从历史的发展看中国传统文化和价值观的变迁

历史的进程,总以不可更改的步伐前行着.而人类,在这个过程中,一代代地繁衍生息,通过自己的谨慎思考,把传统与现代、历史与现实,作了一个深刻的诠释.本文以价值观的演变作为焦点,穿越历史的脚步,再次见证和说明了一个民族一路前行中的战争、灾难、病痛、思考、辉煌和无所畏惧.     

Crime and punishment in the “American Dream”

We observe that countries where belief in the “American dream”(i.e., effort pays) prevails also set harsher punishment for criminals. We know that beliefs are also correlated with several features of the economic system (taxation, social insurance, etc). Our objective is to study the joint determination of these three features (beliefs, punitiveness and economic system) in a way that replicates the observed empirical patterns. We present a model where beliefs determine the types of contracts that firms offer and whether workers exert effort. Some workers become criminals, depending on their luck in the labor market, the expected punishment, and an individual shock that we call “meanness”. It is this meanness level that a penal system based on “retribution” tries to detect when deciding the severity of the punishment. We find that when initial beliefs differ, two equilibria can emerge out of identical fundamentals. In the “American” (as opposed to the “French”) equilibrium, belief in the “American dream” is commonplace, workers exert effort, there are high powered contracts (and income is unequally distributed) and punishments are harsh. Economists who believe that deterrence (rather than retribution) shapes punishment can interpret the meanness parameter as pessimism about future economic opportunities and verify that two similar equilibria emerge.     

Price oscillation, oligopolistic behaviour and inflation: The Argentine case

This paper argues that the degree of relative price oscillation is one of the essential characteristics of any inflationary process. Inflations which are similar in terms of their overall inflationary rates may be differentiated by the degree of price oscillations. The paper also contends that price oscillations are very much the consequence of an underlying struggle between oligopolistic groups for a share of the income, and that this behaviour has become more generalized than before and has become one of the major causes, and one of the most dangerous effects, of inflation. Much of this interpretation is based on the recent experience of Argentina.     

人力资源管理模式:基于工作与素质的研究

基于工作与素质的人力资源管理不仅追求人与职的匹配,更关注人与组织的匹配。由于对员工的知识、技能要求较高,这种管理模式相应地增加了企业的成本,而且要求有相应的组织环境、文化环境做支撑。因此,不同的企业在构建基于工作和素质的人力资源管理模式时,应充分考虑企业自身的实际加以运作。     

The role of lean launch execution and launch timing on new product performance

There is a substantial literature on the product development process but comparatively little on the impact of lean launch execution and launch timing on new product performance. Given the costs and risks involved in product commercialization, this research gap is surprising. Delays in product launch can lead to poor channel cooperation and coordination, missed market opportunities, and lost competitive opportunities, yet timing of the launch has not been included in many reported studies. In addition, managers at many firms have prioritized supply chain activities such as integration of logistics with other functional areas in order to obtain cost efficiencies and accelerate time to market; the role of lean launch execution in improving new product performance has also received little research attention. In this study, we build a conceptual model in which lean launch, launch timing, and quality of marketing effort are modeled as precursors to new product performance; we assess the role of market orientation and cross-functional integration in lean launch execution as well as indirect and direct effects of launch timing on performance. We empirically test our model with a sample of 183 U.S.-based corporate managers actively involved in new product launch. We find evidence that execution of a lean launch and effective marketing significantly improve new product performance, and that correct launch timing positively moderates the effect of lean launch on performance. These variables therefore should be carefully considered by managers of new product processes.     

The Market Reorientation of Farms: The Case of Olive Growing in the Nebrodi Area

In addition to safeguarding the landscape, olive growing makes a unique contribution to protecting the environment and the agricultural ecosystem. Olive growing in mountainous and hilly areas is severely constrained by structural limitations. Rural tourism can be a potential strategy to increase the competitiveness of olive-growing activities. After an initial analysis of the relationship between landscape, tourism, and olive growing, this study focused on olive growing in the Nebrodi area. In particular, we examined two case studies of olive farms to analyze the related production costs and market positioning strategies.