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Optimal mental workload plays a key role in driving performance. Thus, driver-assisting systems that automatically adapt to a drivers current mental workload via brain–computer interfacing might greatly contribute to traffic safety. To design economic brain computer interfaces that do not compromise driver comfort, it is necessary to identify brain areas that are most sensitive to mental workload changes. In this study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy and subjective ratings to measure mental workload in two virtual driving environments with distinct demands. We found that demanding city environments induced both higher subjective workload ratings as well as higher bilateral middle frontal gyrus activation than less demanding country environments. A further analysis with higher spatial resolution revealed a center of activation in the right anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The area is highly involved in spatial working memory processing. Thus, a main component of drivers’ mental workload in complex surroundings might stem from the fact that large amounts of spatial information about the course of the road as well as other road users has to constantly be upheld, processed and updated. We propose that the right middle frontal gyrus might be a suitable region for the application of powerful small-area brain computer interfaces.
Many developed countries, including Germany, face a steady rise in the share of
individuals obtaining higher education. While rising education itself bears a series
of advantages as extensively studied in previous literature, it is also conceptually
linked to a higher likelihood of working in an occupation that does not match
one’s formal qualifications. Previous studies have predominantly evaluated
how demographic or job‐related aspects correlate with the likelihood of being
educationally ﴾mis﴿matched. However, they have largely ignored institutional
facets of the educational system or industrial organization. Moreover, little is
known about how private wealth affects educational mismatch or whether job
satisfaction is homogenously affected among individuals once such a mismatch
occurs. The five projects collected in this thesis aim to answer these open
questions in the literature for Germany, using data from the Socio‐Economic Panel
and employing different time intervals between 1984 and 2022.
Beginning with the educational system in early childhood, Chapter 2 evaluates
the impact of school‐starting age on the likelihood of over‐ and undereducation.
It exploits the exogenous variation in school‐entry rules across federal states
and years in Germany with regression discontinuity designs. The results report
a negative impact of school‐starting age on the likelihood of undereducation,
but no systematic relationship with overeducation.
Subsequently, Chapter 3 explores the variation in education costs by leveraging
the quasi‐experimental setting induced by the time‐limited introduction of tuition
fees in several German federal states between 2006 and 2014. The increase
in education costs among treated graduates results in a significantly higher
likelihood of overeducation, which endures even several years post‐graduation.
Chapter 4 focuses on the industrial relations system and examines the
correlation between trade union membership and the likelihood and extent of
educational ﴾mis﴿match. The results reveal that trade union members report
significantly less overeducation at both the intensive and extensive margin
and also a higher likelihood of being matched compared to non‐members. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis provides evidence that this correlation
is driven by improved bargaining power instead of informational advantages.
Chapter 5 focuses on private wealth as a determinant of educational mismatch
by investigating the impact of a wealth shock through inheritances, lottery
winnings or gifts on the likelihood of over‐ and undereducation. Due to
the diminishing marginal returns of wages with increasing windfall gains the
likelihood of undereducation is expected to decrease, while that of overeducation
is expected to increase. Empirically, these suppositions are supported for
overeducation, as its likelihood increases significantly after the windfall gain.
Further analyses reveal that this effect is driven by individuals switching
occupations while increasing their leisure time, and it materializes only for
medium to large windfall gains.
Contrary to the previous chapters, Chapter 6 focuses on educational mismatch,
more precisely on overeducation, as the independent variable. In particular, it
investigates the correlation between overeducation and job satisfaction. The
results align with the previously established negative correlation for private sector
employees exclusively. In contrast, interaction and subsample analyses reveal a
positive correlation for public sector employees. This link is driven by individuals
with a high degree of altruistic motivation and family orientation.