Employment relations in small commercial businesses in China

There has been a growing interest in the way patterns of employment relations are changing in China. However, there remains insufficient understanding in employment relations in small private businesses. This study of small businesses in China explores major issues in employment relations in these firms. The finding shows that there are major differences between large and small businesses in China in their employment practices and that considerable similarities exist between small firms in China and those in other countries.     

A Conversation with Jef Teugels

Jozef Lodewijk Maria Teugels was born in Londerzeel, Belgium, on February 20, 1939. He received his high school education at Sint-Lievenscollege in Antwerp. He obtained a Candidate diploma in Physics in 1961 and a License degree in Mathematics in 1963 at the Catholic University of Louvain. After serving one year in the army, he obtained his MSc in 1966 and his PhD in 1967 at Purdue University, with Marcel F. Neuts as advisor. In 1967 he was appointed at the Catholic University of Louvain and promoted to Full Professor in 1973. He remained in Leuven until his retirement in 2004. He chaired the Department of Mathematics over the periods 1970–77 and 1982–89. He has held visiting positions at numerous universities in the United Kingdom, Portugal, the United States of America, South Africa, Japan, Indonesia and Australia.     

Strategic location choice under dynamic oligopolistic competition and spillovers

This paper investigates firms׳ optimal location choices explicitly accounting for the role of inwards and outwards knowledge spillovers in a dynamic Cournot oligopoly with firms that are heterogeneous in their ability to carry out cost-reducing R&D. Firms can either locate in an industrial cluster or in isolation. Technological spillovers are exchanged between the firms located in the cluster. It is shown that a technological leader has an incentive to locate in isolation only if her advantage exceeds a certain threshold, which is increasing in firms׳ discount rate, in industry dispersion, and in the intensity of knowledge spillovers. Scenarios are identified where although it is optimal for the technological leader to locate in isolation, from a welfare perspective it would be desirable that she locates in the cluster.     

Foreign firms in China: modelling HRM in a toy manufacturing corporation

This article reports the study of a large, wholly foreign‐owned toy factory in China. It explores whether foreign direct investment (FDI) manufacturing firms in China inevitably operate in a Taylorist fashion, in contrast to the much praised HR model of blue chip multinational corporations (MNCs) in the country, or whether there is a ‘third way’ in which good HR practices may be adopted on the ground. The article concludes that a more nuanced approach is needed in our study of FDI companies in order to gain a fuller understanding of the institutional and cultural factors at play and of the consequent diversity in the HR and employment practices of FDI firms, instead of being trapped in a simplistic and polarising typological framework of analysis. This study is necessary in light of the growing diversity in the patterns of FDI companies operating in China in terms of their ownership structure, product market, management style and HR strategy, both for managers and for workers.     

湖南省雷暴地闪特征初步分析

利用湖南省1980-2010年雷暴日数据、2008-2013年闪电数据,分析了湖南省雷暴和闪电变化特征。结果表明:湖南省属于雷暴多发区,年平均雷暴日数分布呈南高北低的趋势,沿雪峰山有个相对高值区,平均雷暴日数在30d到70d之间。湖南省6年的年平均闪电条数35万余条,雷电高发时段为4-9月,其中7月是全年闪电活动最密集的月份。春季(3-5月)闪电逐时分布呈现双峰型,高峰值出现在02时、17时,夏季(6-8月)闪电多集中在下午15-17时,秋季(9月)高峰期集中在15-16时。湖南省闪电密度分布和闪电强度分布,高值区均在娄底、郴州,全省闪电主要强度分布在20-80kA。     

浅析我国在施工阶段BIM应用中的存在问题及对策

BIM的出现为建设行业的信息化带来了新的发展,其在施工阶段的应用在减少成本、缩短工期、保证质量等方面都发挥着不可小觑的作用,可大大提高建设工程项目的价值。我国建设行业虽然逐渐认识到了BIM的价值,也致力于发展BIM,但是由于发展初期的各种原因,BIM在建设施工阶段的应用存在各种问题,这些问题使得BIM在施工阶段的应用价值不能得到很好的体现,严重阻碍了BIM在施工阶段的应用发展。本文基于我国在建设施工阶段的BIM应用情况,分析了建设施工阶段BIM应用中存在的一些问题,并提出了一些解决的方向。     

