Role of culture in water resources management via sustainable social automated negotiation

Increased competitions for water resources in many regions worldwide call for cooperative approaches. The competitions are complex for humans to resolve due to numerous alternatives and different or conflicting preferences of multiple stakeholders over multiple criteria, which might even oppose desirable environmental objectives. Parties also have incomplete information about the preferences of the counterparties. Electronic negotiation, empowered by intelligent agent technology, is a combination of artificial intelligence, economics, and psychology to find beneficial joint agreements in complex paradigms such as this. This study investigates a multilateral sustainable automated negotiation among intelligent agents representing stakeholders, including the legal party ‘nature’ as one of the stakeholders. It defines decision criteria and alternatives in the framework of cultural factors, elicits preferences of the stakeholders regarding the criteria without their intervention using a multi-criteria decision-making method, prunes the solution space before starting the negotiation by recognizing a general social treaty, determines the multi-issue specific treaty by learning the stakeholders, and demonstrates bidding and acceptance strategies.     

Modeling conflict impact and postconflict reconstruction: The case of Yemen

Evidence-based planning for countries in the midst of conflict is often constrained by missing data and the lack of appropriate analytical tools. To overcome these constraints, we use a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model combined with systematic sensitivity analysis (SSA) to investigate the impact of conflict on Yemen’s economy and to analyze potential pathways for recovery after the conflict finally ends. Our results suggest that conflict-related disruptions in agriculture and mining sent devastating shockwaves throughout the economy, accounting for the lion’s share of the country’s economic losses and increase in poverty. Our results suggest that supporting agriculture should take the highest priority, as reconstruction of that sector, followed by the mining sector, has the largest positive impact on growth and poverty reduction. However, our estimates also suggest that the restoration of its prewar economic status quo is unlikely. In addition to serving as a direct input for Yemen’s reconstruction planning, our paper also demonstrates the usefulness of overarching models for conflict and postconflict economic assessments.     

权力、习俗与司法:1947年绍上湾区的渔业冲突

由于杭州湾南岸曹娥江河口沙洲的不稳定性,位于曹娥江河口东岸的绍兴沥海、上虞雀嘴两地因沙洲渔业资源时起冲突,1947年发生渔民斗殴杀人事件,更是反映了近代近海湾区的渔业治理难题。事件中包括乡长谈判被勒、媒体推动舆潮、渔会呈文请愿、旅外同乡会施压等,士绅、县参议会、县政府、区专署、省政府在其中扮演了不同的角色,体现了政府权力、风俗习惯与司法决策在解决双方冲突中的不同作用。由渔民越界纠纷而引发的近海湾区冲突展现了河口渔民生存实态,以及地方政治精英协调渔业捕捞秩序、涉事.各方逐步确立并完善非正式制度的实现路径。重要的是,对绍上湾区冲突历史的考察不仅呈现了公共资源的治理问题的复杂性,更提示我们注意中国社会渔业资源治理难题背后的历史原因。     

数字金融的公司治理效应--基于非家族股东治理视角

非家族股东治理能够有效助力家族企业实现可持续发展与现代化转型的目标,因而提升非家族股东治理水平具有重要意义。数字金融作为传统金融发展模式的重要创新,能够实现“金融服务实体经济”的目标,促使非家族股东积极参与家族企业治理。基于此,本文以代理理论与社会情感财富理论为基础,探讨了数字金融对非家族股东治理的影响。实证检验发现,随着数字金融的发展,非家族股东治理水平不断提升。其作用机制在于,数字金融能够通过缓解代理冲突、弱化家族控制与强化传承意愿,提升非家族股东治理水平。拓展性分析发现,对于非创业型、融资约束较强、位于金融监管程度较强地区的家族企业来说,数字金融对非家族股东治理的积极效应更显著;数字金融对异质性非家族股东制衡度存在差异化影响,即相较于外资股东与机构股东制衡度,数字金融能够强化国有股东与民营股东对家族股东的制衡;数字金融能够通过提升非家族股东治理水平促进家族企业可持续发展。本文从数字金融视角探究非家族股东治理的动机,丰富了数字金融与非家族股东治理的相关研究。     

