谈私营企业主阶层地位的变迁及影响

私营企业主阶层地位及其地位相关关系的变迁受制于经济、制度诸因素的影响,其发展与地位变迁是一个与整个社会经济、制度环境互动的过程,同时也是这种互动的结果。本文主要对私营企业主阶层变迁的阶段进行了分析,并在此基础上分析私营企业的发展对于构建社会主义和谐社会的影响。     

Energy-saving Supporting Tourism Sustainability: A Case Study of Hotel Swimming Pool Heat Pump

Based on energy-related measurements, this article evaluates the thermal performance, energy-saving, indirect emissions and financial feasibility of using heat pumps for hotel out-door swimming pools in subtropical climates. A rooftop pool of a city-centre hotel was investigated. It was found that the average coefficient of performance (COP) was around 2.0. The measured electricity consumption was 24.6 MWh and the total heat output was 49.1 MWh for the heating season studied (mid-December to the late April). Compared with conventional electric boilers and gas-fired condensing/non-condensing boilers, the total energy savings during the heating season ranged from 26.5 to 32.5 MWh. Greenhouse and noxious emissions can also be indirectly reduced by about 12,000 kg. A discounting approach was adopted to compute the net present value of fuel costs over a lifecycle of 10 years. It was found that, over a 10-year lifecycle, the energy cost could be reduced by HK$226,400 when a heat pump with an average COP of 2.0 was used instead of a conventional electric boiler. Derived from the energy cost saving over other conventional type of water heating equipment, the simple pay-back period can be about 2 years and the lowest internal rate of return can be 39%.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Moving average stochastic volatility models with application to inflation forecast

We introduce a new class of models that has both stochastic volatility and moving average errors, where the conditional mean has a state space representation. Having a moving average component, however, means that the errors in the measurement equation are no longer serially independent, and estimation becomes more difficult. We develop a posterior simulator that builds upon recent advances in precision-based algorithms for estimating these new models. In an empirical application involving US inflation we find that these moving average stochastic volatility models provide better in-sample fitness and out-of-sample forecast performance than the standard variants with only stochastic volatility.     

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS IN THE MAINTENANCE,REPAIR, AND OVERHAUL INDUSTRY: AN OPTIONS APPROACH

This paper presents a practical case application of the real options framework to a multi-stage investment in the aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) industry. With the deregulated commercial airline industry and military procurement reform, the $44 billion MRO sector must implement tools to remain strategically poised. In this case study, the MRO participant values a multi-stage irreversible expenditure in maintenance equipment and processes under air travel demand uncertainty using a real options analysis. The investment scenario is viewed from a delay, growth, and compound options framework, and an appropriate sensitivity analysis is performed. The main contribution of this paper is the detailed real option framing, valuation, and discussion that may be used as an illustration for industry practitioners or classroom instruction.     

Risk and Return on Real Estate: Evidence from Equity REITs

We analyze monthly returns on an equally weighted index of eighteen to twenty-three equity (real property) real estate investment trusts (REITs) that were traded on major stock exchanges over the 1973–87 period. We employ a multifactor Arbitrage Pricing Model using prespecified macroeconomic factors. We also test whether equity REIT returns are related to changes in the discount on closed-end stock funds, which seems plausible given the closed-end nature of REITs.
Three factors, and the percentage change in the discount on closed-end stock funds, consistently drive equity REIT returns: unexpected inflation and changes in the risk and term structures of interest rates. The impacts of these variables on equity REIT returns is around 60% of the impacts on corporate stock returns generally. As expected, the impacts are greater for more heavily levered REITs than for less levered REITs. Real estate, at least as measured by the return performance of equity REITs, is less risky than stocks generally, but does not offer a superior risk-adjusted return and is not a hedge against unexpected inflation.