The impact of downsizing on the corporate reputation for social performance

This paper investigates the impact of downsizing on a firm's reputation for corporate social performance (RCSP). Drawing on the downsizing, corporate reputation and social responsibility literatures, a number of hypotheses concerning the impact of downsizing, and particularly the types of downsizing, on a firm's reputation for corporate social performance are developed and empirically tested. The main findings of this study are that, while downsizing seems to have a negative impact on the firm's RCSP, when one takes into account the kind of managerial action that led to downsizing (layoffs and/or divestitures), this impact differs between the two stakeholder groups, industry executives and financial analysts, which were investigated. This study also found that a high financial performance prior to downsizing led to a greater negative impact on the firm's RCSP. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

浅议民事诉讼中的专家证人制度

专家证人制度是英美法系的法律制度,其功能是弥补法官在专业知识上的缺陷,帮助法庭查明案件中遇到的专业性问题.我国民事诉讼率先引进了类似于专家证人的制度,以补充我国司法鉴定制度的不足.本文试从英美法系专家证人形态入手,分析引进专家证人制度对我国司法鉴定制度带来的影响及其完善的路径.     

Livelihood strategies and performance of Ghana's health and education sectors: exploring the connections

The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries have implemented various reform programmes with the support of international development agencies, the results so far have been disappointing. One reason for the failure is that the policies have focussed more on achieving macroeconomic stability than making the organisations effective. This article explores a fundamental problem of the policies—the need to focus on the human component of organisational performance. Using education and health organisations in Ghana as examples, the article advances a hypothesis that the livelihood strategies of public sector employees and the performance of their organisations are interconnected. Specifically, it is argued that as public sector employees have become more dependent on multiple sources of income, they have developed multiple social identities, which influence the culture of their organisations. The organisational culture may have encouraged employee effectiveness in some cases, but for most organisations, it has resulted in practices that perpetuate inefficiency and poor performance. To be successful, public sector reform policies must therefore involve deliberate efforts to change organisational cultures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Caribbean electricity restructuring: an assessment

This article assesses the privatisation of the electricity sector in two Caribbean countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to determine if they have been successful and whether they have contributed benefits to the respective societies. Two general methods are applied in assessing the success of the divestments; attainment of governments' stated objectives and commonly used utility performance metrics together with social and customer focus indicators. The results indicate that the stated objectives were broadly achieved, and the privatisation and its attempts brought benefits to the consumers and the society in general. The short to medium term benefits were accrued through lower labour costs per unit of electricity, higher performance of plant and operations and business led decision‐making. Long‐term benefits are accrued through the reduction or elimination of electricity supply deficits. However, although the basic privatisations were successful, the absence of an adequate regulatory framework in one case may have reduced the quantum of benefits through failure to enforce continuous improvement in the privatised generation company, and reductions in worker rents in the public distribution company. Further, benefits were reduced by long divestment processes, accompanying strategic drift, opportunity costs from delayed sale proceeds and efficiency enhancement, and the costs to sustain interim operations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国大气保护公共支出的绩效评价——基于各地区环境数据的比较分析

对我国各省的大气环保支出的绩效进行评价表明,大气公共支出绩效的提高与地方环保机关的工作水平和工作效率紧密相关。在客观条件一定的情况下,地方环保部门是能够通过自身效率的提高来促进大气环境的改善。     

Performance of Public–Private Partnerships and the Influence of Contractual Arrangements

This article seeks to answer two research questions: does public-private partnerships (ppp) live up to its promises to government? How do contractual arrangements affect ppp performance? We propose a conceptual framework to evaluate ppp performance by comparing actual project outcomes to government goals in initiating the partnerships, and to explore how a set of contractual arrangements affect the ppp performance on each identified goal. The framework is applied to a comparative case analysis of highway ppp experiences in the commonwealth of virginia (us) since the 1990s. The results show that these ppp cases were successful in accessing innovative finance, but their performance was mixed on reducing construction risk and transferring revenue risk. Generally improved over time with later projects, the ppp performance was affected not only by interaction among contractual arrangements –private partner selection, financial arrangements, role division, risk allocation, and project characteristics – but also by authorizing and supportive legislation in the policy domain.     

以绩效预算制度为核心的财政预算交易成本控制研究

财政预算的本质，是社会公众与政府之间围绕预算资金使用和公共产品供给进行的委托代理交易。作为交易，财政预算存在交易成本，即财政预算的运行程序成本。制度经济学认为，交易成本过高会降低交易绩效。那么财政预算的交易成本过高也会降低预算绩效。为了控制财政预算交易成本，应当在预算法中构建一种有效的内部激励机制，保证预算执行主体的本位利益与社会公共利益挂钩，促进预算执行主体自觉地以社会公共利益最大化为目标运用财政资金，即绩效预算法律制度。     

后女性主义与性别表演：“网红”及“网红经济”分析

2016年，“网红”成为传媒和经济领域都颇引人注目的一支力量。从女性主义的角度来说，在外形方面，高度同质化的“网红”迎合了男性的色情窥视，也强化了对女性的性别刻板印象。但是“网红”体现出来的巨大经济力量却又在一定程度上挑战了现有的性别秩序。而2016年最为引人注目的 papi 酱，虽然和其他“网红”有着相似的一面，但更以其自身的特质吸引了众多的女性粉丝，体现了网络文化异质多元的一面。     

略论《刑事诉讼法》修改之后鉴定制度的完善——根据司法鉴定的价值和特点进行的分析

我国《刑事诉讼法》修改之后,为促进和保障刑事司法公正,与司法鉴定相关的制度、程序需要进一步完善.应当基于司法鉴定作为证据的基本特点,着眼于保障当事人的权利和规制职权机关的权力,从诉讼程序、证据制度以及管理制度等各个方面,推动我国相关程序、制度的完善.