Organized independent labor movement in Taiwan： The case of the CTWU

Labor was a significant factor in Taiwanese politics. In history, some of the most important unions in Taiwan were built around a core of members resolutely loyal to a political ideology. However, with time many tenets of labor and political history have undergone a change. The alliances between trade unions broke the links with their respective political parties or groups. The centralized and traditional union structures fell short of workers＇ expectation amid the mounting pressures of political democratization in Taiwan, thereby giving way to ＂independent＂ union bodies. This paper examines the experiences of＂independent＂ trade unions in Taiwan in a historical context and attempts to trace the conditions that are instrumental in the growth of such unions. The case of one ＂independent＂ union in Taiwan--the Chunghwa Telecom Workers＇ Union （CTWU） depicts the ways and means by which independent rank-and-file led unions have proven their collective strength time and again. The case analysis in the present paper suggests that the continuing economic liberalization in Taiwan may bring about the proliferation of ＂independent＂ unions with far greater collective voice and less monopoly effects than the current situation.     

复合身份政治:西亚大国参与阿富汗安全事务的三重维度

“阿拉伯之春”爆发以来,西亚伊斯兰大国土耳其、伊朗和沙特阿拉伯(简称“沙特”)形成了复合身份。教派争端导致三国在西亚地区的战略博弈阵营化;阿富汗弱政府、强社会的权力结构使三国的战略博弈代理人化。作者提出“复合身份政治”概念,认为土耳其、伊朗和沙特以三重身份参与阿富汗安全事务。从族群和教派身份看,土耳其与阿富汗北部乌兹别克人和土库曼人等突厥语族群形成特殊关系;伊朗与中部哈扎拉人和塔吉克人形成特殊关系;沙特与南部普什图人形成特殊关系。从区域身份看,土耳其借助突厥语国家委员会,伊朗借助经济合作组织,沙特借助伊斯兰反恐联盟,三国在“向东看”过程中分别将阿富汗纳入各自主导的多边机制,形成了制度均势。从全球身份看,土耳其以北约的名义参与在阿富汗的军事行动,伊朗加入上海合作组织,沙特利用伊斯兰合作组织,三国与世界大国形成了议题联系。复合身份政治使土耳其、伊朗和沙特构筑相互交错的次体系,稀释了世界大国主导的阿富汗问题安全倡议,阿富汗安全格局由“多极”走向“多中心”。     

Strategic planning on promoting Macau cultural heritage tourism

The Macau economy has developed rapidly after the handover to China in 1999; the gambling industry made a great contribution to this development and continues today. However, overdependence of the unitary industry structure is risky; hence, diversity in economic development is essential to sustainable development in Macau. After Macau was listed in the ＂world heritage list＂ in 2005, Macau cultural heritage tourism as a new concept has been promoted by the Macau Government. This paper uses SWOT analysis to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Macau cultural heritage tourism. The excellent guidance of promotion from the government is needed in order to successfully create a positive image of cultural heritage tourism. Suggestions to promote Macau cultural heritage tourism are given in the last part of the paper.     

“负责任外空行为”议程与太空安全机制新动向

近年来,太空安全环境发生急剧变化,各国太空军事化步伐加速,商业航天崛起,太空拥挤加剧,太空军民融合加深。在此背景下,英国于2020年发起一项名为“负责任外空行为”的太空军控新议程。该议程推出后,美国积极参与并试图将之导向一项自愿承诺禁止地基动能反卫星试验的国际协议,这意味着其太空军控立场的重大转向。美国意图借“负责任外空行为”议程干扰对手发展不对称反卫星手段、强化太空同盟、划定太空威慑“红线”、策应太空环境议题。“负责任外空行为”已成为太空安全机制领域最有影响力的议程,不仅因为其引发了大国间政治矛盾,还因其体现了太空安全机制的发展动向。在新的太空安全环境下,太空军事安全和民事安全的国际机制正交叉融合发展,各机制的议程模式将更加开放、参与者更加多样、控制行为的路径更加主流。     

Trade, institutions, and the timing of GATT/WTO accession in post-colonial states

