基于web的高校教学与科研精细化管理模式研究

本文探讨了将高校教学与科研目标管理转换为多层次指标和权重的绩效管理的方法,采用精细化的管理理论,设计了利用网络和计算机技术解决高校教学与科研的考核与奖罚的管理模式。对高校信息化、精细化、标准化管理和过程控制具有重要意义。     

LNG接收站安全设计

LN G接收站的安全设计基于项目本质安全性和整个生命周期管理过程开展,在项目生命周期的各个阶段安全设计的内容各有侧重,本文从LN G接收站各个设计阶段的输入和输出的内容出发,探讨LN G接收站安全设计的设计策略及管理模式。     

Business cycle,storage, and energy prices

This study examines the effect of the state of the economy and inventory on interest-adjusted bases and expected returns for five energy commodities. We find that interest-adjusted bases and returns have a business cycle pattern. Consistent with the theory of storage, demand shocks near business cycle peaks generate negative interest-adjusted bases and positive returns. In recessions, the bases become positive, and the average returns are negative. Our regression results also show that the interest-adjusted bases of energy commodities are counter-cyclical and the expected returns are pro-cyclical. For petroleum commodities, inventory has a significant effect on interest-adjusted bases at low levels of inventory, whereas at high inventory levels the effect of inventory on the bases is weak. Finally, we find that the bases and economic conditions predict spot returns in energy commodity markets.     

Doorsteps Toward Political and Economic Openness: Testing the North-Wallis-Weingast Transition Framework

In this paper, we test the theoretical framework developed by North, Wallis, and Weingast (2009), who posit that limited-access societies need to meet three doorstep conditions before they can transit into open-access societies: (1) establishment of rule of law among elites, (2) adoption of perpetually existing organizations, and (3) political control of the military. We identify indicators reflecting these doorsteps and econometrically test their relationships with specific political and economic variables. We broadly confirm the logic behind the doorsteps as necessary conditions in the transition to open-access societies. The doorsteps influence economic and political processes, as well as each other, with varying intensities.     

Potential Spatial Labor and Human Capital Mobility in China: Evidence from College Admissions Under the National College Entrance Examination System

Abstract:

Higher education in China plays an important role in promoting labor and human capital mobility. In this paper, I empirically address the issue of regional disparities, college admissions under the National College Entrance Examination (CEE) system, and potential interregional labor and human capital mobility in China. The results show that examinees from western provinces have a strong preference for coastal universities, compared with examinees from central provinces. College admissions in China then seem to have a stronger effect on potential labor and human capital movement from the western to the coastal regions than from the central to the coastal regions.     

Commodities and Macroeconomic Factors: Unconditional Volatility Measures

Abstract:

This study focuses on the measurement of spillover effects from macroeconomic factors to commodity volatility. It argues that such measurement is sensitive to volatility computation and to causality testing. To this end, I analyze two commodity data sets-gold and the Continuous Commodity Index (1969-2011), and twenty-four Dow Jones futures indexes (1991-2011)-and various macroeconomic indicators. I conclude that the macroeconomic factors that influence volatility generally depend on the commodity under consideration. I also explore whether commodities of the same class experience volatility shifts around the same dates, and find that this is not the case except for energy commodities.     

Visions and scenarios of democratic governance in Asia 2030

Using the Six Pillars foresight workshop process, forty-five Asian political, policy and activist leaders explored the futures of democratic governance. Organized and funded by Oxfam and the Rockefeller Foundation, the organizing hypothesis was that without a change in the nature of governance in Asia, poverty could not truly be uprooted. Changes in governance needed to be imagined and created from the ground up, not just imposed by the past or the elite. Five visions with accompanying causal layered analysis were developed by participants. Generally, these visions focused on more inclusion not just at the level of voting, but in terms of the participatory creation of alternative futures of culture, technology, economy and polity.     

The world in 2050 and the New Welfare scenario

The PASHMINA (paradigm shifts modeling and innovative approaches) project grew out of the need to improve our understanding of the paradigm shift in the energy-transport-landuse nexus and, more broadly, in world development. In envisioning the world at 2050, we envisaged future growth in four possible directions: growth without limits, growth within limits, stagnation, and New Welfare. The scenario considered as preferable reflects a transition toward a New Welfare, characterized by a high level of cooperation, heightened concern for the environment and for social welfare, and an increased share of immaterial consumption. This scenario is based on the recognition that the development of new technologies – although relevant – turns out to be insufficient to resolve the issue of resource scarcity alone. Important behavioral changes are also needed. In the New Welfare scenario, GDP as a measure of growth becomes obsolete and needs to be replaced with ways of measuring progress that are more reflective of natural, human, and social capital. The New Welfare scenario also charts a pathway toward a low-carbon future, with an overall reduction in energy consumption, density, and intensity, and a greatly reduced reliance on fossil fuels. A new, smart electric grid facilitates active demand management and decentralized production of power. Natural gas or even small nuclear plants tackle problems associated with the intermittency of renewable energy sources. Among other likely shifts under this scenario is a re-conceptualization of production, from short-lived to longer-lasting goods and from private to open source knowledge products and services; growth in recycling and zero-waste processes; and a shift from profit-driven business to entrepreneurship that seeks to satisfy social needs and build local capital. The world undergoes a transition from unequal growth to prosperity in a multi-polar, globally interdependent world. New global democracy networks and institutions are created, and constitutions extend beyond the protection of human rights to the recognition of “nature rights.” Citizens’ income is tied to the social welfare-oriented duties and participatory governance. This scenario further leaves room to new forms of self-regulation of common resources. Actions necessary for the shift to the New Welfare paradigm include the adoption of new metrics for measuring progress, measures to increase public acceptance of technological and societal change, the creation of new global and local institutions devoted to sustainable management of shared environmental resources, sustainable production and consumption patterns, and a low-carbon energy and transport systems.     

Standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies

We investigate first-time use of standalone CSR reporting in the U.S. retail industry. We find it is limited to publicly traded companies and that environmental rather than other social disclosures are most prominent. We document that firms focus on discussing CSR initiatives and programs as opposed to providing performance data, suggesting the reports are more about image enhancement than transparent accountability. We explore impacts of the choice to disclose, and our findings suggest that standalone CSR reporting by the retail companies appears to positively influence perceptions of company reputation, and may be leading to increased appeal to socially responsible investors.     

Effects of monetary policy on the REIT returns: Evidence from the United Kingdom

In this paper, we analyze whether a monetary policy based on three main variables (inflation, money supply, and output gap) has a nonlinear impact on real estate investment trust (REIT) markets. In addition, we extend our analysis to examine whether these monetary policy components impact the possibility of boom and bust regimes occurring in the market. Empirically, we propose different Markov-switching model variants to determine the nonlinear time-varying impact of monetary policy on the REIT market. Our results show the monetary policy environment is supposed to affect, on one hand, the REIT returns and, on the other hand, the possibility of boom and bust markets. We prove that expansionary monetary policy has an impact only in the case of boom market. However, an increase in the inflation rate decreases the probability of remaining in the bust regime. As a consequence, we have already outlined several monetary transmission mechanisms that show house prices to have important effects on aggregate demand. Our results confirm that REIT markets are not efficient.