Vegetarian Utopias: Visions of dietary patterns in future societies and support for social change

The current study draws on the collective futures framework to examine how visions of future societies where most people consume plant-based, vegetarian or vegan diets are related to current support for social change towards plant-based diets. Participants were 506 university students in Aotearoa New Zealand invited to imagine a society in 2050 where most individuals consume a plant-based, vegetarian, or vegan diet. A thematic analysis was conducted on responses to an open-ended item asking how these future societies would be different to today. Participants reported a variety of potential positive and negative outcomes for individuals and wider society. Subsequent analyses of attitudes scales investigated the relationships between the collective dimensions of plant-based future societies and support for policies to promote plant-based diets. For a vegetarian future, the strongest predictor of current support for social change was the expectation that widespread vegetarianism would reduce societal dysfunction. For a vegan future, the strongest predictor of support for social change was an expectation of increased warmth in a vegan society. Implications for theory and advocacy are discussed.     

Pernicious pests and public perceptions: Wilding conifers in Aotearoa New Zealand

With significant favourable natural resources, New Zealand has excellent growing conditions for certain exotic conifer species. Although these species have been used for erosion control, and commercial and shelter/amenity plantings for many decades, they do have a high propensity to spread into undesirable locations around the country through natural means. These wilding conifers have become pests. Over the years, these pests have been controlled by landowners, government and community members using various methods, including mechanical and chemical means. Further, new ways of control have also been proposed, including the use of fire, genetics and other technologies. In this paper we examine survey and follow-up focus group data to understand public acceptance of these control methods. Overall, mechanical and selective chemical means were most accepted, while widespread chemical spraying and novel or alternative methods were less acceptable. The survey results and focus group discussions highlight the local, contextual nature of the challenges and opportunities.     

军民融合社会关系网络对军民融合新创企业成长的影响

军民融合新创企业是推动我国国防建设和社会经济融合发展的重要力量，军民融合社会关系网络具有丰富的异质性资源，可以有效促进军民融合新创企业成长。借鉴社会网络理论，构建以关系深度、关系广度、关系高度为代表的军民融合社会关系网络、耦合共生与军民融合新创企业成长理论模型，通过对收集的304份军民融合新创企业问卷数据进行实证分析，结果发现：军民融合社会关系网络对军民融合新创企业成长具有正向影响；耦合共生在军民融合社会关系网络与军民融合新创企业成长间发挥中介作用；创业导向显著调节耦合共生与军民融合新创企业成长的关系。     

国家级新区绿色增长能力建设影响因素分析

基于利益相关者理论，通过文献研究与实地调研，梳理了影响国家级新区绿色增长能力建设的主要因素，并应用Grey DEMATEL方法进行影响因素因果关系分析，在此基础上进一步剖析国家级新区绿色增长能力建设内在机理。研究结果表明：法律法规完善性是影响国家级新区绿色增长能力建设的根本性动力因素，同时，也是新区绿色增长能力建设内在机理的重要外在驱动力。此外，当地居民环境意识也是影响国家级新区绿色增长能力建设的重要结果性因素，而企业绿色管理实践、绿色技术进步与创新能力作为重要的关键性因素，对国家级新区绿色增长能力作用显著，是国家级新区绿色增长能力建设的重要内在驱动力。     

Institutionalising multiple accountability logics in public services: Insights from Australia

This paper reports on a field study of how a range of inter-institutional and inter-organisational forces shape the evolving rhetoric and practice of multiple accountabilities in public services. Drawing on the institutional logics perspective, we carried out a qualitative field study in the Australian Commonwealth Public Service involving semi-structured interviews, two focus group discussions, and the examination of internal accounting, management reports, and government archival records. The findings suggest that emphasis on conventional instrumental mechanisms and reporting tools, such as budgeting and accrual-based reporting, support managerial (instrumental) accountability through compliance logics. We conclude that an emphasis on public (relational) accountability through public dialogue is central to the public sector accountability debate, and that more attention needs to be paid to the question of how to balance the dual logics (instrumental and relational) in public services. The findings provide practical insights for public sector managers, policymakers and governments responsible for designing and implementing reforms, accounting tools, and accountability practices.     

How to increase multichannel shopping satisfaction? An adapted Kano based stage-gate approach to select new technologies

Today, brick-and-mortar retailers with integrated online shops have many alternatives to increase their customers’ shopping satisfaction: They could invest in (for the retailers) new physical store technologies (e.g., beacons or magical mirrors if not implemented up to now), new online shop technologies (e.g., visual tagging or webcams), or in new less technology-based improvement options (e.g. events or product testing). We propose an adapted Kano based stage-gate approach to support multichannel retailers confronted with such selection problems. The approach is applied to a major European sporting goods retailer. 37 improvement options are pre-selected and evaluated by current and potential customers. It can be shown that instore returns, instore services, reserve&collect, click&collect, customization, product testing, and magical mirrors are drivers of satisfaction for the current customers and should be implemented in contrast to, e.g., geofencing or beacons. The potential customers are more technology-savvy, but show similar categorizations as a current customer segment and so confirm the selection.     

审视新结构经济学:一个多维视角

要素禀赋论又被称为要素比例理论,被誉为国际贸易理论的一大柱石. 新结构经济学以要素禀赋理论为基础,将一国的产业结构变迁归因于要素禀赋结构的变化.本文的分析表明:新结构经济学忽视了某些重要的历史因素和现实因素;如果按照新结构经济学的建议来制定一国的发展战略,企业在要素使用结构上将会高度一致,从而可能导致一国经济在面临外部冲击时产生巨大波动.     

新高校会计制度实行中会计科目的处理

2013年12月30日财政部颁布了《高等学校会计制度》，并于2014年1月1日正式执行。本文立足实际工作，针对新高校会计制度中会计科目的设置及衔接中存在的问题进行分析，并提出建议，以保证新高校会计制度的顺利过渡实施。     

Can (unusual) weather conditions in New York predict South African stock returns?

This paper investigates the explanatory power of certain weather variables, measured as deviations from their monthly averages, in a leading international financial trading centre, i.e., New York, for South African stock returns, over the daily period January 2nd, 1973 to December, 31, 2015. The empirical results highlight that these unusual deviations of weather variables have a statistically significant negative effect on the stock returns in South Africa, indicating that unusual weather conditions in New York can be used to predict South African stock returns, which otherwise seems to be highly unpredictable. In fact, a forecasting exercise recommends that a trading rule that considers those weather variables through a GARCH modelling approach seems to outperform the random walk model and thus beat the market.     

美国社区银行的发展及其对我国新农村金融建设的启示

改革开放以来,我国中小企业发展迅速,但中小企业金融银行服务体系并不健全.与欧美发达国家相比,作为银行体系重要组成部分的社区银行在我国依旧少见.本文在介绍美国社区银行发展状况及运营特点的基础上,总结了美国社区银行在服务农村建设方面的成功经验与启示借鉴,以期对我国社区银行业的深化改革提出一点想法.