Contract Innovation in Germany: An Economic Evaluation of Pacts for Employment and Competitiveness

Pacts for employment and competitiveness are an integral component of the ongoing process of decentralization of collective bargaining in Germany, a phenomenon that has been hailed as key to that nation's economic resurgence. Yet little is known about the effects of pacts on firm performance. The evidence largely pertains to employment and is decidedly mixed. This article investigates the association between pacts and six outcome indicators using a framework in which the controls comprise establishments that negotiated over pacts but failed to reach agreement on their implementation. An extensive set of robustness checks are run to test the sensitivity of the key findings of the model. There is no suggestion of pacts negatively impacting any of the selected measures of establishment performance. Rather, the evidence points to some positive short‐ and medium‐run effects on firm average wages and possibly employment and innovation as well.     

Innovations,Prices and Employment: A Theoretical Model and an Empirical Application for West German Manufacturing Firms

In this paper a theoretical model of the impact of product and process innovations on output, capacity utilization, employment and prices is developed. The model is estimated with a unique set of micro-data from West German manufacturing firms. The empirical results reveal that innovative firms are more successful. They show a higher utilization and more output and employment growth than non-innovative firms. Innovations also change market behaviour. In sectors with a large share of product innovators, firms more often change employment and less often change prices, i.e. product innovations reduce price competition.     

需求层次理论在电力市场营销中的应用

当前,我国电力市场是一个买方市场,如何根据电力客户对电力和服务的需求,开拓电力市场,是各电力公司迫切需要解决的问题。本文引用需求层次理论,分析各类电力客户需求特点,提出了满足及创造电力客户对电力需求、开拓电力市场的建议。     

Employment Systems in Japan's Financial Industry: Globalization,Growing Divergence and Institutional Change

This article examines growing divergence and change in the employment systems of Japan's financial industry from the early 1990s until shortly after the so‐called Lehman Shock. This was a period which saw accelerated deregulation and globalization strongly impact the country's financial markets, leading to intensified competition over human resources. Foreign multinational corporations introduced into Japan's local product and labour markets new global ‘rules of the game’; in response, some native firms were forced to alter core aspects of a traditional employment model. The result was the emergence of diverging patterns of employment. The present study will demonstrate that the interaction of two key factors — national ownership and variation among core products and services offered — is shaping employment diversification, mediated by firms’ individual policies and practices. This research contributes to the debate on the effects of globalization on the divergence and change of employment systems.     

集成水资源管理理论及定量评价应用研究——以黑河流域为例

集成水资源管理是全球水伙伴(GWP)为解决全球水问题、实现可持续发展而提出的一种崭新的水管理模式。然而,GWP并没有提出具体的、具有可操作性的集成水资源管理定量评价方法,而定量评价又是将集成水资源管理理论应用到实践、解决现实问题的关键环节。因此,集成水资源管理定量评价研究具有重要的理论和现实意义。本文结合集成水资源管理理念与理论框架,建立了一个具体测量集成水资源管理的评价模型以及一套符合我国实际的流域集成水资源管理评价指标体系。在此基础上,本文以典型区域——黑河流域中游甘州区为研究区,定量评价了该区集成水资源管理现状,并提出了相关政策建议。该方法对推动我国流域集成水资源管理和区域可持续发展具有重要的现实意义。     

德国弱势群体社区就业扶助先进经验及其对我国的启示

由于经济的发展和社会结构的转型,一部分社会成员沦为弱势群体。而社区就业有门槛低、服务周到、针对性强的特点,这使得它成为弱势群体在空间上的沉积点,是对弱势群体进行就业扶助的一个重要平台。从德国的实践可以看出,社区可以很好的给予弱势群体就业扶助,帮助其实现公平和体面就业。德国先进的做法及经验对我国弱势群体社区就业扶助的发展具有重要的借鉴意义。     

One Store, Two Employment Systems: Core, Periphery and Flexibility in China's Retail Sector

Research on 'flexible' or 'contingent work', derived primarily from manufacturing and production contexts in Western settings, has often been theorized in terms of a core-periphery model. Based upon ethnographic research on vendor representatives and regular store employees conducted at a multinational retail firm in China, we indicate that this model is insufficient to capture the complexity of employment arrangements in this context. This article delineates the coexistence of two employment systems and a quadrilateral relationship in which workers' interests sometimes overlap but often compete. Our research also indicates that institutional arrangements in China significantly affect the strategies that are open to firms and the consequent structure of employment relations.     

