The origins of severance pay in unemployment compensation: a comparative analysis

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to an under-developed field in the social policy literature through an analysis of the origins of severance pay (SP)/redundancy pay schemes and, more specifically, their first designs in nine countries—Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal. It has two objectives: first, to identify the key actors who shaped the design of the first SP schemes; second, to explain variations in terms of their mode of regulation, generosity and coverage. By building on the state-centric and power-resource perspectives, it identifies the conditions under which the state had an autonomous role vis-à-vis organized labour in SP reforms and the circumstances under which organized labour was the main actor. When the state was the key actor, it preferred legislation for the regulation of SP either to legitimize its apparatus in a ‘revolutionary’/‘potentially revolutionary’ context or to facilitate structural transformations of the economy in a ‘reformist’ context. When organized labour was the key actor, its preference was to regulate SP through ‘only collective bargaining’ or ‘legislation’, subject to the degree of unionization. Lastly, the paper argues that key actors (the state or organized labour) took into account the distributive structure of existing UI schemes when designing the coverage and generosity structure of the first SP schemes during the post-war era.     

Mobility in pastoral societies of Northern Mali: Perspectives on social and political rationales

Since the 1980s, the so-called “nomadic” populations in the regions of Northern Mali and Niger have embarked on an extensive process of settlement. Today they mostly live in villages or “settlement sites”. But, at the same time, individuals and small groups among these same populations have considerably enlarged their area of mobility and accelerated the rate and the value of the trade in which they engage. These two phenomena could, at first sight, appear contradictory. But the observation of empirical situations shows, rather, compatibilities, similarities even, between these two concomitant phenomena. Building on innovative debates conducted in geography and sociology, this article puts forward the hypothesis that the building of villages, as well as integration into military bases and barracks, proceeds from (social) rationales of mobility, just as much as transhumance, journeys, migration. Much more than a simple displacement in space, the notion of mobility could describe an “art of doing”, a way of being to others and to the world.     

Trading in development: norms and institutions in the making/unmaking of European Union–African,Caribbean and Pacific trade and development cooperation

This paper offers a contribution to recent debates on European Union (EU) external trade and development policy, with a specific focus on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The question asked is why the EU encountered such difficulties in the attempt to translate its normative preferences for freer trade and closer economic integration into a series of binding agreements? Drawing on both economic constructivist and historical institutionalist insights, it is argued that the case for reform initially rested on a strong convergence between institutions and ideas, enabling the EU to discursively present desired policy reforms as necessary to satisfy World Trade Organisation trade rules. However, in due course, the institutional dynamics behind the latter began to diverge from the EU's policy preferences and blunt its norm-based argument – thus creating the space for transnational coalitions to, first, question and, ultimately, undermine aspects the EU's trade and development prospectus for the ACP.     

China’s ‘New Silk Roads’: sub-national regions and networks of global political economy

This paper argues that the Chinese government’s ‘belt and road’ initiative – the Silk Roads vision of land and maritime logistics and communications networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa – has its roots in sub-national ideas and practices, and that it reflects their elevation to the national level more than the creation of substantially new policy content. Further, the spatial paradigms inherent in the Silk Roads vision reveal the reproduction of capitalist developmental ideas expressed particularly in the form of networks, which themselves have become a feature of contemporary global political economy. In other words, the Silk Roads vision is more of a ‘spatial fix’ than a geopolitical manoeuvre.     

Reproductive health services: “Business-in-a-Box” as a model social innovation

Access to reproductive health services and products in remote and rural communities is a critical area of concern for developing countries. This article considers a pilot intervention in three districts of Pakistan where “Business-in-a-Box” as a model of place-based social innovation is used to improve the socio-economic conditions of women in remote rural settings through socially responsible micro-franchising. It finds that such programmes help build a sense of community, ownership and grassroots capabilities and skills. The article also discusses the impacts of such actions on the individual and community life, and the need to upscale and sustain these initiatives.     

