Middle Ground: Uniting City,Farm, and Nature with Diverse Agroecosystems

Farming, including family farming, is now dominated by vertically controlled operations that deplete the soil, pollute water, and produce food designed more to satisfy marketing requirements than human nutritional needs. Agricultural practices today are a result of abdicating control over our lives to a thoroughly industrialized culture, in which institutions are governed by the single criterion of efficiency‐‐finding least‐cost solutions. Standardization is a major part of that process. But living systems cannot be standardized. They require diversity and some degree of redundancy to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In the cultural contest between the machine and the garden, the machine has definitely won, but if we do not make room for the garden again, our victory will be our own funeral. New Agrarianism seeks to encourage diversity of species on each farm and across farms within entire landscapes. But farmers cannot carry out the restoration of ecologically‐oriented agriculture on their own. They need support from cities: 1) in the form of markets to sell locally‐grown produce at prices that will support their work, 2) in a new understanding of ecosystems that focuses on inhabited spaces and not just wilderness, and 3) in an orientation that questions whether efficiency should be the paramount value of our culture. Finally, the transition to more biologically‐diverse human settlements can come about only if economic incentives are modified to remove the unrelenting pressure on farmers to expand their operations or go out of business.     

Association,agreement, and equity

The paper attempts to make a clear distinction between three broad families of statistical indices: association, agreement, and what one may call equity. The need for this distinction arises in social research, for example, where reliability (accuracy, reproducibility, and stability) is assessed by measures of association rather than agreement. In this application, the assumptions built into an association measure conflict with the reality that gives rise to reliability data. A second motivation for this distinction is that association measures tend to express chance as the product of two potentially very different frequency distributions, agreement as the product of two identical distributions, and equity ignores such distributions altogether. A third motivation for this distinction is that the probability distribution of such measures does not depend on whether they are linear or non-linear, symmetrical or asymmetrical, or whether they express predictability or the extremality of a frequency distribution, but on their family membership. Notions of association, agreement, and equity have inherently nothing to do with the (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) ordering in data. The 2-by-2 case is therefore chosen as the basis of the proposed distinction. All statistical indices, whether they are designed to characterise multivariate data or to identify complex orderings, ought to be applicable to this most reduced case of two variables, making one distinction in each. To test a coefficient's membership in one of the three families, nothing more complex is needed.     

谈计划生育档案管理存在的问题及对策

计生档案管理作为计生部门的基础性工作,是国家档案事业的组成部分,也是计划生育的基础材料。就目前来看,我国计生部门以及医院在计生档案管理上还存在很多问题,如认识不足、管理不到位等,这要求相关单位、部门做好计生档案的管理工作,提高自身的管理意识,采用先进的管理方式,提高档案管理有效性。论文就当下我国计生档案管理中存在的问题展开合理的分析,并提出建设性的解决对策,促进我国人口健康事业的全面发展。     

Contributing to markets for technology? A comparison of patent filing motives of individual inventors,small companies and universities

We compare patenting motives of individual inventors, small firms, and universities to those of large firms. We use data from a survey (641 responses) among applicants at the European Patent Office. Our results from regression and factor analyses confirm significant differences among applicant types. The generation of licensing opportunities is rated as being more important if the applicant is a university, individual inventor or small firm. Blocking and prevention of imitation is rated as being less important if the applicant is a university. We interpret that this finding results from the universities' willingness to license under adequate conditions and their tendency not to use their patents for preventing the diffusion of their technology and its usage by others. Individual inventors and small firms place a higher importance on using patents as signals to investors, suggesting that patents are perceived as useful to secure access to the capital necessary to start or grow a business. Among all applicant groups, individual inventors attribute the most importance to blocking as a patent filing motive. This gives cause for concern because individuals who do not manufacture products on their own but, rather, use their patents to block others from production act as patent trolls.     

A new, transitive productivity index

The Malmquist productivity index is not transitive. This paper argues that, instead of trying to accommodate this two-period concept to a multi-period setting, it is preferable to look at the measurement of productivity, efficiency, and technical change in a multi-period setting from the outset. A new, transitive productivity index is developed with as by-product a measure of the non-neutrality of technical change. The various indices are illustrated on panel data of Swedish pharmacies.At the time of writing, R. Althin was employed by The Swedish Institute for Health Economics. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of Statistics Netherlands or The Swedish Institute for Health Economics.     

