The development strategy for china's travel service industry after china's WTO entry: Present status and future prospects

China's tourism market is growing in importance since China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is likely that China's opening to the world market will lead to the further development of its travel service industry. Even though China will be confronted by some difficulties, its WTO commitment may have positive impacts on the travel service industry such as the development of technologies, introduction of advanced management strategies, improved industrial structure, and increased competition in the sector. This paper aims to explain the WTO‐related factors in China's travel service industry, analyzing and evaluating the sector's development strategy.     

Latent advantage,complex challenges: Industrial policy and Chinese linkages in Ethiopia's leather sector

Industrial policy is back on the African policy agenda, with a number of countries following new strategies for rapid industrialization. None have done so more eagerly than Ethiopia. The present paper draws on Justin Yifu Lin's framework of New Structural Economics to assess Ethiopia's industrial policies and engagement in the leather industry. Making use of two rounds of semi-structured interviews (2012 and 2015) with all of the foreign firms and more than a dozen local firms in the leather sector, as well as other key stakeholders, it examines seven steps the government took to build the industrial policy: Create a high-level focus on the sector; make strategic use of international development partners; attract a “lead goose” (Chinese) in the footwear sector; build government capacity to support the sector; strengthen business associations; “shock-to-shape” upgrading; improve input supply. Ultimately, while government interventions have led to improvements across several steps of the value chain, the paper identifies a number of factors that have prevented the country from fully realizing a latent comparative advantage in the leather sector.     

民航绿色服务产品选择意愿的影响因素研究——基于游戏化理论

基于游戏化理论，从航空旅客视角出发，结合民航绿色服务产品，探索旅客选择民航绿色服务产品的影响因素。通过采用有序Logit回归分析法，实证分析发现，关系元素、反馈与挑战、组件元素、竞争元素显著正向影响旅客对民航绿色服务产品的选择。民航企业可以通过运用关键游戏化元素设计民航绿色服务产品，以提高旅客的选择意愿。     

Nelspruit and Dolphin Coast: Lessons from the first concession contracts

South Africa's first two long‐term concession contracts for water and sanitation were signed in early 1999. These complex public‐private partnerships (PPPs) in Nelspruit and Dolphin Coast will use private sector management expertise, as well as huge amounts of private capital investment, to address service delivery challenges in both areas. Especially important will be the extension of essential services to previously disadvantaged residents of both municipalities. The processes of preparing and negotiating these deals have been long and difficult. Councillors and officials have had to overcome a series of obstacles on their way to closing the deal, including fundamental misunderstandings about how such projects work on the part of unions, the general public, other government officials and even some members of South Africa's financial services community. This article provides an account of how and why these PPP projects were developed, and offers some of the key lessons learned regarding how to improve the process in the future.     

Managing a scarce resource in a growing Asian economy: Water usage in Hong Kong

An econometric analysis of Hong Kong's monthly per capita water usage for the 25-year period of April 1985 through March 2010 reveals that per capita usage is insensitive to price but dependent upon past usage, per capita income, weather, and seasonal factors, with rising income countering what would otherwise be a downward trend. Given Hong Kong's current inflationary environment and large government budget surplus, these findings affirm the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department's adopted strategy of total water management towards sustainable use of water resources, in lieu of either periodic service interruption or price increases as policy instruments.     

State‐owned Enterprises: NWSC's Turnaround in Uganda

Abstract: Oversight agencies in the water sector emphasize performance monitoring based on outputs, such as customers served, volume delivered, and service quality. However, bureaucratic tendencies can curtail operational innovation and creativity. In situations where managers lack full operating knowledge and capacities, proactive and consultative monitoring and regulation can yield benefits. This study reviews the results of Uganda's National Water and Sewerage Corporation's (NWSC) approach to performance monitoring (and ‘self‐regulation’). The purpose of this study is to outline corrective actions undertaken by the NWSC Management and Staff to turn around performance, the sequencing of those steps, and the outcomes from this reform program. The NWSC focuses on promoting improvements in technical processes and input selection. Improvements in service quality and network expansion resulted from aligning performance improvement initiatives with the organization's financial performance and team development. The program's success required managing organizational rigidities and moving towards full cost‐recovery. In particular, organizational incentives and information flows encouraged managers to reduce rules and procedures that hindered strong performance. African proverbs are interspersed throughout the article to underscore key themes and lessons for those designing, implementing, and evaluating infrastructure sector reform initiatives.     

