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Computing optimal allocation of trials to subregions in crop‐variety testing in case of correlated genotype effects
No full textThe subject of this work is the allocation of trials to subregions in crop variety testing in the case of correlated genotype effects. A solution for computation of optimal allocations using the OptimalDesign package in R is proposed. The obtained optimal designs minimize linear criteria based on the mean squared error matrix of the best linear unbiased prediction of the genotype effects. The proposed computational approach allows for any kind of additional linear constraint on the designs. The results are illustrated by a real data example.DFG‐project PR‐1615/3‐
Impact of added phytase and different dietary InsP6 levels on the structure and core microbiota of the digestive tract in broiler chickens
No full textThe main objective of this research was to investigate the composition and shifts of the gut microbiota of broiler chickens in response to varying exogenous phytase combined with increasing levels of myo-inositol (1,2,3,4,5,6) hexakis (dihydrogen phosphate) (InsP6) in the feed. The InsP6 level was adjusted with the addition of oilseed meals (OSM) at the expense of maize starch. A secondary objective was to assess the existence of a core microbiota across the feed, litter and gastrointestinal tract (GIT). A total of 840 Ross 308 broiler chickens were raised in 84 elevated pens in groups of 10. The treatments consisted of four feed mixtures (FM) designed to achieve 1.4 (FM1.4), 1.9 (FM1.9), 2.4 (FM2.4), and, 3.0 (FM3.0) g InsP6-P/kg, each combined with 500, 1500 or 3000 FTU phytase/kg. In the crop and the ileum, Lactobacillus relative abundance decreased when OSM and phytase increased (p < 0.05), while FM2.4 and FM3.0 were associated with increased Ligilactobacillus abundance across the GIT (p < 0.05). No interaction effects were found across the studied sections (p = 0.22). Four amplicon sequence variants (ASV), identified within the genera Lactobacillus, Ligilactobacillus, and Limosilactobacillus were consistently found across the intestine sections. These four ASVs represented 58.9 % of the relative abundance in the crop, 72.9 % in the ileum and 29.7 % in the ceca. The results demonstrated that higher levels of OSM in the feed and exogenous phytase significantly affected these bacterial populations, decreasing Lactobacillus while increasing Ligilactobacillus, indicating independent effects of FM and phytase supplementation
Soil moisture–atmosphere coupling strength over central Europe in the recent warming climate
No full textIn recent decades Europe has experienced severe droughts and heatwaves. Notably, precipitation in central Europe exhibited strong dry anomalies during the summers of 2003, 2018, and 2022. This phenomenon has significant implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and human societies, highlighting the need to understand the underlying mechanisms driving these events. Despite significant advancements in understanding land–atmosphere (LA) coupling, the temporal variability in LA coupling strength and its associated impacts remain poorly understood. This study aims to quantify the variability in LA coupling strength over central Europe during the summer seasons from 1991 to 2022, with a focus on the relationships between temperature, soil moisture, precipitation, and large-scale weather patterns. Our results reveal that interannual variability occurs in different coupling relationships throughout the summer seasons, with significant implications for climate extremes, agriculture, and ecosystems. The increasing frequency of warm and dry summers from 2015 onwards hints at extended periods of reduced soil moisture available for evapotranspiration and the likelihood of locally triggered convection. This study provides new insights into the dynamics of LA coupling, highlighting the importance of considering the interannual variability in LA coupling strength in climate modeling and prediction, particularly in the context of a warming climate.Bundesministerium für Bildung und ForschungUniversität Hohenhei
Digital agriculture: socio-technical-physical interactions and the transformation of the rural world(s)
Full text linkThe social and environmental challenges that humanity faces today to produce food, fuel, and fibers in a sustainable and fair way call for a transformation. Digital agriculture has been embraced with much enthusiasm by many as the contour of such transformation. Proponents of these technologies, including international organizations as well as numerous researchers focused on innovations, describe this innovation as a paradigm shift. Associated with increased efficiencies and enhanced communication, digital agriculture is commonly depicted by these groups as the advent of a more sustainable and ‘smart’ future. Other groups, including grassroots organizations, socio-environmental activists, and critical scholars, on the other hand, see digital agriculture with skepticism and concern. They refer to the entrenchment of digital agriculture in productivist, capitalist, and extractivist forms of production, and a linkage with the consolidation of corporate power and state surveillance. Using a critical and systems approach, this thesis scrutinizes these arguments, examining the socio-technical transitions that emerge from agricultural digitalization, and discerns their societal and environmental consequences. This examination is relevant given that despite digital agriculture can transform the face of agricultural systems, it is not yet clear in what way. The emergent condition of digitalization requires this analysis to inform responsible governance of this innovation. Critical studies have made important contributions to this understanding. However, the complexity of digital agriculture calls for additional conceptual frameworks to be incorporated.
