英国“我的数据”项目及其对我国政府推进大数据应用的启示

"我的数据"项目是英国政府寻求数据红利的一次创新性实践。该项目试图集聚政府、产业界和广大消费者的力量,发展"个人信息管理服务市场",更直接地推动大数据经济。英国政府在"我的数据"项目中起到了协调、保障和扶弱的作用。借鉴英国"我的数据"项目,我国政府在推进大数据应用中,应该:开放数据,使大数据真正成为经济发展的动力;聚合数据密集型产业,带动新的产业以及生产性服务业的发展;平衡各方利益,制定隐私和知识产权政策,设立纠错补偿机制。     

Understanding the interaction of motivation and opportunity for tax planning inside US multinationals: A qualitative study

We explore the internal workings of tax planning within US multinational enterprises (MNEs) using a qualitative research method. We conduct a series of interviews with senior tax executives, which we supplement with other public information. We find that US MNEs adopt a heterogenous range of approaches driven by the motivations as well as the opportunities to reduce their tax bill legally. We develop a new theoretical framework that analyses the interactions of motivations and opportunities in MNEs’ tax planning strategy. We generate four typologies of corporate tax payers. Our study provides new insights detailing why and how companies plan their tax.     

Who voted for Brexit? Individual and regional data combined

Previous analyses of the 2016 Brexit referendum used region-level data or small samples based on polling data. The former might be subject to ecological fallacy and the latter might suffer from small-sample bias. We use individual-level data on thousands of respondents in Understanding Society, the UK's largest household survey, which includes the EU referendum question. We find that voting Leave is associated with older age, white ethnicity, low educational attainment, infrequent use of smartphones and the internet, receiving benefits, adverse health and low life satisfaction. These results coincide with corresponding patterns at the aggregate level of voting areas. We therefore do not find evidence of ecological fallacy. In addition, we show that prediction accuracy is geographically heterogeneous across UK regions, with strongly pro-Leave and strongly pro-Remain areas easier to predict. We also show that among individuals with similar socio-economic characteristics, Labour supporters are more likely to support Remain while Conservative supporters are more likely to support Leave.     

A stages approach to the internationalization of higher education? The entry of UK universities into China

This article contributes to understandings of the internationalization of higher education by investigating the extent to which a stages approach is evident in the overseas expansion of universities such that they begin with exports before moving on to contractual arrangements, then joint ventures and finally the establishment of wholly owned subsidiaries. Focusing on the expansion of UK universities into the Chinese market, the findings from 10 case studies reveal that universities do not follow a uniform market entry pattern. Moreover, evidence suggests that access to high-level personal networks in China determines the development of high commitment entry modes.     

Liberty,equality and consumerism in state education: exploring liberal angst under New Labour

This paper aims to explore aspects of consumerism in state secondary education in England, the dilemmas posed by the educational market‐place for a category we describe as the ‘resourced liberal egalitarians’ and the resolution of these dilemmas offered by the actions of prominent Labour Party parents‐as‐consumers. Having outlined the individual and societal significance of education, the ideological and ‘economic’ dimensions of educational consumption are explored in order to locate the category ‘resourced liberal egalitarians’. This group's dilemmas are then explained in the context of the strengthening of the market principle and the polarizing of the market‐place within education. These together increase the stakes of protecting their own children's interests while simultaneously exacerbating the inegalitarian character of the education system, a situation which they find distasteful. The final section looks at how the actions of prominent Labour Party figures address this angst through their own actions as parent‐consumers of state education.     

Killing for Money and the Economic Theory of Crime

There is a large literature on the economics of crime and punishment, yet surprisingly little attention is paid to the receipt of money for crime. “Contract killing” is surprisingly neglected not only by economists but also by social scientists in general. In this paper, I look at the case not of professional gangster “hitmen” but of individuals who have found themselves in a position where they wish to have a killing carried out. This discussion does not condone the practice any more than an economic analysis of suicide is an inducement to individuals to kill themselves. To the lay reader, the cases where an individual feels the need to pay for killing may seem to be such that rationality is not a likely form of behaviour. However, the economics of crime has adopted the use of the rationality postulate as a heuristic for all types of crime.     

Control of subsidiaries of MNCs from emerging economies in developed countries: the case of Taiwanese MNCs in the UK

There has been considerable research over the past few decades on the process through which headquarters of multinationals from developed economies exercise control over their network of subsidiaries in foreign countries. However, little research has been conducted on multinationals from emerging economies operating in developed countries. In this article, we examine the motives for, and mechanisms by which, headquarters of Taiwanese multinationals exercise control over their subsidiaries in the UK. The article draws on data collected through 66 interviews with top managers and human resource managers from four UK based subsidiaries of Taiwanese multinationals. The study reveals that Taiwanese multinationals use both output control and behaviour control to manage their subsidiaries in the UK.     

Generation Y: opportunity or challenge – strategies to engage Generation Y in the UK attractions’ sector

This study examines the extent to which Generation Y (Gen Y) serves as an opportunity or challenge for visitor attractions in the UK and the corresponding strategies adopted to seek engagement with this generational segment. A multiple-case study design was adopted with face-to-face interviews undertaken with senior personnel at leading visitor attractions across the UK. The paper advances a number of marketing and experiential strategies before advocating that further research is required to explore the growing pains of Gen Y from ‘adolescence’ to ‘adulthood’ if the industry is going to be able to understand, meet and hopefully exceed their needs, wants and expectations in the challenging years to come.