The Effect of Enterprise Systems Implementation on the Firm Information Environment

This study uses an archival research design to assess the impact of enterprise systems on a firm's internal information environment as reflected in the production of management earnings forecasts. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that, if enterprise systems improve management's access to decision‐relevant internal information, higher quality management earnings forecasts should ensue. Consistent with disclosure theory and the purported technical characteristics of enterprise systems, the authors find a positive association between enterprise system implementations and subsequent increases in the likelihood of management forecast issuance and the accuracy of the forecasts. Additional robustness tests support the argument that improvements in management forecasts are due to improvements in the firm's internal information environment rather than to enhancements in management's ability to manage earnings. Beyond accumulating financial reporting information, the authors note that such systems provide management with information to make day‐to‐day operational decisions. Moreover, the paper provides a basis for considering management forecast qualities as a measurable proxy for improvements in the firm's internal information environment that result from information technology investments.     

组织员工授权知觉与员工服务质量关系探析——基于典型相关分析

以国家会议中心各部门的一线服务人员及其所服务的客户作为主要调查对象，259份有效问卷作为样本，利用SPSS20.0对调查结果进行典型相关分析，探析了员工授权知觉与服务质量的关系。结果表明：组织员工授权知觉和员工服务质量之间存在正相关关系，员工对自己工作能力的信心强度和对自己是否拥有工作自主权与独立权的感知程度更能有效的影响到客户对员工服务质量的评价，在提高员工授权知觉的情况下，员工的服务质量会得到提高，并凸显在服务的效率和可靠性这两方面。对一线服务员工进行适当的放权，使其授权知觉水平提高，有利于增强员工自信心，树立员工的责任感和价值感，提高员工服务工作的效率及可信赖性。     

Poverty: Deprivations in terms of basic needs

Although income-based poverty focuses on an important dimension of poverty, it only gives a partial picture of the many ways in which human lives can be blighted. This study focuses on deprivations in terms of the most basic needs, such as access to safe water and sanitation. Policy makers and other people usually ask, 'With the new government in place, has poverty become worse or are we winning the fight against poverty?' The study seeks to investigate if there have been improvements in the situation in South Africa between 1995 and 1999. The October Household Surveys conducted in 1995 and 1999 are used in the study. The t-test is used to assess the statistical significance of the changes.     

WATER BILL ESTIMATION WHEN PRICE IS CRYPTIC: EXPERIENCE FROM WINDHOEK,NAMIBIA

For water policy to be effective, policy makers must know how water users perceive and respond to changes in water prices. However, it is not uncommon for water prices faced by consumers to be unclear. In Windhoek, Namibia, the marginal and average water price is difficult to calculate from the information provided in users' utility bills. This paper applies a hedonic pricing approach to investigate price perceptions of water users in a setting with cryptic price information. Using self‐reported water charges as the dependent variable, the pricing model utilises reported utility characteristics and other factors that may affect perceived price. Low‐income standpipe water users report a weighted average monthly charges of N$24.68, whereas users in high income segments report N$521.34. This reflects differences in service levels, possible subsidies to low‐income users and potential errors in respondents' understanding of their water price. Average price per litre (N$11.78 for the low‐use segment; N$1.89 for the highest segment of Tier 1 water use) tends to be perceived as higher by those with lower water use even though average prices in the relevant range should generally be identical.     

基于多元联系数集对分析模型的城市突发事件应急能力评价

针对城市突发事件应急能力评价问题,基于应急管理全过程理念,按照事前预防、事中处置和事后恢复3个方面建立城市突发事件应急能力评价指标体系。引入集对分析的五元联系数构建同异反评价模型对城市应急能力现状进行分析,通过五元联系数的偏联系数对潜在发展趋势进行预测,实现静态与动态分析的有效结合,为城市针对薄弱环节提升能力指明了方向。将模型应用于某城市进行实证分析,评价结果与实际情况进行比较,验证了该模型在城市突发事件应急能力评价中的可行性,可为其他城市突发事件应急能力评价提供参考。     

Income and Price Elasticities of China＇s Exports

The appearance of new product varieties and improvements in the quality of goods have both played key roles in the rapid growth of China's exports. However, these two important elements have not been formally integrated into the demand equations for China's exports. As we demonstrate in this paper, income elasticity will be underestimated if new varieties of goods and quality improvements are omitted in price index and quantity index calculations, which are necessary for estimating the export demand function. Moreover, the faster new product varieties enter export markets, the greater the underestimation will be. In this paper, we develop an export demand equation that takes into account new product varieties and improvements in quality, and then calculate the demand function for China's exports using the data from 1992 to 2006. According to our estimation, the short‐term income elasticity of demand for China's exports is approximately 2.34, and the short‐term price elasticity is approximately –0.65. Our estimation predicts an increase in China's export value in the case of an RMB appreciation or export rebate rates reduction in the short term, due to the low price elasticity of China's exports, whose absolute value is less than 1. Our findings are novel and could have significant policy implications.     

