What determines China's housing price dynamics? New evidence from a DSGE-VAR

We investigate what determines China's housing price dynamics using a DSGE-VAR estimated with priors allowing for the featured operating of normal and 'shadow' banks in China, with data observed between 2001 and 2014. We find that the housing demand shock, which is the essential factor for housing price 'bubbles' to happen, accounts for near 90% of the housing price fluctuation. We also find that a prosperous housing market could have led to future economic growth, though quantitatively its marginal impact is small. But this also means that, for policy-makers who wish to stabilise the housing market, the cost on output reduction would be rather limited

Psychometric properties of the German Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale 39 generic version

Background: The international expert consensus core outcome set for post-stroke aphasia recommends the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale - 39/generic (SAQOL-39g) for assessing patient-reported health-related quality of life. Cultural adaptations of the SAQOL-39g are mandatory in stroke rehabilitation.Aim: We adapted the original English SAQOL-39g into German and evaluated its psychometric quality.Design: Evaluation of a self-report scale embedded in a prospective multicenter parallel group randomized waitlist-controlled trial on the effectiveness of intensive speech and language therapy.Setting: Nineteen in- and outpatient aphasia rehabilitation centers in Germany.Population: People with chronic post-stroke aphasia (N.=156) of all types and severity levels.Methods: We followed applicable guidelines for cross-cultural test adaptations and psychometric evaluations. Psychometric analyses are based on the assessment before three weeks of intensive speech and language therapy (acceptability, internal consistency, validity; N.=156), on the assessments before and after three weeks of waiting in the control group (test-retest reliability; N.=78), and on the assessments before and after three weeks of intensive speech and language therapy (responsiveness; N.=156).Results: The German SAQOL-39g was feasible across all aphasia severity grades (no missing data; no floor/ceiling effects). Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's α=0.90); test-retest reliability was moderate-to-good (intraclass-correlations: ICC=0.73 for single/0.85 for average measures). Both exploratory factor analyses and multidimensional scaling of proximity data/graphical network analysis supported the 3-dimensional structure (domains: physical, psychosocial, communication) of the English original version. Convergent (|r|=0.29 to 0.48) and discriminative (|r|=0.03 to 0.07) validities were acceptable. Responsiveness to intervention-induced change showed a small-to-medium treatment effect (group difference after intervention compared to waiting-list control: Cohen's d=0.34).Conclusions: The German SAQOL-39g is a reliable, valid and change-sensitive patient-reported outcome measure to assess the physical, communication and psychosocial quality of life in chronic post-stroke aphasia, with comparable psychometric properties and factorial structure to the original English version.Clinical rehabilitation impact: The German SAQOL-39g is an easy-to-administer and -score patient-reported scale that can be used in rehabilitation settings to measure health-related quality of life and support patient-centered goal setting in people with chronic post-stroke aphasia of different ages, stroke durations, severity and type of aphasia

Taxing Pensions and Retirement Benefits in Germany

The paper motivates and describes the tax treatment of German retirement benefits and pensions after the 2005 reform initiated by the German Federal Constitutional Court. The main question is whether this reform has produced a “level playing field” among the many instruments generating retirement income in Germany. The paper briefly outlines rational principles for the taxation of retirement benefits and pensions and compares these with current practice in Germany and abroad

Decision-making support in Intensive Care to facilitate organ donation. Position paper of the Ethics Section and the Organ Donation and Transplantation Section of the German Interdisciplinary Association of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) in collaboration with the Ethics Section of the German Society of Medical Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DGIIN)

Background and challengeInjuries, especially traumatic brain injury, or specific illnesses and their respective sequelae can result in the demise of the patients afflicted despite all efforts of modern intensive care medicine. If in principle organ donation is an option after apatient's death, intensive therapeutic measures are regularly required in order to maintain the homeostasis of the organs. These measures, however, cannot benefit the patient afflicted anymorewhich in turn might lead to an ethical conflict between dignified palliative care for him/her and expanded intensive treatment to facilitate organ donation for others, especially if the patient has opted for the limitation of life-sustaining therapies in an advance directive.MethodThe Ethics Section and the Organ Donation and Transplantation Section of the German Interdisciplinary Association of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) have convened several meetings and atelephone conference and have arrived at adecision-making aid as to the extent of treatment for potential organ donors. This instrument focusses first on the assessment of five individual dimensions regarding organ donation, namely the certitude of acomplete and irreversible loss of all brain function, the patient's wishes as to organ donation, his or her wishes as to limiting life-sustaining therapies, the intensity of expanded intensive treatment for organ protection and the odds of its successful attainment. Then, the combination of the individual assessments, as graphically shown in a{Netzdiagramm}, will allow for ajudgement as to whether acontinuation or possibly an expansion of intensive care measures is ethically justified, questionable or even inappropriate.ResultThe aid described can help mitigate ethical conflicts as to the extent of intensive care treatment for moribund patients, when organ donation is amedically sound option.NoteGerald Neitzke und Annette Rogge contributed equally to this paper and should be considered co-first authors