Contracting out local road and park services: economic effects and their strategic,contractual and competitive conditions

ABSTRACT

The economic rationale for contracting out local services is increasingly contested by empirical research. This article aims to contribute to this literature, first by scrutinising the economic effects of contracting out in local road and park services and, second, by exploring how characteristics such as markets, contracts, municipal strategies and contracting history influence these outcomes. Drawing on original survey data from Danish municipalities, we find that competitive tendering has on average reduced costs. Further analysis shows that savings are not associated with lower quality, thus indicating that ‘quality shading’ was not taking place. Another finding is that municipalities that repeatedly contract the services experience smaller savings, suggesting that competitive tendering is subject to declining marginal returns. Finally, we find that larger municipalities and those emphasising expenditure cuts realise larger savings, whereas the characteristics of markets and contracts do not seem to explain variations in cost savings.     

光滑型布鲁杆菌抗体竞争ELISA检测方法的建立

用提纯的布鲁杆菌疫苗株M5-90光滑型脂多糖(S-LPS)作为包被抗原,以针对S-LPS C表位的单抗16C5为竞争抗体,建立了检测光滑型布鲁杆菌血清抗体的cELISA方法.通过对临床507份牛血清样本进行检测,结果经统计分析表明,cELISA与RBT和IDEXX公司的iELISA试剂盒符合率分别为84.7%和91.2%.其中142份样品与Svanova公司的cELISA试剂盒和黑龙江省动物监察所提供的iELISA试剂盒的符合率分别为97.2%和94.4%.κ统计显示,该cELISA方法与RBT、IDEXX公司的iELISA试剂盒、Svanova公司的cELISA试剂盒和黑龙江省动物监察所提供的iELISA试剂盒的κ值均大于0.5,符合率很高.该cELISA方法为布鲁菌病的检测提供了一种有效的血清学方法,并且能够有效地排除常见的革兰阴性菌引起的假阳性结果.     

Searching for sustainable competitive advantage --From tangibles to intangibles

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize on the growing importance of the intangible assets for a firm＇s sustainable competitive advantage--by considering both the features that a strategic asset must meet and the high potential of the intangible assets to fulfill those features. First, we outline the changing environment finns are operating in--at global and industry＇s level as well; second, we emphasize on the evolving theory of the resource-based view of the firm--as the main framework integrating all the assets of a firm and its relationships with the environment; third, we underline the need for organizational and managerial change and development by making the shift from tangibles to intangibles. We find that the theory in the field evolved within last years, but the conceptual framework is far from being exhaustive and unitary. The paper may be continued with the developing of a conceptual framework which is able to identify the specific intangible assets that may become strategic, their determinants, the interconnections between them, and their integration into successful competitive strategies. The practical implications of the paper consist in offering some guidelines for firms in the search of global competitiveness through the valorization of there intangible assets. The paper emphasizes that, in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, strategic management must develop a comprehensive, dynamic and innovative resource-based model--unique for each firm.     

海峡经济区竞争性区域体系构建研究

竞争性区域是拥有独特“地方品质”的区域,以创新和知识作为其发展的催化剂,成为国家乃至全球最具发展活力的区域。竞争性区域的构建过程集中体现为提升区域竞争力的战略政策要点和与此相配套实施的多级治理措施的高效统一。从竞争性区域构建理论视角考察,海峡经济区作为两岸经济整合的独特区域,其基础设施网络连接性、产学研互动合作、产业集群培育、城市经济协同发展方面亟待推进,竞争性区域特质尚不发育。今后应从基础设施的协调与衔接、区域产业分工协作体系建立、厦金特区和福马特区创建、经济运行机制衔接、台湾海峡城市联盟缔结、开展以政府政策协调为中介的公私合营等方面着力推进,以构建海峡经济区竞争性区域配套体系,推动海峡经济区迅速崛起成为中国乃至世界新兴的竞争性区域。     

论工会在劳动合同制度中的作用

劳动合同是规范劳动用工行为、处理劳动争议的重要依据和保证,也是工会维护职工合法权益的重要法律武器。因此,工会维护职工合法权益,必须从劳动合同入手。目前,《劳动合同法》正在制定中,明确工会在劳动合同制度中的地位,对于在立法中进一步加强和完善工会在劳动合同制度中的职责,充分发挥工会维护劳动者合法权益和协调劳动关系的作用,实现建设和谐劳动关系及和谐社会的目标有着重要的意义。     

“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” – what about code and law?

Law and information technology are interlinked. Since Lessig's “code is law” the discussions address the viability of law in technology markets. But recently, the direction of view has changed by way of conversion; in the context of smart contracts, the notion “law is code” became prevalent. The contribution looks into the interdependencies between law and code and pleads for a new functional understanding of law.     

公共服务领域内政府与社会组织的关系构建——基于博弈论研究的视角

国家与社会的现实关系在很大程度上反映着一个国家的治理水平。在公共服务领域,政府与社会组织之间的关系构建是一个重要的研究内容。在我国社会快速转型和变迁的背景下,构建中国式的政府与社会组织之间的关系显得更加迫切。文章运用博弈的视角,梳理了政府与社会组织关系的理论发展脉络,提出了变和博弈理念下我国政府与社会组织的关系——竞争与合作的关系,是中国式政府与社会关系发展的必然。最后,文章总结,在公共服务领域内,竞争与合作的关系模式必须通过构建政府与社会组织之间的信任机制、合作机制,同时,通过一系列制度化的发展才能够得以实现,最终发挥政府与社会组织在公共服务领域内的重要作用。     

Unacademic academics: Holocaust deniers and trivializers in post-Communist Romania

The Romanian Academy (and much of the country's historical establishment) is packed with Holocaust deniers and trivializers, many of whom indulge in Holocaust obfuscation against the background of the post-Communist “competitive martyrdom” between the victims of the Holocaust and the Gulag. Quite a few of these deniers and trivializers are also former secret police informers. On closer examination, however, it turns out that explaining the reluctance to face the country's “dark past” as being the independent variable resultant of the post “Romanianization” of the Communist Party and its Securitate is a partial explanation at best. A substantially more convincing one might be provided by scrutinizing the phenomenon as the product of post-mnemonic cultural traumas.     

抗禽流感H9亚型血凝素单克隆抗体的抗原结合特性分析

为了解和确定抗H9亚型禽流感病毒血凝素单克隆抗体所针对的抗原表位及今后的确切用途,用竞争性结合ELISA试验结合Western-blotting分析,对10株单克隆抗体的抗原结合特性进行了分析。抗体反应增值结果表明,10株单抗针对的是同一大的抗原决定簇,根据增值结果可将10株单抗分成4个亚群。除2A1外,其他9株单抗的ELISA反应增值结果与Western-blot- ting分析结果一致,认为可能是由于2A1与其他9株单抗的免疫原不同所致。     

“和谐”与“稳定”之辨——劳动者辞职权制度的反思与重构

《劳动合同法》针对“劳动合同短期化”问题扩大无固定期限劳动合同和经济补偿金的适用范围，以此强化劳动关系的稳定性，但同时却没有对劳动者的辞职权进行合理的限制。这种制度设计没有充分照顾到企业和劳动者的利益平衡，忽视了“和谐”的内涵。为此，应当修正目前劳动者辞职权制度对劳动关系矫枉过正的规定，减弱法律的刚性，实现劳动关系的动态平衡，使“和谐”与“稳定”的价值追求相统一。