Water pricing with household surveys: A study of acceptability and willingness to pay in Chongqing,China

In determining domestic water prices, policy makers frequently need to use demand-side information rather than only rely on supply-side data as previously did, and household surveys are often conducted to collect information on the demand side. This paper presents a multiple bounded discrete choice (MBDC) survey model for collecting information about acceptability of different water prices by different types of households and estimating households' willingness to pay for water service improvement. The results obtained from MBDC surveys can be directly utilized in the development of water pricing and subsidy policies. An empirical MBDC study is conducted in Chongqing, China, where domestic water service quality was seriously inadequate, but financial resources were insufficient to improve the service quality. With a survey of 1500 households in five suburban districts in Chongqing Municipality, this study shows that a significant increase in water price is economically feasible as long as the poorest households are properly subsidized. The analysis also indicates that the order in which hypothetical prices are presented to the respondents with the MBDC method can systematically affect the answers and should be taken into account when designing such survey instruments.     

跨区域合作：沪澳共建青年科技创新人才协同培养机制研究

人才是第一资源,创新是第一动力。推动青年科技创新人才培养跨区域合作对我国人才强国战略的实施具有重要意义。对上海与澳门两大城市间青年科技创新人才协同培养机制展开研究,利用熵值法分析目前沪澳青年科技创新人才培养机制中存在的问题,使用ESDA(探索性空间数据分析)法探究跨区域合作中人才效应的空间依赖性和空间异质性。结果表明：水平发展层面,澳门的青年科技创新人才培养综合评价得分总体高于上海,两个城市的总体综合得分都呈现递增趋势;空间发展层面,沪澳青年科技创新人才培养产出呈现出空间负相关的集聚模式,上海、澳门分别呈现高-低、低-高集聚的空间格局,上海具有更好的人才“虹吸效应”。基于研究结果提出完善产学研人才培养机制、深化沪澳青年科技创新人才国际合作、加大青年科技创新人才培养力度等建议。     

The Use and Usefulness of Performance Measures in the Public Sector

The paper focuses on the empirical evidence on the use and usefulnessof performance measures in the public sector. It begins withconsideration of the features of the public sector which makethe use of performance measures complex: the issues of multipleprincipals and multiple tasks. It discusses the form that performancemeasures may take, the use made of these measures, and the responsesthat individuals may make to them. Empirical examples from thefields of education and health, with a focus on the USA andUK, are examined. There is clear evidence of responses to suchmeasures. Some of these responses improve efficiency, but othersdo not and fall into the category of ‘gaming’. Generally,there has been little assessment of whether performance measuresbring about improvements in service. The paper ends with considerationof how such measures should be used and what measures are usefulto collect.     

An Examination of Auditors' Decisions to Use Internal Auditors as Assistants: The Effect of Inherent Risk*

Abstract. Few studies have examined auditors' decisions to use internal auditors as assistants. In addition, those that have investigated this issue have primarily concentrated on the three internal audit factors: objectivity, competence, and work performed. This study expands the research in this area by investigating the impact of inherent risk on auditors' decisions to use internal auditors as assistants. Specifically, the study examines the effect of inherent risk on (1) the extent to which auditors consider factors related to the internal audit function in making decisions to use internal auditors as assistants and (2) the complexity of auditors' decision processes in making such judgments. The results indicate that inherent risk impacts the extent to which internal audit objectivity and work performed affect auditors' decisions to use internal auditors as assistants. In high inherent risk conditions, the results suggest that auditors use a complex configural decision process to evaluate the objectivity and work performed of the internal auditors. Specifically, in the high inherent risk condition, the effect of the work performed by the internal auditors on auditors' decisions to use internal auditors as assistants is contingent upon the level of internal audit objectivity. When objectivity is high, differences in the nature of the work performed by the internal auditors have a significant effect on auditor judgments. However, when objectivity is low, auditors do not appear to consider the work performed by the internal auditors. In the low inherent risk condition, no interactions exist between internal audit objectivity and work performed as auditors appear to use a less complex decision process in evaluating these variables. Résumé. Peu de chercheurs se sont penchés sur les décisions des vérificateurs de faire appel aux vérificateurs internes à titre d'assistants. En outre, ceux qui se sont intéressés à cette question se sont concentrés avant tout sur des facteurs propres à la fonction de vérification interne, notamment l'objectivité du service de vérification interne, sa compétence et le travail qu'il accomplit. L'auteur élargit les perspectives dans ce domaine en analysant l'incidence du risque inhérent sur les décisions des vérificateurs relatives au service de vérification interne. Il examine plus précisément l'incidence du risque inhérent sur 1) la mesure dans laquelle les vérificateurs tiennent compte des facteurs liés à la fonction de vérification interne dans leur décision de faire appel aux vérificateurs internes à titre d'assistants et 2) la complexité du processus décisionnel qu'utilisent les vérificateurs dans la formulation de ces jugements. Les résultats indiquent que le risque inhérent a des répercussions sur la mesure dans laquelle l'objectivité du service de vérification interne et le travail qu'il accomplit interviennent dans la décision des vérificateurs de recourir à l'assistance des vérificateurs internes. En situation de risque inhérent élevé, les résultats obtenus donnent à penser que les vérificateurs utilisent un processus décisionnel configurationnel complexe pour évaluer l'objectivité des vérificateurs internes et le travail qu'ils accomplissent. Pour être plus précis, en situation de risque inhérent élevé, l'incidence du travail accompli par les vérificateurs internes sur la décision des vérificateurs dépend du niveau d'objectivité du service de vérification interne. Lorsque l'objectivité est élevée, les différences dans la nature du travail accompli par les vérificateurs internes ont une incidence marquée sur le jugement des vérificateurs. Toutefois, lorsque l'objectivité est faible, les vérificateurs ne semblent pas prendre en considération le travail accompli par les vérificateurs internes. En situation de risque inhérent faible, il n'existe aucune interaction entre l'objectivité du service de vérification interne et le travail accompli, étant donné que les vérificateurs semblent recourir à un processus décisionnel moins complexe pour évaluer ces variables.     