The coffee production system has been selected as a case study in this thesis. This selection responds to the global scope of this system and the relevance that it represents for rural development. To set the picture: coffee is one of the most traded agricultural products in the world. Yet, more than 70% of it is produced by smallholder farmers who receive less than 10% of its final value. Meanwhile, coffee farmers experience manifold social and environmental challenges that threaten their livelihoods and the sustainability of the whole system. Poverty, power and information asymmetries, and climate change are among them. Against this background, this thesis takes the perspective of coffee as a crop, a cultural system, and a value chain.
Following a qualitative research approach, the analysis is informed by a theoretical literature review and data from semi-structured interviews with developers and users of digital technologies. The thesis is divided into three studies (chapters 2, 3, and 4) which together present a critical analysis applied at three scales: 1) global, 2) value chain, and 3) local. Across these studies, three main socio-technical aspects of digital agriculture are addressed. First, global governance of digital agriculture and its consequences for farmers’ rights and capabilities. Second, the consequences of different technical assemblages for the sustainability of agricultural systems. Third, local forms of interaction with digital technologies.
After presenting and introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 presents a literature review on the political dynamics of digital agriculture. Drawing upon an emancipatory conceptualization of agency and sovereignty, this chapter is focused on describing two main forms of governance: governance through and governance of digital technologies in the context of agriculture. This description is followed by an analysis of the multiple effects of these two forms of governance on farmer’s sovereignty and agency. The analysis revealed that the governance of digital agriculture is an assemblage of multiple agencies of human and cyber agents (smart devices, automated machines, algorithms). Socio-technical interactions in this assemblage result simultaneously in sovereignty and agency gains and losses for farmers - a complex set of power transactions in which farmers participate many times inadvertently. Together with oppressive forms of governance associated with corporate technological lock-in, data extractivism, and a surveilling state, there is evidence also of a democratic facet of digitalization. This facet is integrated by open-collaborative networks, data cooperatives, cyberactivism, and open-source software. With this analysis, the study aimed to understand how the political position of farmers is affected by digitalization, understanding that this process is occurring in a context of structural power imbalance.
A socio-technical perspective is applied in Chapter 3 to explore 20 digital tools designed for the coffee value chain, examining the pathways toward sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) promoted by these tools. The socio-technical perspective mainly proposes that social and technical systems shape each other in reciprocal interactions. Building on this idea, the chapter examines the technical attributes of these tools (functionality, technologies included, operation rules, information flow). Subsequently, it analyzes the consequences of these attributes in terms of three broad social dynamics: 1) knowledge and value systems represented, 2) power structures, and 3) possibilities for using these tools effectively. The forms in which these social dynamics are shaped by these tools, in turn, yield specific sustainability outcomes. These include the kind of production systems that are endorsed - and not endorsed -, the access to these technologies and their benefits, and the way in which social inequalities and power asymmetries are addressed - or not addressed -. The data for this analysis comes from interviews with 15 developers of these tools and secondary information. The analysis shows that technical attributes play a fundamental role in directing the kinds of pathways toward sustainability that are made available for agricultural systems. Additionally, it shows that in some cases, rather than a revolution, digital agriculture can look like business as usual but tweaked.