A Reconsideration of the Rationality Postulate: 'Right Hemisphere Thinking' in Economics

A bstract . The cardinal postulate of neoclassical economics is that individuals and entrepreneurs seek to maximize their unique positions in the world. Yet behind this postulate is an even more fundamental premise: that men are rational and can discern their own best interests. From Adam Smith on, it has been accepted that reasonable men act to maximize their own pecuniary advantage and in most economic models even the potential for irrationality is ignored. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly obvious from the research conclusions of other disciplines ( psychology, philosophy, political science, and sociology in particular) that the simplistic notion of " economic man ," posited so often in the economics literature, is more fancy than fact. There is an implicit recognition that the neoclassical assumptions may not be correct in the developing area of economic behaviorism. The economic behaviorists, however, adopt a more general definition of rationality, substituting what might be called a "modified rationality postulate" for the global rationality assumed in neoclassical theory. As a result, their conclusions do not differ greatly from those of the neoclassicists. Fortunately, ideas are now crystallizing in psychology which may enable us to shed light on decisions which previously would have had to be classified as non-rational, irrational, or unexplainable. Some of those ideas are explored.     

Do homeowners achieve more household wealth in the long run?

Despite the public’s faith in homeownership as a vehicle for wealth creation, there are surprisingly few empirical studies of the independent impact of homeownership and its duration on household wealth accumulation. This paper provides the first empirical evidence that homeownership, after controlling for other drivers of wealth accumulation, is positively and significantly associated with wealth accumulation over time. Using the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics, it examines the influence of housing tenure choices between 1989 and 2001 on household net wealth levels in 2001 after controlling for initial wealth in 1989, location, income, education, and other family and personal characteristics that might influence the rate of wealth accumulation. Importantly, the models used also control for the tendency of households to accumulate wealth between 1984 and 1989 (five years prior to the studied period). This approach is used to address the possibility that an unobserved variable—the propensity to save or accumulate wealth—may be associated with both the probability and duration of homeownership and the rate of wealth accumulation. All else equal, those who owned homes and owned for longer periods of time had significantly higher household net wealth by 2001. These results are compelling because house price appreciation over the period was near its long-run average while stock gains were above and real rent increases below their long-run averages. Hence, the findings are suggestive of a positive influence of ownership over long periods on net wealth, even during a period when alternative investments produced higher than normal returns and rents grew slowly. This is especially important because the overwhelmingly majority of households do not sell their homes shortly after buying them. In our sample, those who became owners typically owned for 7 years. Furthermore, most households that bought during a period of declining real home values in the early 1990s continued to own their homes for at least eight years and came out well ahead of those who did not own.     

Crowding Out Reciprocity between Working Parents and Companies with Corporate Childcare

When the government and companies invest in childcare, both do it with good intentions. While politicians have the intention of enhancing fertility and well‐being of families, employers expect positive responses from working parents based on the norm of reciprocity. Since industrialized countries increase public family support year by year, the question arises as to whether this may trigger unanticipated consequences. If both the state and companies invest in substitutive services, they might unintentionally spark competition. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine whether public childcare may “crowd out” the reciprocity effects of corporate childcare on working parents. In Switzerland, state family policies vary among the 26 cantons, so we are able to compare cantons with a high and low number of cantonal childcare services. Using survey data taken from 414 working parents living in different Swiss cantons, we examined whether public childcare affects organizational‐related responses of working parents. First, our results support the expected level of reciprocity: working parents in companies with their own childcare services show higher organizational commitment than parents in companies without this support. Second, we find evidence for a crowding‐out effect: in family‐supportive cantons with numerous public childcare services, working parents’ commitment to companies with their own childcare services is lower than in less family‐friendly cantons. This finding reignites an old economic debate on the crowding out of voluntary private investments due to governmental policies. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Comparison Between One‐Tier and Two‐Tier Board Structures in France

French companies operate in a unique environment characterized by the strong involvement of block shareholders such as families and banks. Furthermore, the French legal system allows firms to choose between a one‐tier or a two‐tier board structure. This study investigates whether this choice can affect the firm's operating and stock performance. Our regression results provide strong evidence that ownership and board structures are used together as corporate governance tools. In particular, the agency cost of debt is strongly affected by their interaction when institutional investors are also bank lenders. Our test results show that while family control has a negative impact on corporate governance, French institutional blockholders play a positive role as monitors of one‐tier structures. In contrast, they are more likely to misuse the two‐tier board system by promoting interlocked directorship, board opacity and their own interests as creditors. Our regression analysis reveals that foreign institutional investors do not have any impact on firm performance, regardless of board structure. Finally, we do not find any inverse relationship between board size and efficiency in France.     

