Organizational climate for innovation and creative teaching in urban and rural schools

Due to the impact of knowledge-based economies, all countries strive to foster creative education. Research has demonstrated that creativity is influenced both by individual characteristics and by the environment. Previous research examining creative teaching by teachers in Taiwan has typically focused on the relationships between creative teaching and innovative personal characteristics, school leaders’ behaviors, and internal motivation. The purpose of this study was to move beyond prior research to investigate the relationship between creative teaching behaviors and innovation-fostering elements of the organizational climate in schools. In addition, we examined the impact on teacher creativity of urban versus rural school location.     

A membership pricing policy to facilitate service scale-expansion

This paper proposes a multi-year membership pricing policy for a service business like a gym chain. In the pricing policy, the equivalent membership price per year is relatively low to attract customers, and the multi-year membership fees must be prepaid in full. The prepaid cash provides resources for scale-expansion by opening new stores. We develop a nonlinear mixed integer programming model to formulate the pricing decisions. Numerical experiments reveal that the multi-year membership pricing policy, from a long-term perspective, is substantially better than the business-as-usual pricing policy (1-year membership) in cash balance, profit, and market share. Yet, the performances of the two pricing policies do not differ much from a short-term perspective. These findings indicate that the multi-year pricing policy may be a good strategy, because it initially attracts less attention of competitors; suddenly it emerges and substantially outperforms its competitors in cash balance, profit, and market share.     

Assessment of innovation and foreign direct investment: An investigation of OECD countries

Using a panel cointegration method incorporating structural breaks and cross-sectional dependence, this paper explores the long-run equilibrium relationship between innovation and foreign direct investment (FDI) in 30 OECD countries. The results from the panel stationary test show that FDI and innovation variables follow a stationary process with several structural breaks over the period 1999–2018. The results also suggest an equilibrium relationship with structural breaks between FDI and innovation in OECD countries. The panel dynamic OLS model with breaks further reveals that FDI is positively associated with innovation performance and vice versa in OECD countries. Therefore, this paper sheds light on the relationship between FDI and innovation in OECD countries.     

The 52-week high momentum strategy in international stock markets

We study the 52-week high momentum strategy in international stock markets proposed by George and Hwang [George, T., Hwang, C.Y., 2004. The 52-week high and momentum investing. Journal of Finance 59, 2145-2176.]. This strategy produces profits in 18 of the 20 markets studied, and the profits are significant in 10 markets. The 52-week high momentum profits exist independently from the Jegadeesh and Titman [Jegadeesh, N., Titman, S., 1993. Returns to buying winners and selling losers: implications for market efficiency. Journal of Finance 48, 65-91.] individual stock and Moskowitz and Grinblatt [Moskowitz, T.J., Grinblatt, M., 1999. Do industries explain momentum? Journal of Finance 54, 1249-1290] industry momentum strategies. These profits do not show reversals in the long run. We find that the 52-week high is a better predictor of future returns than macroeconomic risk factors or the acquisition price. The individualism index, a proxy to the level of overconfidence, has no explanatory power to the variations of the 52-week high momentum profits across different markets. However, the profits are no longer significant in most markets once transaction costs are taken into account.     

Revisiting the relationship between suicide and unemployment: Evidence from linear and nonlinear cointegration

This study employs the linear and nonlinear ARDL cointegration methodologies to examine the potential symmetric and asymmetric responses of suicide rates to unemployment rates in the US from 1928 to 2013. Our results suggest that suicide rates are pro-cyclical with respect to the business cycle (measured by changes in the unemployment rate) after extensively controlling for divorce and fertility rates. Unemployment has symmetric long-run effects on the age-adjusted suicide rate and four age-specific (from ages 25–34 to 55–64) suicide rates, while the effect of an economic expansion on suicide rates for those aged over 45 is greater than the effect of an economic recession. These findings imply that the effect of an economic expansion on the decrease of the suicide rate is higher than the effect of an economic recession on the increase of the suicide rate for individuals aged over 45. Therefore, intervention designed to reduce suicidal behaviors should emphasize periods of economic recession more than periods of economic expansion for those of middle age and beyond.     

程序公平对新产品开发成功的影响——跨职能整合的中介作用

本文通过对中外汽车合资企业的实地调研，提出将程序公平引入现有关于跨职能整合与新产品开发成功的模型中，并进一步提出跨职能整合在合资企业程序公平与新产品开发成功关系中的中介作用。通过对获取数据的分析，发现合资企业程序公平不仅可以直接影响合资企业的新产品开发成功，而且也可以通过跨职能整合间接影响新产品开发成功，而跨职能整合在程序公平与新产品开发成功关系中起中介作用。     

财政支出差异性对创业活动的激励效应分析

经济新常态下，创业是推动中国经济发展、改善民生的重要途径。创业过程的风险性、不确定性及正外部性需要政府给予积极支持。基于2007-2015年中国内地30个省市（除西藏外）数据，运用动态面板模型，考察地区财政支出和创业活动的关系。研究结果表明：财政支出规模对创业活动数量及创业活动质量具有滞后的积极作用；财政支出规模的滞后效应源于财政支出结构的滞后效应，不同财政支出结构对创业活动质量影响的差异较大；同时，创新是提升创业活动质量的重要手段。因此，政府应积极支持“大众创业、万众创新”，各地区财政创业扶持资金应该从规模和结构上进行调整，重点优化有利于创新的支出结构，为创业提供良好的公共环境。     

儒家始祖形象的三种形态及其意义

传统儒家从未停止对事物根源与本质的探索。所谓"物有本末,事有终始","始"之字义常常兼具逻辑上的原初性与价值上的根本性。始祖作为生民存续之始和人道的开端,其形象隐含着重要的理论意义,更关联着儒家思想与制度的核心。本文分别从感生之祖、始封之祖、生民之祖三种形态出发,追溯始祖形象的特点,并试图通过这一讨论来理解儒家家国建构的不同模式及其基础。