Service delivery frameworks as instruments of citizen empowerment: A tale of two experiences,India and South Africa

This paper presents a comparative assessment of South Africa and India's service delivery improvement strategies, challenges, successes and lessons learnt in advancing their service delivery reform programmes. The cardinal argument in the paper is that the public administrative systems adopted and inherited in the post-democratic epochs in India and South Africa were incapable of meeting the service delivery needs of their respective citizens. They epitomised the traditional and hierarchical public administrative systems that were the object of reforms in the 1990s. The reform initiatives also coincided with global reforms on public administration systems taking place under the aegis of the new public management framework. A key feature of new public management is its application of private-sector ideas to the public sector, such as individual accountability. The paper further undertakes a comparative review of service delivery improvement frameworks of South Africa (Batho Pele) and India (Sevottam) in relation to their objectives and implementation modalities.     

营商环境视域下巴州旅游知识产权保护研究

旅游者对个性化和精神享受的追求促使知识产权成为旅游市场的核心竞争要素。旅游经营者的知识产权开发意识已经觉醒,但运用商标权、著作权和专利权等知识产权的能力还不足,需要继续培育和加强保护。目前旅游知识产权的保护还不完善,表现为公共服务需求还得不到满足、行政保护有待加强、社会保护发展缓慢。要通过完善旅游知识产权公共服务、强化旅游知识产权行政执法、鼓励旅游知识产权服务机构发展等措施,形成旅游知识产权保护体系,改善旅游营商环境。     

技术进步、效率变化、资本积累与我国地区服务业发展

本文用非参数生产前沿方法将我国1978—2007年服务业劳均产出增长分解为效率变化、技术进步和资本积累的贡献三个部分,并用方差分解方法估算了各部分对地区服务业劳均产出增长率差异的贡献,然后采用核密度分布方法分析了上述三个部分对地区服务业发展的影响。研究发现：（1）技术进步是促进各地区服务业增长的重要因素,其作用随资本积累的提高呈上升趋势;（2）效率虽然对服务业经济增长的平均贡献较小,但却是各地区服务业增长率差异的主要原因;（3）资本积累在不同时期对地区服务业增长的贡献差别很大,其作用随时间发展呈上升趋势。     

Socioeconomic Determinants of Child Health: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia

This paper characterizes the socioeconomic determinants of child health using height‐for‐age z‐score (HAZ), a long‐run measure of chronic nutritional deficiency. We construct a panel data that follows children between ages 3 and 59 months in 1993 through the 1997 and 2000 waves of the Indonesian Family Life Survey. We use this data to identify the various child‐level, household‐level and community‐level factors that affect children's health. Our findings indicate that household income has a large and statistically significant role in explaining improvements in HAZ. We also find a strong positive association between parental height and HAZ. At the community level, we find that provision of electricity and the availability of paved roads are positively associated with improvements in HAZ. Finally, in comparison to community‐level factors, household‐level characteristics play a large role in explaining the variation in HAZ. These findings suggest that policies that address the demand‐side constraints have greater potential to improve children's health outcomes in the future.