Research on the Relationship Among Income,Education, and Rising Medical Expenditure in Shanghai

Based on the statistics coming from the China Statistical Yearbook and the Shanghai Statistical Yearbook from 1978 to 2011, the authors exploit the internal relationships of the three variables of income, education, and medical expenses by constructing the model of vector autoregressive model （VAR）. The results show that the income elasticity of medical expenses is negative. There are inverse relationship between rising medical expenses and income, in the long term, more medical expenses mean bad health and get less income, meanwhile the education elasticity of medical expenses is 0.15, indicating that education has positively but slowly correlated with growth of medical expenses. Rising medical expenses on income changes, there is a long-term impact of income on medical expenses, the increase in revenue to stimulate healthy demand, driven by rising health care costs, indicates that after the market-oriented health care reform, health care commodities are flexible.     

The Impact of Exchange Rate on the Growth of Nigerian Economy From 1960 to 2010

This paper examined the impact of exchange rate on the growth of Nigerian economy using time series data from 1960 to 2010. The paper utilized secondary data and explored various econometrics and/or statistical analytical （E-view 7.0） method to examine the relationship between exchange rate and economic growth. The paper tested the stationarity--through unit root test （ADF）, Vector Autoregressive Estimates （VARs）, cointegration test, Granger-Causality test of Nigeria＇s time series data, and used an error correction model through over-parameterization and parsimonious model to determine the long-run relationship among the variables examined. It was discovered from the findings that the growth rate of national income was directly related to domestic investment and economic growth. The paper recommended based on the econometric results among others that the government should ensure that prevailing economic situation in Nigeria is tolerable in order to reap the full benefit/advantage of exchange rate policy, encourage domestic production of goods and services to enable the domestic economy to benefit from the exchange rate policy, ensure the stability of macroeconomics variables, and ensure the exchange rate policy which is to encourage exports and discourage imports in order to avoid cash drain （or flight） in the economy.     

The equalization pattern and process of gender educational inequality in Taiwan： Some evidence for the threshold hypothesis

The existing literature on women＇s educational attainments and gender inequality in education excludes the pattern and process of gender educational equalization. In this research, we review the relevant literature first and then set hypotheses to be tested based on the different expectations of modernization theory and the threshold hypothesis. We have access to the 1990-2001 data files of the Taiwan social change survey and the 1950-2000 data files of the Statistical abstract of national income in Taiwan to obtain the information which is used in this research. We employ the bi-variate logistic regression model to estimate the net effect of gender on the likelihood that the subject completes his or her high school education or earns a degree from a college or a university from 1950 to 2000. Our empirical results show that, when compared with the educational attainments of men, the women＇s relative disadvantage in terms of educational attainment diminishes with economic development, but the extent of such a decline varies with the different levels of economic development and stages of educational expansion. This indicates that the equalization pattern of gender inequality in education is not linear, but rather ladder-like, and is consistent with the assumption of the threshold hypothesis. Furthermore, the equalization process of gender educational inequality differs according to socio-economic backgrounds. A boy with an upper class background is more likely to complete his high school education or obtain a degree from a college or a university than a girl with an upper class background, followed by a lower class male, and a lower class female, respectively.     

Citizen Participation Models in the Local Government

This research pretends to propose and test a new explanatory model relating to citizen participation, which will help us to implement participatory public policies in the local government scheme, comparing with the models of citizen participation derivatives of structural theories and choice theories. The author refers to the case of Spain and he tests five hypotheses derived from these theories, using structural equations. This study used an open and cross-sectional design. He uses ＂Citizenship, Participation and Democracy Survey＂ from Sociological Research Center of Spain. The model proposed in this study has taken into account both structural variables from the macro context of participation （political opportunity structure） and individual variables （individual resources）, thus considering that the most recent literature on citizen participation tells us that it is necessary to overcome the reductionist perspectives limited to individual factors. Based on the above, we saw the importance of structural variables and individual variables for the participation of people. In line with that, we find that a citizen is involved in participatory policy when they have individual resources such as education, interest in politics, non-political disaffection, civic social norms, personal effectiveness, and community pride. Another find from this research, according to the empirical results, is that structural variables are predictive of citizen participation： resources, mobilization, membership of deprived group, economic deprivation, interpersonal trust, membership of associations, ties to the local community, and membership of an informal network.     

