Community response grids: E-government, social networks, and effective emergency management

This paper explores the concept of developing community response grids (CRGs) for community emergency response and the policy implications of such a system. CRGs make use of the Internet and mobile communication devices, allowing residents and responders to share information, communicate, and coordinate activities in response to a major disaster. This paper explores the viability of using mobile communication technologies and the Web, including e-government, to develop response systems that would aid communities before, during, and after a major disaster, providing channels for contacting residents and responders, uploading information, distributing information, coordinating the responses of social networks, and facilitating resident-to-resident assistance. Drawing upon research from computer science, information studies, public policy, emergency management, and several other disciplines, the paper elaborates on the concept of and need for CRGs, examines related current efforts that can inform the development of CRGs, discusses how research about community networks can be used to instill trust and social capital in CRGs, and examines the issues of public policy, telecommunications, and e-government related to such a system.     

Modelling purchasing decisions of seafood products: a case study of Mumbai,India

This study investigated the factors affecting the purchase decisions of seafood consumers in selected urban areas of Mumbai, India. The primary data were analysed using binary choice modelling techniques. It was found that taste, religion, size of household and age of family member were significant factors at a 95% confidence level. The Indian seafood industry may find this baseline study useful to encourage further consumer‐based research to promote the growth of the domestic seafood market.     

Empirical measures of factors affecting social rates of discount

Economists have long considered possible divergences between private and social rates of time preferences. In this paper, we investigate factors hypothesized to affect this potential divergence. Results indicate that time preferences of individuals may be influenced by: 1. whether the resource in question is publicly or privately managed (respondents tend to have lower rates of time prefernce for publicly managed resources); and 2. the type of good being managed (respondents tend to have lower rates of time preference for income derived from a forest than for income derived from a portfolio of stocks and bonds). Additional factors which may influence the revealed rate of time preference include the pattern of benefits derived over time and various personal characteristics of the respondent. Although numerous methodological problems cloud the issues, our results suggest that capital markets may fail to aggregate utility over individuals and between goods, and that it may therefore be appropriate for governments to consider using lower rates of discount than the private sector, and to vary the rate used according to the type of good being evaluated.     

The Price of Morality. An Analysis of Personality, Moral Behaviour, and Social Rules in Economic Terms

The focus of the present study was the rationality of moral behaviour and moral conviction. Assumptions like "morality pays" or "good ethics is good business" are not a priori right. Whether morality as personal conviction is also economically rational or not depends in large part on the institutional setting of a society and the likelihood that immoral behaviour will be sanctioned. The systematic approach to morality thus appears to be political economy and the institutional setting: rules and laws. However, the conditions for morality depend not only on the formal structures but also on the informal structures of rules and sanctions. Hence, the systematic approach to morality is most closely linked with the culture of a society; the efficiency of individual morality depends on social conditions. It is costly for individuals and societies to establish and entertain conditions that set clear incentives for moral behaviour. In this context, moral competencies, learning, and education play a crucial role.     

Efficient Management of Product Durability and Recyclability under Utilitarian and Chichilnisky Preferences

In a dynamic general equilibrium vintage model we explicitly consider the relationship between the product attributes durability and recyclability. Efficient management in the case that green design markets fail is analyzed both under Utilitarian and Chichilnisky preferences. It turns out (a) that durability may be inefficient even in a perfectly competitive economy in which environmental externalities are absent, (b) that the efficiency-restoring tax-subsidy schemes crucially depend on the kind of preferences, and (c) that changing the property rights for consumption goods and residuals is a promising policy option to overcome market failure independent of the kind of preferences.     

谈网络文学的两个基本特点

网络文学作为一种全新的文学形式正在迅速普及中.狭义的网络文学,亦即其特质仅属于网络的文学,与传统的纸媒文学相比,有两个基本特点,一是生存方式的社区性,二是文本生成过程的多元互生性.     

网络社群系统识别、结构特征及位置关系研究——以电子信息材料联合专利网络为例

从我国电子信息材料行业联合专利网络抱团现象出发，以中国国家知识产权局（SIPO）专利数据库为数据来源，通过G-N算法的模块度指标，动态识别该行业联合专利网络社群结构特征，并从整体层次分析社群的位置关系。结果表明，我国电子信息材料行业存在明显的社群结构；创新网络中的社群结构具有内部连接紧密、外部连接稀疏的特征，在一定时间范围内呈现社群规模和数量保持相对稳定的系统特征；社群在创新网络中扮演着领导人及经纪人角色。通过对联合专利网络社群的剖析，有助于了解企业合作研发行为，同时为网络社群治理和网络权力配置研究提供新视角。