The contribution of the right to information laws in Europe to local government transparency on sustainability

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of the right to information laws on sustainability transparency in European local governments. This goal is novel, in that previous studies have examined the effects of various factors on the dissemination of government information (demographic, socioeconomic, political and financial) but not the contribution of legal factors to online transparency on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Our research question is this: Do information laws contribute to transparency on sustainability? Using the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and a statistical regression analysis, we studied the websites of 106 local governments in ten European countries. The results obtained show that when transparency laws clearly stipulate the rules applicable and the procedures established for appeals, exceptions, refusals and requests, this can favour transparency on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Our findings advance understanding of this field and reinforce the basis for legal reforms to enhance sustainability transparency.

     

Buyer and Seller Differences in Business‐to‐Business Negotiations

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to examine the differences between buyers' and sellers' use of negotiation tactics in face‐to‐face business‐to‐business (B2B) negotiations and second, to explore how negotiators' professed negotiation styles influence buyers' and sellers' use of tactics. The methodology is a multiple case study analysis of eighteen negotiators representing twelve companies in six real‐life buyer–seller negotiations in B2B settings analyzed using qualitative research methods, including both comparative analysis and frequency analysis. We found some difference between buyers' and sellers' use of negotiation tactics, which suggests this question deserves further empirical study. Buyers' and sellers' use of specific tactics differs according to which overall strategy the negotiators chose, and sellers generally use a greater number of negotiation tactics than buyers. The findings challenge previous findings that suggest that B2B negotiations are collaborative and that negotiators communicate in a collaborative manner. The findings also increase our understanding of buyers' and sellers' variable use of tactics in the course of everyday practice as well as the interplay between negotiation tactics and strategies.     

Correction to: Age Patterns in Risk Taking Across the World

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - In the original publication, the legends for Figs 4 and 5 were incorrect, such that each regression line was mislabeled with the incorrect country. Below are the...     

Do the illegal and legal rents of politicians affect municipal election outcomes? Empirical evidence

This paper aims to analyse whether illegal (corruption) and legal rent extraction (high politicians’ wages) affect electoral outcomes at municipal level. We use an initial sample of 145 Spanish municipalities over 50,000 for two electoral periods: 2004–2007 (before the crisis) and 2008–2011 (during the crisis). Our findings show that neither illegal nor legal rent extraction impact on re-election in non-crisis times. However, we observe that citizens penalize legal rent extraction in the ballots during the crisis. Regarding the economic performance of the local governments, we find that its effect on re-election is important in non-crisis period. Nevertheless, in time of crisis, given that the economic situation is bad in general in the country, voters pay less attention to economic factors and focus on politicians’ behaviour.     

基于精英策略的多目标进化算法的研究

针对基于精英策略的多目标进化算法NSGAⅡ[1]解的多样性降低的缺点,提出了一个分布函数改进其精英策略.通过调节分布函数中的参数,控制精英解的选取范围,使一部分非精英解也能参与到遗传操作中,增加了解的多样性.实验结果表明,改进的多目标进化算法无论在解的多样性方面还是解的收敛性方面都有较大改观,性能明显优于NSGAⅡ.     

对高校学生党建工作的一点思考

在新形势下,作为高校党建工作重要组成部分的学生党建工作在取得成绩的同时,也面l临着一些新的变化和情况。针对新时期高校学生党建工作中存在的问题,从开展理想信念教育、入党积极分子培养方式、严把党员入口关、加大预备期考察力度、增强党支部凝聚力、党支部书记加强学习等方面进行了深入地分析,提出完善和规范高校学生党建工作的对策。     

中国公立医院改革的逻辑

公立医院改革是新医改的重点也是难点之一。权利与责任不对等导致公立医院医生滥用医院声誉,严重的道德风险由此产生。在"管办不分"的医疗卫生体制下,公立医院丧失了独立的法人地位。公立医院改革的出发点在于政事分开、管办分离,从而落实公立医院的独立法人地位,进而完善公立医院的法人治理结构。通过合理的机制设计使医生尽可能承担声誉责任,克服道德风险,规范自身行为。     

马立克病病毒致瘤相关基因的研究进展

从meq基因、pp38复合体、HSV ICP4的同源体、L开放阅读框(L ORF)、位于BamHⅠ-H片段的基因和病毒类白细胞介素-8(vIL-8)等几个方面论述了马立克病病毒感染期间参与肿瘤形成的相关基因的生物学活性。     

美国亚太战略与中国周边安全格局

美国＂重返亚洲＂是美国＂焦虑时代＂的＂应急反应＂,随着美国对亚太事务的深度介入,这种＂应急反应＂已转变成为美国完整的＂亚太战略＂。从地缘政治考量,美国的亚太战略是以巩固亚太传统的盟友关系为基础,以化解中印崛起带来不确定变量为重点,以插手热点敏感问题为手段,推行全球霸权主义战略的体现。＂围堵中国＂只是美国亚太战略的一部分。中国可利用美国亚太战略的空间错位,强化共同利益纽带,巩固周边安全格局,为推进小康社会建设和祖国统一大业,创造有利的外部条件。