Critical Success Factors for Peak Electricity Demand Reduction: Insights from a Successful Intervention in a Small Island Community

This paper examines a successful residential peak electricity demand reduction project which employed a multi-disciplinary approach. The purpose of this study was to examine the critical success factors necessary for reducing peak demand and total energy consumption in a small Australian island community. This case study research is based on qualitative data obtained from semi-structured, in-depth interviews with residents from 22 households. It is proposed that the results of the examined project are transferable to other communities if the utility is able to develop the necessary trust, access, influence, and partnership with residential consumers required to create the environment for electricity demand reduction success. Findings from this research highlight the potential approach for future policymaking aimed at reducing peak electricity demand and total energy consumption in multiple communities, thus helping achieve government low carbon targets while reducing infrastructure spending.     

How did a domestic housing slump turn into a global financial crisis?

The global financial crisis clearly started with problems in the U.S. sub-prime sector and spread across the world from there. But was the direct exposure of foreigners to the U.S. financial system a key driver of the crisis, or did other factors account for its rapid contagion across the world? To answer this question, we assessed whether countries that held large amounts of U.S. mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and were highly dependent on dollar funding experienced a greater degree of financial distress during the crisis. We found little evidence of such direct spillovers from the United States to abroad. Although CDS spreads generally rose higher and bank stocks generally fell lower in countries with more exposure to U.S. MBS and greater dollar funding needs, these correlations were not robust, and they fail to explain the lion’s share of the deterioration in asset prices that took place during the crisis. Accordingly, less tangible channels of contagion may have played a more important role in the global spread of the crisis: a generalized run on global financial institutions, given the opacity of their balance sheets; excessive dependence on short-term funding; vicious cycles of mark-to-market losses driving fire sales of MBS; the realization that financial firms around the world were pursuing similar (flawed) business models; and global swings in risk aversion. The U.S. sub-prime crisis, rather than being a fundamental driver of the global crisis, may have been merely a trigger for a global bank run and for disillusionment with a risky business model that already had spread around the world.     

上海股票市场规模效应的实证研究

规模效应是指公司规模与收益率之间存在的反向关系,即小规模公司较大公司而言有着更高的收益率。本文从上海证券市场随机抽取60只股票作为数据样本,对其从2007年1月到2009年6月之间的公司数据进行实证研究,得出上海股市存在着规模效应这一结论。     

新会计准则实施前后会计数据价值相关性实证研究

2006年2月财政部发布的新会计准则于2007年在上市公司率先实施。近四年的实施,其效果怎么呢?会计信息的质量是否得到了提高?对此本文以主板上市公司2004-2009年的数据为样本进行实证研究,其结果表明,新准则实施后会计数据的价值相关性显著提高,从而证实了新准则的运用有助于提高会计信息质量。     

Assessing the impact of different workplace flexibilities on workplace stress in the presence of varying degrees of job control

We apply probit and propensity score matching to 1667 respondents from the 2008 National Survey of the Changing Workforce to quantify how workers’ self-reported stress levels vary under two different workplace flexibilities and varying degrees of job control. The first workplace flexibility considered is the ability to easily take time off for personal and family matters; the second is the option of a compressed work week. Our findings suggest that the first flexibility correlates with lower stress reports regardless of job control level. The second flexibility, however, correlates with lower stress levels only for workers with low levels of job control. This suggests that a compressed work week does not reduce stress for workers that already have high levels of job control. The more general conclusion is that some flexibilities are substitutes for job control whereas other are not, assuming the larger goal is the reduction of workplace stress and the various maladies exacerbated by stress.     

企业信用管理制度的创新探析——湖南永利化工股份有限公司企业管理新探索

信用风险和应收帐款管理问题是当前影响企业经营成败的关键因素之一,湖南永利化工股份有限公司通过设立信管理部门、建立客户信息档案、客户资信管理制度、内部授信制度、应收帐款管理制度、帐龄控制制度等,有效地改善了公司应帐款的市场结构和客户结构,提高了资金周转效率,应收帐款的风险大幅度降低,发展、改善了大客户的战略合作关系,在企业管理方面走出了一条新路。     

中小企业信用互助机构有效运行的制度背景及理论分析

中小企业在国民经济发展中有着十分重要的作用,但是融资难一直是困扰中小企业发展的瓶颈问题。为了解决中小企业融资难的问题,我国政府推行一体两翼的信用担保模式,但是现行的模式有诸多的缺陷。为了从实践中解决现行融资模式效率不高的弊病,建议政府推行以互助性信用担保机构为主体的信用担保模式,以便从制度上解决中小企业融资难的问题。