Syrian food security in the 1970s and 1980s

An analysis of changes in domestic production, foreign trade and aid in Syria from 1970 to the late 1980s reveals a marked contrast between the two decades. In the 1970s per capita incomes expanded rapidly due to the regional oil boom. Demand for food grew quickly and, despite respectable supply growth, food imports as a percentage of consumption increased. During the 1980s income per capita stagnated and demand growth slowed. At the same time a series of poor rainfall years reduced domestic supply growth and increased production variability, yet food imports showed no trend     

The influence of management journals in the 1980s and 1990s

It is difficult to get a clear picture of the relative influence of management journals because previous studies have focused on a single sub‐area in the field over a relatively restricted number of years, and/or have used inconsistent criteria to judge journal influence. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine journal influence using citations from 28 journals over the past two decades. The findings show that the top seven journals accounted for 61 percent of all of the citations in the journals included, and that the three journals that showed the greatest increase in influence over the past 20 years were AMJ, AMR, and SMJ. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mother’s nutritional label use and children’s body weight

In spite of a growing body of literature studying the determinants of children’s obesity, relatively little is known about the association between parental nutritional label use and children’s body weight. To bridge this gap, this study examines the effect of mother’s nutritional label use on children’s body mass index and overweight. Using data from the 2001 National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan, a two-stage econometric model is proposed and estimated with a semiparametric method. Results indicate that mother’s nutritional label use leads to lower probability of children becoming overweight or obese, and a non-linear relationship between mother’s nutritional label use and children’s BMI is evident. For mothers who seldom use nutritional labels, label use does not lead to a reduction in children’s BMI. In contrast, for mothers who are frequent nutritional label users, label use contributes negatively to children’s BMI. However, the magnitudes of these effects are relatively small, suggesting that additional instruments or policies are needed if further reduction in children’s body mass index is desired.     

The Wage Premium for Job Seniority During the 1980s and Early 1990s

In this article I use Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data to study whether the rewards for job tenure have fallen since the early 1980s. An upward-sloping seniority-wage profile is generally thought to be an important dimension of compensation during a career. However, recent interest in the incidence of layoffs and changes in the structure of firms gives rise to the possibility that employment contracts are less often being structured to reward tenure or that such contracts are more difficult to honor. Using a two-stage estimator to attempt to control unmeasured individual and job match effects on wages, I find some evidence that the wage premium paid to senior workers has declined moderately. However, I find that these results are mildly sensitive to alternative methods of handling the relatively noisy PSID tenure data.     

Egypt’s digital activism and the Dictator’s Dilemma: An evaluation

In recent years academics have used the term Dictator’s Dilemma to describe the impact of the Internet on undemocratic societies. The Dilemma says that if dictatorial rulers permit increased Internet penetration, they risk overthrow; if they do not, they isolate themselves from the global information economy, causing economic decline. Since Internet penetration world-wide has deepened, the Dilemma implies that dictatorships are bound to fall one by one. But how good is the Dilemma as an analytical device? Not very, this essay argues, using the Egyptian uprising of January 2011 as a case study. By examining the state’s Internet politics before 2011, the use of the Internet by Egyptian resistance activists, and the power relations that existed after the overthrow of the Dictator, this essay argues that the Dictator’s Dilemma blinds scholars to what really happens on the ground.     

我和弟弟的玩具

有一次整理旧物,翻出了几颗琉璃球,一边的小侄子和小侄女见了欣喜若狂,欢叫着抢了过去。小侄女动作慢,一颗也没抢到,急得她哭了起来,小侄子却在一旁哈哈大笑。我忍不住骂了他一下,抢回几颗塞到她手里,小家伙这才破涕为笑,两个人于是吵吵闹闹地出去了。     

出口集聚、企业相关生产能力与企业出口扩展

目前集聚效应对企业出口行为影响的研究中,集聚多是基于地理距离来刻画。本文试图将产品间的认知距离引入集聚的测度中,研究不同类型集聚对企业出口扩展边际的影响,并进一步讨论企业相关生产能力的异质性作用。本文发现,出口集聚效应和企业相关生产能力分别是企业出口多元化的外源动力和企业条件。具体来说,引入认知距离后,可以更好地区分集聚经济和集聚不经济的来源:同产品集聚和相关产品集聚均有利于促进企业出口扩展;而不相关产品集聚对企业出口扩展的影响则表现为竞争效应。进一步的研究发现,并不是所有企业都能在集聚的过程中“搭便车”,集聚发挥作用的方向和程度因企业储备的相关生产能力而异。在影响机制上,出口集聚效应通过专业劳动力共享和中间投入品共享等供给侧渠道以及目的国市场信息共享和已有出口经验等需求侧渠道来降低企业出口扩展的难度和风险。基于上述实证结果,本文认为地方政府应打造技术关联紧密、上下游产业相互依托、有核心竞争力的空间集聚形态,并创造良好的营商环境,以激发企业创新活力,提升中国对外贸易的核心竞争力。     

Closed-form solutions for Wee’s and Martin’s EOQ models with a temporary price discount

In this article, we use closed-form solutions to solve Wee and Yu (1997) deteriorating inventory model with a temporary price discount and Martin’s (1994) EOQ model with a temporary sale price. In Wee and Yu (1997) and Martin’s (1994), the benefits during the temporary price discount purchase cycle are represented by their objective functions. Wee and Yu (1997) and Martin (1994) only used search methods to find approximate solutions. Following the theorems we suggested, you can find closed-form solution directly when there are integer operators involve in an objective function. Using the data of Wee and Yu (1997) and Martin (1994), we can find the results are more quick and more accurate.     