地方法规范的“飞出”适用

国家通过行政区划制度实现了对国土空间的有效治理,但形成了行政壁垒和区域发展不平衡。“飞地经济”推动了国土动态空间的重构,需要具有竞争力的管理制度溢出和良法的“飞出”适用。在民商事领域,可以通过冲突法及法律选择制度解决地方法规范的跨界适用。地方行政法规范“飞出”适用的基本规则是“协议—批准”。基于公私法的划分、国家结构形式和地方治理制度,“协议—批准”的实现形式存在差异。在实行普通法制度的联邦制国家,联邦成员可以按民商事冲突法及其意思自治原则,约定其行政法规范的“飞出”适用。实行单一制的国家（联邦成员）除了个别共同法外,对地方行政法规范的“飞出”适用都实行批准制度,包括批准“准据法”、批准行政区划拟制和批准委托管辖制度。无论公私法是否存在分野,地方主体都可以协商约定“飞地经济”的行政管辖权,但自治地方具有更强的自主能力。在实行地方自治的情况下,约定“飞地经济”的行政管辖权多由本级或中央民意机关批准,有的甚至需要行政机关和民意机关的双重批准。行政管辖权是一种实施法律的公权力,它的溢出意味着地方法规范的“飞出”适用。     

“Take it or leave it?”: Evidence on cultural differences affecting return behaviour for Gen Z

Both culture and age have a direct impact on consumers' shopping behaviour. Similarly, this paper explores consumers’ return behaviour in two different cultural contexts, China and Italy, characterized by low/high individualism vs. high/low collectivism. To this end, the research employs a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews collected in May and June 2020 for a sample of Generation Z consumers in China and Italy. Results show differences and similarities affecting consumers' willingness to return in the different stages of effective purchase behaviour. For instance, in the pre-purchase stage, Chinese consumers often show a limited interest in return policies since they usually prefer not to return and repurchase otherwhere the product to maximize their cost-benefit trade-off. In contrast, when retailers adopt return policies, Italian consumers are more interested in feeling protected against the risk of wrong purchases. Instead, both samples are very attentive in return and refund efficiency in the post-purchase stage, which are perceived as two discriminating factors in terms of repurchase from the same retailers.This study offers theoretical and managerial insights towards consumers' return behaviour, offering new directions for future studies.     

Estimating Lower Tail Dependence Between Pairs of Poverty Dimensions in Europe

This article provides an innovative method for measuring the dependence between pairs of poverty dimensions using a semiparametric copula approach that permits us to account for the importance of extreme low values. The association between pairs of poverty dimensions at the lower tail is easily measured using the parameter estimates of the specified parametric copula, and no further calculations are needed. This approach is used to measure the bivariate lower tail dependence between the dimensions of the AROPE rate in Europe at two time points (2009 and 2018). The findings reveal a statistically significant increase in the lower tail dependence between 2009 and 2018 in several European countries.     

Choice deferral: The interaction effects of visual boundaries and consumer knowledge

Choice deferral is a common and lousy phenomenon for companies and consumers. This research examines how visual boundaries (by-alternatives vs. attributes) interact with consumer knowledge to influence choice deferral. Five studies (N = 1,245) and two single-paper meta-analyses demonstrate that by-alternative (vs. attribute) visual boundaries reduce choice deferral and that choice difficulty mediates this effect. The research also shows that these effects are stronger for less knowledgeable consumers. However, the interactive effect of visual boundaries and consumer knowledge on choice deferral depends on task and context characteristics. We discuss future research about choice deferral moderators and how to facilitate consumer choice.     

Hospitality research: a pause for reflection

Over recent decades hospitality research has made considerable advancements and contributions to knowledge creation. However, a review of associated literature reveals that there exists a significant degree of debate concerning the definitional, philosophical and conceptual dimensions of hospitality. This paper aims to capture current thinking and key challenges confronting the research community. Conclusions are drawn calling for: definitional precision of hospitality; a clearly articulated research philosophy locating hospitality as a specialist field of study within the social science landscape; an enhanced degree of research philosophy awareness by researchers; and the benefits of formulating and agreeing an internally valid conceptual framework. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

陕西科技创新政策多维度分析与讨论

科技创新政策是政府推进科技创新的重要手段。通过爬虫技术获取有关陕西省科技创新的311个政策文本,将获取的政策文本导入到NVivo 12Plus软件中,通过对政策文本的阅读分析,从产业维度、创新价值链维度、政策工具维度对政策文本中的条例进行量化分析,统计各个维度下政策条例的使用情况,并进行分析。研究得出：陕西省科技创新政策在各个维度中均存在不平衡现象,在政策工具维度中存在需求性政策工具使用不足,在创新价值链维度中存在政策条例的使用失衡,在产业维中存在第三产业政策条例使用较少。针对各个维度中存在的问题,结合陕西省的实际情况,提出相应的建议,以期为陕西省政策的制定提供相应的借鉴。