Ethical Stances: the Perceptions of Accountancy and HR Specialists of Ethical Conundrums at Work

This paper explores how managers and professionals from two functional areas, finance and accountancy and human resource management, perceive, think about and act upon ethical conundrums at work. The study is based on 43 interviews in which respondents were asked to report on ethical issues and incidents they had experienced at work. A conceptual framework is presented which is used to analyse the critical incidents.     

A Marketing Audit for the Public Mental Health System:

This article examines the Care of the Seriously Mentally Ill; A Rating of State Programs (1990) by Torrey, E. Fuller, Karen Erdman, Sidney M. Wolfe, and Laurie M. Flynn, A Joint Publication of Public Citizen Health Research Group and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, as a macro-marketing audit of the public mental health system.     

中国城镇职工基本医疗保险基金可持续发展研究

本文通过建立精算模型预测城镇职工基本医疗保险统筹基金和个人账户的累计余额,研究显示:统筹基金在2026年将出现入不敷出,2034年出现赤字,且赤字规模逐年加大,但个人账户结余额逐年增加.然后,本文模拟了几种缓解统筹基金支付压力的政策方案,发现个人账户与统筹基金合并优于其他政策,其既可以缓解统筹基金的支付压力,又可以降低老年人的门诊费用自负比例.     

Predictors of Ethical Code Use and Ethical Tolerance in the Public Sector

This paper reports the results of a survey of ethical attitudes, values, and propensities in public sector employees in Australia. It was expected that demographic variables, personal values, and contextual variables at the individual level, and group- and organisational-level values would predict use of formal codes of ethics and ethical tolerance (tolerance of unethical behaviour). Useable data were received from 500 respondents selected at random across public sector organisations in a single Australian state. Results supported the study hypotheses, but indicated that different mechanisms underlie each of the criterion variables. Use of ethical codes was determined primarily on the basis of a perception that others use the code, while ethical tolerance was determined by personal values. At an applied level, the research highlights the need for orgasnizations to establish a critical mass of code users, so that this operates as a normative influence on others in the organization.     

Global Standards and Ethical Stock Indexes: The Case of the Dow Jones Sustainability Stoxx Index

The increased scrutiny of investors regarding the non-financial aspects of corporate performance has placed portfolio managers in the position of having to weigh the benefits of ‘holding the market’ against the cost of having positions in companies that are subsequently found to have questionable business practices. The availability of stock indexes based on sustainability screening makes increasingly viable for institutional investors the transition to a portfolio based on a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) benchmark at relatively low cost. The increasing share of socially responsible investments may play a role in providing incentives towards a continuous upgrading of sustainability standards to the extent that their performance is not systematically inferior to that of the other funds. This article examines whether these incentives have been so far detectable with particular reference to the Dow Jones Sustainability Stoxx Index (DJSSI) that focuses on the European corporations with the highest CSR scores among those included in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. The aim of the article is twofold. First, we analyse the performance of the DJSSI over the period 2001–2006 compared to that of the Surrogate Complementary Index (SCI), a new benchmark that includes only the components of the DJ Stoxx 600 that do not belong to the ethical index to evaluate more correctly the size of possible divergent performances. Second, we perform an event study on the same data set to analyse whether the stock market evaluation reacts to the inclusion (deletion) in the DJSSI. In both cases, the results suggest that the evaluation of the CSR performance of a firm is a significant criterion for asset allocation activities.     

Global Standards and Ethical Stock Indexes: The Case of the Dow Jones Sustainability Stoxx Index

The increased scrutiny of investors regarding the non-financial aspects of corporate performance has placed portfolio managers in the position of having to weigh the benefits of ‘holding the market’ against the cost of having positions in companies that are subsequently found to have questionable business practices. The availability of stock indexes based on sustainability screening makes increasingly viable for institutional investors the transition to a portfolio based on a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) benchmark at relatively low cost. The increasing share of socially responsible investments may play a role in providing incentives towards a continuous upgrading of sustainability standards to the extent that their performance is not systematically inferior to that of the other funds. This article examines whether these incentives have been so far detectable with particular reference to the Dow Jones Sustainability Stoxx Index (DJSSI) that focuses on the European corporations with the highest CSR scores among those included in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. The aim of the article is twofold. First, we analyse the performance of the DJSSI over the period 2001–2006 compared to that of the Surrogate Complementary Index (SCI), a new benchmark that includes only the components of the DJ Stoxx 600 that do not belong to the ethical index to evaluate more correctly the size of possible divergent performances. Second, we perform an event study on the same data set to analyse whether the stock market evaluation reacts to the inclusion (deletion) in the DJSSI. In both cases, the results suggest that the evaluation of the CSR performance of a firm is a significant criterion for asset allocation activities.     