Chapter 4 presents a local perspective on digitalization. Using data from interviews with 73 households in two selected coffee growing communities in Colombia, this chapter explores how they engage with digital technologies. The study parts from the idea that important reality-design gaps in digital agriculture result from a lack of understanding and inclusion of local worldviews around digital technologies and farming. Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach was adopted as the conceptual framework for the analysis. This framework posits that resources only become assets when they can be used by individuals to accomplish the life they value. For that reason, the analysis in this chapter was focused on first, understanding the elements that configure a valuable life for these communities, and next, understanding how they use digital technologies to support the accomplishment of this life. The underlying values of this local process of technological appropriation were compared with the values represented by broader narratives of digital agriculture. This offered a picture of the negotiations and tensions that occur when contrasting visions of farming, digitalization, and a desirable future, interface. Drawing upon a relational perspective, the local appropriation process is characterized by multiple negotiations between farmers’ personal and collective goals, situated knowledge, institutional programs, and the agency of non-humans (e.g. land, plants, animals, machines). From these interactions emerge distinctive forms of digitalization and non-digitalization. This process of local appropriation revealed the critical view of farmers and agency, for example, by following a digitalization pathway that profoundly diverges from dominant imaginaries and discourses around digital agriculture.
By applying a systems approach and by integrating three frameworks into critical scholarship - (1) emancipatory conceptualization of agency and sovereignty, (2) Sen´s capabilities approach, and (3) a relational approach - this thesis presents evidence of the complexity of socio-technical-physical interactions that lead to certain broad-mainstream and local-everyday digitalization pathways. These pathways, in turn, present particular societal consequences, such as the kind of agricultural worlds that are made possible, the interests that are represented in them, and the possibilities of participation for different social groups. More than a single trajectory, digital agriculture is a space of multiplicity and permanent emergence, also for reproducing current – not necessarily sustainable - models. For this reason, this thesis calls for abandoning notions of immutability, universality, and uniformity in development discourses, perspectives of rurality, and the generation of new technologies. Instead, it proposes to integrate a critical and systems-relational perspective into inclusionary innovation research and practice.Die sozialen und ökologischen Herausforderungen, mit denen die Menschheit heute bei der nachhaltigen und fairen Produktion von Lebensmitteln, Brennstoffen und Fasern konfrontiert ist, erfordern eine Transformation. Die digitale Landwirtschaft wird von Vielen mit großer Begeisterung als Wegbereiter für einen solchen Wandel angesehen. Befürworter dieser Technologien, darunter internationale Organisationen und zahlreiche Innovationsforscher:innen, bezeichnen diese Innovation als Paradigmenwechsel. In Verbindung mit einer höheren Effizienz und einer verbesserten Kommunikation wird die digitale Landwirtschaft von diesen Gruppen häufig als Beginn einer nachhaltigeren und „intelligenteren“ Zukunft dargestellt. Andere Gruppen, darunter Basisorganisationen, Umweltaktivist:innen und kritische Wissenschaftler:innen, betrachten die digitale Landwirtschaft hingegen mit Skepsis und Sorge. Sie verweisen auf die Verankerung der digitalen Landwirtschaft in produktivistischen, kapitalistischen und extraktivistischen Produktionsformen sowie auf eine Verbindung mit der Konsolidierung von Unternehmens macht und staatlicher Überwachung. Mit einem kritischen und systemischen Forschungsansatz untersucht diese Doktorarbeit diese Argumente, die soziotechnischen Veränderungen, die sich aus der Digitalisierung der Landwirtschaft ergeben, und ihre gesellschaftlichen und ökologischen Folgen. Solch eine Untersuchung ist relevant, da trotz der Tatsache, dass die digitale