Housing differences in the late Soviet city: the case of Tartu,Estonia

Research on the residential and housing differences of urban populations in post‐second world war Central and Eastern Europe has a tradition extending back to the 1960s. Most studies have focused on the Polish, Czech and Hungarian (large) cities using aggregatelevel data and testing simultaneously the impact of a few factors on residential and housing differences. This research clarifies the housing differences in the late Soviet era of Tartu (the second largest city in Estonia). Using the individual‐level data of the 1989 Soviet census and multivariate methods, the article demonstrates that several factors (age, education, occupation, employment sector, ethnic origin, place of origin) shape the individual's housing and living conditions in the late Soviet period in Tartu. On the one hand, the results support the importance of the policy of different institutions (state, enterprises) in shaping people's living conditions; on the other hand, they also point to people's resources and desires as the cause.     

Maintaining competitiveness under equilibrium real appreciation: The case of Slovakia

This paper estimates the equilibrium real exchange rate path for the Slovak koruna. It finds that the real exchange rate was undervalued until recently, as Slovak prices were low even when adjusted for differences in income and productivity. However, substantial increases in administered prices and indirect taxes have reduced most of this initial undervaluation and have brought the real exchange rate near equilibrium. Taking into account this “catch-up” effect, the productivity-driven equilibrium real appreciation rate during 2005−2009 is estimated at close to 3% per year, but can be significantly lower with the help of fiscal consolidation.     

昆明城市商业中心空间布局研究

简要归纳了国内外城市商业中心空间布局模式,提出了"向心"和"离心"两种模式,并围绕新昆明建设,重点研究商务中心空间布局,通过定性和定量分析提出重点打造中央商务区,重点建设4个二级商务中心,并探讨了其规划范围.     

Data protection in the outsourced call centre: an exploratory case study

Against a backdrop of growing concern about the protection of consumer data as it is transferred to call centres in offshore locations, this article examines data protection (DP) compliance in the multi-client outsourced call centre. Using an in-depth single case study of a South African outsourcer and drawing on the now extensive body of call centre research, it argues that routine DP compliance is predominantly driven by the employment relationship and the client contract. With no research of this nature ever having been undertaken previously, it is argued that compliance is affected by the manner in which employees are paid, contracted and performance managed. This study also confirms that the employment relationship is an information security measure for organisations.     

Winning,then Losing,the Battle with Globalization: Vietnamese Petty Traders in Slovakia

This article addresses the remarkable growth of Vietnamese market trading in Central and Eastern Europe, notably Slovakia, in the early 1990s, and its subsequent decline. The literature on ethnic entrepreneurship and cross‐border petty trading provides partial insights into this phenomenon, but fails to explain the levels of concentration of the Vietnamese in market trading, or the rapid changes in this sector. We therefore conceptualize them as being at the nexus of shifting flows of capital, goods and people, and draw on the notion of transnational spaces. L’article aborde le commerce du Vietnam en Europe centrale et de l’Est, notamment en Slovaquie, lequel a connu un remarquable essor au début des années 1990 suivi d’un déclin. Les travaux sur l’esprit d’entreprise ethnique et le petit commerce transfrontalier n’offrent qu’un éclairage partiel de ce phénomène, sans expliquer les niveaux de concentration des Vietnamiens dans le commerce ni les rapides transformations de ce secteur. L’article les conceptualise donc comme le c?ur des flux changeants de capitaux, marchandises et populations en s’inspirant de la notion d’espaces transnationaux.     

Leadership ideologies among European managers: A comparative survey in a multinational company

Adopting a subjective culture approach, the present study focuses on managers' beliefs about ideal leadership behaviour in organizations (i.e. leadership ideologies). On the basis of reported cultural dimensions which distinguish countries from one another, it is expected that the national origin of European managers will significantly influence their ideologies. The findings provide support for this assumption, since significant differences appeared between countries in eight aspects of leadership. Finally, the findings are compared with existing knowledge of cultural variation between these countries.     

Berlin’s Transformations: Postmodern,Postfordist ... or Neoliberal?

Books reviewed in this article: Hartmut Häußermann and Andreas Kapphan, Berlin: von der geteilten zur gespaltenen Stadt? Sozialräumlicher Wandel seit 1990 Stefan Krätke and Renate Borst, Berlin: Metropole zwischen Boom und Krise     

Bricolage in the urban cultural sector: the case of Bradford city of film

Abstract

This article discusses bricolage in the context of a social enterprise for urban development. It focuses on the case of BDK Limited, and discusses how this organisation contributes to the economic and social development of the British city of Bradford by promoting city-wide film-based cultural consumption and cultural pride. This research used semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis to examine this organisation’s different modes of material and ideational bricolage. The entrepreneurs serve as material bricoleurs as they transform the residuals of the city’s industrial past from materials of no use and reminders of backwardness to sites for cultural consumption. This paper also identifies patterns of ideational bricolage. In Bradford, ethnic diversity has long been discursively associated with conflicts and backwardness by local businesses, potential investors, the media and even urban social entrepreneurs themselves. However, in this case study, diversity is re-perceived as a cultural asset for urban tourism and related industries.     

