The disclosure of key performance indicators in the public sector

This article investigates the disclosure of key performance indicators in the annual reports of Irish public sector organizations. It begins by discussing the two main driving forces behind public sector bodies disclosing performance information in their annual reports for the first time as well as looking at other contributing factors. The present situation with regard to the disclosure of key performance indicators in the whole of Ireland is then analysed. A number of annual reports from central government departments or agencies, local government bodies, other public sector entities and, in the case of the Republic of Ireland, semi-state organizations are examined to see whether such information is being disclosed and, more importantly, whether performance indicators are being linked to predetermined objectives and targets.     

TASTE FOR VARIETY AND OPTIMUM PRODUCT DIVERSITY IN AN OPEN ECONOMY

We extend the Benassy 'taste for variety' model to an open economy setting. With the Benassy effect, the market equilibrium is inefficient, openness reduces the varieties provided in the unconstrained optimum and there are potential gains from international coordination.     

高速铁路40m箱梁现浇碗扣式支架施工技术及承载力检算

文章结合南广高速铁路右线贵港特大桥的具体施工实例,从支架基底处理、碗扣式支架搭设、通车门洞设置方面详细介绍了高速铁路现浇箱梁施工方案,并通过支架承载力检算,验证了方案的可行性,为今后类似工程的施工提供参考。     

Exchange Rate Changes and Export Prices in a Small Semi-Open Economy

This paper analyses the reaction of export prices to exchange rate changes in Nigeria. The major proposition examined in the study is that, exchange rate changes are not reflected fully in the prices of the country's exports. The analysis suggests that manufactured export firms in the country may have been price discriminating between domestic and export markets; only about 93% of exchange rate changes occurring in the period 1986 to 1995 is shown as reflected in the domestic price of manufactured export. However, this result is qualified by the fact that, over 75% of the data analysed were generated.     

Distance and trade: Disentangling unfamiliarity effects and transport cost effects

This paper provides evidence supporting Grossman's (Comments on Alan V. Deardorff, Determinants of bilateral trade: Does gravity work in a neoclassical world?. In: Jeffrey A. Frankel (Ed.), The regionalization of the world economy. Chicago: University of Chicago for NBER; 1996) claim that not only transport costs but also unfamiliarity can explain the negative correlation between geographic distances and bilateral trade volumes. A gravity model that controls for as many natural causes of trade as possible reveals that countries high in uncertainty-aversion (based on Hofstede's survey) export disproportionately less to distant countries (with which they are presumably less familiar). More important, this result is mainly driven by differentiated products, not by products with international organized exchanges or with reference prices. For transport costs alone to explain such a trade pattern, one would have to assume that distance-related ad valorem transport costs are higher when a trade route originates from a high uncertainty-aversion country, which is unlikely. This trade pattern is easy to explain, however, if one accepts that geographic distance is a proxy for unfamiliarity and that exporters in high uncertainty-aversion countries are more sensitive to informational ambiguity. A further result is that high uncertainty-aversion countries trade less and thus grow poorer in the long run, which suggests that cultural factors are as important as geographic ones in determining trade openness and prosperity.     

封闭式创新与开放式创新：原则比较与案例分析

随着各种破坏性因素的出现，20世纪80年代以前企业通用的创新模式——封闭式创新逐渐瓦解，一种新的创新模式——开放式创新正在兴起。IBM、美的等企业正在从这种新的创新模式中获益。     

服务贸易开放与我国居民收入差距——基于不同组成部分的比较研究

我国居民的收入差距尤其是城乡收入差距,自从改革开放以来在不断扩大,与此同时服务贸易开放度也在不断扩大。利用我国1982—2010年的年度数据,通过引入多个控制变量,采用多元回归模型对不同服务贸易组成部分对我国城乡居民收入差距的影响进行实证检验,结果表明旅游服务、其他商业服务贸易具有缩小我国城乡居民收入差距的效应,而交通运输服务具有扩大我国城乡居民收入差距的效应。今后应进一步通过简化审批、减少垄断来扩大服务业的开放,大力发展服务贸易来抵消部分货物贸易对城乡居民收入差距产生的不利影响。     

杭州湾海域水污染演变及污染源分析

以杭州湾海域水环境调查的相关数据为依据,研究杭州湾海域水污染演变及污染源情况。杭州湾海域常年以劣四类海水为主,水质状况极差,部分指标仍有恶化趋势。其主要超标污染物为无机氮和活性磷酸盐,化学需氧量浓度波动较大,但不是杭州湾水污染的主要威胁。从海域污染源来看,从富春江电站上游区域汇入的污染物占比最多;其次是杭州湾沿岸支流河道汇入的污染物;再次是从排海污水处理厂纳入的污染物。     

传统村落的公共空间保护与更新思路探讨——以红河州建水县苍台村为例

村落公共空间作为承载村落民俗、节庆、歌舞等传统技艺、传统文化的场所,是村落中的重要节点,本文将从红河州建水县团山村公共空间保护更新的经验入手,以此作为范例,借鉴其在传统村落中如何从整体格局和尺度考虑来构建真正适应于村民生产生活的场所,同时结合建水县官厅镇苍台村公共空间现状情况分析,比较得出适合于苍台村的公共空间保护与更新策略,为下一步苍台村空间格局的整体保护与发展提供参考价值。