Understanding the cultural consumption of a new wave of immigrants: the case of the South Korean community in South West London

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model explaining the cultural consumption of a new immigrant ethnic group (South Korean) in terms of their highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow, public/private and ethnic minority cultural pursuits. A core premise of the study was that due to the overall higher socio‐economic standing of the South Korean community (in comparison to many other ethnic minority groups residing in the UK), this particular immigrant group would more closely resemble the omnivore and not the univore cultural consumer. A model was developed on the basis of previous literature in the fields of audience development research, arts marketing and educational sociology and was tested, consequent to qualitative interviews conducted with relevant experts and with South Korean immigrants, on a sample of 351 residents of an area in South West London that contains a high density of South Korean immigrants. The findings indicated that bridging social capital, perceived barriers to the arts, passion for the arts and educational motivation were the strongest predictors of omnivorous consumption amongst this group. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

National disparities and cyclical dynamics in Italy (1892–2007): was the Mezzogiorno a sheltered economy?

The paper presents the evolution of national disparities in Italy in a cyclical perspective, comparing GDP per capita growth rates in the Centre-North and South from 1892 to 2007. The aim is to evaluate the pro-cyclical pattern of macro-area divergences and to measure, with a non-parametric analysis, the degree of the Southern regions (Mezzogiorno) dependence on the whole country. A performance indicator for national growth is used to determine whether the South can be defined as a sheltered economy. Our results show that peripheral regions as a whole had different degrees of dynamism during the period considered and that the South can be defined as unequivocally sheltered only when national policies switched from industrialization and investments into simple transfers. In other periods, including recent times, national disparities do not show pro-cyclical patterns, supporting the conclusion that the Mezzogiorno has been exposed to market conditions and its economy has not always been dependent on external factors.     

Theϕ-divergence statistic in bivariate multinomial populations including stratification

ϕ-divergence statistics quantify the divergence between a joint probability measure and the product of its marginal probabilities on the basis of contingency tables. Asymptotic properties of these statistics are investigated either considering random sampling or stratified random sampling with proportional allocation and independence among strata. To finish same tests of hypotheses of independence are presented. The research in this paper was supported in part by DGICYT Grants No. PS91-0387 and No. PB91-0155. Their financial support is gratefully acknowledged.     

论社会信用立法的取向与趋向

社会信用立法是我国社会信用体系建设的关键环节.社会信用立法是诚信领域的专项道德立法,在为道德教化提供法律保障的同时也为依法治国夯实道德基础.受大数据技术的影响,社会信用信息的采集、披露、使用应确立"全面收集""原则公开""安全使用"原则,同时基于个人权利保护与大数据技术发展间的平衡,探索新的规制进路.励治法治观下,社会信用立法既要坚持"有奖有惩"的基本立场,也应明确法律褒扬守信的正向激励作用和惩戒失信的反向激励作用.     

霸权之翼：国际制度的战略价值

本文从工具理性和价值理性的维度剖析国际制度的战略价值，指出国际制度的“刚性”发展进一步凸现了其重要性。在此基础上，作者评析国际制度与霸权、霸权战略的关系，指出制度安排是霸权结构的核心，制度手段是霸权护持的主要途径，利用和改造国际制度是霸权延展的主要方式。本文重点剖析国际制度与美国霸权的关系，强调国际制度战略为“美国霸权之翼”。     

价值链成本管理为基础的跨组织资源整合:一个实地研究

以权益价值最大化为目标的公司价值管理模式(VBM),由最初以资本主导型管理(以战略选择—资本运营与并购策略—权益价值估价与增值为主线),逐渐地演变为产业经营主导型管理(从战略选择—组织内部价值链分析及流程再造—组织间多赢合作与组织内管理整合为主线)。深南电路是中国制造业企业的典型代表,其从客户价值导向的研发——生产精益管理——客户价值引导——柔性组织管理等方面进行了以价值链成本管理为基础的整合,使企业成功的抵御经济危机,价值链成本管理经验值得深入研究。     

Mobile learning adoption for tourism education in a developing country

Since developing countries are gradually introducing mobile-based tourism education, it is a growing demand to understand the students’ intention to adopt mobile learning. The study used partial least squares-based structural equation modelling to analyse survey data from 176 questionnaires at three tourism education institutes in Bangladesh. The study contributes to the theory of planned behaviour by examining the antecedent impact of innovativeness and moderating effect of self-efficacy. Results confirmed innovativeness as a significant antecedent on the attitude–intention relationship; however, the moderating effect of self-efficacy has not been supported. The study has marketing implications for tourism education institutes and government bodies.     

Synchronizing relational benefits with customer commitment profiles

ABSTRACT

The literature no longer considers commitment to be a distinct variable. Instead, commitment represents a combination of affective, calculative, and normative dimensions for individual customers, resulting in the adoption of a person-centric view for its measurement. However, customer satisfaction as a result of confidence benefit, social benefit, and special treatment benefit may vary among customers with different commitment profiles which encourages variable-centric view. Considering both variable- and person-centric views, this study uses survey data to examine the impact of relational benefits on the satisfaction of customers with different commitment profiles. It also examines the moderation role of relationship age. With cluster analysis identifying three commitment profiles, findings from structural equation modeling confirmed that highly-committed customers expected excessive special treatment benefit; low-commitment customers preferred confidence benefit to reduce cognitive dissonance; while affective-dominance customers expected all three types of benefit proportionately. The study’s theoretical and practical contributions conclude the paper.     

Improving Assessments of Gender Bargaining Power: A Case Study from Bangladesh

Gender bargaining power has entered into mainstream economic theory and public policy. However, common empirical measures are only loosely related to the theoretical concept, and research has not produced consistent results regarding the causal chains underlying women’s empowerment. This study critically examines accepted measures of bargaining power, arguing that participation in specific household decisions is not directly associated with the theoretical concept of bargaining power. The study analyzes the relationship between measures of participation in household decisions and individual and household characteristics thought to contribute to bargaining power. Using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data on Bangladesh over the period 1999–2011, the study finds that despite the loose relationship of the survey questions to the theoretical construct bargaining power, the decision-making questions provide relatively consistent and theoretically supported measures of this unobservable characteristic. Simple changes in using the measures would contribute to more robust and consistent findings.