Current issues and research trends on open-source software communities

Open source software (OSS) projects represent a new paradigm of software creation and development based on hundreds or even thousands of developers and users organised in the form of a virtual community. The success of an OSS project is closely linked to the successful organisation and development of the virtual community of support group. This paper reviews different fields and research topics related to the OSS communities such as collective intelligence, the structure of OSS communities, their success, communities as virtual organisations, motivation, shared knowledge, innovation and learning. The main challenges, results obtained, and the knowledge areas are detailed for each topic.     

天津市民自我药疗行为调查与研究

当前,因看病难、看病贵及患者用药知识严重匮乏等原因,使市民非理性的自我药疗行为非常普遍。运用SPPSS统计软件对天津市民的自我药疗行为第一手调查数据进行相关分析得出结论:市民自我用药会经常失误,极易耽误病情。政府应加大宣传,鼓励市民除常见小病外,尽可能去医院看病;应通过多种途径宣传医药常识和用药知识,减少市民乱用药的行为;继续加强对虚假药品广告的监管。同时,加强对药店的监管,提高药店服务人员的专业知识水平。     

Antecedents of Truck Drivers’ Job Satisfaction and Retention Proneness

The aim of this study was to (1) explore the antecedents of truck drivers’ job satisfaction, (2) identify the impact of financial and nonfinancial job properties on satisfaction with the job and with one's employer, and (3) the drivers’ proneness to retaining their jobs. Based on the extant literature, we develop a conceptual model that is tested using survey data for 164 truck drivers. Multiple linear and ordinal logistic regressions were used to estimate the proposed effects. The results reveal that nonfinancial job properties and satisfaction with one's employer affect job satisfaction is statistically significant. Financial and nonfinancial job properties affect satisfaction with one's employer whereas the former shows a lower impact compared to the latter. Satisfaction with the job and one's employer impacts retention proneness. The contribution of this study was to (1) add to the understanding of the factors that predict retention of truck drivers in relationship to job satisfaction and (2) highlight the different roles of financial and nonfinancial job properties in this specific work context.     

Temporary hires and innovative investments

The flexicurity approach claims a positive effect of flexible labour on firm performance, also through an increased ability to innovate. Critics consider it a deregulation of the labour market, decreasing investment in human capital and innovation. We contribute to this broad debate providing an estimate of the relationships linking innovative investment, substitution investment, permanent hires and temporary hires. In particular, we aim at affirming or denying that innovative investments are accompanied by a specific kind of workforce, being it stable or flexible. In doing so, we contribute to bridge the gap among two quite separate strands of literature, as existing literature usually analyses capital and labour separately. Estimating a nonlinear recursive equation system we highlight a significant increase in the likelihood of hiring on a permanent base when the firm innovates; this holds till 2008. Afterward, during the crisis, innovating firms are more likely to hire using temporary contracts instead, a possible signal of a cost saving strategy adopted in a loose labour market by firms still able to innovate. Furthermore, both permanent and temporary hires never depend on increases in labour costs; however, substitution investment increases when labour cost increases, maybe in an attempt to increase labour productivity through a more efficient capital equipment.     

人口普查中的事后质量抽样调查

事后质量抽查是世界各国在人口普查中普遍采用的用来评估人口普查登记质量的调查方法,是评价数据质量的重要手段之一.从事后质量抽查的作用、抽样设计、调查方法、估计方法、抽查结果以及与以往相比有何改进等方面论述了2000年第五次全国人口普查中的事后质量抽样调查.     

Factors Affecting Retailer Acceptance of New Packaged Goods:

Packaged goods manufacturers develop and introduce several different types of new products including innovations, "me-too" prodcuts, and line extensions. The authors build a theoretical model to help understand the retailer new product acceptance process for different types of new products. Factors influencing retailer acceptance of new packaged goods were identified and tested. Statistical comparisons of factors were performed across different types of new products and within a particular type of new product to develop a relative ranking of the most influential factors. The results show that many of the factors affecting retailer acceptance of different types of new products are under the control of the manufacturer. The results also show that the retailer new product acceptance process varied significantly from one type of new product to another. Implications for theory and practice, and directions for future research, are discussed.     

Corporate Dividend Policy: The Views of British Financial Managers

Abstract:   Using a survey approach, this paper examines the importance and relevance of the various theories of dividend policy for UK companies. Further, it evaluates the extent to which corporate characteristics such as size and industry influence managerial responses to the survey. In general, the results support dividend hypotheses relating to signalling and ownership structure, in preference to those about capital structure and investment decisions and agency issues. At a more detailed level, the cross sectional analysis reveals important differences between managers' responses, based on company size, industry sector, growth opportunities, ownership structure and information asymmetry.     

Initial Public Offerings: CFO Perceptions

We examine four issues pertaining to initial public offerings (IPOs) using a survey of 438 chief financial officers (CFOs). First, why do firms go public? Second, is CFO sentiment stationary across bear and bull markets? Third, what concerns CFOs about going public? Fourth, do CFO perceptions correlate with returns? Results support funding for growth and liquidity as the primary reasons for IPOs. CFO sentiment is generally stationary in pre‐ and post‐bubble years. Managers are concerned with the direct costs of going public, such as underwriting fees, as well as indirect costs. We find a negative relation between a focus on immediate growth and long‐term abnormal returns.     

Why are Small Firms Different? Managers’ Views

Do incentives differ between large and small organizations? Results from a representative survey of compensation managers are used to shed light on the issues. I find that (i) small establishments rely less on pecuniary incentives, and have a significantly more hostile attitude towards incentive schemes based on competition and relative rewards; (ii) large units are more vulnerable to mechanisms of efficiency wages, effects that remain even after controlling for differences in monitoring ability; (iii) large units are more prone to indicate that negative reciprocity is important, and that their employees care about relative pay. I argue that these findings fit with behavioral stories of incentives and motivation, in particular those stressing group interaction effects, inequity aversion and gift exchange.     

农村居家养老服务的需求强度与需求弹性——基于浙江农村老年人问卷调查的研究

在农村地区发展居家养老服务面临严格的预算约束,不同居家养老项目的实施应有先后次序。一般来说,老年人对不同居家养老项目的需求强度、迫切性和不可或缺性存在差异,这个差异即为需求弹性,基于浙江老年人的问卷调查的实证研究证明了居家养老项目需求弹性的客观存在,根据弹性居家养老项目分为四类,对各类项目可确定轻重缓急不同的工作策略。