Business and the Public Affairs of Slavery: A Discursive Approach of an Ethical Public Issue

This article aims at understanding how “ethical public issues” are created, and dealt within a public arena. Here, we view ethical public issues as social constructs, which are the results of issue framing contests. Such an approach will enable us to understand how ethical public issues emerge and are shaped by strategizing actors (including firms, NGOs, the media, and governments), in an attempt to impose their own definition and preferred solution to the issue. We also propose key factors which explain the success of a framing attempt, and evidence of such success. The empirical case of the labor conditions in West Africa’s cocoa industry is used to illustrate this theoretical framework and methodological approach.     

我国人口死亡、健康与医疗体制改革

背景《市场与人口分析》杂志委托我主持一期“马寅初人口科学论坛”。虽然有选题的自由度,但是要选择一个恰当的主题仍然是非常困难的。因为作为论坛,既要体现选题的前瞻性和热点性,又要反映一定的学术性。一方面,我们的社会正处于快速转变时期,待研究的问题实在太多,诸如人口老龄化与老年负担问题,城市化与就业、能源消费及污染等问题,流动人口与疾病传播问题,出生性别比与婚姻家庭及人权问题,人口、人力资本与就业问题,等等,似乎个个都很重要,难以取舍;另一方面《市场与人口分析》和《人口研究》杂志近几年来每期都有人口论坛,对当前我国…     

我国人口死亡、健康与医疗体制改革

背景 <市场与人口分析>杂志委托我主持一期"马寅初人口科学论坛".虽然有选题的自由度,但是要选择一个恰当的主题仍然是非常困难的.因为作为论坛,既要体现选题的前瞻性和热点性,又要反映一定的学术性.一方面,我们的社会正处于快速转变时期,待研究的问题实在太多,诸如人口老龄化与老年负担问题,城市化与就业、能源消费及污染等问题,流动人口与疾病传播问题,出生性别比与婚姻家庭及人权问题,人口、人力资本与就业问题,等等,似乎个个都很重要,难以取舍;另一方面<市场与人口分析>和<人口研究>杂志近几年来每期都有人口论坛,对当前我国主要的人口问题都展开过深入的讨论,我们再提出新的论题的确有一定困难.思前想后,不妨就以近几年来我与同事们在中国人口的死亡和健康方面的一些研究工作为基础,在新的社会背景下重新讨论老问题.实际上,这一领域近年来在国际人口学界也是颇受关注的论题.     

公共财政:公共化改革的一种转轨理论假说

人类理性的光芒只能照见有限的范围,而一旦超出这个范围,便是无边无际的不确定性世界.作为我国财政公共化改革的一种理论假说,"公共财政"这个范畴只有放在中国的语境下才有意义.它主要解决公共化改革中的两个问题:一是政府财政活动的范围和职能定位,即财政"干什么";二是政府财政活动的方式,即财政"怎么干".其背后对应着观念和认识的前提:市场机制在工具意义上的有效性和公共权力来源的契约性,使政府与市场、政府与民众的逻辑关系呈现一种颠倒性变化,前者从计划经济体制下的资源配置中"政府第一、市场第二(补充)"变为"市场第一,政府第二(补充)";后者从"政府第一,民众第二"变为"民众第一,政府第二",也就是从"国家本位"(治民)到"人民本位"(民治).这种具有颠覆性的变革是以渐进改革的方式来进行的,这个过程至今没有完成.     

公共预算决策分析框架与中国预算管理制度改革

本文的基本分析框架由决策参与者、目标、信息、决策权以及决策模式组成.文章结合中国公共预算管理制度改革实践,探讨在不同历史时期各主要决策要素的变迁与演进.认为只有在公共财政体系背景下,重新调整预算目标的设定,理顺预算权力的分配,完善预算的信息条件,优化预算决策模式,才可能从根本上改善中国公共预算决策的质量,推进预算管理制度改革.     

