Reforming occupational pension schemes: the case of the Netherlands

In many countries, occupational plans are being reformed away from defined-benefit (DB) to defined-contribution (DC) designs. This paper explores the case of the Netherlands, which features a particularly high ratio of occupational pension assets to GDP. Dutch occupational DB plans suffer from a number of serious weaknesses, including ambiguous ownership of assets, back-loading of benefits, and lack of tailor-made risk management. To address these weaknesses, we propose collective individual DC plans that are actuarially fair. These schemes maintain important strengths of collective schemes, such as mandatory saving, collective procurement, and pooling of biometric risks. At the same time, they eliminate intergenerational conflicts about risk management and distribution through transparent individual property rights on financial assets and tailor-made risk profiles in individual accounts. We show how the transitional burden due to phasing out the back-loading of pension benefits can be addressed without a substantial increase in contributions.     

企业高管团队整合领导力提升的行动学习模式

讨论了高管团队整合领导力及其与企业绩效的关系,分析了企业高管团队整合领导力运行机理,应用系统工程理论方法,构建了企业高管团队整合领导力系统运行模型。概括总结了行动学习原理以及研究理论,指出了企业高管团队整合领导力提升的关键要素,在此基础上,应用经验学习循环和群体动力学理论方法,构建了基于行动学习的高管团队整合领导力培育“3循环”学习模式。从而,为企业高管团队整合领导力的培育与提升提供了一点粗浅的新思路和方法。     

集体建设用地流转问题探讨

随着我国经济的发展,城市化进程的加快以及人口的增加,使稀缺的土地变得更为重要。如何管理好农村集体建设用地,让农村集体建设用地走进市场,对当今中国意义重大。集体建设用地资本化运作,将成为发展农村经济强有力的手段。     

‘Thinking Before Acting’ or ‘Acting Before Thinking’: Antecedents of Individual Action Propensity in Work Situations

We introduce the concept of ‘individual action propensity’ to examine the approach of individuals towards solving situations for which they lack knowledge and/or experience about what to do. We focus on a naturally contrasting pair of responses: ‘thinking before acting’ or ‘acting before thinking’, and associate low action propensity with thinking one's way into understanding how to act, and high action propensity with acting one's way into understanding such situations. We build on regulatory mode theory – with its dimensions of locomotion and assessment and the trade‐off between speed and accuracy – to examine individual characteristics as predictors of individual action propensity. We find that individual action propensity is associated with being a woman, having fewer years of formal education, not relying on help‐seeking behaviours, and having a positive attitude towards spontaneity. Our findings shed light on why individuals take action, or not, and provide implications for research on organizational action propensity.     

Collective Action and the Sustainability of Co-Production

Abstract

This article addresses the sustainability of citizen/user participation in the provision of public services, often referred to as co-production. Co-producing public services not only promises to limit cost, but it also requires a change in the relations and behaviour of public servants and citizens/users, in order for the latter to make a long-term commitment to co-production. The article notes that Olsen proposes two logics of collective action, not just one. Focusing on small group interaction can provide an important strategy for achieving sustainable co-production, particularly of enduring welfare services. However, Ostrom criticizes too simplistic approaches based on size alone for promoting social cooperation in collective action situations. She proposes seven structural variables of importance in resolving social dilemmas. Several of them can also be perceived as factors that facilitate sustainable citizen participation in co-production. Some additional factors are also considered important for sustainable co-production, like the nature of the service itself, organizational diversity, a dialogue between the staff and clients, and facilitating small group interactions in large organizations. This article concludes that governments should develop more flexible, service-specific and organization-specific approaches for promoting co-production, rather than looking for simple ‘one size fits all’ solutions to the challenges facing public service delivery, particularly of enduring welfare services. It also proposes a research agenda on sustainable co-production.     

模块课题教学法在实习教学中的应用研究

教学中改变了传统教学方法中教师为主体的局面,学生按照课题任务的要求划分成若干个课题小组,通过小组的分工协作,独立制定计划并实施,完成课题任务,使学生由被动学习转为主动探究式学习。     

Issues in New Political Economy: An Overview

A brief overview of the historical background, nature, and rapid growth in volume and scope of new political economy since the early 1980s is provided. the paper continues with some general reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the new political economy approach, illustrated by the other contributions to this special issue of the Journal of Economic Surveys . The final Section summarises these contributions.     

BARGAINING AMONG FARMERS,GOODWILL, AND THE SUCCESS OF COOPERATIVES

A model of concessional bargaining among farmers explains the success (or lack thereof) of cooperative institutions in rural farm settings in the developing regions. Concessional bargaining in day‐to‐day interactions generates goodwill, which helps smoothen future dealings amongst farmers as well as with outside agents. In particular, we model the existence of goodwill amongst farmers as enhancing their ability to collectively bargain with an outside dealer that buys their farm produce. Results suggest that when dealing with each other, farmers offer higher concessions when the risk of loss or reversal in bargaining power is high; however, the level of concession is also influenced by the degree of reciprocity and parameters that affect bargaining surplus. Findings provide further insights over the success of cooperative institutions in rural farm settings where inter‐farmer goodwill dynamics determines the cooperative's bargaining outcomes. Specifically, when farmers generously reciprocate each other's goodwill gestures, it leads to better outcomes through increasing their cooperative reservation price. In contrast, when the degree of reciprocity is lower, or when the risk of bargaining power switching is higher, farmers extract more surplus from other farmers, and this also lowers the cooperative's bargaining outcomes and makes the cooperative arrangement unviable in the long term.     

人文学研究状况简说

人文学是一片新近酝酿的思想云霞,她从学术的山林中袅袅而来。人文学是一片逐渐隆起的学科高地,她从高校的学院间涌动而成。人文学是一束古今成集的精神祥光,她与全球化的大格局交相辉映。人文学的博大精深注定不是对象化的学问,出之入之最需要水磨功夫和投身化境。我们不主张学派性、区域性和话语凝固性的研究,化感通变以期通和致化是进入人文学创造的必然过程。在人文学的曙光从地平线上升起之时,我们尽可能把学界的相关研究纳入视野,黄钟大吕自可宝爱,破砖碎石亦有功用,天章云霞堪成集锦,家藏敝帚聊以自珍。要在知通知化,妙于取精用弘,努力捕捉人文学内在的必然联系,庶几烘托作为重点研究领域的开放性学科创新。     

Action Research is Similar to Design Science

In management information systems (MIS) action research is long considered as promising but low-level research approach. It has an utmost relevance because action researchers are working with practitioners to solve the important practical problem. Design science outlined some years ago is just winning a wider audience. Action research was traditionally classified into qualitative research methods. But it seems to be the “wrong” home of action research. We shall show that after comparison of the seven aspects: concrete results of the study, knowledge produced, activities, the intent and the nature of a study, the division of labor in a study and generation, use and test of knowledge, the concordance between the characteristics of action research on the one hand and of design science on the other hand is very good. Hence, action research and design science should next be considered as similar research approaches, and this is a turning point in the history of both action research and design science.