推进地勘单位廉政文化建设须实施“五要五不要”

文章从反腐倡廉的大局出发，阐述了地勘单位推进廉政文化建设的思路和措施。     

The persistence of innovation: a panel data investigation on manufacturing firms

This paper represents a contribution to empirical debate on the persistence of innovation in the firm, by exploiting an innovative panel database that, for the first time, links three waves of the Italian Community Innovation Survey with an administrative data source providing economic and financial information for firms in the Italian manufacturing sector, 1996–2003. By using both a dynamic logistic model and a Granger causality approach, we show that in order to innovate successfully it is much more important to have an adequate flow of profits during an appropriate time span rather than high profits only during one period before innovation. Our causality tests prove the existence of a dynamic interaction between innovation and profitability: successful innovation can, in the short run, generate the profitability conditions that can then enhance the financial resources needed to reinvest in new technological opportunities, thus causing the firm to persist in its innovative behaviour. We have also shown that another important source of persistence is represented by past innovative experience. A firm with consolidated innovative behaviour would have a higher probability of future successful innovation with respect to a firm that occasionally (or accidentally) innovates. Persistence in innovation enables a firm to take advantage of substantial technological and organizational learning effects, which improve with time.     

Analysis of travel behavior in Arab communities in Israel: a comparison of household surveys

This paper analyzes the main characteristics of travel behavior by the Arab minority community in Israel and discusses two issues related to household travel surveys: data collection among minorities and under-reporting of mid-day trips.Household travel surveys are generally designed and conducted for the majority population and, therefore, lack a proper accounting of minorities and miss many of their less-frequent trips. An alternative approach to conducting household surveys is presented, with the aim of improving data quality for transportation planning. The survey was designed for and conducted in three Arab towns in Israel. The main improvement of the survey involves better interaction between interviewer and interviewee, which should materialize into a relaxed environment that allows for obtaining detailed, reliable results within a reasonable amount of time.The results of the survey employing the alternative approach were compared to a sub-sample of the same towns taken from a regional survey conducted by the regional planning agency at the same time. The paper presents simple statistics on the main variables for each survey. Significant differences are found in the two data sets, mostly regarding the frequency of less frequent, non-home-based trips. A plausible explanation for these differences relates to the more detailed and improved data collected in the new survey.     

Exploring the Impact of Cultural Value Orientations on Market Mavenism and Opinion Leadership

Market mavens and opinion leaders are two key types of consumer influentials. The focus of this research is to extend their predictor characteristics by drawing on the four-way horizontal and vertical individualism-collectivism typology. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study are established by the findings based on the survey data collected from 313 online consumer panelists in the United States. Market mavenism and opinion leadership were independent yet moderately related concepts. Vertical individualism and horizontal collectivism were significant predictors of both market mavenism and opinion leadership while horizontal individualism affected only market mavenism. Vertical collectivism did not predict either type of consumer influentials. Interaction with service employees moderated the relationships between horizontal collectivism and market mavenism and between vertical individualism and opinion leadership.     

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.     

An analysis of information overload with implications for survey design research

Abstract

A laboratory‐type experiment was conducted to examine potential information overload causes and solutions. It was found that both information quantity and information complexity are potential causes of information overload. The experiment results also suggested that information overload problems may be reduced through carefully designed information display patterns. When designing survey questionnaires, attention must be given to potential causes of information overload. Methods of presenting information that ameliorate information overload must also be considered. As demonstrated in this study, survey designs can be tested in controlled, laboratory‐type experiments. The results of these experiments can then be used to improve the design of field survey questionnaires.     

上海市中高职院校英语口语教学现状调查与分析——以上海市商贸职教集团成员学校为例

本调查通过对上海商贸职教集团成员学校英语口语教学现状的信息采集与整理,指出中高职学校在英语口语的教学方面存在着诸如学习情感、教学方法、教学资源及教学评价等方面的问题,并就培养学生的学习兴趣、夯实语言知识基础、关注学习者差异、改进教学方法与评价方式及关注中高职教学内容的衔接等方面提出了针对性建议。     

从城市中社会调查的高拒访率看城市性

城市性的研究是社会学家们城市研究的重要方面。笔者试图以曾经参加的两个社会调查为例,通过城市和农村中调查对象对访员的接受程度的差异,特别是拒访率的不同,试图在对此现象因果解释的过程中,从一个侧面探讨城市性的几方面表现。