Prices and Wages

Inflationary pressures cooled over the latter months of 2013, with CPI inflation finally moving back to the 2% target for the first time in four years in December. The slowdown in inflation was largely a function of base effects; big rises in food prices in the autumn of 2012 were not repeated last year and increases in domestic energy bills, while still very large, were also lower than in the previous year. In addition, the impact of higher university tuition fees was smaller in 2013 than in 2012, which also helped to slow inflation a little…     

THE EFFECT OF POLICING STRATEGIES: EVIDENCE FROM THE USA

Changes in policing strategies in the USA during the 1990s coincided with a significant decline in crime, particularly in New York City. However, academic research has shown that policing strategies played a relatively minor role in reducing crime in comparison with other factors.     

WORLD OUTLOOK

The world economic recovery, which began in the late summer of 1980, can now be seen as premature, in as much as 1980's short, sharp recession had achieved only a limited reduction in the rate of inflation. Economic policy, particularly in the United States, is once more geared to a reduction in the inflation rate even if this imposes costs in terms of lost output and higher unemployment. The consequent appreciation of the US dollar against the European currencies has - in spite of weakening oil and non-oil commodity prices in dollar terms - produced a further boost to European inflation and a subsequent tightening of policy in some countries, notably West Germany. In these circumstances we expect little or no growth in output in the world economy until the summer of 1982.     

Comparisons of agricultural productivity growth in China and India

We measure and compare agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) growth and its components (efficiency and technical change) in China and India and test the TFP series for the existence of structural breaks relating the evolution of TFP to policy milestones. Our results show that agricultural TFP growth accelerates in China after 1979 and in India after 1974, although China’s agricultural sector clearly outperforms India’s. The main explanation of these differentials is that agricultural growth in China benefited from more fundamental institutional and policy reforms in agriculture than India. There is some evidence that the transformation of industry in China was also important for agricultural TFP growth. Manufacture growth absorbed labor and reduced employment in agriculture, creating incentives for capital investment and technical change that kept output per worker in agriculture growing at high rates. Fewer changes in agricultural policies and in the dynamics of manufacturing in India resulted in slower growth in agricultural productivity, despite policy changes that accelerated economic growth in recent years.     

应用立体化文献检索课模式提高读者服务水平

文章分析现阶段广西高职院校文献检索课存在的主要问题,通过对广西20所高职院校开设文献检索课的教学效果进行统计分析,结合现阶段文献检索教学特色,提出在广西区内高职院校的文献检索课中运用立体化教学模式以提高读者服务水平。     

Measuring a boom and bust: The Sydney housing market 2001–2006

The Sydney housing market peaked in 2003. The period 2001–2006 is, therefore, of particular interest since it captures a boom and bust in the housing market. We compute hedonic, repeat-sales and median price indexes for five regions in Sydney over this period. While the three approaches are in broad agreement regarding the timing of the turning point in the housing market, some important differences also emerge. In particular, we find evidence of sample selection bias in our hedonic and repeat-sales data sets (with the former focusing more on better quality dwellings and the latter more on lower quality dwellings). These sample selection biases could in turn cause bias (in opposite directions) in our hedonic and repeat-sales indexes. Median indexes may likewise be biased as a result of an apparent decline in the average quality of dwellings sold in the latter part of the sample. We also find evidence of convergence in prices across regions during the boom and divergence in the subsequent bust.     

公众参与原则与我国城市规划立法的完善

公众参与城市规划是城市居民能够直接而积极地参与城市规划、成为规划制定和规划实施过程中一个重要的组成部分.它对于减少规划失误、促进规划的顺利实施及监督规划部门依法行政具有独特的法律价值.公众参与城市规划的原因在于解决规划失灵问题,是恢复个人利益与公共利益平衡的重要杠杆.借鉴各国公众参与制度,我国的公众参与机制应从城市规划信息公开、赋予社会公众参与城市规划的主体地位、确立公众参与城市规划的程序、明确公众参与城市规划的方式以及强化公众参与城市规划的司法保障等方面进行建构.     