Children and boxing in Thailand： Preserving national heritage vs. exploiting national future

Children involving in boxing were highlighted as a problem in the country report of Thailand to the UN committee on the rights of the child. At present, there are approximately more than 20,000 children under 15 years old practicing Thai boxing. This thesis is designed to test the hypothesis that it is essential to bring human rights-based approach into the notion of children boxing in Thailand in order to find the possible solutions over the child protection in boxing areas, and that banning is not the absolute solution to solve the child boxing problem but should be done by applying children rights and ＂the best interest of the child＂ to the amendment of the laws and its enforcement. The research methodology of this study is mixed of qualitative and quantitative. The samples survey comprised 400 Thai people randomly on the subject of public awareness of this issue. The observation part was conducted on the random method by visiting 6 boxing camps; 3 in Bangkok and the other 3 in Kalasin province （northeastern area） and 3 children boxing matches; 2 local boxing stadiums and 1 national boxing stadium. Based on data gathering, although it was found that children practicing boxing are proved as dangerous and considered as child labor, they can hardly be banned because people in the boxing business, including children themselves, sees it as a necessity to practice at the young age and as a mean to escape poverty. In addition, a number of public opinion saw this as a benefit to preserve national cultural heritage. Therefore, allowing children to continue professional boxing, the government and sport authorities must implementing child rights in the professional boxing context based on law enforcement. The principle of the best interest of the child, based on the Article 3 in the Convention of Children Rights, has to be applied. This study recommended for the emendation of the National Boxing Act 1999 to provide specific chapter concerning children＇s engagement in boxing as a separate section from adult boxers.     

Influence of Khat （Miraa） on Primary School Dropout Among Boys in Meru County,Kenya

Despite introduction of Kenya＇s Free Primary Education in 2003 to achieve Universal Primary Education （MDG2）, primary school boys＇ enrolment in Kangeta is declining while dropout rates are increasing. This study investigated the influence of Khat （Catha edulis） on the boys＇ dropout rates. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 210 randomly selected dropouts and 10 primary school head teachers. Content validity of the teachers＇ questionnaire and boys＇ interview guide was ascertained by education experts, while reliability coefficients determined through a pilot test was 0.83a and 0.72a respectively. Peer pressure, Khat chewing, and easy money from Khat trade forced boys to leave school. Khat was highly regarded, socially accepted, and promoted the local people＇s economy and culture but was partly responsible for the boys＇ dropout. About 62% of the dropouts regretted leaving school and would re-enroll if given a chance. About 89% of the money from Khat was spent on food rather than investment. Parents and education stakeholders should help pupils complete education by discouraging them from engaging in Khat. Those involved in Khat should be encouraged to invest part of their income.     

Defamilialization of Childcare,Commodification of Mothers,and Poverty： Recognition of New Social Risks in Korea

This study analyzed the relationship between new social risks and poverty in Korea, with specific foci on the changes in the family and in the labor market. Through the analysis, this study maintains that the expanding welfare state in Korea requires policies responding both to NSRs （new social risks） and to traditional social risks. The findings of this study are as follows： First, care responsibilities within the household were strongly associated with the poverty status of household. Second, dual-breadwinner households were less likely to fall into poverty than households with a single male breadwinner. Third, the flexible labor market that leads to poverty not only influences irregular or part-time workers but regular workers as well. These findings show that households of self-employed workers were even worse off than those of irregular workers, who were previously identified as the group who suffered most due to the flexible labor market.     

Developing the school financial audit model

This paper examines the development of school＇s financial audit model. The overall sample consists of 100 school auditors in Malaysia. Field work covered 4 states in the northern part of the Peninsular Malaysia, i.e., Perak, Pulau Pinang, Kedah and Perlis. A structured questionnaire with 41 closed ended items was used to collect the data. This study uses quantitative method such as correlation, chi-square and multiple regression analysis to test the variables. The finding confirms that the school financial audit model consists of general standard, audit work standard and reporting standard. This model can be used by various parties including private entities, state education department and other government agencies.     

Can Minimum Wage Standards Reduce Wage Inequality in China？

Along with rapid economic growth over the past several decades in China, wage and income inequalities have also widened over time. This paper analyzes the relationship between the labor market institutions and the labor market outcomes by focusing on the effects of China＇s compulsory minimum wages on wage inequality. The study chooses the year of 2004 as a starting point in consideration of the fact that the new regulation of minimum wages begun to implement in 2004. The main purpose of the study is to utilize quantitative methods to investigate whether the new regulation played a role in preventing wage inequality from further widening. The results show that, without the increases of minimum wages from 2004, the overall wage inequality could further widen in 2006. This observation holds true for male and female workers and for different regions. The paper concludes that China＇s compulsory minimum wages might raise the wages of poor-paid workers, but the system itself is only one instrument in helping poor-paid workers. To a large extent, the rise of workers＇ wages depends on tripartite collective wage bargaining. For China, where the real function of trade union has been questioned, solving the issues of widening wage and income inequalities still has a long way to go.     