Landwirtschaft das Gesicht der Agrarsysteme verändern kann, noch nicht klar ist, in welcher Weise dies geschehen wird. Angesichts des sich abzeichnenden Digitalisierungstrends ist solch eine Analyse auch relevant, um eine verantwortungsvolle Steuerung von Digitalisierung zu gewährleisten. Obwohl kritische Forschung bereits wichtige Beiträge zu diesem Verständnis geleistet haben, erfordert die Komplexität der digitalen Landwirtschaft die Integration zusätzlicher konzeptioneller Rahmenbedingungen in der Forschung. Für diese Doktorarbeit wurde der Kaffeesektor als Fallstudie ausgewählt. Diese Auswahl ist auf die globale Reichweite dieses Sektors und seiner Bedeutung für die ländliche Entwicklung, zurückzuführen. Um das Bild zu vervollständigen: Kaffee ist eines der am meisten gehandelten landwirtschaftlichen Produkte der Welt. Dennoch wird er zu mehr als 70 % von Kleinbauern erzeugt, die weniger als 10 % des Endwerts erhalten. Gleichzeitig sind Kaffeebäuer:innen mit vielfältigen sozialen und ökologischen Herausforderungen konfrontiert, die ihre Existenzgrundlage und die Nachhaltigkeit des gesamten Sektors gefährden. Zu diesen Herausforderungen gehören Armut, Macht- und Informationsasymmetrien sowie der Klimawandel. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird Kaffee in dieser Arbeit als Kulturpflanze, als kulturelles System und als Wertschöpfungskette betrachtet. Die Analyse folgt einem qualitativen Forschungsansatz und stützt sich auf eine Literaturrecherche sowie auf Daten aus halbstrukturierten Interviews mit Entwickler:innen und Anwender:innen digitaler Technologien. Die Doktorarbeit ist in drei wissenschaftliche Studien (Kapitel 2, 3 und 4) unterteilt, die zusammen eine kritische Analyse auf drei Ebenen darstellen: 1) global, 2) Wertschöpfungskette, und 3) lokal. In diesen Studien werden drei soziotechnische Aspekte der digitalen Landwirtschaft behandelt: Erstens die globale Steuerung der digitalen Landwirtschaft und ihre Folgen für die Rechte und Möglichkeiten der Landwirte; zweitens die Folgen unterschiedlicher Kombinationen von Technologien für die Nachhaltigkeit landwirtschaftlicher Systeme; und drittens lokale Formen der Interaktion mit digitalen Technologien. Nach einer Einleitung in Kapitel 1 wird in Kapitel 2 eine Literaturübersicht über die politischen Dynamiken der digitalen Landwirtschaft gegeben. Ausgehend von einer emanzipatorischen Konzeption von Handlungsfähigkeit und Souveränität konzentriert sich dieses Kapitel auf die Beschreibung zweier Hauptformen der Steuerung: Steuerung durch und Steuerung von digitalen Technologien im Kontext der Landwirtschaft. Dieser Beschreibung folgt eine Analyse der vielfältigen Auswirkungen dieser beiden Steuerungsformen auf die Souveränität und Handlungsfähigkeit der Landwirt:innen. Die Analyse ergab, dass die Steuerung der digitalen Landwirtschaft durch mehrerer menschlicher Akteur:innen und Cyber- Agent:innen (intelligente Geräte, automatisierte Maschinen, Algorithmen) erfolgt. Sozio-technische Interaktionen in dieser Steuerung führen gleichzeitig zu Gewinnen und Verlusten in Bezug auf Souveränität und Handlungsfähigkeit für Landwirt:innen – ein komplexes Geflecht von Machtbeziehungen, an denen Landwirt:innen oft unabsichtlich beteiligt sind. Neben repressiven Formen der Steuerung, die mit der technologischen Abhängigkeit von Unternehmen, Datenextraktivismus und einem überwachenden Staat verbunden sind, gibt es auch Anzeichen für eine demokratische Facette der Digitalisierung. Diese Facette zeigt sich durch offene, kollaborative Netzwerke, Datenkooperativen, Cyberaktivismus und Open-Source- Software. Mit dieser Analyse zielte die Studie darauf ab, zu verstehen, wie die politische Position der Landwirt:innen durch die Digitalisierung beeinflusst wird, und dass dieser Prozess in einem Kontext systemischer Machtungleichgewichte stattfindet. In Kapitel 3 wird eine soziotechnische Perspektive angewandt, um 20 digitale Tools zu untersuchen, die für die Kaffee-Wertschöpfungskette entwickelt wurden, und die Wege zur Nachhaltigkeit (ökologisch, sozial und wirtschaftlich) zu untersuchen, die durch diese Tools gefördert werden. Die soziotechnische Perspektive geht hauptsächlich davon aus, dass sich soziale und technische Systeme in wechselseitigen Interaktionen gegenseitig beeinflussen. Aufbauend auf dieser Idee untersucht die Studie die technischen Eigenschaften der Tools (Funktionalität, enthaltene