Internal vs External Financing of Acquisitions: Do Managers Squander Retained Profits?

It is often argued that managers who have control over investment finance are more likely to pursue their own goals while those who have to raise funds externally are effectively monitored by the financial markets. One implication is that externally finances investment should be more profitable than internally financed investment. We focus on investment in acquisitions and show that its negative net impact on profitability (as seen in previous studies) derives from externally, rather than internally, financed acquisitions. Our results therefore do not support the hypothesis that managers squander internal funds on poor investment projects. Indeed, the evidence suggests that capital markets and financial institutions do not appear to generate the anticipated beneficial effects.     

Resource Configuration in Family Firms: Linking Resources, Strategic Planning and Technological Opportunities to Performance

abstract    We apply the resource-based view of the firm to the study of family firms by investigating how a family specific resource (reciprocal altruism) and a firm specific resource (innovative capacity) contribute to family firm performance. We then examine how the impact of these resources is moderated by strategic planning and technological opportunities. Our findings suggest that family firms can benefit from emphasizing the positive aspects of kinship and from developing innovative capacities. As such, we demonstrate that not only do firm specific resources contribute to family firm performance, but also that family relationships can be a source of competitive advantage for a family firm. In addition, we found a heightened importance of reciprocal altruism in environments rich in technological opportunities, and that strategic planning is more important for those family firms that lack innovative capacities.     

Exploring the connections among spiritual leadership,altruism, and trust in family businesses

The purpose of this study is to test the claim that the top manager family members’ altruism and trust with regard to other family members should be connected with these top managers’ spiritual leadership feature. Data are collected from the top manager family members, who are in charge of their family businesses in Beylikduzu Organized Industrial Zone. Many instruments’ items are used for spiritual leadership, altruism and trust. The scope of spiritual leadership is wider than those of altruism and trust; besides references to the family, spiritual leadership also includes references to the participants, their subordinates and their businesses. The participants’ spiritual leadership factors are powerfully and positively related with their altruism and trust with regard to other family members. If altruism and trust are posited to affect spiritual leadership factors, this effect is partly achieved. Only some items of altruism and trust can affect spiritual leadership feature. The literature points out that spiritual leadership is suitable for family businesses on the grounds that intra-family altruism and trust can be related with spiritual leadership feature. The current study proves this relationship. Such knowledge can be used for family business succession, mentoring and coaching applications in family businesses, conflict management towards the issues related with both the family and the business, and structuring family’s involvement in the business.     

新时期高职辅导员应怎样做好“传道、授业、解惑”

辅导员是高职教育工作第一线最基础、最直接的工作者,也是学生工作的实施者,担负着学生管理工作中教育服务的重任。在新的教育形势下辅导员如何做好自己的本职工作,真正做好"传道、授业、解惑"。本文就这一问题,提出了一些自己的看法。     

A comparison of the rate of technical change between FmHA and non-FmHA farmers

This paper uses a nonparametric approach to measure technical change. The method is applied to individual farm data from Illinois for the years 1981 and 1984. The farms are divided into those that receive subsidized credit and those that do not. The results indicate similar rates of technical change for the two groups.The refereeing process of this paper was handled by L. Hjalmarsson.     

