Characterization of the existence of semicontinuous weak utilities

In this paper we characterize the existence of semicontinous weak utilities for acyclic binary relations. We shall reobtain directly from that result sufficient conditions that are available in the literature.     

Competition in the public school sector: Evidence on strategic interaction among US school districts

This paper provides evidence on strategic interaction among local school districts. The analysis makes use of a significant change in the institutional environment for school districts in Michigan in 1996, when the state established a voluntary inter-district choice program. The school districts' participation decisions are modelled as discrete choice decisions using a spatial latent variable model. Strong effects are found saying that lagged adoptions of neighbors positively affect the current probability of participation. A simple test exploiting limitations of student mobility in inter-district transfers suggests that the driving force for interdependencies among adoption decisions was competition for students.     

Preserving religious identity through education: Economic analysis and evidence from the US

This paper models the decision of religious parents to send their children to private religious schools as reflecting their desire to shield their children from external influences and thus preserve their religious identity. It follows that when the share of the minority in the local population grows—and outside influences become less threatening—the demand for separate religious schooling among the members of the religious group decreases. This pattern implies concavity in the relationship between enrollment in private and religious schooling and the share of the religious group in the population. We present empirical evidence from United States county data on Catholic and private school enrollment that strongly supports our theory. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the demand for religious education.     

Efficiency in public schools: Does competition matter?

The focus of many recent school reforms has been on changing the incentives faced by school administrators, mainly through increased competition. In this study, we assess whether competition amongst public schools influences the efficiency in which these schools operate, using a two-stage estimation procedure and data from the state of Illinois from 1997–1998. We find some evidence that public school districts become more efficient as neighboring districts become more efficient. However, such spillovers only occur if districts operate within a financially flexible environment.     

Urban density and pupil attainment

We explore the association between urban density and pupil attainment using three cohorts of pupils in schooling in England. Although—as widely recognised—attainment in dense urban places is low on average, this is not because urban environments disadvantage pupils, but because the most disadvantaged pupils with low average attainments attend the most urbanised schools. To control for this, we exploit changes in urban density faced by pupils during compulsory transition from Primary to Secondary school, and measure educational progress at the end of the Secondary phase, relative to attainment at the end of Primary schooling. Our results suggest that there are small but significant benefits from education in schools in more densely urbanised settings. We detect this density advantage even amongst pupils moving relatively short distances between Primary and Secondary schools within urban areas, so we cannot attribute it to broad urbanisation effects experienced by pupils making rural–urban school moves. A more likely explanation lies in greater school choice and competition between closely co-located educational providers.     

新疆高校学生档案管理的价值分析

本文立足于新疆高校学生档案管理的实际状况,通过详实而全面的调研,阐析新疆高校学生档案管理现状和存在的问题,并对如何解决这些问题做出理性的选择。     

On the computability of quasi-transitive binary social choice rules in an infinite society and the halting problem

This paper investigates the computability problem of the existence of a vetoer and an oligarchy for quasi-transitive binary social choice rules (Mas-Colell and Sonnenschein in Rev Econ Stud 39:185–192, 1972) in a society with an infinite number of individuals (infinite society) according to the computable calculus (or computable analysis) by Aberth (Computable analysis, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1980; Computable calculus, Academic Press, Dublin, 2001). We will show the following results. The problem whether a quasi-transitive binary social choice rule which satisfies Pareto principle and independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) has a vetoer or has no vetoer in an infinite society is a nonsolvable problem, that is, there exists no ideal computer program for a quasi-transitive binary social choice rule which satisfies Pareto principle and IIA that decides whether it has a vetoer or has no vetoer. And it is equivalent to nonsolvability of the halting problem. We also show that if for any quasi-transitive binary social choice rule there exists an oligarchy in an infinite society, whether it is finite or infinite is a nonsolvable problem. A vetoer is an individual such that if he strictly prefers an alternative to another alternative, then the society prefers the former to the latter or is indifferent between them regardless of the preferences of other individuals, and an oligarchy is the minimal set of individuals which has dictatorial power and its each member is a vetoer. It will be shown that an oligarchy is a set of vetoers if it exists. This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), 20530165, and the Grant-in-Aid from the Zengin Foundation for Studies on Economics and Finance in Japan.     