Technologien, Betriebsregeln, Informationsfluss). Anschließend werden die Auswirkungen dieser Eigenschaften in Bezug auf drei große soziale Dynamiken analysiert: 1) die dargestellten Wissens- und Wertesysteme, 2) die Machtstrukturen und 3) die Möglichkeiten für eine effektive Nutzung dieser Tools. Die Formen, in denen diese sozialen Dynamiken durch die Tools geprägt werden, führen wiederum zu spezifischen Nachhaltigkeitsergebnissen. Dazu gehören beispielsweise die Art der Produktionssysteme, die unterstützt werden – und die, die nicht unterstützt werden –, der Zugang zu den Technologien und ihren Vorteilen sowie die Art und Weise, wie soziale Ungleichheiten und Machtasymmetrien angegangen werden – oder eben nicht angegangen werden. Die Daten für diese Analyse stammen aus Interviews mit 15 Entwicklern der Tools und aus Sekundärdaten und -informationen. Die Analyse in diesem Kapitel zeigt, dass technische Eigenschaften eine grundlegende Rolle dabei spielen, welche Wege zur Nachhaltigkeit für landwirtschaftliche Systeme verfügbar gemacht werden. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, dass die digitale Landwirtschaft in einigen Fällen eher wie ein „Business as usual“ aussehen kann, das nur geringfügig angepasst wird, als wie eine Revolution. Kapitel 4 präsentiert eine lokale Perspektive auf die Digitalisierung. Anhand von Interviews mit 73 Haushalten in zwei ausgewählten Gemeinden kolumbianischer Kaffeebäuer:innen wird in diesem Kapitel untersucht, wie sie mit digitalen Technologien umgehen. Die Studie geht von der Idee aus, dass wichtige Lücken in der Gestaltung der Realität in der digitalen Landwirtschaft auf mangelndes Verständnis und mangelnde Einbeziehung lokaler Weltanschauungen in Bezug auf digitale Technologien und Landwirtschaft zurückzuführen sind. Der Fähigkeiten-Ansatz von Amartya Sen wurde als konzeptioneller Rahmen für die Analyse übernommen. Dieser Ansatz geht davon aus, dass Ressourcen nur dann zu Vermögenswerten werden, wenn sie von Einzelpersonen genutzt werden können, um das Leben zu führen, das sie wertschätzen. Aus diesem Grund konzentrierte sich die Analyse in diesem Kapitel zunächst darauf, die Elemente zu verstehen, die ein wertvolles Leben für diese Gemeinschaften ausmachen, und dann darauf, zu verstehen, wie sie digitale Technologien nutzen, um dieses Leben zu unterstützen. Die zugrunde liegenden Werte dieses lokalen Prozesses der technologischen Aneignung wurden mit breiteren Narrativen der digitalen Landwirtschaft verglichen. Diese Analyse bot ein Bild der Verhandlungen und Spannungen, die auftreten, wenn unterschiedliche Visionen von Landwirtschaft, Digitalisierung und einer wünschenswerten Zukunft aufeinandertreffen. Ausgehend von einer relationalen Perspektive ist der lokale Aneignungsprozess durch vielfältige Verhandlungen zwischen den persönlichen und kollektiven Zielen der Landwirt:innen, dem situierten Wissen, den institutionellen Programmen und der Handlungsfähigkeit nichtmenschlicher Akteur:inen (z. B. Land, Pflanzen, Tiere, Maschinen) gekennzeichnet. Aus diesen Interaktionen ergeben sich unterschiedliche Formen der Digitalisierung und Nichtdigitalisierung. Der Prozess der lokalen Aneignung offenbarte die kritische Sichtweise der Landwirt:innen und ihrer Handlungsfähigkeit, beispielsweise indem sie einen Digitalisierungsweg beschritten, der sich grundlegend von den vorherrschenden Vorstellungen und Diskursen über die digitale Landwirtschaft unterscheidet. Durch die Anwendung eines systemischen Ansatzes und die Integration von drei Rahmenbedingungen in die kritische Wissenschaft – (1) emanzipatorische Konzeptualisierung von Handlungsfähigkeit und Souveränität, (2) Amartya Sen‘s Ansatz der Fähigkeiten und (3) ein relationaler Ansatz – liefert diese Arbeit Belege für die Komplexität sozio-technisch-physischer Interaktionen, die zu bestimmten breiten Mainstream- und lokalen alltäglichen Digitalisierungspfaden führen. Diese Pfade wiederum haben besondere gesellschaftliche Auswirkungen, beispielsweise auf die Art der landwirtschaftlichen Welten, die sich entwickeln, auf die Interessen, die in ihnen vertreten werden, und auf die Möglichkeiten der Beteiligung verschiedener sozialer Gruppen. Die digitale Landwirtschaft ist mehr als eine einzelne Entwicklung, sie ist ein Raum der Vielfalt und des permanenten Entstehens, auch für die Reproduktion aktueller – nicht unbedingt nachhaltiger – Modelle. Aus diesem Grund fordert diese Doktorarbeit dazu auf, Vorstellungen von Unveränderlichkeit, Universalität und Einheitlichkeit in Entwicklungsdiskursen, Perspektiven des Ländlichen und der Generierung neuer Technologien aufzugeben. Stattdessen schlage ich vor, eine kritische und systemrelationale Perspektive in die Innovationsforschung und -praxis zu integrieren
