GERMAN WORKS COUNCILS AND THE ANATOMY OF WAGES

Using matched employer-employee data from the German LIAB for 2001, the authors found that German works councils are in general associated with higher earnings, even after accounting for establishment- and worker heterogeneity. Works Council wage premia exceed those of collective bargaining and are higher, in fact, where both institutions are present in the workplace. The authors also found evidence indicating that works councils benefit women relative to men and appear to favor foreign, east-German, and service-sector workers as well. Separate evidence from quantile regressions suggests that the conjunction of works council presence and collective bargaining is important to the narrowing process. In smaller plants even the presence of a works council markup depends on the coexistence of the works council entity With the machinery of collective bargaining.

Identification and characterization of 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica

Primer sequences and initial characterization are presented for 10 microsatellite loci isolated from the German cockroach, Blattella germanica. In a sample of 30 individuals from a single population sample, all loci were polymorphic with two to 12 alleles segregating per locus and levels of observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.27 to 0.92. One locus showed a deficit of heterozygotes. Experimental conditions are described for polymerase chain reaction multiplexing, which enables the genotyping of eight loci in three electrophoretic runs consisting of one set of three and two sets of two markers. Seven primer sets cross-amplify in the related Blattella asahinai.