Assimilation of Hong Kong Immigrants in Canada

A flood of emigration from Hong Kong to Canada was observed prior to the handover from Britain back to China in 1997. I pool Canadian Census data from 1991 to 2006 to study the labour market assimilation of Hong Kong immigrants. The findings suggest that these immigrants faced a significant negative wage gap upon entry in comparison with Canadian‐born individuals, and this was larger for cohorts arriving closer to 1997, suggesting a decline in cohort quality. The results also indicate that earnings convergence with the Canadian‐born was slow for the majority of these immigrants.     

土地整治功能分区及其整治方向研究

[目的]土地整治的目标开始由注重"新增耕地"向注重"区域功能"转变,土地整治内涵由此得到延伸。同时,也迫切需要推进以提升区域功能为导向的土地整治分区研究。[方法]文章针对我国土地整治分区管理的需求,基于我国地理环境的背景差异及地域功能的定位、土地整治内涵的演变,运用要素加权叠加法、空间聚类分析法和专家经验判断法与区划对比分析法等开展土地整治功能分区。[结果]该文构建并提出了以功能导向为核心的土地整治分区体系和方案,将我国土地整治按地域功能划分为:(1)以生态修复、保护和建设为主的生态功能保育区,(2)以基本农田建设、农地开发整理、提高区域耕地的生产能力为主的粮食安全保障功能区,(3)以城乡用地统筹整治、城市用地内部挖掘为主的经济发展支持功能区,(4)以划定保护区、保护性建设为主的景观文化维护功能区等4种类型区,进一步结合东北平原区、华北平原区、黄土高原区等12个地理空间单元,组合为61个土地整治功能一级分区。在此基础上,评价一级功能区内各县域单元土地整治功能,识别出景观文化维护功能、粮食安全保障功能、生态建设功能、生态保护功能、城镇发展优化功能和城镇发展集聚功能,续分土地整治功能二级分区即各县域的土地整治功能。[结论]基于功能导向的土地整治分区反映了区域功能及其关系对土地整治分区的引导作用,为分区管控和引导提供了科学依据,这对提升区域功能和加强土地利用功能的联系和互动起到重要的作用。     

Competition,Strategy, Technology and People: The Challenges Facing PR

A recent survey of leading UK PR practitioners has identified a dynamic, swiftly evolving environment for the public relations industry. Heightened competition, wide-ranging new opportunities and threats stemming from the perceived need to internationalize, the desire for more influence in clients' business strategy formulation, training and recruitment dilemmas, ever-changing technology and an increasing requirement to evaluate the worth of PR are only some of the most pressing issues. This article reviews the survey's findings—revealing a complex and swiftly evolving marketplace—before drawing out some of the principal implications. There are interesting parallels with events in advertising.     

Understanding the Level of Marketing Activity in the Leisure Sector

The level of marketing activity in services businesses has been widley debated in the services literature. The article reviews the application of marketing analysis, planning and control activities in one area of the leisure sector: wildlife attractions, zoos and safari parks. The analysis combines a literature review with secondary data collection and semi-structured personal interviews with senior managers at key establishments. The findings highlight the use of recongnised strategic and tactical marketing concepts which are subsequently related to a recognised model of services marketing. The relevance of the services marketing model is seen to vary for different groups of establishments. The terms minimalists, entrepreneurs and planners are used to reflect the level of marketing activity undertaken.     

基于产业背景的金融控股集团协同机制研究

产业金控集团是当前我国产业资本借力资本市场发展实体经济的重要方式,但在 实际运行中存在协同机制不健全、协同效应发挥不足、产融结合的深度和广度不足等问题。本 文对国内外产业金融理论进行了文献综述,深入分析了产业金控集团产生的动因,指出了目前 产业金控集团在发挥协同效应中存在的不足。结合产业金控集团的优势和特点,从构建横向协 同机制和纵向协同机制的角度,探讨了完善产业金控集团协同机制的举措。     

Pan-European Advertising: Think Europe—Act Local

Changes in Europe resulting from the unification of EC countries and the accessibility of new Eastern European markets have fundamentally altered the trading environment in which advertising agencies operate. As the advertising industry attempts to get to grips with legislative and media changes, agencies are working hard to create alliances and develop networks which encompass markets in which they did not traditionally have a presence. This article draws on a combination of quantitative and qualitative information collected from secondary sources and extended personal interviews with key agency personnel, advertisers and representatives from the UK's Advertising Association and The Advertising Standards Authority. The objective is to show how the advertising industry and agencies are continuing to gear up to meeting the new demands of the Europeanized market.     

Cultural values in Hong Kong's print advertising, 1946–96

This paper examines a content analysis of 580 of Hong Kong's print advertisements for the period from 1946 to 1996, which was conducted using Cheng and Schweitzer's (1996) framework of cultural values. Product categories were more determinant than the time variable in accounting for changes in cultural values. The cultural values present in advertising over time were fairly consistent and the study did not support a rapid shift from utilitarian values to symbolic values over the 50 years in question.     

Chinese children’s attitudes towards television advertising: truthfulness and liking

This benchmarking study examines Chinese children.s perceived truthfulness of and liking for television advertising in three Chinese cities with different developmental levels of advertising. An in-person survey of 1758 children (ages 6 to 14) was conducted between December 2001 and March 2002 using a structured questionnaire. Results indicate that a majority of children perceive half of the television commercials to be true, although this varies by grade and geography. Children in Beijing perceived television commercials to be more trustworthy than did children in Nanjing and Chengdu. The percentage of children who perceive all commercials to be true declines consistently with grade in all three cities. There is a high proportion of first graders who perceive all commercials to be untrue. The basis for judgement varies predominantly by grade. Children in higher grades depend more on brand and user experience while children in lower grades rely mainly on authority (i.e. parents or teachers). A high proportion of first graders hold both a strong liking and disliking for commercials. These strong feelings towards advertising decreased with grade, being replaced by a marked increase in neutral or indifferent feelings. Gender and level of television viewing do not show a consistent impact on perceived truthfulness and liking for commercials. Perceived truthfulness of television advertising is related positively with liking for commercials.     

Bank Efficiency and Macro-economic Factors: The Case of Developing Countries

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of macro-economic factors on bank efficiency of commercial banks in Asia, Middle East/North Africa, and Africa. To achieve the objective, the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) was used to simultaneously estimate the parameters of the stochastic frontier and the inefficiency model. The results show that the effect of macro-economic factors on bank efficiency differs across region. Cost inefficiency of the commercial banks in the Asian region is negatively related to the real gross domestic product per capita, credit to the private sector, and market concentration but is positively related to trade openness. Banks cost inefficiency in the Middle East/North Africa is negatively related to trade openness but is positively related to market concentration suggesting that banking market in this region should be more open to competition.