Reverse discrete choice models

We derive the cost minimization counterpart to the usual utility maximization version of the multinomial logit (MNL) model. Equivalently, our model considers the reverse of the usual error structure in the maximization problem. The resulting model remains tractable but does not suffer from the IIA property of the MNL. Our technique also provides a variant on the standard CES model (that does not exhibit IIA either). We argue that these models are useful alternatives to the standard ones, and compare their predictions for firm pricing. We also discuss the properties of other reverse models.     

The pyramid model of school management

Models of organizational management are presented in the literature and in the managerial practices of recent years. They are aimed to improve organizational governance, and to enhance organizational overall efficiency. The common denominator for most, if not all these management models is that they generally focus on a single aspect, or on a very limited number of aspects of the organizational conduct whereas running an organization is a highly complex undertaking, incorporating a large number of functions and processes. School principals tend to adapt out-of-school management process, usually adapting them from the business world. And therefore we can see that the educational system at all and the school system in particular, implement business management methods. This research indicates that school principals are well aware of all the school management processes and procedures. The important contribution of this research, which is based on the unique contribution of the multi-faceted theory, is acknowledging the work of the school principals as a pyramid which its base is composed of essential consensus procedures and its three sided indicate three major school management process. We suggest that this pyramid will be called “The Pyramid Model of School Management”. The various management processes that built this pyramid are based on mutual aims and consensus of the school team to reach these aims. The consensus of the aims is essential, and with out it, the school cannot exist as an affective organization. Choosing when to take a various management action is a feedback based, and situation-based conduct. It is also shown in this research that school principals distinguish between three major management processes which we recommend that they will be called the “pyramid sides” and include: results management, human resources management and general resources management. The three groups are bounded by the “core of management” which we recommend that will be called the “pyramid base”. The pyramid base is connected to each and every phase of the life cycle of the organization, to each process and each result. It includes the school targets and aims which all the school team has to agree upon and there must be an un-doubtful consensus about them.     

Local and global consistency properties for student placement

In the context of resource allocation on the basis of priorities, Ergin (2002) identifies a necessary and sufficient condition on the priority structure such that the student-optimal stable mechanism satisfies a consistency principle. Ergin (2002) formulates consistency as a local property based on a fixed population of agents and fixed resources—we refer to this condition as local consistency and to his condition on the priority structure as local acyclicity. A related but stronger necessary and sufficient condition on the priority structure such that the student-optimal stable mechanism satisfies a more standard global consistency property is unit acyclicity.     

公共选择与会计政策选择博弈论

简要分析公共选择理念的界定,会计政策选择的本质特征以及公共选择与会计政策选择的关系。     

以人为本 走可持续发展的道路

可持续发展作为一种新的发展模式和发展现,是人类社会文明进程中质的飞跃;从可持续发展中人在自然关系中的主体地位,可持续发展观的本义,以人为本,优先投资于人,将公共资源优先安排到提高人口素质、稳定生育水平、改善生活质量和人居环境,促进社会公平会正,保护生态环境等领域,充分开发和利用人力资源,促进人的全面发展提供参考。     

第三部门理论视角下中国会计师事务所发展的市场选择

从第三部门理论视角分析了发达国家第三部门的发展对会计师事务所的影响,包括政府对第三部门的政策、公众对第三部门的期望和第三部门对政府的制约能力,与第三部门相关的立法等,进而根据第三部门理论提出适合我国会计师事务所的发展思路,包括增大第三部门各行业主要组织的规模,加快民主化进程,加强监管和责任追究制度等。     

城市“公交优先”发展的模式分析与路径选择——以常州市为例

\"公交优先\"发展战略是当今世界许多国家实施可持续交通发展的治本之选,从公共管理的意义上更是体现了平民权利的优先.城市\"公交优先\"发展不仅是技术问题,更是制度问题,其中交织中政府与市场机制、政府与社会、社会各阶层的关系.本文从描述常州市城市公共交通发展的现状和问题出发.分析了城市公共交通产品的公益性和经济性目标,阐述了城市公共交通民营化运作的发展.指出只有通过公共交通的民营化改革.才能解决常州城市交通实施\"公交优先\"战略中的问题,建立起高效、可持续发展的城市综合交通体系.