A Model for Female-Perpetrated Domestic Violence

Child abuse often coexists with intimate partner violence. However, limited studies incorporate both phenomena in a single study. Moreover, the examination of female-on-male violence is an important development. Hence, an intrinsic case study of domestic violence is presented to provide insights regarding the nature and impact of female-perpetrated violence. The research approach was qualitative and demonstrated that a model for abusive behavior seems to be similar for both sexes. The data revealed theoretical trends such as the reality of an intergenerational transmission of violence into adulthood, as well as abusive partners presenting with borderline traits.     

信用证欺诈例外原则的问题分析

信用证是国际贸易中重要的信用结算工具,由于信用证独立抽象的原则,银行只审单而不管实际的货物,导致国际贸易中利用信用证进行欺诈的案件屡屡发生。因此,各国纷纷采取信用证欺诈例外原则来进行补救,但信用证欺诈例外原则的滥用则会损害合法受益人及善意第三方在信用证项下的利益,因此,对欺诈原则应适当地适用,以发挥其最佳效用。     

基于LSTM-CNN的中文短文本分类模型

针对中文语言本身特点,以及传统文本分类方法不能有效应对短文本分类的问题,本文构建了基于LSTM-CNN的中文短文本分类模型。该模型使用word2vec对待分类文本进行预处理,以获得字词级别的向量;再将词向量送入LSTM层提取语义特征,并通过卷积层提取局部特征;在利用最大池化的方法获得特征向量后,将其放入softmax分类器以得到分类的最终结果。与现有的SVM、KNN、CapsNet和Labeled-LDA的实验结果相比,该分类模型能够有效提高中文短文本分类的准确率。     

艾灸对腹泻型肠易激综合征模型大鼠海马与结肠组织中IKKβ/IKBα/NF-κB通路的影响

目的观察艾灸对腹泻型肠易激综合征(diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome,IBS-D)模型大鼠海马与结肠组织中核因子κB抑制蛋白(inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B,IκB)激酶β(IκB kinase beta,IKKβ)、核因子κB抑制蛋白α(NF-kappa-B inhibitor alpha,IKBα)、核因子κB(nuclear factor kappa B,NF-κB)(P65)相对表达水平的影响,探讨艾灸治疗IBS-D的机制。方法将24只健康雄性SD大鼠随机分为空白组、模型组和艾灸组,每组8只。采用慢性束缚联合番泻叶灌胃方法建立IBS-D大鼠模型。艾灸组予以艾灸"天枢""上巨虚",每日30min,每日1次,共治疗7d。治疗后,观察大鼠稀便率和直肠扩张所引起腹部回缩反射(abdominal withdrawal reflex,AWR)的最小容量阈值;蛋白质印迹法检测海马和结肠组织中IKKβ、IKBα、NF-κB(P65)蛋白表达水平。结果与空白组比较,模型组AWR的最小容量阈值明显下降(P<0.05),稀便率明显升高(P<0.05);海马和结肠组织中IKKβ、IKBα、NF-κB(P65)蛋白表达水平明显增加(P<0.05)。与模型组比较,艾灸组AWR的最小容量阈值明显升高(P<0.05),稀便率明显下降(P<0.05);海马和结肠组织中IKKβ、IKBα、NF-κB(P65)蛋白表达水平显著降低(P<0.05)。结论艾灸"天枢""上巨虚"改善IBS-D大鼠腹泻症状和内脏高敏感性可能与艾灸抑制海马与结肠组织IKKβ/IKBα/NF-κB信号通路有关,且其作用机制可能是通过脑-肠轴途径实现的。     

意识形态的学术分类初探

意识形态的学术分类,就是纯粹学理的分类,就是从意识形态生成和发展的不同的基础入手进行分类。根据意识形态为人们勾勒的不同的理想目标图景、提供的信仰或崇拜对象,大致可以区分为七种不同类型的意识形态。不同类型的意识形态具有不同特点的吸引力,可以满足人的不同的精神需求,从而形成了社会意识形态领域诸家争鸣的现象。意识形态的学术分类对于在新的历史条件下巩固马克思主义在意识形态领域的主导地位具有重要的启示。