When German reunification was accompanied by a rapid decline in aggregate fertility rates, researchers particularly assigned high unemployment rates a dominant role for changes in fertility behavior. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we investigate changes in the timing of first birth in East Germany after reunification. Using data from the GSOEP, we show that even after reunification Ea...

To compare three biomonitoring techniques for assessing nitrogen (N) pollution in Germany, 326 lichen, 153 moss and 187 bark samples were collected from 16 sites of the national N deposition monitoring network. The analysed ranges of N content of all investigated biomonitors (0.32%-4.69%) and the detected δ(15)N values (-15.2‰-1.5‰), made it possible to reveal species specific spatial patterns ...

Relationship lending is a common practice in credit financing all over the world, particularly in Germany. On the basis of a comprehensive data set comprising information on firm-bank relationships for more than 16,000 observations, this study analyses the determinants of relationship lending in Germany. We find that small, young and R&D-intensive firms tend to choose relationship lending. Furt...

I am delighted to be here today. Let me start by acknowledging the important work the Chamber has undertaken since its establishment in 1980 in promoting closer links between Irish and German companies. As you may know, in terms of trade with the EU, Germany ranks jointly as the 2nd largest market for Irish exports, and is the 3rd largest source of Irish imports. Our close economic links with G...

s ..........................................................................................................................................68 Magazine and Newsletter Articles ...................................................................................................68 Appendices ...............................................................................................................

BACKGROUND Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread, persistent pain. Prospective and retrospective studies have demonstrated substantial health-care costs associated with FM in a number of countries. This study evaluated and compared health-resource use (HRU) and associated costs related to FM in routine clinical practice across the US, France, and Germany. METHODS...

Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a metaheuristic optimization algorithm that owes much of its allure to its simplicity and its high effectiveness in solving sophisticated optimization problems. However, since the performance of the standard PSO is prone to being trapped in local extrema, abundant variants of PSO have been proposed by far. For instance, Fuzzy Adaptive PSO (FAPSO) algorithms ...