The ‘old’ and ‘new’ competition and Malaysian manufacturing firms: a case study

The majority of empirical studies dealing with production processes, work organization and industrial relations practices have been conducted in advanced industrial nations. This article reports on a study of the changing nature of work organization and industrial relations policies in the developing economy of Malaysia. It explores the broad patterns of change in human resource management, technology and work organization among Malaysian manufacturing firms in the context of Best's ‘old’ and ‘new’ competition. The question that arises is: does the evidence reveal that Malaysia is embracing elements of the ‘new competition’, or is it still locked into a regime of mass production, or both? The article argues that the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ competition should not be treated as a simple, straightforward duality model of development. The distinction between the two approaches is sometimes blurred and not so clear-cut. The case study observes that both systems could be operating side by side at the same time within an organization. Since the Malaysian manufacturing sector is expected to shift from simple assembly and process-type operations using labour-intensive techniques to the more advanced and higher value-added industries, greater investment in HRD to upgrade the skills of the work-force and the adoption of appropriate industrial relations policies that emphasize decentralization, greater employee involvement and continuous innovation will become crucial. To be able to compete successfully in the global economy would require a change in focus in the adoption of industrial relations and human resource development policies. For Malaysia to realize its aspiration to become an industrialized and developed nation by the year 2020 would require radical changes in those policies within the context of an integrated approach to economic and industrial planning.     

被征地农民养老保险制度借鉴与探析——对赣州市被征地农民养老保险制度构建的几点启示

赣州市为解决被征地农民养老保险等社会保障问题投入了大量的人力、物力和财力,取得了一些成绩。但是,由于受诸多因素的影响也存在着一些问题。本文通过对被征地农民养老保险现状和问题的描述,并对我国一些较为典型的被征地农民养老保险模式经验进行阐述和探析,进而对赣州市被征地农民养老保险制度构建提出几点启示,为政府政策的制定提出理论依据,以资借鉴。     

网络保险的发展及优劣势分析

信息技术的渗透使得保险业积极地加入到了网络经济中,经过十余年的发展,网络保险初步形成规模。本文在界定网络保险概念的基础上,介绍了国内外网络保险的发展,总结分析了网络保险优劣势,对于我国网络保险有积极的促进作用。     

美国企业集团产融结合的特点及其对我国的启示

本文从制度变迁、金融创新、资源整合等方面分析和归纳了美国企业集团产融结合的经验,针对我国企业集团产融结合中存在的问题,结合我国国情和企业集团的现实情况,从制度变迁、风险控制等方面提出了对我国企业集团产融结合发展的启示。     

Stickiness of Rental Rates and Developers’ Option Exercise Strategies

In this study we incorporate sticky rents into a real options model to rationalize the widely documented overbuilding puzzle in real estate markets. Given the assumption that developers’ objective function is to maximize total revenue by selecting an optimal occupancy level, our model provides a better explanation of the phenomena we observed in the real world than the traditional market-clearance based real options models. We also show that developers’ exercise strategies can be affected by the size and the type of property markets. In other words, developers’ exercise strategies could differ among markets and under different conditions. Submitted to Cambridge—Maastricht 2005 Symposium.     

工民建施工过程中的造价控制探究

随着我国市场经济体制的改革与发展,造价控制已经成为建筑工程施工中的一项重要内容,对工民建施工过程中进行造价控制,是顺利完成施工的前提和保证。本文就工民建施工过程中的造价控制进行浅析,使工程项目能够达到预期的目的。     

说话状态在歌唱训练中的应用

说话的声音和歌唱的声音都是由同一个结构、同样的发声器官产生的。呼吸器官、喉头、声带、共鸣器官以及咬字吐字器官是说话与歌唱发声所必须的物质基础与条件，只是两者对这些器官的运用程度不一样。说话发音是歌唱的基础，歌唱发音是说话的技术系统化和艺术化。歌唱发音与说话发音有着不可分割的联系，将说话发音的自然、放松，以及语言表述感迁移到歌唱训练中，用怎样“说”来启发怎样“唱”，对声乐学习有重要意义。     

关于发展我省文化产业的宏观思考

黑龙江省是物质资源大省，也是文化资源大省，欲加快发展文化产业，须在解放思想，转变观念的基础上，进一步深化文化体制改革，通过文化体制本身的改革，驱动文化产业的发展，走出一条有中国特色的文化生存、发展的新路。     

Policies for agricultural development in Peninsular Malaysia

This paper highlights land use changes in the agricultural sector of Peninsular Malaysia. Since rational land use necessitates consideration of alternatives in relation to the natural potential of the land, the author examines the land resource inventory based on soil suitability and land utilization. This is followed by a discussion of land use changes brought about by public sector land development agencies and the private sector. The author gives a review of current land use policies and concludes with possible alternatives for the future.     

On the faustmann solution to the forest management problem

This paper is concerned with optimal solutions to the forest management problem when future utilities are undiscounted. By examining asymptotic properties of such solutions, we find that (i) if the utility function is linear, then the Faustmann periodic solution is optimal; (ii) if the utility function is increasing and strictly concave, an optimal solution converges to the maximum sustained yield solution, which we characterize as a golden rule. These results may be viewed as a possible resolution to the debate in forestry economics about what constitutes an optimal policy in forest management.