Community＇s Benefits From the Tourism Growth and Tourism Site Development in Vang Vieng District of Vientiane Province,Lao PDR

This study attempts to measure benefits of the local residents of Vang Vieng from tourism growth and tourism site development. Here, community benefits involve not only economic benefits but include also social, cultural, and environmental benefits. The data used in this analysis are primary data provided through a questionnaire by the residents of Vang Vieng district, a famous tourist spot in Lao PDR. The results are mixed results. On the negative side, the community faces some risks as a result of tourism development. On the positive side, tourism growth and tourism site development bring about improvements in living conditions and conservations of residents＇ attitudes toward tourism improvement development.     

Building climate-resilient cities： Examining climate change actions and hazard vulnerability in U.S. coast

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico＇s coastal counties have experienced many serious climate-related coastal hazards. It is important to identify how well local jurisdictions in gulf coast have prepared for climate change. The objective of this study is to exam how well the coastal jurisdictions have been aware of climate change and how well they have taken actions in climate change mitigation and adaptations. This study uses geographic information system （GIS） to identify the spatial variations of seventy-seven gulf coastal jurisdictions＇ climate change actions. The results show that only twelve coastal counties and their incorporated cities have made actions for climate change. The majority of coastal population in Gulf of Mexico are totally not be covered by local climate change initiatives or plans. The logistic regression results find that most of the contextual variables never show any statistical contribution to local climate change actions. The research suggests further coordination and education efforts to enhance local climate change awareness and actions.     

The urban remains an important duty for the environment in Elbasan

The aim of this paper is to represent the concrete situation of urban remains regarding existing level of recycle rate, with managerial and runner＇s skills in this operation, funds and projects that are educe to this part and what is the perspective for the future. The methodology is based on surveys, data from the environment office and other sources. The augmentation of recycle rate is considered as an important and difficult part with a cost that exceeds the main cost of public health, which we pay today or will pay in the future. The conclusion is that this situation in Elbasan city is going to be worse.     

The Relationship Between High Education and Labor Market in Western Balkan Countries

This paper deals with the relationship between high education and labor market in Western Balkan countries. Having in mind that all these countries are in transitional process, suffering from poor economics, poor level of investments, and high unemployment rates, it would be wise that the governments and political elites put the quality of knowledge high on agenda, regarding it as the vital incentive instrument for economic and social development. All social and political subjects should be devoted to procuring good quality of knowledge, which is sensitive to the labor market＇s needs in all fields. This study attempts to find answer on the question why it is not so, making qualitative, quantitative, and empirical research. It analyzes the relationship between high education and labor market＇s needs, identifies main factors which influence this relationship, focusing on main influence of political interests and values. The paper presents rare good cases, as lessons from experience for the future.     

The Thai Royal Project Foundation Retail Stores： How and why the consumers buy？

The Royal Project, established in 1969, has responded to His Majesty＇s initiative to help the hill tribes in growing useful crops which enable them to have a better standard of living. In 1992, the Royal Project was transformed into Royal Project Foundation in order to become the public organization that can be operated efficiently as a private company. After that, the Royal Project Foundation Retail Stores or ＂Doi Kham＂ were set up to help distribute products and produces from the project and its members. However, the Royal Project Foundation Retail Stores are currently lacking of adequate marketing information to help management make the right and more aggressive decision. Therefore, this research was conducted in order to explore the consumers＇ behaviors and their reasons towards the purchase from ＂Doi Kham＂. Furthermore, consumer clustering and characteristics of each group are discovered. A survey of 341 current customers from 2 most crowded branches--Don Muang International Airport and Farmer Market in Bangkok--was done using self-administered questionnaire. The data obtained was then analyzed by using factor analysis, chi-square test, ANOVA and cluster analysis. The results show that majority of customers are women aged between 24-50 and having income more than 20,000 baht （around $606） a month. Most of them bought the Royal Project Foundation products from ＂Doi Kham＂ directly instead of the private-owned stores. More than one third of samples shop more than twice a month and spend moderately around 100 to 499 baht. The most popular products are temperate-climate vegetables, followed by agricultural processed food and temperate-climate fruits consecutively. Main reasons that the consumers buy the products are the product quality, standard labeling, helping welfare of farmers and hill tribesmen and brand credibility respectively. For marketing factors, the most important factor influencing the purchase is product quality and safety, followed by convenience of shopping, pricing, store service, store layout/displays and promotion consecutively. Three groups of clusters are obtained--＂traditional buyers＂, ＂service-oriented buyers＂ and ＂price-concerned buyers＂.     