三种化学生热体系的研究及在油气田生产中的应用

在油气田生产过程中．常由于地层或环境温度低给开发带来一些不利因素，如地层及井筒的结蜡、水力压裂对地层的“冷伤害”等。这样会使得油田开采的难度增大，开采成本增加。油田的科研工作者结合现场实际，试用了很多加热的方法来解决这方面的问题，如注蒸汽开采稠油，热水循环清蜡、电加热解堵等。这些方法由于工艺复杂，成本较高等因素限制了它的应用，     

粗糙集理论在建筑企业上市公司竞争力评价中的应用研究

研究企业竞争力有利于发现企业自身的优势和劣势;研究结果可以引导企业充分、合理地利用资源,明确企业发展方向.文章运用粗糙集理论评价模型,通过建立竞争力影响因素指标体系,选择了27家建筑企业上市公司2008年的相关数据进行评价研究.研究结果表明,目前我国建筑企业上市公司竞争力主要来源于工程管理能力和规模竞争能力两个方面.     

Labor Market Institutions and Individual Absenteeism in the European Union: The Relative Importance of Sickness Benefit Systems and Employment Protection Legislation

In this article, we analyze the determinants of individual absenteeism focusing on the “strictness” of employment protection and the “generosity” of sickness benefits. The data come from the “European Survey on Working Conditions” launched in 2000. Due to its coverage (the EU‐14), the data enable us to identify the relative importance of the institutional framework for explaining differences in absence behavior across nations. Our results reveal that, first, employment protection does not influence the number of absence days while sickness benefits increase absenteeism. And, second, the impact of the institutional framework is smaller than that of some individual worker characteristics.     

关于管理体系整合及运行探讨

随着我国加入WTO，企业管理与国际接轨是当务之急，建立一体化现代企业管理体系已成为必然，但在企业建立和推行多个体系过程中．经常出现定义重复、资源浪费、管理绩效提高不明显等问题。通过结合本单住的体系管理及经验，分析了建立一体化体系的可行性，对体系整合进行了探索．同时分析了目前体系整合面临的困难。     

灰色系统理论在房地产项目风险评价中应用研究

由于传统的房地产项目风险评价方法受人为因素以及模糊随机因素的影响较大,为了减少或避免这些因素的影响,提高评价的科学性、解释性和可信度,将灰色系统理论应用到房地产项目的风险评价中.通过建立一套较为系统、合理的房地产项目风险评价指标体系,采用定性分析和定量计算相结合方法,构建了房地产项目风险的多层次灰色综合评价模型.列举实例突破了传统的计算方法,利用计算机语言Visual Basic 6.0,实现了计算的方便、快捷.     

基于功能组分解原理的高压配电网可靠性评估方法及其应用

基于功能组分解原理,提出了同时考虑变电站主接线形式和高压配电网结构的可靠性评估模型;建立了包括系统性指标和节点性指标的可靠性指标体系;基于潮流计算和最优理论,建立了反映系统故障行为和优化校正行为的可靠性评估算法。并将上述方法应用于某市2015年高压配电网结构方案的可靠性评估。研究表明,通过该方法得到的高压配电网可靠性评估结果真实可信,该方法具有良好的应用前景。     

Urban food policies in German city regions: An overview of key players and policy instruments

