城市公用事业特许合同初探

长期以来,我国城市公用事业被排除在市场经济运行体制之外,不能有效地融入市场经济体制之中。政府在公用事业中角色的混乱也导致公用事业政企不分、政事不分,严重制约了我国城市公用事业的发展。20世纪90年代以来的市场化改革带动了城市公用事业的快速发展。但是,在发展的同时也带来了一些不可回避的问题。本文笔者从特许经营合同的角度,利用行政合同的相关知识,结合公共选择理论以及新公共管理的思想,在参考国外模式的前提下,列举相关实例,剖析我国公用事业特许合同中存在的相关问题并提出初步解决方案。     

以承接产业转移推动铜陵民营经济发展

皖江城市带承接产业转移示范区规划为安徽沿江城市迎来了全新的发展机遇。面临这一机遇,民营经济应该充分发挥自身优势,选准承接重点,积极主动作为。     

Central Government versus private sector wages and cognitive skills: evidence using endogenous switching regression

The importance of estimation techniques that allow for nonrandom selection of workers into the public and private sectors has been established in the theoretical and empirical literature. A separate body of work has explored the contribution of cognitive and other basic skills to earnings. This article brings together these two strands of empirical literature using Adult Literacy and Lifeskills (ALL) survey data for Norway and Bermuda. In the case of Norway, results from both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and a switching regression model agree that cognitive skills are rewarded more in the public sector and that, in both sectors, the main effect is the direct effect of skills on earnings. In the case of Bermuda, however, switching regression estimates are substantially different with respect to the how skills affect earnings; furthermore, controlling for cognitive skills changes the nature of selection and, hence, the estimates of sector wage differentials.     

Activity Based Segmentation on Pleasure Travel Market of Hong Kong Private Housing Residents

Abstract

If selection of activity types like outdoor sports, entertainment and sightseeing by the travelling public is better understood, more efficient marketing planning strategies can be developed to suit target markets, attract new target markets or increase customer volume in off-peak periods. In the present study, activity based segmentation was used to identify four groups of Hong Kong private housing travellers. They were ‘Sightseeing,’ ‘Outdoor Sports,’ ‘Entertainment and Outdoor Activities,’ and ‘Friends/Relatives Visiting.’ Statistically significant differences among activity-based clusters were found in socio-economic, demographic and trip related variables. Results showed that activity segmentation was a viable approach and that implications existed for packaging and programming, training programmes and promotional materials when targeting the pleasure travel market of Hong Kong.     

Communicating across tourism silos for inclusive sustainable partnerships

Abstract

Overcoming traditional tourism silos to develop long-term relationships with stakeholders is essential for transformational change. Adopting broader networks connects researchers to pertinent issues facing society, develops reciprocal capacities for learning, and creates inclusive sustainable partnerships. As critical tourism scholars and not-for-profit employees, we illustrate the journey of how we engaged collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, from businesses, not-for-profits and the university, to tackle issues of economic disadvantage and social exclusion. Critical hospitality and dialogue theory were adopted to provide a framework for the processes of collaboration, research, networking, and advocacy work for inclusive sustainable spaces. Drawing on our involvement with co-founding a collaborative research network, the Network for Community Hospitality, and analysis of data from two Ketso workshops and interviews with 41 network members, we present reflections on setting up and facilitating the network. In addition, two examples of collaborative Network activities are presented to illustrate the techniques and dialogic communication processes for doing critical hospitality. The article thereby contributes by providing empirically informed and reflexive understandings into the experiences of working and communicating within long-term inclusive partnerships with diverse stakeholders to create traction for positive social sustainable change.     

Confucian dynamism and Dunning's framework: Direct and moderation associations in internationalized Chinese private firms

This research investigates whether an upper-echelon perspective incorporating a unique managerial attribute, namely, Confucian dynamism (CD), which draws from China's cultural heritage, can enrich Dunning's ownership–location–internalization (OLI) framework. This study examines the activities of 233 internationalized Chinese private firms. Its findings suggest that the CD of individual decision-makers negatively affects the adoption of equity modes (direct association); and lessens the effects of ownership and location advantages on the adoption of equity modes. However, it does not influence the relationship between internalization advantages and equity modes (moderation associations). The contribution of this study is that it effectively complements the “rational” OLI framework through the inclusion of CD and its interactions with OLI variables to provide a more comprehensive account of the international entry mode decisions of Chinese private firms.     

Innovation and the market share of private labels

Abstract

This study investigates national brand manufacturers' innovations, and analyses the relationship between innovation and the market share of private labels in the consumer packaged-goods industry. The data for this study come from two extensive databases that cover 142 product categories during 2004–2006. According to logistic regression methods adapted to the resource allocation context, manufacturers' innovation strategy has a negative impact of the market share of private labels in two specific market conditions. Managers therefore must design a strategy that aligns with the market conditions because an innovation strategy may be effective in some situations, whereas in others a different strategy or combination of strategies may be more appropriate.     

A Comparison of Western Business Instruction in China With U.S. Instruction: A Case Study of Perceived Program Emphases and Satisfaction Levels

This research presents a case study of a joint business degree program between an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB‐I) accredited business school in the United States and a Chinese PhD granting partner university. The case investigates the impact of a U.S.‐based curriculum, taught by U.S. instructors and which uses all English instruction on Chinese student perceptions of program emphases and satisfaction. It compares these perceptions with those of U.S. sister students. The comparison reveals program dissatisfaction among Chinese students when contrasted to U.S. students and for the most part a failure to attend to the program emphases of the West. Reasons for the departures are explored and strategies for improvement are developed.     

Gatekeepers to consumer markets: the role of retailers in international trade

This study explores how recent developments in the retail sector affect trade in consumer goods. It focuses on three developments in the retail sector: (i) internationalization; (ii) market structure; and (iii) the growing market share of retailers' private labels. Using gravity model estimation techniques it is found that the foreign operations of a retailer are positively related to imports from the host to the home country of the retailer. Imports are negatively related to ownership concentration, while the market share of private labels is negatively related to imports of food and positively related to imports of non-food consumer goods. For both product categories private labels shift sourcing towards poor countries. The trade response to trade liberalization is higher both at the extensive and intensive margin in countries with lower retail concentration.     

Multi-stakeholder platforms for linking small farmers to value chains: evidence from the Andes

Value chains linked to urban markets and agro-industry present new opportunities for adding value and raising rural incomes. Small farmers, who produce small volumes, struggle to enter these markets. A lack of trust among value chain actors increases transaction costs and short-circuits innovation. This paper explores how multi-stakeholder platforms have been used to address these problems in potato-based value chains in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. It uses the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to understand how platforms work. Differences in characteristics of the value chains, the participating actors and institutional arrangements have led to the emergence of two types of platforms. The first type brings traders, processors, supermarkets and others together with farmer associations and research and development (R&D) organizations to foster the development of new market opportunities through commercial, institutional and technological innovation. The second type is structured around geographically delimited supply areas, meshing farmers and service providers to address market governance issues in assuring volumes, meeting quality and timeliness constraints and empowering farmers. Evidence from these cases indicates that platforms that bring stakeholders together around value chains can result in new products, processes, norms and behaviours that benefit poor farmers, which could not have been achieved otherwise.