Technological leadership and sectorial employment growth: A spatial econometric analysis for U.S. counties

This paper studies the determinants of technological catch‐up considering spatial and sectoral aggregation of industries. We investigate how geographical and technological proximity to the technology leader impact regional employment growth. We model technological progress by means of a hierarchical process of catch‐up to the technology leader. We also incorporate measures for knowledge spillover effects to test the roles of competition, specialisation, and diversity at the industry level. Empirical results using data at the county level for different economic sectors (2‐dig NAICS) for the United States indicate that human capital plays a crucial role in promoting sectoral employment growth. The association between technological/geographical distance to the technology leader and employment growth varies across sectors.     

Are social media bad for your employees? Effects of at-work break activities on recovery experiences

Since social media has become a fundamental part of the daily activities of people, the purpose of this study was to explore social media use by focusing on job demands that may explain why employees perceive social media are vital for them at work. Further, this study seeks to understand how employees use social media at work to experience recovery. Questionnaires were collected from current frontline hospitality non-managerial and managerial employees in the United States. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze data. Results of the study confirm that at-work break activities including social and non-media break activities can be a channel for employees to experience recovery and deal with job demands. Moreover, the results suggest that at-work break activities are an important mediator between job demands and recovery experiences. Social media break activities also moderated the mediation effect of non-social media break activities between job demands and recovery experiences.     

集中连片特困地区扶贫产业发展的规模特征及其经济效率评价——以武陵山片区恩施自治州为例

[目的]在扶贫开发战略中成长起来的特色产业已经成为贫困地区经济发展和农民脱贫致富的支柱产业,特色产业的规模和经济效率直接决定着贫困地区脱贫致富能力。[方法]文章以茶叶、蔬菜代表武陵山片区湖北省恩施自治州扶贫产业,利用集中度指数、扩张弹性系数、单位面积的产值能力和产量能力以及单位产量的产值能力等指标进行扶贫产业发展的规模特征及其经济效率评价。[结果]“十一五”期间以来武陵山片区扶贫产业发展的产业地位逐渐提高、规模扩张优势显著、规模收益递增、投入规模扩张率高于产出规模扩张率、资源配置效率不断提高,比较经济效率差距持续扩大。[结论]扶贫产业亟待根据产业发展的生态化、集聚化和融合化等趋势,在规模扩张中强化特色产品的品质建设和效率优势品种生产专业化程度、提高生产技术水平以及完善产业化组织及其能力建设,提高扶贫产业的经济效率和致富能力。     

Does local government competition aggravate haze pollution? A new perspective of factor market distortion

Haze pollution has become a new threat to China's sustainable development, but it may be that local government behaviour can play an important role in the prevention and control of pollutants. A dynamic spatial autoregressive (SAR) model is used to study the relationship between local government competition and haze pollution. To further explore the indirect impact of factor market distortion on haze pollution and control potential endogeneity problems, a newly developed intermediary effect model that incorporates the characteristics of the generalized method of moments (GMM) is utilized to explore how factor market distortion indirectly affects haze pollution. The research results show that regional haze pollution in China is characterized by significant spatial correlation, and local government competition has a positive impact on haze pollution; that is, local government competition exacerbates haze pollution. In general, local government competition not only directly leads to an increase in haze pollution but also further intensifies it by distorting the local factor market, and the intermediary role of factor market distortion is approximately 7.04%. The results of the regional inspection found that competition among local governments in the eastern region did not lead to haze pollution, and distortion of the factor market did not exist as an intermediary effect. However, both direct and intermediary effects are significant in the central and western regions. Therefore, an official performance appraisal system that includes ecological constraints should be established to guide the benign transformation of local government competition, and an environmental management mechanism must be developed for joint prevention and control to reduce haze pollution. In addition, the free flow of factors and marketization are equally important.     

SKU performance and distribution: A large-scale analysis of the role of product characteristics with store scanner data

This study investigates the relationship between distribution and market share across various consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories and specific stock keeping units (SKUs). The study identifies product-related characteristics that result in substantive deviations above or below market shares predicted by the distribution – market share relationship. The association of product price, brand (private label [PL] v. national brand [NB]) and pack size with above (or below) expected market share for a given distribution level is analysed. Results indicate larger pack sizes, PL and medium price levels result in market share above what would be predicted by an SKU’s distribution. This presents a source for competitive advantage in markets driven by push–pull dynamics.     

