On bringing people and park together through ecotourism: The Nanda Devi National Park,India

While the need for linking park with people was heavily stressed both at the World Conservation Strategy (1980) and the World Congress of National Parks (1982), the conflict has remained unresolved, particularly in the developing nations. The hackneyed question, who is more important – monkey or man - is still argued. Admittedly, human beings are as much a part of nature as any other animal or plant species. Indeed, it is neither desirable nor feasible to alienate poor people, living in and around parks and protected areas. Modern methods of judicious park management now point more to Integrated Conservation Development Projects (ICDP) than resorting to a traditional “fences and fines” approach. ICDP ensures the conservation of biological diversity by reconciling the management of park with social and economic needs of the local people, who have limited access to resources and few alternative means of livelihood. Paradoxically, these people bear substantial costs – as a result of lost access – while receiving little in return. Nanda Devi National Park in Uttaranchal (India) presents an unsavory example of people and park relationship. It is India's highest park after Kangchendzongha (Sikkim). Characterized by high altitude ecology, the park (625?sq.?km) is profoundly rich in biodiversity, mountain-lores and mythologies. Indigenous communities, particularly Bhotias, have enriched the landscape by their bizarre ways of life. After Tilman and Shipston's successful ascent (1936) of Nanda Devi peak (7817?m), an era of mountaineering and trekking ensued which resulted in degradation of fragile Himalayan environment. Poaching of musk deer and herb smuggling also raised alarm. Considering the dire conservation needs for preserving genetic resources and diversity of species, the area was notified as a National Park in 1982. Subsequently, the park was closed for ecological quarantine. Later it was declared a Biosphere Reserve (1988) and inscribed asa World Heritage Site in 1992. Customary to Third World practices, the park emphasized a policing role excluding local people, displacing them arbitrarily with meager or little compensation for their losses of livelihood. Ban on tourism activities further added to their problem of life and living. The paper discusses the cleavage of park and people and argues that development of sound ecotourism can resolve this conflict and bring park and people together.     

Cost Estimating Under Uncertainty

In this paper a generalisation of the dividend growth model is developed. This model relates the growth in dividends to a company's earnings and asset base. The resulting model involves the solution of an eigenvalue system of equations. It is shown how a closed form approximation to this system exists. The econometric procedures that might be used to parameterise the model are considered, and the methodology is illustrated using five UK Companies.     

价格听证中的公众参与权

价格听证中的公民参与权的实现程度如何,关系到价格听证制度目的能否实现,进一步明确公众参与权的内涵和具体内容,完善相关制度安排,是现代行政法治化趋势的必然要求。     

An alternative method of estimating the worker's reservation wage

Abstract

This study follows the standard bivariate decision theory of employment and proposes an alternative technique to estimate reservation wages of employed, unemployed and out-of-labor-force (OLF) workers. The validity of this approach is demonstrated by testing several reservation wage hypotheses recommended in earlier studies. Using reservation wages estimated under this new approach, the study further examines the determinants of this important variable.     

Reconsidering Women's Labor Force Participation Rates in Eighteenth-Century Turin

This study presents initial estimates of women's labor force participation rates in preindustrial Turin. According to the population census of 1802, married women's participation rates were conspicuously low compared with the rates of unmarried women and widows and therefore deserve additional investigation. First, the study points out the value of a methodological approach based on the use of nonprincipal breadwinner-oriented sources, such as registers of applicants for poor relief. Here, all members of the family were encouraged to declare their occupations and activities in some detail in order to demonstrate concrete contribution to the survival of the family. Finally, the study discusses the occupational patterns of women employed as servants and as artisans and laborers in silk manufacturing. This highlights the crucial role played by migration flows and by women's access to skilled or low-qualified jobs in determining the extent of women's participation in preindustrial Turin's labor market.     

Poverty among minorities in the United States: explaining the racial poverty gap for Blacks and Latinos

The two largest minorities in the United States, African Americans and people of Hispanic origin, show official poverty rates at least twice as high as those of non-Hispanic Whites. These similarly high poverty rates between the two minorities are, however, the result of different combinations of factors related to the specific characteristics of these two groups. In this article, we analyse the role of demographic and labour-related variables in the current differential of poverty rates among racial and ethnic groups in the United States and its recent evolution. Our results show, first, that these differentials are largely explained by differing family characteristics of the ethnic groups. Furthermore, we show that while labour market activity of family members and a preponderance of single mothers play a more significant role in the higher poverty rates of Blacks, a larger number of dependent children is closely associated with higher poverty among Latinos, who also suffer from a larger educational attainment gap and higher immigration rates.     

E-Government Portal Characteristics and Individual Appeal: An Examination of E-Government and Citizen Acceptance in the Context of Local Administration Portals

E-government applications have become an important interface between citizens and public administration. However, quantitative research on e-government usage shows a tendency toward generic research models and in part lacks statistical rigor. Especially mediating conditions are often not taken into account appropriately. This contribution addresses this gap and provides a conceptually extended model of technology acceptance in the context of online city portals. The proposed model is tested with a large sample (n = 1,273) using structural equation modeling. Ease of use, usefulness, and privacy were found to be determinants of e-government portal acceptance, which in turn determines continuance intention of e-government portals. Furthermore, Internet competence and need for personal interaction were found to be direct determinants of continuance intention on the level of individual user appeal. The findings are discussed in terms of theory, and implications for public managers of online city portals are derived.     

高校教师参与学生评教模式的研究

学生评教已成为当前高校管理部门监控教师教学质量的主要手段,然而当前高校普遍采用的学生评教模式存在评价指标不科学、评教时间把握不准确、管理措施不合理等缺陷,导致评教结果出现大的偏差。本文设计的评教模式将教师引入学生评教活动,巧妙地解决了上述缺陷,使评教过程更加人性化,评教结果更加可信。     

企业参与职业教育现状及其再认识

随着职业教育的改革发展,企业参与职业教育已成为职业教育办学质量提升的关键。基于当前市场经济的环境,正确认识校企共同培养实用性、技能性人才的重要意义,消除企业参与校企合作的忧虑,激发企业参与职业教育的积极性,有必要对企业参与职业教育问题进行深刻分析,以推进我国现代职业教育体系建设。     

消费者参与研究中的社会认同理论述评和展望

消费者参与是消费者行为研究中的一个新的方向。消费者参与的主要原因就是其对自身位置的感知和对期望价值的追求,因此,心理学中关于个体的理论和群体的理论为消费者参与的研究提供了坚实的理论基础。将这些相关理论进行梳理的目的就是为了进一步研究消费者参与的原因、消费者参与的程度以及消费者参与对其他消费行为的影响程度。