Prior to 1995, when the World Trade Organization (WTO) superseded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a number of states took advantage of GATT Article XXVI:5(c), which allowed them—as former colonies or component territories of existing GATT members—to quickly and simply join the multilateral trade regime. The speed with which these post-colonial accessions took place, however, varied widely: some states joined immediately upon independence, while others joined much later. Still other post-colonial states passed on this opportunity, only to subsequently begin the longer, more onerous accession process required of other GATT/WTO applicants. Our paper seeks to explain this variation in the timing of post-colonial states’ accession to the GATT/WTO. We argue that three key variables explain the timing of accession decisions: 1) a country’s trade ties with existing member-states; 2) its existing preferential trade agreement (PTA) commitments; and 3) its domestic political institutions—specifically, the country’s level of democracy. Furthermore, we argue that the effects of these variables are conditional upon each other: post-colonial countries with more extensive trade ties to existing member-states were more likely to accede rapidly under Article XXVI:5(c), but only under specific conditions—namely, when they had not already locked in ties with key trading partners through bilateral or regional PTAs, and when they were governed by a more democratic regime. We test this argument empirically using an original dataset of 61 post-colonial states from 1951 to 2004. Our results strongly support this explanation of GATT/WTO accession and help to clarify the pattern of participation in the multilateral trading system that we have observed over the last half-century.     

Public sector innovation: the effect of universities

A growing literature in public management has identified the key role that innovation can play in enhancing agency efficiency, effectiveness, performance and legitimacy. However, considerably less is known about the actual sources of knowledge generating innovative activity in the public sector. This paper fills this crucial gap in the literature by explicitly analyzing the link between a key source of knowledge and ideas, universities, and the innovative activities of public organizations. By utilizing a new source of data, this paper is able to show that not only do universities play a key role in generating innovative activity in public organizations, but the nature of innovations and their impact on public sector performance are related to the role played by universities. The findings suggest that universities play a key role in generating innovative activity in public organizations as doing so can increase the quality of public services, employee job satisfaction, and interagency collaboration.

     

Entrepreneurial ecosystems: economic,technological, and societal impacts

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Despite the overwhelming use of the metaphor ‘ecosystem’ in academia, industry, policy, and management, exact definitions of what...     

Diversifying the police applicant pool: motivations of women and minority candidates seeking police employment

Given the media attention to police killings of unarmed men of color, police agencies have increased their focus on the diversity of their applicant pools. Despite their efforts, policing leaders across the United States have cited challenges in recruiting a diverse police force and are exploring evidence-based solutions. However, the bulk of the literature on motivation to seek a career in policing is dated and includes small samples of women and minority respondents. The purpose of this study is to provide contemporary insight into reasons of women and minority candidates for applying to a police department. Thus, this study focuses on women and minority applicants to a large policing agency in the northeastern United States, asking respondents an open-ended question about their motivation to apply. Policing as a childhood dream, making a difference in the community and the opportunity to help people, and believing policing was a good transition from military to civilian life were the most commonly cited reasons for applying. Salary, benefits and job security were the least cited reasons for applying for a police position. Other findings and policy implications are discussed.     

Who is the academic entrepreneur? The role of graduate students in the development of university spinoffs

Academic entrepreneurship, the establishment of new companies based on technologies derived from university research, is a well-recognized driver of regional and national economic development. For more than a decade, scholars have conceptualized individual university faculty as the primary agents of academic entrepreneurship. Recent research suggests that graduate students also play a critical role in the establishment and early development of university spinoff companies, but the nature of their involvement through the entrepreneurial process is not yet fully understood. Employing a case study approach, this paper investigates the role of graduate students in early-stage university spinoff companies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We find that graduate students play role similar to that of individual faculty entrepreneurs in university spinoffs, both in terms of making the initial establishment decision and in reconfiguring the organization for marketable technology development. We also find that student entrepreneurs face unique challenges involving conflicts with faculty advisors and other students.     

The Murder Mystery: Police Effectiveness and Homicide

Objective

Previous aggregate analyses of the effect of police on crime show that increases in police staffing are especially effective at preventing homicide. This conflicts with evidence that suggests standard police methods should be more effective at preventing robbery, auto theft, and other property crimes. My objective is to reconcile the two.

Methods

Regression of crime rates on uniformed police staffing and other economic and demographic covariates, for a panel of 59 US cities for the period 1970–2013.

Results

Lagged crime rates are strong and statistically significant predictors of both policing staffing and crime rates, particularly homicide. When lags are included in the specification, the apparent effect of police on homicide drops by more than 70 %; there is little change in the effect of police on other crimes. Findings are robust with respect to specification and method.

Conclusions

Previous studies omitted lags and overstated the effectiveness of police on homicide. Because murder accounts for almost 40 % of all costs of crime in US cities, it is no longer clear whether increasing police force size is a cost-effective way to cut crime. Improving police tactics is more likely to work and less expensive.