Property and liability stockholder yields and accounting profits

The market rate of return and related risk of a group of 23 property-liability insurers are explored. The focus is on the return earned by the stockholders of these firms. Previous studies have only examined the accounting rate of return. This study compares the accounting rate of returns to stockholder yields. Several factors that effect the return earned by shareholders are reviewed.The average return on the property-liability stocks studies was 4.0 percentage points greater than the accounting rate of return (0.14 vs 0.10). This evidence suggests that studies based only on accounting rates of return under-estimate returns earned by property-liability shareholders. On a risk-return basis property-liability profits were found not to be significantly different from the general stock market. However, several individual firms had superior stockholder yields. The beta for the group of firms was 1.09.     

Speeding solar energy commercialization: A Delphi research of marketplace factors

A two-stage Delphi research study was undertaken to determine and measure the attitudes of the public regarding factors that may either inhibit or stimulate solar energy commercialization today and over the next 10 years. Some factors judged important were product cost, lack of product knowledge, lack of governmental support, and public concern over the energy crisis. The factors were determined by a group of energy conscious respondents who completed the Delphi research. They also indicated the likely and desirable actions to be taken by government and business. These included more funding of research and development, tax incentives, increased public education, and reduced prices. The Delphi research proved to be an effective method for investigating solar energy commercialization, as the attitudes expressed in the second survey converged with those identified during the first stage. Furthermore, governmental and business actions suggested in the study could help to initiate greater solar energy use and developmental efforts.     

Vendor selection and the buying process

This paper reports the results of a study dealing with the vendor selection process in organizational buying. Purchasing managers in two different types of organizations assessed the importance of vendor attributes and buyer information sources in connection with two different buying tasks. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in connection with: (1) the relative importance of vendor attributes and buyer information sources; and (2) the influence that different buying tasks and different buying organizations have on the importance of vendor attributes and information sources.     

大学“应试教育”的透析与思考

文章从大学英语四、六级考试“考研热”“标准化”的期末考试和“考证热”四个方面论述了大学“应试教育”的存在及其产生的不良效应；从社会树立多元人才观，理性看待学历与文凭；从高校明确培养目标，深化高等教育教学改革和大学生端正个人价值观、成才观三个层面论述了如何消解大学“应试教育”负面影响。     

Institutional Dances: How the First Accounting Degree in Canada Came to Be at the University of Saskatchewan*/ PÉRIPÉTIES COMPTABLES: LA CRÉATION DU PREMIER DIPLÔME CANADIEN EN COMPTABILITÉÀ L'UNIVERSITÉ DE SASKATCHEWAN

This paper tells how the School of Accounting and the bachelor of science in accounting degree were established at the University of Saskatchewan. Archives, various published histories, and contemporaneous periodicals serve as the main sources of information. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan plays a key role in the history and it is evident that the establishment of the accounting program was critical for the legitimacy of both the University and the Institute. The paper argues that the University of Saskatchewan had the first school of accounting and the first accounting degree in Canada. A brief overview of the development of other business‐oriented degrees and diplomas in universities across Canada is provided in order to support this claim. Based on the history provided and some additional contextual material, some speculation is offered as to why the University of Saskatchewan was the first to offer an accounting degree instead of one of the older, more established universities in eastern Canada. The paper makes three contributions. First, it fills a void in the literature with regard to the history of the School of Accounting and the accounting degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Second, it provides a bird's‐eye view of the establishment of business education programs at other universities in Canada. Third, it adds to our understanding of the relationship between the accounting profession and academe by demonstrating how people and institutions align to create new educational mechanisms.     

广西大学女科技人员现状分析

随着社会的发展、科技的进步,妇女在各个领域中的作用日益突出。广西大学是广西壮族自治区唯一的一所国家"211工程"重点建设大学和地方综合性教学研究型大学。文章试从广西大学女科技人员基本状况入手,探析她们未充分发挥作用的原因,并从中寻求对策,以利于女科技人员在促进广西乃至全国的科技发展中发挥更加重要的作用。     

海南大学专业英语教学情况调查

日前，各高校专业英语的发展和实施情况未尽人意。因此，从课程设置、教学师资、教材、教学方法等四个方面，了解海南大学非语言类专业的专业英语的教学现状，借此找出海南大学专业英语教学存在的问题，试图挖掘问题产生的根源并提出相应的建议。     

关于"大学生素质拓展计划"实施的思考

“大学生素质拓展计划”的提出对于全面加强素质教育,进一步开发大学生人力资源具有重要意义。实施大学生素质拓展计划具有特定的社会价值。“大学生素质拓展计划”是一个完善的教育和人才开发体系,在实施过程中需要不断地发展和完善。     

海绵城市理念在校园风景园林规划设计中的应用——以天津大学北洋园校区为例

当前中国面临着城市内涝、水资源短缺等一系列水问题，海绵城市理念的应用正是解决这些问题的有效途径。通过分析海绵城市的建设理念及实践，并以天津大学北洋园校区为例，结合国内外雨洪管理的理念、技术和方法，构建了以分区而治、内外联合为主的“弹性”雨洪管理系统。将校园划分为3个子排水分区，阐明“海绵城市”的理念。校园设计提出了保护场地原有的生态系统，利用生态修复来减缓施工造成的损害，并在设计和施工中使用低影响开发(LID)实践等设计目标，以期指导我国海绵试点城市的建设     

预防性技术采用元分析及其对创新鸿沟跨越的启示——以可穿戴医疗健康设备为例

区别于增值性创新,预防性创新为采用者带来的收益难以直接观察,创新决策过程较少得到学者关注。为探索预防性创新接受行为的关键决定因素及其对在创新扩散过程中影响大小的变化,本元分析以可穿戴医疗健康设备为例,基于技术接受模型及其扩展模型、隐私计算模型、创新扩散理论与健康信念模型构建了概念模型并收集了28项研究对假设进行检验。研究结果表明:①本元分析中选取的变量可有效预测用户预防性创新的采用;②随着投稿年份增加,态度、感知有用性、感知易用性、绩效期待、努力期待、社会影响、便利条件、娱乐动机、信任、兼容性、顾客创新对使用意愿,健康信念对感知有用性之间的显著关系逐渐增强。此外,感知益处、感知隐私风险也显著影响使用意愿;③随着创新产品的扩散,用户对产品提出更高要求。