Although food is an emerging topic on municipal policy and planning agendas, a systematic examination of policy development, its implementation and the instruments used at the urban level is lacking. This study was carried out with the aim of gaining new insights into the prevalence of certain food policy instruments and capacity of policy action. In order to do so, we developed an analytical framework to investigate urban policy and planning approaches related to food issues and applied it in ten large German cities. First, we identified different actor groups and analysed their role in urban food policy (level of involvement in municipal food projects). We then studied the variety of policy and planning instruments and their application for different elements in the food system. For the empirical study, we employed a case study approach and utilised data gathering methods of qualitative research, i.e. expert interviews and document analysis. Our empirical findings in the studied cities reveal that urban food policy activities are still very fragmented and often based on individual initiatives within the administration. Integrated urban food policies and their implementation through urban food strategies are still an exception in major cities in Germany. We found that municipal actors follow mainly sectoral approaches, using a wide array of steering instruments, i.e. informational instruments and public procurement policies. However, their capacities for policy implementation remain limited due to missing financial and staffing resources. Accordingly, the potential the urban food system offers for sustainable development through multifunctionality and sectoral integration, is still underexploited.The systematic approach developed in this study may contribute to a better understanding of different policy approaches taken. The applied typology of policy instruments might also be useful for identifying effective ways to implement urban food strategies, to understand mismatches between instruments and different policy domains, levels and administrative units, e.g. at the urban-rural interface, and to design of new policy instruments.     

Transitions into Permanent Employment in Spain: An Empirical Analysis for Young Workers

This article analyses the transitions into permanent employment of a sample of young temporary employees in Spain for the period 1996–2003. For this purpose, we apply multiple‐spell duration techniques to a longitudinal dataset of temporary workers obtained from Social Security registers. Our main findings are as follows. First, the transitions from a temporary contract into unemployment and into another temporary contract are very high when compared with transitions into permanent employment. Second, the entry into permanent employment — although slightly increasing with tenure at the temporary contract — is very low; the only exception is that of semi‐skilled and unskilled individuals, who are particularly likely to enter into permanent employment at the 24th and the 36th month of tenure (respectively). Third, we find that there exists a substantial proportion of workers with unobservable characteristics that make them show high exit rates from temporary employment and, at the same time, a rapid exit from unemployment — while the remaining individuals exit from unemployment more slowly, particularly those who are receiving unemployment benefits.     

An empirical analysis of supply chain risk management in the German automotive industry

The purpose of this paper is the empirical analysis of supply chain risk management practices. The analysis is based on a survey with 67 manufacturing plants conducted in the German automotive industry. After investigating the vulnerability of supply chains in general and examining key drivers of supply chain risks, the paper identifies supply chain risks by analyzing their likelihood to occur and their potential impact on the supply chain. The results are visualized in the probability-impact-matrix distinguishing between internal and external supply chain risks. Furthermore, instruments for dealing with supply chain risks are investigated. Therefore, the impact of supply chain risk management on performance is tested. In order to distinguish between companies with a high degree of supply chain risk management and those with no or only limited implementation the plants are grouped by means of a cluster analysis based on factors reflecting the instruments of supply chain risk management. In particular, groups are created representing two different approaches to deal with supply chain risks, i.e. reactive and preventive supply chain risk management. The clusters are investigated concerning differences in terms of performance criteria. The analyses reveal that companies with a high implementation degree show a better supply chain performance. Furthermore, the results show that the group using reactive supply chain risk management has higher average value in terms of disruptions resilience or the reduction of the bullwhip effect, whereas the group pursuing preventive supply chain risk management has better values concerning flexibility or safety stocks.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Employee Ownership and Employment Stability in the US: 1999–2011

Do firms with employee ownership (EO) programs exhibit greater employment stability in the face of economic downturns? In particular, are firms with EO programs less likely to lay off workers during negative shocks? In this article, we examine the relationship between EO programs and employment stability in the United States using longitudinal Form 5500‐CompuStat matched data on the universe of publicly traded companies during 1999–2011. We examine how firms with EO programs weathered the recessions of 2001 and 2008 in terms of employment stability relative to firms without EO programs, and also whether such firms were less likely to lay off workers when faced with negative shocks more broadly. In our econometric analyses, we use a rich array of measures of EO at firms, including the presence of EO stock in pension plans, the presence of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), the value of EO stock per employee, the share of the firm owned by employees, the share of workers at the firm participating in EO and the share of workers at the firm participating in ESOPs. We also consider both economy‐wide negative shock measures (increases in the unemployment rate, declines in the employment‐to‐population ratio) and firm‐specific negative shock measures (declines in firm sales, declines in firm stock price). Our results indicate that EO firms exhibit greater employment stability in the face of economy‐wide and firm‐specific negative shocks.