Risking the self: the impact of self-esteem on negative word-of-mouth behavior

Negative word-of-mouth is a pervasive and persuasive force on consumers, yet little is known about the characteristics of the people who decide to share, or not to share, this information. We examine the impact of consumer trait self-esteem on tendencies to share negative word-of-mouth. Prior work has shown that consumer self-esteem moderates the likelihood of sharing positive word-of-mouth, yet extending this theory to negative word-of-mouth behavior results in conflicting predictions. This paper addresses these contradictions by adopting a two-dimensional view of self-esteem (self-liking and self-competence). We suggest that these dimensions will have opposing effects on the sharing of negative word-of-mouth. Two studies show that individuals high in self-competence are less willing to share negative word-of-mouth, whereas individuals high in self-liking are more willing to do so—results that would be disguised by treating self-esteem as a single-dimension construct.     

浅析农村公共卫生产品供给的多元化体系构建

当前,是我国加快农村公共卫生产品供给体系建设、全面建设小康社会的关键时期,构建多元化的农村公共卫生产品供给体系意义重大。结合我国国情以及农村实际,我国应该构建一个以政府、市场、非营利组织以及农村民众为一体的多元化供给体系。即应加大政府的财政供给力度,为农村提供普遍性预防性产品;积极引入市场机制,通过市场向日益富裕的农村提供差异化的高端卫生产品;积极发挥非营利组织作用,为农村提供地区性和行业性特殊卫生产品;加强农村公共卫生的宣传力度,提高农民的自我满足程度与水平。     

从德国现代公共管理看中国未来人事制度改革

德国是世界上最早系统推行公共管理的国家之一,现已形成了一整套的法律管理体系。我国必须从积极学习借鉴其先进的管理经验角度出发,在建设有中国特色的社会主义市场经济的过程中,中国未来的人事制度改革及各级公共行政管理再上新水平,才能更好地为我国的振兴和发展服务。     

经济成本与公共组织设计:公共部门改革的效率逻辑

公共组织的设计和改革像私人组织一样,也要面临成本效率的约束.本文首先指出公共组织的成本效率来源于X-效率和非X-效率,并且两种效率之间存在着替代关系.然后,本文为公共组织成本效率的度量提拱了一个分析框架,并以中国地方政府为样本做了实证分析.最后,在理论分析和实证分析的基础上,本文为公共组织的设计和改革提出了一些原则,以期实现最优公共组织规模,减少社会福利损失.     

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing and Its Marketing: Emergent Ethical and Public Policy Implications

Journal of Business Ethics - This paper provides a marketing ethics analysis that addresses the practice of selling genetic tests (GT) directly to the consumer (DTC). It&nbsp;details the...     

中国住房公积金制度的问题及改革方向

《上海市住房公积金条例》的产生先于中国《住房公积金管理条例》。受制于劣质土地财政,住房保障并没有成为中国住房公积金制度的基本职能。中国的住房公积金制度既不反映保障性住宅的供给,也不反映保障性住宅的需求。中国住房公积金某种程度上不是住房保障基金,而是住房储蓄资金。城市劳动力价值支持基础上的保障性住宅供求衔接是中国《住房公积金管理条例》的改革方向。     

改革转移支付制度:基于公共服务均等化的分析

我国分税制改革以来,转移支付制度发挥了其应有的作用,但转移支付制度需要进一步改革。基于公共服务均等化要求,应强化我国转移支付地区间横向均衡功能,同时转移支付支付制度改革应作为规范政府间财政关系改革整体中的一个部分协调进行;应依据性质对转移支付归类,一类为用于解决纵向和横向不均衡问题的均衡性转移支付,另一类为解决外溢性等问题的专项转移支付。     

FOCUS: Not-for-profit Health Services and the German Health Care System

Reforms in the German health care system in the attempt to bring more competition into health care have increased the sovereignty of the insured or patients, who have finally been allowed to make choices. "The start of a reorientation of the statutory health insurance system and hospital care are to be welcomed as first steps towards a supply of health services that reflects individual preferences." The authors can be contacted care of Prof. Dr. Oberender at Rechts- und Wirtschafswissenschaftliche Fakulät, Universität Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany, where Dr Oberender is Professor in the Faculty of Law and Economics, and Ansgar Hebborn is his Assistant. The authors wish to record their gratitude to Jan Hacker for translating this article.