What lies beneath: Climate change,land expropriation,and zaï agroecological innovations by smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana

Large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) are increasing in Ghana amid a weak legal and regulatory framework. This paper explores the impacts of this phenomenon on farmer innovations under recurrent environmental changes. Using a case study of zaï, an indigenous innovative farming practice, the paper makes two interrelated arguments. Firstly, it shows that the pervasive enclosures coerced by the Ghanaian state undermine how indigenous knowledge could be proactively deployed for climate risk management. Secondly, LSLAs produce a social barrier to climate change adaptation, as they lead to heightened uncertainty and apprehension among farmers, which affects decisions on climate risk management. More specifically, land expropriation is an example of how adaptation could be hindered by governance, institutions, and policy at the extra-local scale, including not only existing land use laws, but also the constitutional guarantee of private property. The evidence supporting these arguments come from survey data on 619 plots, 70 in-depth interviews, village-level transect walks, and participant observations. Overall, the paper contributes to emerging debates at the interface of land use policy, climate justice, and sustainable adaptation. Theoretically, it also contributes to understanding State-society relations, as well as the political economy of eminent domain, often justified through discourses of “public benefits.”     

Ex-post incentive compatible and individually rational assignments in housing markets with interdependent values

This paper presents a model for housing markets with interdependent values. We introduce private information on the quality of a house (i.e., high or low), which is known only to the initial owner. Interdependency means that the ex-post preference of an agent depends on the private information of the other agents with regard to the quality of houses. We prove that on a domain satisfying a richness condition, the no-trade rule is the only rule that satisfies ex-post incentive compatibility and ex-post individual rationality.     

Workplace civility training: understanding drivers of motivation to learn

Abstract

Training is recommended as an important human resource management (HRM) practice to prevent mistreatment and enhance civility, but little is known about what influences the effectiveness of civility training. The central aim of this study was to address how workgroup conditions influence employees' attitudes about civility training and motivation to learn, which previous research shows is a predictor of training outcomes. Predictors were posited to include psychological and workgroup climate for civility, and personal and ambient mistreatment experiences. These predictors were hypothesized to drive positive (training discrepancy) and negative (training skepticism) pre‐training attitudes, which in turn were expected to influence motivation to learn. Results suggest the influence of climate for civility and mistreatment experiences on motivation to learn is largely indirect via pre‐training attitudes. Training skepticism and training discrepancy have conflicting influences on motivation to learn. Findings provide an empirical basis for HRM professionals to maximize employee motivation to learn in their own civility interventions.     

An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends

One of the greatest challenges facing the world today is climate change. The need to consistently advance with environmentally sustainable practices in today's businesses is crucial, and businesses are demanded to be more environmentally sustainable every day. This study conducts an analysis of the literature on small and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs) environmental sustainability by carefully examining 122 studies from 58 journals published from 2013 to 2019. We investigate the trends in drivers and barriers of sustainability adoption to inform both SMEs managers and policymakers. Our results also classify the reviewed studies on the basis of their methodologies and show the distribution of studies across industry sectors and locations in order to set directions for future research on sustainability practices of SMEs.     

科技政策对企业创新的作用机制研究——以广东省为例的实证分析

科技创新是立国之本、强国之路。政府在不同阶段制定相应的科技政策，以求持续激励企业参与创新活动、提高企业核心竞争力、促进产业结构转型升级。基于广东省2005-2017年上市公司数据，采用计数模型实证分析了地级市政府科技政策对企业创新的影响及作用机制。研究表明：科技政策力度越大，越能提高企业的创新水平；科技政策的激励作用主要通过研发强度这一中介变量产生；科技政策不仅能促进企业的策略性创新行为，同时也会导致企业的实质性创新行为；直接激励类型的政策对企业创新并无显著影响，而营造创新氛围的间接激励类型政策则对企业创新有着显著的正向影响；政策激励对非国有企业、非高科技企业的正向作用更加明显。     

