Health and political regimes: Evidence from quantile regression

This study investigates how political regimes affect health conditions such as infant and child mortality rates and life expectancy using data from 180 countries observed between 1960 and 2013. Panel quantile regression is used to examine the effects at different intervals throughout the distribution of health outcomes. The estimation results indicate that democracy has significant positive effects on health outcomes and that its impacts are greater when health outcomes are worse. These results are robust to different democracy and health indices. The effects of different types of democracies and dictatorships are also considered, that is parliamentary, mixed (semi-presidential) and presidential democracies, and civilian, military and royal dictatorships. The parliamentary form of democracy has the largest positive impact on health outcomes at the worst quantile of health outcomes, although the difference in the impacts of the three types of democracies is not necessarily large. Furthermore, all types of dictatorships have a negative impact on health outcomes, with military dictatorship having the worst outcome when health outcomes are worse. Finally, the effects of democratization on health outcomes are significantly positive when the health outcomes are worse.     

乡镇企业与小城镇良性互动的对策思考

发展乡镇企业和小城镇,是中国解决农业、农村、农民问题的两个重大战略和根本方针,而二者又是互相影响、相互制约的。它们的协调发展对发展农业、富裕农民、繁荣农村、实现国民经济的快速健康发展具有重要意义。应坚持保护农业和农民利益、市场化、法制化等原则,从宏观和微观方面采取得力措施,实现二者的良性互动。     

Choice of Distribution System in the New Zealand Life Insurance Industry

Using 1988–93 panel data drawn from the New Zealand life insurance industry, this paper examines empirically the notion that the choice of distribution system is an efficient contracting solution to incentive conflicts between owners, managers and sales agents in life insurance firms. Consistent with what was hypothesised, the empirical results suggest that choice of distribution system is distinguished by organisational form, firm size, and sales commission. However, contrary to expectations, the variables representing product diversity and asset specificity were found not to be statistically significant. The empirical results thus lend mixed support for prior predictions.     

Statistics for Studies of Human Welfare

Developments in the recent past have substantially increased our ability to measure, compute, and communicate. We take the view that a corresponding improved understanding of processes in the life sciences will come about only through more intensive studies of properties of statistical methods and algorithms and transparent, open source computing environments.     

企业家·生命·周期及其价值提升研究

互企业家生命周期是指企业家所面临的一个从起步到成长、从成长到成熟、从成熟到衰退的过程。本文从分析企业家生命周期的内涵出发,探讨了影响企业家生命周期的因素,企业家生命周期与企业家价值之间的关系,得出可以通过优化企业家生命周期来提升企业家价值;最后提出了一些优化企业家生命周期的具体途径。     

城市可持续发展能力成长过程理论解析

城市可持续发展是国家和地区可持续发展的核心和关键，城市可持续发展能力则是城市可持续发展的基础依托和潜在支撑。促进城市可持续发展能力的持续、快速、健康成长是实现国家和地区可持续发展以及构建和谐社会的必由之路。城市可持续发展能力相关课题的理论与实证研究必须着眼于城市可持续发展能力成长的时空过程周此，对城市可持续发展能力成长过程进行理论分析和探讨就显得尤为必要。     

思想政治课教学改革应着力于"新、活、多"

思想政治课教学，是强化青年学生德育素质的重要环节和基本渠道，当前改革的重点应着力于内容上求“新”，方法上求“活”，手段上求“多”。     

职教课程模块化改革初探

职业教育领域开展课程模块化教学,是职教课程改革的一种探索。课程模块化突破了传统学科型课程教学的不足,具有相对独立性、完整性和及时性。《食品微生物》是我校食品专业的一门重要基础课,是一门实践性和应用性极强的课程,通过模块化改革,课程体现了职教特色。     

Industrial revolution and mortality revolution: Two of a kind?

In little more than a century life expectancy has doubled in most parts of the world. Neither facts nor theory support the view that this Mortality Revolution is due to the Industrial Revolution and the era of rapid economic growth that ensued. Rather, both revolutions mark the onset of accelerated and sustained technological change in their respective areas. They occur largely independently of each other, the later occurrence of the Mortality Revolution being due to the later development of biomedical vis-a-vis physical knowledge. Comparative study of the two should prove fruitful. Although entrepreneurship is important in each, there appear to be differences in the underlying motivations and the role of private property and other institutions. Links between technological change, on the one hand, and scale of operation, capital inputs, and education, on the other, also offer promising possibilities for comparative study.The author is grateful to Donna Hokoda Ebata and Christine M. Schaeffer for excellent assistance, the University of Southern California for financial support, and to Eileen M. Crimmins, Samuel H. Preston, Morton O. Schapiro, Roger S. Schofield, and two referees for helpful comments.     

关于高校"两课"教学改革的思考

高等学校思想政治理论课承担着对大学生进行系统的马克思主义理论教育的任务,是对大学生进行思想政治教育的主渠道。充分发挥思想政治理论课的作用。用马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论和“三个代表”重要思想武装当代大学生,是党的教育方针的具体体现,是社会主义大学的本质特征,是党和国家事业长远发展的根本保证。