相互依赖与制造商权力运用

文章就相互依赖的两个维度对制造商权力运用的影响进行了探讨。研究发现，总体相互依赖对建议、威胁与许诺战略的使用有积极影响，相互依赖非对称则对信息交换、建议与许诺战略的使用有负向影响。     

美国钢铁公司发展历程对我国钢铁产业发展的启示

美国钢铁公司(US Steel)的发展历程反映了美国钢铁工业由兴到衰的整个过程。基于此,分析了美国钢铁公司蓬勃发展和走向衰退的原因,以及其为了引领钢铁制造业走向可持续发展的目标所做出的努力;结合目前中国钢铁工业进入发展瓶颈、全行业面临去产能及结构调整的现状,指出研究美国钢铁公司的发展历程对中国钢铁工业的结构调整有很大启示。     

吉利的新交易

这是李书福第一次在国内，对亲戚关系以外的汽车资产发起收购。以此种方式，吉利将正式进入国内专用车市场。     

印度石油装备制造业现状及印度石油装备市场开发策略

以往印度石油装备制造业整体水平较低,大部分装备需要从国外进口。近几年印度加快了石油装备制造业发展步伐,一些制造企业逐步发展壮大,与中国形成抗衡之势,加大了我国设备出口印度的难度。中印两国制造业有很多互补之处。为开拓对印度石油装备出口业务,建议:1)尽快转变发展模式,快速完成产业升级;2)减少和放弃附加值低、利润率薄的产品的出口;3)发挥商会及当地使馆经商处的协调作用,避免国内企业扎堆竞标;4)积极开拓科技含量高的产品以及新型产品的市场;5)实施多元化经营。     

六一儿童节：爱心与童心交织

“六一儿童节”,一个属于小朋友的节日。同时,六一也是除新年之外的又一个玩具销售高峰。中国有3亿14岁以下的儿童,这么一个巨大的数字,背后蕴藏的是玩具行业的巨大宝藏。近年来,对于儿童用品在安全环保上的重视,政府加大了对玩具市场的监察力度,玩具在质量上逐步得到提高，今年六一前夕，全国各地工商、质检部门对当地的玩具进行了全面的严格检查，从各地检查情况来看，我们的玩具市场正在朝着一个健康、有序的方向稳步发展。也给下一代营造了更好的成长环境。     

Ballots and Union Government in the 1980s

During the 1980s the Conservative government argued that trade unions' leaders and policies did not accurately reflect the views of their members. Accordingly, the Trade Union Act 1984 required that all voting members of union principal executive committees be periodically elected by individual members in a workplace or postal ballot, and the Employment Act 1988 required that all executive committee members and all officers in attendance for the purpose of policy deliberation and formulation be periodically elected by members in a postal ballot. This legislation has left an indelible mark upon the processes of union government but it has failed to initiate a transformation in the political complexion of union leadership or a redirection of union policy.     

Evaluating and comparing salesmen's performance

The measurement and evaluation of the performance of salesmen is complicated in most firms by the situational, environmental, and personal variables involved. This complexity is further increased when management attempts performance comparisons among several salesmen or among an entire sales force. Territorial differences, multiplicity of products, and differences in backgrounds among salesmen are just a few of the factors of variability that compound management's performance measurement and evaluation tasks.In spite of these difficulties, the management process requires that the performance of salesmen be measured and compared to predetermined standards. Subjective judgements have frequently taken the place of objective analysis, particularly as to the overall or composite performance of salesmen, because of the difficulties sales managers encounter in the determination of composite measures of performance. Many have discussed the determination and use of objectives or quotas for salesmen, and some have been concerned with the development of composite measures of salesmen performance. However, most have suggested methods that require quantitative skills not possessed by many sales managers and salesmen. The application of computers to the quantitative methods that have been suggested does alleviate the computational problem but not the equally important understanding requirement. Sales personnel, particularly field managers and their salesmen, should thoroughly understand and accept the methods by which standards of sales performance are determined, in addition to the standards or quotas themselves if they are to accept evaluation against these standards [1].The purpose of this article is to discuss the various determinants of salesmen's performance and to present a practical analytical method for calculating and evaluating the overall performance of salesmen that will permit cross-comparison among all members of the sales force irrespective of differences in assignments and objectives. A hypothetical example is then presented utilizing a tabular analysis format equally appropriate for use by home office analysts or by field sales managers and their salesmen.     

Editor’s letter

Dear Readers:The whole nation is inundated with excitement to welcome in the 29th Olympics Summer Games in Beijing as much as the nation’s textile players are thrilled with hurrahs for another playf ield in textile industry.     

董事动态

三星集团董事长李健熙辞职， 王志良出任中牧股份（600195）董事长毛振家离职， 郭家学退出东盛科技（600771）， 陈光标获评“中国首善”， 打工皇帝唐骏：跳槽背后三大“潜规则”， 涌金集团董事长魏东辞世求“解脱”， 巴菲特：继续看空美元， 何文波升任宝钢集团总经理， 张茵：玖龙绝非血汗工厂 。     

Editor’s Letter

Dear Readers The turbulent year of 2007 is gone,and the new year has set in,but what would happen to Chinese textile industry in the Year of Rat if little Jerry can no longer be playful with often-fretful Tommy Cat? EU-China textile agreement was just terminated at the end of 2007 for a few weeks.The double-check system is now in operation when China issued