Impact of safe community program on motorcyclists' safety with focus on helmet usage in 14 cities of IR Iran

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of safe community interventions on motorcyclists' safety. Two cross sectional observations were conducted in 14 cities (five safe community practicing and nine safe community non-practicing cities) independently on 2005 and 2007. Ten percent of registered motorcycles were observed and interviewed (n=1114 in each observation). 87.9% used motorcycle for commercial purposes. All motorcyclists were male and mostly aged 18–29 years old. Death rate significantly rose from 122 to 254 per 100000 motorcyclists in Fars province since the first observation (p < 0.0001). Helmet usage rate was constant (13%). Recorded crashes increased from 16.4% to 23.1% in safe community setting (p < 0.0001). 11% carried more than one pillion. Heat disturbances, embarrassment, hearing blockage, and negligence were the most mentioned excuses for not using helmet. Law enforcement, public education, accessibility to helmets on discount rate, new legislation and, finally, access to new designed helmet were the most suggestions made by motorcyclists to promote helmet usage. No significant effect was noticed between two settings except in injury registration system in safe community. Community involvement in the safety programs could ensure sustainability of initiatives and continuity of interventions in safe communities.     

The rate of seat belt use and its related factors among car drivers in Tehran,Iran after imposing new regulations

The incidence of road crash deaths is high in Iran. Seat belts can reduce the risk of death or serious injury. This study aimed to estimate the rate of seat belt use and its related factors for car drivers in Tehran, Iran after proclamation of the 2011 legislation. A roadside observational study was conducted in 2012 and 10,752 cars and taxis commuting in different streets of Tehran were screened in regard to drivers' seat belt wearing. Other variables including gender, age range, type of street, district, time of day and day of week were also collected. The rate of seat belt use was 70.9%, and was significantly higher in females, elders and on freeways and significantly less in afternoon hours, side streets and in taxi drivers. The rate of seat belt use in Tehran (a representative of Iran) is still low despite the implementation of new legislations. More initiatives are needed to increase this rate especially in certain groups and areas.     

Fatal motorcycle crashes: a growing public health problem in Cambodia

This study examines the risk characteristics of fatal motorcycle crashes in Cambodia over a 5-year period (2007–2011). Secondary data analyses were conducted using the Cambodia Road Crash and Victim Information System, the only comprehensive and integrated road crash surveillance system in the country. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Handicap International found that (1) males are dying in motorcycle crashes roughly seven times more frequently than females; (2) motorcyclist fatalities increased by about 30% from 2007 to 2011; (3) the motorcyclist death rates per 100,000 population increased from 7.4 to 8.7 deaths from 2007 to 2011; and (4) speed-related crashes and not wearing motorcycle helmet were commonly reported for motorcyclist fatalities at approximately 50% and over 80% through the study years, respectively. Additionally, this study highlights that Cambodia has the highest motorcycle death rate in South-East Asia, far surpassing Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar. By recognising the patterns of fatal motorcycle crashes in Cambodia, local road-safety champions and stakeholders can design targeted interventions and preventative measures to improve road safety among motorcyclists.     

Adoption and Use of Electronic Meeting Systems in Large Australian and New Zealand Organizations

As globalization increases and competition grows, firms are becoming increasingly dependent upon group work and collaboration. The recent surge of reengineering efforts to reinforce a process view of organizational work and the emergence of virtual corporations spanning the globe indicate that firms are relying more on group work today than ever before. Information technology (IT) may have the capability to greatly enhance the quality of collaboration in accomplishing group tasks. This paper focuses on electronic meeting systems (EMS), which are mostly aimed at supporting group work in a face-to-face setting, and empirically assesses their adoption and use in supporting task-oriented collaborative work in Australian and New Zealand organizations. Results from survey data collected from 147 organizations indicate that EMS adoption has been somewhat limited. Most organizations had not adopted EMS to support group work. Further, both the level of adoption and level of use of EMS within the organizations was very low. Barriers to adoption were identified along with implications for future research. Organizational barriers, including compatibility with cognitive styles, lack of incentives and resistance to change, were the most important adoption obstacles. Technological and costs issues were somewhat less significant. Overall, the findings are fairly similar to the US study on which the survey instrument was based, though some adoption differences occurred which may be related to the structure and ownership of the organizations.     

我国产业过度进入的结构性与策略性因素分析

产业过度进入是我国经济转型期的特殊现象 ,产业进入壁垒失效是导致这一现象的主要原因。本文从进入壁垒的角度分析了我国产业过度进入的结构性与策略性因素 ,并提出了解决问题的思路。     

Motorcycle helmet use in Mar del Plata,Argentina: prevalence and associated factors

Injuries resulting from motorcycle crashes constitute a growing problem in Argentina and other Latin American countries. The problem is aggravated because helmet use is not widespread. This observational study analysed the prevalence of helmet use and related factors in a city in Argentina. The sample consisted of 2542 observations of motorcyclists. The results show an incidence of helmet use of 69.8% for drives and 43.4% for passengers. Helmet use was greater among women. Environmental and temporal conditions were related with the rate of helmet use. The findings indicate a considerable increase in helmet use with respect to prior years, providing evidence in favour of government policies. However, the number of motorcycles in circulation has tripled in the past five years, and therefore, the public health impact of injuries due to motorcycle crashes persists.     