The expatriate’s family as a stakeholder of the firm: a responsibility viewpoint

In this paper we argue for the recognition of the expatriate’s family as a stakeholder of the firm during the expatriation. We demonstrate why the expatriate’s family can be regarded as a stakeholder of the parent company and what kind of a stakeholder the family is. Additionally, we argue that the parent company needs to develop and apply a holistic well-being orientation to show stakeholder responsibility in the international assignment (IA) arena. We apply the theory of stakeholder salience to the IA relationship because it provides a theoretical framework for integrating the family into the expatriation process. Yet this theory does not necessarily provide a framework for assessing the social functioning of expatriates and their family members. Since expatriation often leads to a radical shift in family roles and living circumstances, family members (or indeed the expatriates themselves) cannot replicate all elements of their previous lives in the host country. Therefore, we use the capabilities approach to complete the theoretical framework, as this approach provides an evaluative mechanism which highlights how a socially responsible relationship between the company and the family can be advanced to foster well-being and quality of life for the family members as well as the expatriate, even if their functioning abroad differs from their functioning in their own country.     

“Handle with care”: The mediating role of schedule i‐deals in the relationship between supervisors' own caregiving responsibilities and employee outcomes

Drawing on theories of perspective‐taking and i‐deals, this study explores the impact of supervisors' own caregiving responsibilities for elders and parental status on subordinates' schedule i‐deals. Moreover, we investigate the extent to which schedule i‐deals mediate the relationship between supervisors' caregiving responsibilities and two employee outcomes: satisfaction with work–family balance and turnover intentions. Using a sample of 520 dyads involving 137 supervisors and 520 employees, the results of multilevel analysis show that supervisors' caregiving responsibilities for elders is positively related to schedule i‐deals, but their parental status is not. The findings also show that schedule i‐deals mediate the effect of supervisors' caregiving responsibilities for elders on subordinates' satisfaction with work–family balance and turnover intentions. This research contributes to the i‐deals' literature by focusing on the role of managers' own caregiving responsibilities in facilitating the provision of schedule i‐deals to their subordinates and by exploring the consequences of schedule i‐deals to gain an understanding of the mutually beneficial nature of such deals. From a practical point of view, supervisors and HR departments might utilise schedule i‐deals to drive desirable employee outcomes, in particular their caregiving responsibilities, and to engender a family‐supportive organisational culture.     

Family and Lone Founder Ownership and Strategic Behaviour: Social Context,Identity, and Institutional Logics

There is controversy in the literature about the effects of ownership on strategy and performance. Some scholars have taken agency explanations as definitive, arguing that closely held firms outperform. Empirical studies, however, show conflicting findings for firms with concentrated ownership: lone founder firms outperform, family firms do not. Such conflicts may be due to the failure of agency theory to distinguish between the social contexts of these different types of owners. We argue that explanations of performance must take into account not simply ownership, but who are the owners or executives and how their social contexts may influence their strategic priorities. Family owners and CEOs, influenced by family stakeholders in the business, are argued to assume the role identities and logics of family nurturers and thus strategies of conservation. By contrast, lone founders, influenced by a wider set of market‐oriented stakeholders, are argued to embrace the identities and logics of entrepreneurs and strategies of growth. Family founders and founder‐executives are held to blend both orientations. These notions are supported in a study of Fortune 1000 companies.     

建筑业常见事故防范

建筑业的劳动条件和作业环境比其他行业艰苦恶劣,从事建筑业的工作人员的劳动强度大,在工作中要面对众多危险因素。文章对建筑业典型事故案例进行研究分析,希望能帮助从事建筑业的人员牢固地树立安全生产意识,并掌握、防范事故的方法和措施,做好本岗位的安全生产工作。     

Analysis of regional productivity with capital as a quasi-fixed factor

Most existing studies of regional productivity growth do not incorporate the effect of variations in capacity utilization on changes in output. By failing to do so, their factor productivity estimates are biased. To overcome this shortcoming, we adjust multifactor productivity growth measure for changes in capacity utilization. Our technique recognizes that capital is a quasi-fixed factor which implies that capital in the short run can be either under- or over-utilized by a firm. Our results from 1974 to 1978 show that capacity adjusted multifactor productivity growth measure exceeds capacity unadjusted multifactor productivity growth measure for the nine census divisions. The bias in the capacity unadjusted measure of multifactor productivity growth is approximately 8 percent in East North Central and over 33 percent in Mountain. We find that the aggregate factor productivity growth is slowest in the traditional manufacturing belt (Middle Atlantic and East North Central divisions). The level of aggregate factor productivity in the manufacturing belt, however, is almost 33 percent higher than in regions in the south.