EU Simulations and Engagement: Motivating Greater Interest in European Union Politics

While the effects of simulation-based courses on the knowledge of participating students may be marginal in relation to standard lecture and discussion-based courses, this article argues that the greatest leverage is gained by increasing participating students’ level of interest in the subject of study and in politics more broadly. Participants tend to become increasingly absorbed in their roles and in the politics of the institutions at the center of the simulation. To better consider this possibility, we conducted a survey of students participating in the 2015 Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation and of appropriate control populations. The survey results indeed suggest that, much more than simply acquiring knowledge about the EU, the simulation experience serves to generate more robust interest in the subject of study.     

Understanding the Regulatory Thicket: Interactions Among State Environmental Regulators and Regulatees

Research exploring state-level regulatory interactions in the U.S. often employs survey methodology to ask front-line actors about their experiences. While these efforts are noteworthy, we argue that it is important to investigate these interactions utilizing a different approach. In this exploratory study, we use randomized vignettes, to which a respondent can react without fear of revealing practices or succumbing to social desirability. Our results are in concert with a growing body of literature that suggests cooperation between the regulator and regulatees is essential for future interactions in order to achieve compliance, yet each party’s perceptions may not be completely congruent.     

论“中小企业”的立法界定标准——从 比 较 法 的 视 角

西方各国对“中小企业”的立法界定标准差异显著，在其本国内每一部政府扶持立法通常都规定了自己的“中小企业”定义。我国对“中小企业”的立法界定标准先后进行过几次大调整，但目前的立法仍存在诸多缺陷，需要进一步加以完善。立法界定“中小企业”，应以“小”的本质涵义为起点，以“相对随意性”为指导理论。     

党的中高级领导干部要带头学好马克思主义经典著作

党的理论是党的建设的灵魂与生命,是党的建设的根本前提和根本保证。认真学习马克思主义经典作家著作,是当今世情、国情和党情对我党中高级领导干部提出的一项十分严肃、庄重而又光荣的任务。党的中高级领导干部坚持学习好马克思主义经典著作,是全党坚持和发展正确理论,提高领导力、决策力、战斗力的重要而必由的途径,是贯彻落实科学发展观的必然要求。     

我国中小企业融资效率研究

我国中小企业主要集中在一些技术含量低,风险相对低,劳动密集型的产业和行业。其利润水平低,存在着资金供给渠道狭窄,内源融资规模有限,直接有效的资金供给不足,风险投资渠道不完善,商业信用不发达,以及贷款供给期限过短等障碍。中小企业融资效率主要受融资成本、资金到位率、资金利用率、企业清偿能力、融资机制规范程度、融资主体自由度等六方面的制约。为此应重视内源融资,优化资本结构,多种融资模式结合;强化现代企业制度,改善公司治理结构,选择符合企业长远利益的好的投资项目,保持对企业的控制权;建立针对中小企业的证券市场,完善中小企业的信用担保体系,有效降低企业的融资成本,为企业直接融资效率的提高创造良好的宏观条件。     

Does border enforcement deter unauthorized immigration? The case of Mexican migration to the United States of America

This paper asks whether the migration decisions of unauthorized Mexican immigrants to the USA have been influenced by stronger US border enforcement efforts since 1993 that have sharply increased the physical risk and financial cost of illegal immigration. These measures were supposed to have decreased the probability of successful entry, thereby lowering the expected benefits of migration. We carried out a logistic regression analysis of data from a recent survey of 603 returned migrants and potential first‐time migrants in rural Mexico. Our findings indicate that tougher border controls have had remarkably little influence on the propensity to migrate illegally to the USA. Political restrictions on immigration are far outweighed by economic and family‐related incentives to migrate. An alternative, labor‐market approach to immigration control with higher probability of effectiveness is outlined.     

高校网络思想政治教育调查的实证分析

网络给高校思想政治教育工作带来了非常重要的影响,高校网络思想政治教育取得了初步的成效,但还存在亟待解决的问题。必须建立和完善高校网络思想政治教育工作体系,丰富内容,增强吸引力,建设一支精干的网络思想政治工作队伍,真正发挥网络思想政治教育的优势。     

天津市大学生阅读情况的调查与分析

采用调查问卷的形式对我市部分院校大学生课外阅读情况展开调查,分析了我市大学生的阅读习惯、目的及途径;阅读书籍的种类和特点;新兴媒介互联网对传统阅读的影响;大学生喜欢的作家、作品和对当代文坛一些文学现象的看法等,通过对调查问卷的归类与分析,对我市大学生阅读现状有了初步的了解,对高校语文课教学改革提出了一些建议。     

Measurement Properties of the Communities That Care<Superscript>®</Superscript> Youth Survey Across Demographic Groups

Prevention science has produced information about risk and protective factors that predict adolescent drug use and related problem behaviors. This paper investigates the Communities That Care Youth Survey that measures multiple risk and protective factors. Using a sample of 172,628 students who participated in surveys administered in seven states in 1998, analyses were conducted to test the factor structure of these risk and protective factors and to test the equivalence of the factor models across five racial/ethnic groups (African Americans, Asians or Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans), four grade levels (6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th) and both gender groups. Results support the construct validity of the surveys risk and protective factor scales and indicate that the measures are equally reliable across males and females and five racial/ethnic groups. Implications of these findings for science-based prevention planning are discussed.     

The case of the missing victims: Gunshot woundings in the National Crime Survey

National Crime Survey (NCS) data yield an estimate that 171,000 Americans were nonfatally shot in criminal assaults, robberies, and rapes for the period 1973–1979. Comparing this estimate with the number of firearms homicides during this period suggests either that the death rate in gunshot cases is very high (over 1/3) or that the NCS estimate is low. Based on police-generated data appropriate to estimating the true death rate from gunshot wounds, it appears that the NCS estimate is low by a factor of about 3.0 compared with the number of criminal gunshot woundings known to the police. It is common knowledge that survey-based estimates of assault rates tend to be relatively unreliable, a fact that has been attributed to problems with respondents being willing and able to recall threats, fist fights, and other minor assaults. The current result indicates that the estimation problem is not limited to minor assaults. There is reason to think that the underestimate of gunshot woundings is the result of problems with the NCS sample as well as problems with respondent cooperation.