顾客转换障碍的内涵及其在营销中的应用

随着竞争的日趋激烈,吸引新顾客的成本越来越高,企业为了保留顾客不仅要管理好顾客满意度,同时也要重视转换障碍。转换障碍是指顾客在转换产品或服务提供者时所遭遇到的这种困难和成本的支出,转换障碍可以分为正面转换障碍和负面转换障碍,正面转换障碍反映的是顾客主动保留在主顾关系中,而负面转换障碍反映的是顾客被动保留在主顾关系中。转换障碍在保留顾客计划中具有非常重要的意义。     

如何跨越贸易壁垒——基于出口技术复杂度视角的研究

本文研究贸易壁垒对不同技术复杂度的中国产品形成的差异化的出口抑制作用。理论及作用机制分析从进口国的消费者需求层面考察,考虑到高技术复杂度产品对消费者效用的额外提升作用;实证分析则主要构建交互项模型。理论和实证分析均发现贸易壁垒对技术复杂度越高的中国产品造成的出口抑制作用越弱,这表明提升中国出口产品的技术复杂度是帮助中国出口跨越贸易壁垒的有效手段。本文通过进一步实证研究还发现,中国向经济发展水平越低的国家出口,通过提高出口产品的技术复杂度来弱化贸易壁垒的出口抑制作用的效果越好。本文的研究将为中国出口跨越贸易壁垒并进一步促进中国出口提供有益的启示。     

Import Demand Elasticity and Exporter Response to Anti-Dumping Duties

ABSTRACT

This article investigates exporting firms’ behavior following the imposition of anti-dumping (AD) duties. AD duties tend to increase the prices of imported goods via a mechanism different from any other trade barrier because the AD duty size is endogenously dependent on import prices. Our model accounts for this feature and demonstrates that exporters are more likely to adjust their price upward when they face a less elastic demand. The theoretical predictions are supported empirically by relating product-level U.S. import demand elasticities and exporting firms’ reactions to duties inferred from a dataset on U.S. AD investigations from 1980 to 1995.     

Exceeding the speed limit: prevalence and determinants in Iran

Speeding is one of the most common risk behaviours associated with crashes causing signficant injury. The objective of this study is to explore the prevalence and determinants of speeding on a road between Tehran and Hamadan, Iran. In a cross-sectional study in 2009, stretches of the road were studied including three groups of posted speed limits: < 50 km/h, 50–100 km/h and > 100 km/h. Each stretch was evaluated both in daylight and dark. Randomly identified driver's speed was checked by a handheld speed camera and then the driver was invited to participate in a survey. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-Square, crude and adjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval and multiple logistic regression models. Overall, 52.8% of the drivers were travelling more than 10 km/h above the posted limit. Where limits were < 50 km/h, 74.6% of drivers were speeding. This declined to 46.9% for sections with limits between 50 and 100 km/h and to 36.9% for sections posted more than 100 km/h. Finally, more than half the drivers were observed to be speeding. Driving more than the posted limit was far more likely on the areas with the lowest posted speed limits, personal passenger vehicles, modern vehicles not using seat belts, and male drivers.     

结构性进入壁垒与行政性进入壁垒——基于租金分析范式的理解

本文基于租金分析范式将市场进入壁垒分为内生的结构性壁垒和外生的行政性壁垒,并进一步将后者分为能给在位企业带来额外收益的第Ⅰ类行政性进入壁垒和对企业施加了额外成本的第Ⅱ类行政性进入壁垒.企业寻求市场内生性的结构性进入壁垒会产生出有效产出,而寻求或者规避外生性的行政性进入壁垒则会导致与效率目标相冲突的逆向激励.     

A computable general equilibrium model of international sanctions in Iran

We detail recent international sanctions against the Iranian economy and its government imposed by a subset of developed countries. The effects of these sanctions on the Iranian economy in general and upon upper and lower‐income rural and urban Iranian households, as well as the Iranian government, are modelled using a computable general equilibrium (CGE ) model. We supplement the Global Trade Analysis Project 8 data set using income and expenditure shares from the Urban and Rural Household Income and Expenditure Survey from the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI ). The model is calibrated to simulate the effects of international sanctions as closely as possible. We use endogenous trade taxes to simulate the effects of sanctions on Iranian oil and petrochemical exports and Iranian imports of petroleum products, metal products and motor vehicles. Our study finds that international sanctions reduced aggregate Iranian welfare by 14%–15%. Rural households in Iran suffered welfare losses which were almost double those experienced by urban households, and the poorest urban and rural households experienced the largest welfare losses, in the order of 5%–10%. But the government of Iran sees a decrease in real revenue of 40%–50%, due to the large negative effect of sanctions on the Iranian oil sector.     

我国《调查规则》与欧共体TBR比较的思考

近年外国企业利用技术性贸易壁垒,对我国企业产品与技术连续发起狙击,引发国民对破除国外技术贸易壁垒的关注。我国《调查规则》在诉诸报复威胁措施,构成贸易壁垒的“不合理”规定以及司法审查方面存在的问题与不足,应根据不断变化的形势与特点,在司法审查、限制技术性贸易壁垒及贸易壁垒范围与可操作性方面,从国际贸易防卫法的高度对《调查规则》作出具创新意义的修改。