地方政府环境支出行为的空间策略互动研究*——传导机制与再检验

本文从理论和实证两个维度检验了地方政府环境支出行为的空间策略互动的传导机制。结果表明，环境支出存在明显的空间策略互动与时间滞后效应。其表现为相邻省级地区之间环保财政支出行为的互相模仿和路径依赖。外商直接投资和财政分权并不是导致地区间环境支出“逐底竞争”的直接原因。在构建多维度政绩考核体系来引导政府财政支出竞争的同时，建立地区间环境支出的协调机制和对外开放等途径，有利于实现均衡和绿色发展。     

Consumption,asset wealth,equity premium,term spread,and flight to quality

We link transitory deviations of consumption from its equilibrium relationship with aggregate wealth and labor income to equity returns on the one hand, and to two characteristics of bond investors—the premium demanded to hold long‐term assets, and “flight to quality” behavior—on the other hand. Using a panel of 10 euro area countries over the period 1984Q1–2017Q4, we show that a rise in the consumption–wealth ratio predicts both higher equity returns and the future term spread, while a fall in the consumption–wealth ratio explains a large fraction of the rise in the spread between the “risky” and the “safe‐haven” bond.     

农民宅基地退出差异性受偿意愿及其影响因素分析

研究目的:宅基地退出工作能否顺利推进与退地补偿息息相关,研究宅基地退出中农民差异性受偿意愿及其影响因素,以服务决策。研究方法:基于重庆市890份农民实地调查数据,应用多元离散选择模型(Logit)进行定量研究。研究结果:(1)传统农区的农民更愿意选择货币补偿;城乡结合部(街道办)的农民更愿意选择安置补偿;农民修建补偿选择率总体偏低,区位差异并不明显;(2)农民货币受偿意愿影响因素主要包括受教育程度、家庭主要成员是否定居城镇、非农务工收入、新居住地适应性;(3)农民安置受偿意愿影响因素主要包括年龄、农房是否自住、退地补偿是否有截留、村基础设施状况;(4)农民修建受偿意愿影响因素主要包括农房造价、农房是否新建、退地补偿是否有截留;(5)影响农民受偿意愿的因素存在较大差异,同一因素可能对农民选择受偿意愿产生不同的影响,但没有一个自变量同时对三个因变量产生显著影响。研究结论:应针对农民受偿意愿差异及其影响因素,实行产异化的补偿措施,在经济发展相对滞后的传统地区,强化村落基础设施建设的同时,加大现金补偿力度。对于经济较为发达、区位条件较好的城乡结合部地区,应加大安置补偿力度,以保障退地农民的居住权。     

分散决策下的双渠道供应链补偿策略——基于消费者渠道选择行为

为了有效解决由于对消费者的争夺从而引发的渠道之间关于定价、服务水平、利润等方面的冲突,基于消费者渠道选择行为,构建了网络直销市场与传统零售市场需求模型和双渠道供应链利润模型,运用Stackelberg模型,在制造商与零售商实施分决策时,通过制造商对零售商实施补偿激励前后的对比,分析了消费者渠道选择行为对网络直销渠道和传统零售渠道定价、制造商与零售商利润以及供应链总利润的影响,并求得最优定价及制造商的最优补偿额度和零售商的最优销售努力水平,进行了不同情况下的双渠道供应链利润的比较分析。结果表明,无论制造商是否实施补偿激励,都应随着网络消费者比例的增加而增加其网络直销价格;零售商的零售渠道价格应根据网络消费者比例的增加先降低到一定水平后再提升。当更多的消费者选择网络直销渠道时,制造商的补偿激励水平和零售商的销售努力程度均会下降。制造商应提高其补偿水平,进而激发零售商提高销售的努力水平,并使双方利润及供应链总利润最大化。研究结果为基于消费者选择行为的供应链补偿研究提供了新方法,对双渠道的供应链补偿研究有借鉴意义。