Essays on gender differences in pay
Full text linkThe three empirical studies underlying this dissertation all deal with the gender difference in pay. In particular, they analyze gender differences in expectations and aspirations about wages as well as beliefs about job insecurity and job finding chances and their effect on the observed wage inequality between women and men. In the first research article I evaluate, together with Stephanie Briel, Aderonke Osikominu, Gregor Pfeifer, and Mirjam Stockburger, wage expectations of prospective university students. For this analysis, we exploit a survey among applicants at Saarland University in Germany. The survey primarily asks respondents about their expectations of their own starting salary when entering the labor market as well as about their expectations regarding the average starting salary of other students in their study field. In a first step, we estimate unexplained gender gaps at various quantiles of the conditional and unconditional distribution of respondents' expected own salary and expected average salary. Our results reveal sizable gender differences across the distributions of both expected salaries. Based on the quantile regressions, the wage expectations of females are 5 to 15 percent lower than those of males. Yet, the gender gaps are more pronounced in case of the expected own salary. Likewise, the gender gaps are larger at the lower end of the wage expectation distributions. In the next step, we decompose the raw gender gaps at unconditional quantiles and document that a substantial portion of the gaps can be attributed to the choice of the study field. In the last step, we compute two measurements of biased beliefs and study their role in explaining the gender gap in wage expectations. The first measurement compares students' perceptions of their own earning potential relative to other students in their field of study to their relative performance in high school. The second measurement confronts students' expectations about the average starting salary to observed starting salaries of university graduates. We show that biased beliefs about the relative earnings potential and average salaries together can explain a large part of the gender gap across the distribution of expected own salaries. Thus, our study contributes to the literature by highlighting that biased beliefs are major drivers of the gender gap in wage expectations.
In the second research article Marina Töpfer and I analyze gender differences in reservation wages of non-employed job seekers. To do so, we use survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study which asks non-employed participants about their monthly reservation wage and their intended weekly working hours. Based on the reported monthly reservation wages and intended working hours we compute the hourly reservation wage of individuals and find that women in our sample set 3 percent lower reservation wages compared to men. Next, we estimate the unexplained gender gap in reservation wages with a variety of parametric and semiparametric estimators. In addition, we use conventional as well as data-driven model specifications for the estimation. Hence, we can compare the results of different estimation approaches. All of our estimates of the unexplained gender gap suggest that women set lower reservation wages than men with similar observed characteristics. The estimates are all statistically significant and range between 5 and 8 percent. Comparing the different estimates of the unexplained gender gap we see that our estimate is relatively robust with regard to the model specifications, but is more sensitive to the choice of the estimator. Furthermore, we assess heterogeneity of the gender gap across the reservation wage distribution and with regard to characteristics such as marital status, children, and education. Our findings indicate that the gender gap in reservation wages is particularly pronounced at the top of the reservation wage distribution, among the high-skilled, and among individuals who live in a household with a child.
