This work is concerned with the numerical solution of optimization problems that arise in the context of ground water modeling. Both ground water hydraulic and quality management problems are considered. The considered problems are discretized problems of optimal control that are governed by discretized partial differential equations. Aspects of special interest in this work are inaccurate function evaluations and the ensuing numerical treatment within an optimization algorithm. Methods for noisy functions are appropriate for the considered practical application. Also, block preconditioners are constructed and analyzed that exploit the structure of the underlying linear system. Specifically, KKT systems are considered, and the preconditioners are tested for use within Krylov subspace methods. The project was financed by the foundation Stiftung Rheinland-Pfalz für Innovation and carried out in joint work with TGU GmbH, a company of consulting engineers for ground water and water resources.

Evidence points to autonomy as having a place next to affiliation, achievement, and power as one of the basic implicit motives; however, there is still some research that needs to be conducted to support this notion. The research in this dissertation aimed to address this issue. I have specifically focused on two issues that help solidify the foundation of work that has already been conducted on the implicit autonomy motive, and will also be a foundation for future studies. The first issue is measurement. Implicit motives should be measured using causally valid instruments (McClelland, 1980). The second issue addresses the function of motives. Implicit motives orient, select, and energize behavior (McClelland, 1980). If autonomy is an implicit motive, then we need a valid instrument to measure it and we also need to show that it orients, selects, and energizes behavior. In the following dissertation, I address these two issues in a series of ten studies. Firstly, I present studies that examine the causal validity of the Operant Motive Test (OMT; Kuhl, 2013) for the implicit affiliation and power motives using established methods. Secondly, I developed and empirically tested pictures to specifically assess the implicit autonomy motive and examined their causal validity. Thereafter, I present two studies that investigated the orienting and energizing effects of the implicit autonomy motive. The results of the studies solidified the foundation of the OMT and how it measures nAutonomy. Furthermore, this dissertation demonstrates that nAutonomy fulfills the criteria for two of the main functions of implicit motives. Taken together, the findings of this dissertation provide further support for autonomy as an implicit motive and a foundation for intriguing future studies.

Background: The body-oriented therapeutic approach Somatic Experiencing® (SE) treats posttraumatic symptoms by changing the interoceptive and proprioceptive sensations associated with the traumatic experience. Filling a gap in the landscape of trauma treatments, SE has attracted growing interest in research and therapeutic practice, recently. Objective: To date, there is no literature review of the effectiveness and key factors of SE. This review aims to summarize initial findings on the effectiveness of SE and to outline methodspecific key factors of SE. Method: To gain a first overview of the literature, we conducted a scoping review including studies until 13 August 2020. We identified 83 articles of which 16 fit inclusion criteria and were systematically analysed. Results: Findings provide preliminary evidence for positive effects of SE on PTSD-related symptoms. Moreover, initial evidence suggests that SE has a positive impact on affective and somatic symptoms and measures of well-being in both traumatized and non-traumatized samples. Practitioners and clients identified resource-orientation and use of touch as methodspecific key factors of SE. Yet, an overall studies quality assessment as well as a Cochrane analysis of risk of bias indicate that the overall study quality is mixed. Conclusions: The results concerning effectiveness and method-specific key factors of SE are promising; yet, require more support from unbiased RCT-research. Future research should focus on filling this gap.

The gender wage gap in labor market outcomes has been intensively investigated for decades, yet it remains a relevant and innovative research topic in labor economics. Chapter 2 of this dissertation explores the pressing issue of gender wage disparity in Ethiopia. By applying various empirical methodologies and measures of occupational segregation, this chapter aims to analyze the role of female occupational segregation in explaining the gender wage gap across the pay distribution. The findings reveal a significant difference in monthly wages, with women consistently earning lower wages across the wage distribution. Importantly, the result indicates a negative association between female occupational segregation and the average earnings of both men and women. Furthermore, the estimation result shows that female occupational segregation partially explains the gender wage gap at the bottom of the wage distribution. I find that the magnitude of the gender wage gap in the private sector is higher than in the public sector. In Chapter 3, the Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey data are leveraged to explore the causal relationship between female labor force participation and domestic violence. Domestic violence against women is a pervasive public health concern, particularly in Africa, including Ethiopia, where a significant proportion of women endure various forms of domestic violence perpetrated by intimate partners. Economic empowerment of women through increased participation in the labor market can be one of the mechanisms for mitigating the risk of domestic violence. This study seeks to provide empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis. Using the employment rate of women at the community level as an instrumental variable, the finding suggests that employment significantly reduces the risk of domestic violence against women. More precisely, the result shows that women’s employment status significantly reduces domestic violence by about 15 percentage points. This finding is robust for different dimensions of domestic violence, such as physical, sexual, and emotional violence. By examining the employment outcomes of immigrants in the labor market, Chapter 4 extends the dissertation's inquiry to the dynamics of immigrant economic integration into the destination country. Drawing on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, the chapter scrutinizes the employment gap between native-born individuals and two distinct groups of first-generation immigrants: refugees and other migrants. Through rigorous analysis, Chapter 4 aims to identify the factors contributing to disparities in employment outcomes among these groups. In this chapter, I aim to disentangle the heterogeneity characteristic of refugees and other immigrants in the labor market, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of immigrant labor market integration in Germany. The results show that refugees and other migrants are less likely to find employment than comparable natives. The refugee-native employment gap is much wider than other migrant-native employment gap. Moreover, the findings vary by gender and migration categories. While other migrant men do not differ from native men in the probability of being employed, refugee women are the most disadvantaged group compared to other migrant women and native women in the probability of being employed. The study suggests that German language proficiency and permanent resident permits partially explain the lower employment probability of refugees in the German labor market. Chapter 5 (co-authored with Uwe Jirjahn) utilizes the same dataset to explore the immigrant-native trade union membership gap, focusing on the role of integration in the workplace and into society. The integration of immigrants into society and the workplace is vital not only to improve migrant's performance in the labor market but also to actively participate in institutions such as trade unions. In this study, we argue that the incomplete integration of immigrants into the workplace and society implies that immigrants are less likely to be union members than natives. Our findings show that first-generation immigrants are less likely to be trade union members than natives. Notably, the analysis shows that the immigrant-native gap in union membership depends on immigrants’ integration into the workplace and society. The gap is smaller for immigrants working in firms with a works council and having social contacts with Germans. Moreover, the results reveal that the immigrant-native union membership gap is decreasing in the year since arrival in Germany.

This paper explores the presence of the poetic word in contemporary urban settings: from “Poetry in Motion,” displayed in the New York City subway at the very place where one usually finds ads, to fluid xenon light projections of huge verse on the exterior of buildings in Basel or Zurich by visual artist Jenny Holzer, who presents poems of the Nobel Laureate Wisława Szymborska together with her own short “Truisms.” Or from single poems permanently written on walls – e.g. a much-discussed concrete poem by Eugen Gomringer at the facade of a Berlin college of education – to the technically enhanced spoken word, audible from far away as a side effect of gigantic poetry slam events in stadiums, e.g. the Trabrennbahn (race-course) in Hamburg and even performative events such as Ulrike Almut Sandig’s „augenpost“ in which poems are ‘published’ on posters, flyers and free postcards in the urban space of Leipzig or declaimed on public squares in Indian metropolises through a megaphone. Such presentations of poetry in urban space are still uncommon, thus creating an aesthetic experience that differs strongly from reception in private settings or even in readings or public poetry festivals, as the poem relates to its urban surroundings.