University of Mannheim

About: University of Mannheim is a education organization based out in Mannheim, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & European union. The organization has 4448 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 446557 citations. The organization is also known as: Uni Mannheim & UMA.

The effect of internet piracy on music sales: cross-section evidence

Abstract: We use a 1998-2002 cross-section dataset to analyze the claim of losses due to internet piracy made by the record industry. The results suggest that internet piracy played a significant role in the decline in music sales during the early days of file-sharing networks.

Explaining Educational Decision and Effects of Families’ Social Class Position: An Empirical Test of the Breen-Goldthorpe Model of Educational Attainment

Abstract: This article tests whether the Breen-Goldthorpe model offers an empirically valid prediction of educational decisions and a complete explanation of how they are affected by social class. This is done using data from a panel study of families who had decided on secondary school tracks for their children in Germany. First, we analysed whether class differences in the costs, success probabilities, and returns from status maintenance, which parents associate with educational options, are created by differences in the families' objective opportunities and constraints. Consistent with theoretical expectations, we found class effects on the parents' subjective beliefs and evaluations, which were due to differences in available economic resources and the children's proven academic ability. Secondly, we tested the prediction that secondary school choice and the effect of class differences on it are the result of cost-benefit considerations. Whereas the subjective beliefs about how likely the children are to complete educational degrees and the motive to maintain the families' social status proved to be strong predictors for educational decisions, the anticipated costs of educational investments were found to be irrelevant. Inconsistent with predictions, the direct effects of social class on educational decisions were not explained by the theoretically predicted factors.

Thinking, Judging, and Communicating: A Process Account of Context Effects in Attitude Surveys

Abstract: The central goal of asking questions in a survey is to obtain reliable information about characteristics of the respondent. Asking, and consequently answering questions, however, never occurs in a vacuum. Rather, it occurs in a specific social and cognitive context that may influence responses in undesired ways (e.g., Schuman & Presser, 1981). Thus, a change in the answer to a particular question may not necessarily reflect an attitude change on the part of the respondent but simply may be the influence of a different context. Schuman, Presser, and Ludwig (1981), for example, found that divergent responses toward abortion, as measured in two consecutive surveys, were caused not by a change of opinion over time but by the presence or absence of a particular question before the target question.