In the third research article I investigate gender differences in beliefs about job insecurity and job finding chances and their consequences for the gender gaps in wages and reservation wages. To address this research question, I again utilize date from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, which provides information on individuals' perceptions of their job insecurity or their chances of finding a job. Whereas employed respondents are asked how likely it is that they lose their job within the next two years, unemployed respondents are asked how likely it is that they find a job within the next two years. As the first step of my analysis, I compare these subjective beliefs to objective probabilities that I predict with machine learning methods using a large set of predictors. I find that employed individuals considerably overestimate the probability of a job loss on average, while unemployed individuals slightly overestimate the probability of finding a job. But, women are significantly more pessimistic with regard to both expectations compared to men. These gender differences in beliefs do also persist when I control for a large set of observed characteristics. Subsequently, I relate the job loss expectations to wages of employees and the job finding expectations to reservation wages of unemployed job seekers. My results suggest a negative relationship between job loss expectations and wages on the one hand, and a positive relationship between job finding expectations and reservation wages on the other hand. Finally, I estimate the effect of the gender differences in the beliefs to the gender gaps in wages and reservation wages and find a small positive contribution in both cases. But, only the contribution of job loss expectations to the gender gap in wages is statistically significant. In addition, I demonstrate that the effect of job loss expectation to wages is larger for workers without a collectively agreed wage and for college graduates
Ingenious wheat starch/Lepidium perfoliatum seed mucilage hybrid composite films: Synthesis, incorporating nanostructured Dy₂Ce₂O₇ synthesized via an ultrasound-assisted approach and characterization
No full textIn this study, Dy₂Ce₂O₇ nanostructures were fabricated using an environmentally friendly, ultrasound-assisted method. These nanostructures were then incorporated into a blend of wheat starch (WS) and Lepidium perfoliatum seed mucilage (LPSM), along with sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) nanoparticles. The composite films were produced through a casting method, combining these components to enhance the films' structural and functional properties. FTIR results confirmed the chemical interactions between the NPs and the biopolymeric matrix of the nanocomposites. SEM surface morphology and XRD crystallography results indicated that up to a 1 % weight ratio, the dispersion of Dy₂Ce₂O₇ in the nanocomposite matrix was uniform, while at higher percentages, due to nanoparticle aggregation, crystallinity increased. Interestingly, the elongation of nanocomposites containing Dy₂Ce₂O₇ increased, while their tensile strength and elastic modulus decreased. More than 92 % of UV radiation in the 240–360 nm range was absorbed with the inclusion of 1 % wt. Dy₂Ce₂O₇, and the water vapor permeability (WVP) significantly decreased. Among the Dy₂Ce₂O₇-based nanocomposites, TGA results showed that the WS/LPSM/MMT/Dy1 % sample had the highest thermal stability. Overall, based on the results of this study, the WS/LPSM/MMT/Dy1 % sample was introduced as a composite film with suitable physicochemical and mechanical properties for food and pharmaceutical packaging
Towards transdisciplinary identification of suitable woody perennials for resilient agro-silvopastoral systems in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa
No full textParkland systems in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa are commonly perceived as a resilient agroforestry practice well adapted to the semi-arid climatic conditions of the region. However, there exist several knowledge gaps regarding the interplay between the different components of this agro-silvopastoral land use system. A literature review with subsequent meta-analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of woody perennials on soil, crops and livestock, for which our study found very context-specific responses. A scoring of tree and shrub species indicated a general trend of trade-off between positive impact on crops and livestock vs. impact on soil organic carbon content. The study further confirmed that Faidherbia albida (Del.) Chev. is one of the most promising parkland species, but also revealed that there are no multipurpose single species that should be promoted exclusively. The focus should rather shift to species mixtures that satisfy multiple human and environmental needs. The study also pointed out that information on the nutritional properties of the majority of browse species is particularly limited. Transdisciplinary modelling is suggested as a tool to assess the complex interactions between the different components that shape this agro-silvopastoral system at different scales.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.Horizon 2020 Framework Programmehttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010661Universität Kassel (3154
