Engaging employees in health care can contain costs and improve quality

Employers need to do much more to change some of the deep-seated employee attitudes and behaviors that are driving health care costs. This article debunks common employer misconceptions about employees' attitudes and behaviors with regard to health care. It then discusses the results employers can obtain by taking specific initiatives that provide employees with the motivation and resources they need to effectively manage health risks and make informed health care decisions.     

改善农村金融供给的策略

农村金融的供求矛盾,一直是困扰农村经济发展的重要问题.目前农村经济的增长速度有限,农民收入水平低,自身积累能力较弱,商业性金融机构的供给意愿弱,有效供给不足.一方面,商业性金融机构面对的是高度分散、数量庞大、规模狭小的农户经济,要全面了解农户的生产与生活信息,准确判断农户的信用水平,其交易成本几乎高到无法维持的地步,这就从根本上决定了商业性金融机构信贷服务的"有限性",不可能满足农户群体大规模的借贷需求;另一方面,以保证资金安全和获取利息收入为主要目标的商业性金融机构,面对风险大、收益低的农业和需求多样、复杂多变的农户群体,如果盲目放贷,就会面临极大的信贷风险.这就决定了商业性金融服务的"有选择性",不可能满足农户群体多样化的借贷需求.再三,农业面临着市场风险和自然风险的双重约束,其弱质产业的特性使得农业投入面临着高风险和低收益,与商业性金融机构的趋利动机不吻合.     

Welcome to the experience economy

First there was agriculture, then manufactured goods, and eventually services. Each change represented a step up in economic value--a way for producers to distinguish their products from increasingly undifferentiated competitive offerings. Now, as services are in their turn becoming commoditized, companies are looking for the next higher value in an economic offering. Leading-edge companies are finding that it lies in staging experiences. To reach this higher level of competition, companies will have to learn how to design, sell, and deliver experiences that customers will readily pay for. An experience occurs when a company uses services as the stage--and goods as props--for engaging individuals in a way that creates a memorable event. And while experiences have always been at the heart of the entertainment business, any company stages an experience when it engages customers in a personal, memorable way. The lessons of pioneering experience providers, including the Walt Disney Company, can help companies learn how to compete in the experience economy. The authors offer five design principles that drive the creation of memorable experiences. First, create a consistent theme, one that resonates throughout the entire experience. Second, layer the theme with positive cues--for example, easy-to-follow signs. Third, eliminate negative cues, those visual or aural messages that distract or contradict the theme. Fourth, offer memorabilia that commemorate the experience for the user. Finally, engage all five senses--through sights, sounds, and so on--to heighten the experience and thus make it more memorable.     

亚行致力于提高其发展有效性

亚行最新发布关于发展有效性的报告称，在过去4年中，亚行的业务为亚太地区数以百万计的人口带来了切实的利益，但在项目层面和亚行的机构自身等方面仍需进一步改善。     

加强对从事证券业务会计师事务所的监管

目前我国从事证券业务会计师事务所的监管部门是财政部门、证监会和中国注册会计师协会,由于证监会尚未形成相对独立的监管体系以及三部门之间缺乏协调监管机制,从事证券业务的会计师事务所问题较多.从短期看应加快与财政部门、注册会计师协会一起创建有效的综合监管体制;从长期看应加强立法、转换监管思路、重视事后监管.     

亚行帮助中国山东省改善大坝质量

亚行将帮助中国江西省发展生态友好措施,使该省的森林得到可持续管理,这些森林因过度开采而面临严峻的威胁。亚行董事会批准了一项4000万美元的贷款,用于江西省森林生态系统可持续发展项目。     

市场波动促使Libor走向完善

Libor一直是全球最为重要的利率基准之一。针对年初以来市场对于Libor可能偏离实际交易利率的担忧,英国银行家协会（BBA）迅速展开了调查和讨论,并公布了调查结果。从目前看,Libor在精确、透明和客观性上依然具有主导性和市场地位,市场尽管也提出了一些替代方案,但从实际看,继续完善Libor形成机制并加强监管也许是市场更好的选择。     

完善新三板市场，规范成关键

自2013年12月27日为贯彻落实《国务院关于全国中小企业股份转让系统有关问题的决定》,中国证监会发布了七项配套规则。这些配套规则的发布,标志着新三板试点扩大至全国工作正式启动。清科研究中心对众多知名机构进行新三板专题调研,共同来分析研究新三板市场的现状和发展.     

亚行支持中国改善道路安全

亚洲开发银行(亚行)正在中国开展一项为期两周的道路交通事故调查与预防措施培训项目,以支持中国在提高道路交通安全方面所付出的努力.该项目旨在帮助警官们熟练使用现代技术、特种设备和更先进的交通管理技术.     

Using industry momentum to improve portfolio performance

Minimum-variance portfolios, which ignore the mean and focus on the (co)variances of asset returns, outperform mean–variance approaches in out-of-sample tests. Despite these promising results, minimum-variance policies fail to deliver a superior performance compared with the simple 1/N rule. In this paper, we propose a parametric portfolio policy that uses industry return momentum to improve portfolio performance. Our portfolio policies outperform a broad selection of established portfolio strategies in terms of Sharpe ratio and certainty equivalent returns. The proposed policies are particularly suitable for investors because portfolio turnover is only moderately increased compared to standard minimum-variance portfolios.     

银行间本币交易系统升级到2.3.6版本

为进一步完善本币交易系统功能。全国银行间同业拆借中心于2012年4月13日发布本币交易系统2．3．6版本。     

Bridging the Gap: Engaging in Scholarship with Accountancy Employers to Enhance Understanding of Skills Development and Employability

Abstract

This paper reports on the author's experiences of working with accountancy employers to develop a deeper understanding of skills development and employability in the accountancy profession. It notes that while there is a well-developed literature that examines skills development amongst university accounting students, there is also evidence of a gap between skills development in the university setting and the reported experiences of new entrants into the accountancy profession. The paper examines the nature of this gap and attempts to bridge it, using the experiences of working together with employers. The evidence from this study is that accountancy employers seek new recruits with the capacity to establish professional credibility amongst colleagues and clients through their attitudes and behaviours, something subtly different from much of the literature, which focuses on the importance of discrete generic skills.     

Focusing on white space to improve patient throughput

When designing a new patient care process or modifying an existing one, healthcare leaders should: Set specific goals for frontline staff, Move beyond gathering and discussing data to acting on the data, Issue data reports frequently, Prepare to take advantage of success, Do not expect a silver bullet.     

中国外汇交易中心进一步完善做市商服务

2011年1月1日起,国家外汇管理局出台的《银行间外汇市场做市商指引》(汇发[2010]46号)正式施行,中国外汇交易中心积极配合做好现有做市商自动承继即期做市商资格工作,并帮助获批远期掉期做市商资格的机构提前完成做市准备等相关工作,同时协助获批的即期尝试做市机构和远期掉期尝试机构进行尝试做市的各