我国水稻产业供给侧结构性改革的思考

[目的]文章在供给侧改革视角下对水稻供需的结构性矛盾等方面进行梳理,分析基于供给侧改革战略的关键环节、实施路径和未来发展趋势,以期为制定我国水稻供给侧改革战略提供参考。[方法]采用文献分析法和调查研究法,从我国水稻生产供求结构、价格"天花板"和成本"地板"双重挤压、水稻生产的资源环境、市场调节等方面分析了我国水稻产业供给侧的现状和存在的问题;通过日本、泰国、中国五常大米政策特点和经验教训的启示,提出了我国水稻产业供给侧结构性改革的策略。[结果]在分析我国水稻产业供给侧现状的基础上,总结得出水稻产业供给侧改革措施:优化水稻产业空间和功能布局,以项目带动水稻产业结构调整,提高和优化稻米品种品质结构、审定标准向抗性优质专用水稻品种倾斜,因地制宜调减水稻生产面积,调整国家收储稻米标准,延长水稻全产业链等。[结论]加速我国水稻产业供给侧改革,能促进稻米产业结构快速升级,有效破解稻米产业的结构性矛盾,增强我国稻米产业可持续发展能力和国际竞争力。     

近10年崇州市土地利用变化基本特征与空间格局

[目的]土地利用变化研究是揭示土地利用对人类活动响应程度的重要途径,通过对其变化特征及空间格局的研究讨论人地关系在不同地域空间上的强度与作用模式。[方法]基于2002年、2014年TM/ETM+影像,在RS和GIS技术的支持下,采用人机交互图像处理方法提取了崇州市土地利用信息,应用土地利用动态度、土地利用程度、空间转移图谱、城市扩展指数、缓冲分析模型和方法对崇州市近10年来土地利用变化时空特征进行了研究。[结果](1)土地利用类型以林地、耕地、建设用地为主,建设用地动态度最大达到5.72;整体土地利用程度由254.25增长到260.93,各乡镇变动值差异较大。(2)土地空间转换面积达1.850 85万hm~2,占研究区总面积的16.94%;增长面积最大的图谱单元依次是新增建设用地、新增耕地和新增林地;建设用地、耕地、水体与高程、坡度之间负相关性显著,坡度0°~6°是人类活动最频繁的区域。(3)中心城区建设用地面积大幅增长,缓冲范围内建设用地面积增加了2 120.76hm~2,城市中心自河流向东、东南、东北3个方向扩展。[结论]崇州市土地利用整体处于快速发展时期,地域差异明显,受人类活动影响显著。     

Small Area Estimation for Disease Prevalence Mapping

Small area estimation (SAE) entails estimating characteristics of interest for domains, often geographical areas, in which there may be few or no samples available. SAE has a long history and a wide variety of methods have been suggested, from a bewildering range of philosophical standpoints. We describe design-based and model-based approaches and models that are specified at the area level and at the unit level, focusing on health applications and fully Bayesian spatial models. The use of auxiliary information is a key ingredient for successful inference when response data are sparse, and we discuss a number of approaches that allow the inclusion of covariate data. SAE for HIV prevalence, using data collected from a Demographic Health Survey in Malawi in 2015–2016, is used to illustrate a number of techniques. The potential use of SAE techniques for outcomes related to coronavirus disease 2019 is discussed.     

Financial analyst coverage for U.S. firms facing foreign competition: Evidence from trade liberalization

This study examines financial analyst coverage for U.S. firms following an increase in foreign product market competition. To capture exogenous shocks to domestic firms' competitive environments, we exploit a quasi‐natural experiment from large import tariff reductions over the 1984 to 2005 period in the manufacturing sector. Using data for the years before and after large tariff reductions, our difference‐in‐differences analysis shows evidence of a significant decrease in analyst coverage for incumbent U.S. firms when they face greater entry threat from foreign competitors. We also find that analysts with less firm‐specific experience and less accurate prior‐period forecasts are more likely to stop following the domestic firm when foreign competition intensifies. Overall, the findings suggest that foreign product market competition from global trade liberalization is an important determinant of financial analysts' coverage decisions.     

Organizational characteristics explaining participation in sustainable business models in the sharing economy: Evidence from the fashion industry using conjoint analysis

Environmental and social challenges require new sustainable business models, like sharing platforms. However, sharing platforms differ widely in their contribution to a more sustainable society. Whereas idealistic sharing platforms have dominant social goals, other sharing platforms are, or became, commercial. We explore the attractiveness of the typical organizational characteristics of idealistic sharing platforms in the fashion industry context, an industry with negative environmental and social impacts. Based on a literature review and exploratory focus groups, we conduct an online survey using conjoint analysis, completed by 1,512 respondents. Our results reveal that potential users prefer clothes sharing platforms to be small, to not partner with large clothing retailers, to have the possibility to participate in decision‐making, but to not require shareholding.