Endogenous task allocation and intrafirm bargaining: a note
No full textWe develop a model that incorporates task-based production into a matching model with intrafirm wage bargaining. Unlike in existing task-based models, the representative firm derives the optimal task allocation as a function of capital and labor, rather than relative factor prices. Embedding this mechanism in a model with strategic employment choice, we show how the properties of task-level technology affect the extent of overhiring
Digital maturity of administration entities in a state-led food certification system using the example of Baden-Württemberg
No full textDigital transformation is increasingly relevant in food certification systems, improving processes, coordination, and data accessibility. In state-led certification systems, public entities hold a political mandate to promote digital transformation, yet little is known about digital maturity in these systems or how to assess it. This study assesses the digital maturity of a state-led food certification system in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, focusing on private sector stakeholders involved in its administration. Additionally, it examines potential measures that the governing public entity can take and evaluates the suitability of the methods used. A total of 25 out of 43 organisations were surveyed using the Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA) framework validated for the European Union (EU). Six dimensions were analysed: Digital Business Strategy, Digital Readiness, Human-Centric Digitalisation, Data Management, Automation and Artificial Intelligence, and Green Digitalisation. Data Management and Human-Centric Digitalisation were the most developed, highlighting strong data governance and workforce engagement. Automation and Artificial Intelligence were ranked lowest, reflecting minimal adoption but also indicating that not all dimensions might be of the same relevance for the variety of organisations. The variability in scores and organisation-specific relevance underscores the European DMA framework’s value, particularly due to its subsequent tailored consultation process and its integration into EU policy.This study was conducted within the project ’Application of Digital Instruments for Evaluating Agricultural Support Measures for Regional Products within the Framework of the Baden-Württemberg Quality and Organic Labels’ (Einsatz Digitaler Instrumente zur Prüfung landwirtschaftlicher Fördermaßnahmen für regionale Erzeugnisse im Rahmen des Qualitäts- und Biozeichen Baden-Württembergs, EDIF QZBW), which was funded by the Grant 22-8370.15.00 from the Ministry of Nutrition, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection of Baden-Württemberg.Ministry of Nutrition, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection of Baden-Württember
Improved prediction of wheat baking quality by three novel approaches involving spectroscopic, rheological and analytical measurements and an optimized baking test
Full text linkBaking quality, defined as loaf volume, is one of the most important quality attributes of wheat. An accurate and rapid determination is of great interest for the wheat supply chain. However, this remains difficult to date, because reported predictions based on other wheat characteristics (e.g. protein content) or flour spectroscopy are poor. This study investigates three novel approaches to improve the prediction of specific loaf volume determined by an optimized mini-baking test. The predictions are based on a large variety of rheological and analytical data as well as fluorescence, near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy of flour and flour fractions. Furthermore, the influence of data fusion on the predictions is investigated. All three approaches presented promising results and showed great potential for practical application with R2CV > 0.90 for various regression models. For example, the combination of farinograph data with solvent retention capacity data or NIR flour spectra yielded R2CV of 0.91 in both cases. Combining Raman spectra of the < 32 μm and 75–100 μm fractions as well as NIR spectra of gluten, flour and starch both also yielded R2CV of 0.91. The results underline that loaf volume is a complex quality characteristic that can be better predicted when different data types are combined. Different rheological and analytical tests and different spectroscopic methods capture specific wheat quality characteristics that have different relations to baking volume and can therefore provide complementary information for improved predictions. Furthermore, the importance of rheological tests (especially farinograph, extensograph, alveograph) and the baking procedure for the prediction of baking quality are emphasized.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.Universität Hohenheim (3153