SIR ALAN WALTERS' ROLE IN THE REVIVAL OF CURRENCY BOARDS1

In a speech given in 2004, at a meeting held at the Institute of Economic Affairs in honour of Sir Alan Walters who died in 2009, John Greenwood explains Sir Alan's critical role in the creation of a currency board in Hong Kong in 1983.     

试论新时期高职学生思想教育方法的创新——兼论科学发展观在高职教育中的贯彻

用科学发展观解读新时期高职学生思想教育,寻求体现与价值取向多元化、经济全球化、生活网络化社会相适应的符合时代特点的方法创新,无疑具有十分重要的现实意义。     

WORLD OUTLOOK

At the end of 1982 output in the world economy was still falling, although there were signs that the decline had very nearly run its course. We expect a radual recovery to begin in the first half o f 1983. Unlike the recovery which began in the late summer of 1980, when inflation was still in double figures, any upturn in 1983 would be set against a background of declining inflationary expectations and weak oil prices. IJ. as we expect, a falling inflation rate proves a decisive factor in keeping interest rates on a downward path, we forecast that the output will gather pace in I983 and rise reasonably strongly in 1984. Of the 4 per cent rise in industrial production which we foresee in 1984. a large part is due to the fall in real oil prices.     

Attitudes of police managers to different leadership roles in their jobs: An empirical study in Norway

The background for this study is the increased complexity in policing that has become more knowledge‐based and more professional in the past decade. The aim of this article is to present empirical results from a study of attitudes of police managers to different leadership roles in their jobs in two police districts in Norway. A questionnaire was developed and administered among police managers in two police districts in Norway. Participants in leadership programs were selected for this survey research. The Follo police district and Hedmark police district had a total of 130 participants in these programs, with 60 managers from Follo and 70 managers from Hedmark. The research was carried out in March and April 2010. The personnel leader role was found to be most important, followed by the resource allocator role. Responding police managers reported that they felt least competent in the liaison role.     

Sex discrimination in selection and compensation in Taiwan

This article describes the current status of women in the workplace in Taiwan. Statistical evidence shows sex segregation in the labour market. Discriminatory practices in the hiring process are documented via a content analysis of 7,037 classified ads. Overtly discriminatory actions, such as blatantly stated gender requirements in the classified ads, are shown to be still common in hiring practices. Census data on a gender gap in compensation shows that women in Taiwan evidently get less pay than men do for the same work. The ratio of female to male employees is significantly and negatively correlated with the ratio of female to male in pay. The higher the percentages of women in an industry, the lower the pay women get compared to men. Also, the ratio of female to male in pay is negatively related to the turnover rate. Companies that pay women fairly tend to enjoy lower turnover rates. The implications of these women's issues in human resource management in Taiwan are presented.     

越南：徘徊在危机门外

跳水的股市、暴跌的楼市、贬值的越盾—“高烧”的越南正被愈演愈烈的通货膨胀逼到了危机的门外。不过,在越的中资企业观望中发现：元气虽伤,但情况还没有那么糟糕……     

Managing AIDS in Africa: HRM challenges in Tanzania

The impact of the AIDS epidemic in developing countries, and in Africa in particular, is now a matter of great concern to policy makers, managers, and academics on a global scale. The magnitude of the potentially disastrous effects of the disease has severe implications for management in organizations, and, in particular, for HRM. The AIDS epidemic is imposing, and will continue to impose, in the foreseeable future, a significant burden on the way people are managed. Little has been written on HRM in Africa, and the present literature on AIDS and HRM in Western societies is inappropriate and insufficient in relation to African organizations. Fifteen organizations in Tanzania took part in this study, which is probably the first of its kind, to produce a picture of current developments and approaches in managing people under the threat of AIDS.