小城镇服务业人才培养问题研究

劳动力市场人才资源的配置问题是小城镇服务业发展中急需解决的重要问题之一。本文从用人单位满意度分析的基础上,采用模糊综合评价法对当前小城镇服务业劳动力需求与人才培养对接问题现状进行了评价,发现劳动力市场人才资源的配置与人才培养供给之间出现了严重的失衡。人才培养只有遵循劳动力市场需求,动态地调整培训方案与体系,才能够健康持续地发展。     

Public and private sector wages interactions in a general equilibrium model

It is common wisdom that public sector wages are not determined in the same way as private sector wages. At the same time, the empirical evidence available for OECD countries finds a strong positive correlation between public and private sector wages. In this paper, we develop a model that is consistent with a political economy view of the determination of public sector wages and employment, while being consistent with the said empirical evidence. Public finance constraints are crucial: In booms, governments expand employment and wages, while in downturns, lack of tax revenues forces the government to cut back the wage bill.     

Do ideological and political motives really matter in? the?public choice of local services management? Evidence from urban water services in Spain

This paper studies the influence of ideology and political motives on the choice of management for urban water services. Our contribution is two-fold. Firstly, we use a considerably more detailed set of variables to represent ideological and political motives than previous research. Secondly, the variables that explain local politicians’ decisions are observed at the time decision-making occurs, rather than at a later date. Beyond pragmatic reasons, we find that ideological and political motives also matter when explaining decisions regarding the management of water services. Furthermore, considering the time dimension of decision-making noticeably improves the explanatory power of our model.     

Not just ‘friends and neighbours’: Canvassing,geographic proximity and voter choice

The impact of local campaigning on voter choice has been studied within the theme of mobilisation. Grassroots effort can attract votes efficiently, but campaign contact is (potentially) endogenous, so results showing positive effects could be flawed. Experimental solutions to this problem are possible, but could also have low external validity. Drawing on the electoral geography literature, this article suggests that endogeneity concerns can be addressed through so‐called ‘friends and neighbours voting’. One source of endogeneity is that that candidates may tend to canvass those living close to their own homes, and those canvassed would be expected in any case to be prone to support local candidates. The problem of endogeneity is reframed and treated as an omitted variable bias. Using unique Irish data on the geographic location of the homes of candidates, as well as data on the location of the voters, the analysis confirms that canvassing has a positive impact on candidate choice independent of the effect of geographic distance. More importantly, these two variables interact. The results point to the relevance of the geographic dimension of electoral politics in driving the endogeneity bias in local campaigning studies.     

Alternate Paths to Power? Women's Political Representation in Nicaragua

Political alternate positions (otherwise known as substitutes) can have important effects on women's abilities to enter politics. Using the case of Nicaragua, this study assesses whether these alternate positions are being used to increase women's political representation or as a tool to undermine women's advancement into positions of power. By examining patterns of women's representation as candidates in the 1996, 2001, and 2006 elections for the National Assembly and as elected officeholders (as both alternates for those assembly members and titleholders), the article analyzes how various political parties are utilizing these alternate positions. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, this study finds no evidence that these alternate positions are used to undermine women's political progress.     

东南亚国家的经济外交与地区安全秩序的重塑

冷战结束后,塑造东亚地区安全秩序的力量来源主要有两个:一是雅尔塔体系的遗产,二是东南亚国家的经济外交。一方面,中国与俄罗斯通过上海合作组织构建了在安全等领域的合作,而美国在美日同盟的基础上强化了其在东亚的单边及多边同盟体系。因此,雅尔塔体系遗产的组织化程度较以往明显提高。另一方面,东南亚诸国通过在东盟"10+"合作框架、亚太经合组织以及亚欧会议等平台实施经济外交,比较成功地把主要大国及区域集团力量牵绊在东亚地区,并藉此影响了冷战后东亚地区的政治、安全秩序。     

Monetary transmission and the financial sector in the Czech Republic

In this paper, we (1) examine the interactions of financial variables and the macroeconomy within the block-restriction vector autoregression model and (2) evaluate to what extent the financial variables improve the forecasts of GDP growth and inflation. For this reason, various financial variables are examined, including those unexplored in previous literature, such as the share of liquid assets in the banking industry and the loan loss provision rate. Our results suggest that financial variables have a systematic and statistically significant effect on macroeconomic fluctuations. In terms of forecast evaluation, financial variables in general seem to improve the forecast of macroeconomic variables, but the predictive performance of individual financial variables varies over time, even though it strengthens during the 2008?C2009 crisis. The results give some support for the risk-taking channel of monetary policy, as the level of the monetary policy rate is positively associated with the loan loss provision rate of commercial banks. Finally, a more stable financial system is found to contribute to faster economic growth.     

Explanatory factors of the relationship between gender diversity and corporate performance

In recent years a growing interest in gender diversity has arisen in the business context, and a significant number of research studies have analysed its effect on corporate performance. Nonetheless, these studies have not led to conclusive results, perhaps owing to the complexity of the relationship. The present work focuses on analysing two possible justifications of the contradictory effects of gender diversity on company performance: the business context and the optimum size of the female presence in decision-making bodies. The results obtained show that when working conditions and academic background are similar, women achieve better performance in sectors traditionally dominated by men. Moreover, to take the best advantage of gender diversity it is recommended that boards of directors should be balanced or have a slightly higher female presence.