Capacity building of sea level and climate monitoring in the Pacific region： Fiji case study

In order to enhance capacity building in the Pacific region, and to raise awareness on climate change and sea level issues, teaching and training modules were made available to the Pacific community through the ＂South pacific sea level and climate monitoring project＂ funded by AusAID. Numerous training workshops have been conducted through the project since its inception in 1991 and the project is now in its fourth and final phase. It was hoped that the goals of capacity building for the stakeholders on correct information of climate change and sea level have been understood and taken heed of. In addition, ＂The scientific educational resources and experience associated with the deployment of Argo＂ （SEREAD） project was also set up especially for ocean science in the Pacific island schools in 2001. However, it has been realized that the data from this project is more relevant to tertiary level rather than to secondary level students. Consequently, a survey was carried out to gauge the students＇ outlook towards the physical side of marine science. The survey revealed that more than 80% of both tertiary level and high school non-physical science students decided not to take the physical aspect of marine science sighting reasons that it is either a difficult subject, boring, too hard to understand or difficult to pass in the examination. Even amongst students taking physical science, only about 50% believe that the physical aspect of marine science is enjoyable. A minority of students at USP and high school take science as a subject and a small proportion from them take the physical science. From this scenario, it can be predicted that there will be a shortage of physical science graduates in the future. The confidence of the Pacific community in the work of scientists is built on faith. They appreciate the effect of science on their lives and support it but are unaware of the scientific methods involved. Therefore, for the sustainability of physical aspect of marine science in the future for the Pacific region, public awareness of climate change and sea level is vitally important and it should be widely promoted in the community as a matter of urgency.     

（Re）Integrating spirituality into higher education

This article examines the issue of accountability and governance among higher learning institutions in discharging their duties to inculcate good behaviour and mould their graduates into human business leaders. In order to appreciate the role of higher education and the requirement of the market place for graduates, we go backward in origin into the past to learn the education philosophy that has shaped today＇s vocation. The distinctiveness of this article is that we review the advances in the science of quantum physics to understand the current worldview of reality. The way forward for higher learning institution to reintegrate spirituality in molding young generation who actualize authentic leadership and rightness-of-action founded upon the interconnectedness model of the universe is deliberated.     

Language Disparity Cost,Human Capital,and Earnings Differences for Immigrants

This research reports the degree to which English-language proficiency （EP） determines earnings among immigrants to the United States using a more nuanced measure of EP than employed in previous studies. It obtains direct and indirect （through human-capital transfer） estimates of the impact of EP on earnings using nonlinear least squares （NLS） to estimate an earnings function with separate arguments for schooling and experience obtained before and after immigration to the United States. It found that immigrants with the highest level of EP earn on average over 16.3% more than those with the lowest proficiency level. The increment in earnings associated with an additional pre-education degree for higher education level when the English proficiency is improved. So destination language proficiency will improve higher level of human capital transferable to destination labor market. In contrast, associated with additional one post degree of education, the relation between post human capital and English proficiency is still ambiguous even though there is complement in generating earnings for post working experience.     

Integration period of e-learning in universities： A survey in Turkey

E-learning is an important subject for successful university education. It is known that during the integration period of e-learning, universities face difficulties and trade-offs that will discourage their adoption. This study concentrates on e-learning with benefits and problems faced throughout the integration period by stakeholders and finally the university as a new education program method. The study aims to look at the factors which affect the integration period of e-learning programs and measure the drivers that affect the adoption process The research method is based on quantitative analysis which generally searches information about the factors＇ effectiveness related to the integration level of e-learning. During the empirical analysis, factors are categorized and measured according to their effectiveness, and then questionnaire study has examined the factors＇ effectiveness related to the adoption success of e-learning by using statistical analysis methods. The information about the factors that is effective for e-learning integration provides considerable educational framework for universities, instructors, students and also for information technology experts and other decision makers that manage the electronic environment for e-learning.