Patterns,ideologies and strategies of non‐statutory employee representation in German private sector companies

Non‐statutory firm level employee representation (NSR), which in contrast to legally based works councils is composed of voluntary patterns, is by now only rarely recognised in German labour relations debate and research. Based on case studies, the article analyses the establishment, modes of operation and participation outcome of NSRs in German private sector companies. While previous NSR research in countries such as Britain and the United States mainly focused on employer‐initiated representation plans, the array of NSRs in German companies appears to be broader: Four types of NSRs are introduced, and a theoretical account is developed, which emphasises cultural–institutional arguments and actors strategies. Hence, it is argued that while NSRs appear to be instruments of management seeking to effectively organise company interest regulation, they strongly reflect cultural conditions and ideologies of non‐statutory employee representation.     

由城市管理重心下移看行政管理体制改革

城市管理重心下移是由市级城管部门集中主要精力进行城市管理的宏观指导和监督检查考核,由区、县一级政府全面负责辖区内的城市日常管理,城市维护作业,街道和社区动员市民和辖区单位参与城市管理的全新体制。长沙市至2006年起开始实行城市管理重心下移的新体制,至今已有两年多时间,对于在运行过程中暴露出来的问题引人深思,城市管理下移体制在实践中仍然需要不断的创新和完善。     

Shifts in autonomy, responsibility and control from centre to periphery in public administration: the case of the ministry of finance in Italy

In tackling administrative reform and in the hope of improving the effective allocation of resources, most European governments have shown a growing interest in adopting private sector management models in the public administration. The assumption underlying this paper is that the decisive variables in the different national contexts have to do with the relationships between the central and the peripheral administrative levels, and the way in which administrative actors at the two levels interpret their roles and participate in the reform process. The paper examines the case of the reform of the Italian Ministry of Finance. In seeking to improve its performance and the services it provides, the ministry reform is intended to introduce a management system in which the key concepts are the planning, programming and control of administrative action and results. According to reform rhetoric, shaping a new class of administrative managers at the local level is the crux of the question. However, research results hint that the “creation” of this new local executive staff is yet to be completed. The working hypothesis advanced is that this is due to local executives’ lack of confidence in the “system”, inasmuch as the reform process has so far been characterised by a tendency to give them responsibility without autonomy and autonomy without control. The greater their lack of trust, the lesser their willingness to risk the consequences of failure and the greater their tendency to stick to defensive positions and to return to previous “bureaucratic” conceptions and ways of operating.     

城市特质空间形态解析--以杭州城市空间形态变迁为例

探讨了城市空间形态的形成和演变机制,重点剖析了杭州天然廊道空间形态、街道空间形态和节点空间形态等具有代表性的城市内部空间形态与杭州城市特色内涵之间的关系,对未来杭州城市空间形态的发展方向和重点作了前瞻性探讨,提出塑造特质城市空间形态是保持和发展城市特色内涵的重要内容和手段.     

水污染造成的城市生活经济损失研究——以广东省为例

采用防护费用法计算水污染造成的城市生活经济损失,该计算方法考虑了因水污染造成城市饮用水处理需付出的额外成本和城市居民因担心水污染影响健康而采用家庭自来水净化防护措施的成本两部分.分别给出了上述两部分损失的计算模型,并利用在广东省调查所取得的基础数据进行了核算,计算表明,2004年广东省因水污染造成的城市生活经济损失占GDP的0.41%,已经影响到了经济发展和人们的日常生活.     

宁国从经营城市的理念中走向辉煌——访宁国市市长黄东升

真是“百闻不如一见”。如果不是实地所见 ,很难相信位于安徽省皖南山区的宁国市发展得如此之快 ,如此之好 :1 995年宁国市在安徽省率先进入全国综合实力百强县行列 ,也是中西部地区仅有的三个“百强”县市之一 ;2 0 0 0年 ,宁国市实现国内生产总值 40亿元 ,财政收入 2 65亿元 ,是“九五”期间发展最好的年份之一 ,它的经济综合实力在安徽省 74个县市中名列榜首 ;一、二、三产业的比重为 1 7∶54∶2 9;全市有“三资”企业近 40家 ,合资方不仅有来自日、韩、泰、台湾、香港等亚洲国家和地区的外商 ,更有来自美国、英国、意大利、瑞典、加拿…     

Evaluating the value of an entrepreneurial city with a spatial hedonic approach: A case study of London

This study assesses the value of a city by using the housing price function with a geographically weighted regression model, including various social, economic, and environmental factors. To assess these values, various specific data scores—such as those related to ethnic groups, green areas, crime rates, education, unemployment rates, number of entrepreneurs, and environmental quality—were considered in a case study of London. The results indicate that some variables such as time to city center and entrepreneurship have a positive impact on the local areas’ value in London, as shown by housing prices, while those related to unemployment have a negative impact. Moreover, although the London city center has benefitted more in terms of value than its outskirts have, a few specific policies related to startups and entrepreneurship have succeeded in connecting these areas to existing companies and entrepreneurs. In general, large cities may be better equipped to promote such startup and entrepreneurship policies under local industry plans for future development.