULTS:
The baseline NEC rate in 2010 was 8% (27 NEC cases in 335 VLBW infants). After initiation of early human-milk feeding and conservative feeds during blood transfusions guidelines in November 2011, only 3.1% (19 of 606 VLBW infants) had developed NEC through December 2013 (P = .001). Special cause variation was noted in June 2012 establishing a new centerline at 3.1%. NEC-related mortality decreased from a 2010 baseline mean of 2.7% to a new baseline mean of 0.9% from January 2011 to December 2013.

CONCLUSIONS:
Implementation of QI initiatives decreased the NEC rate from 8.0% to &lt;4.0%. Early human milk feedings and conservative feeding during blood transfusion policies appear to have significant impact on NEC reduction.