How do policy levers shape the quality of a national health system?

Poor quality of care may have a detrimental effect on access and take-up and can become a serious barrier to the universality of health services. This consideration is of particular interest in view of the fact that health systems in many countries must address a growing public-sector deficit and respond to increasing pressures due to COVID-19 and aging population, among other factors. In line with a rapidly emerging literature, we focus on patient satisfaction as a proxy for quality of health care. Drawing on rich longitudinal and cross-sectional data for Spain and multilevel estimation techniques, we show that in addition to individual level differences, policy levers (such as public health spending and the patient-doctor ratio, in particular) exert a considerable influence on the quality of a health care system. Our results suggest that policymakers seeking to enhance the quality of care should be cautious when compromising the level of health resources, and in particular, health personnel, as a response to economic downturns in a sector that traditionally had insufficient human resources in many countries, which have become even more evident in the light of the current health crisis. Additionally, we provide evidence that the increasing reliance on the private health sector may be indicative of inefficiencies in the public system and/or the existence of features of private insurance which are deemed important by patients.     

Leader-member exchange as a linking pin in the idiosyncratic deals - Performance relationship in workgroups

In the current investigation, idiosyncratic deals (i-deals; individualized work arrangements) are modeled as differentiated resources that shape leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships in workgroups. We integrate literature on leader-member exchange (LMX) with research on i-deals to argue that employee evaluations of i-deals received from the grantor –typically the leader- enhance employee perceptions of LMX, which in turn become instrumental in generating positive performance outcomes. Furthermore, because workgroup characteristics have potential implications on the relationship between a deal grantor and the deal recipient, drawing upon social identity theory of leadership, we reason that the i-deals-LMX relationship is affected by the overall value congruence among the group members. Cross-level moderated mediation analyses on multi source data obtained from 289 employees nested in 60 workgroups showed that the mediational role of LMX in the i-deals to performance outcomes relationship was weaker in high value congruence groups.     

公司高级管理人员解雇保护问题研究——以《劳动合同法》第48条为视角

在我国,由于劳动法和公司法内容的冲突以及公司高级管理人员在现有劳动法语境下身份的特殊性,导致了不同法院对于劳动合同违法解除后劳动合同继续履行与否的判决并不一致。高级管理人员并不完全具有劳动法上劳动者人格和经济上的从属性,因而其不应该获得完全的与普通劳动者相同的倾斜保护。而且,高级管理人员被解聘后,因为岗位的重要性,公司往往会迅速找人代替;由于岗位数量稀缺性和要求的专业性,高级管理人员要求恢复原岗位的要求在实践中难以满足。因此,法院在适用《劳动合同法》第48条时,不应支持被解除职务的高管的复职请求,而应采用其他救济方式。     

For better,for worse? Public support for the capitalist model of the economy

A capitalist market economy is based on several institutional elements, such as private ownership and competition. Does public support for this economic model rise if the economy prospers, and fall during a downturn? Or is public support largely independent of the ups and downs of economic cycles? We hypothesize that positive economic performance increases support and that persons profiting personally are more supportive of the economic system's constitutive institutional elements. Using multilevel regression we study the determinants of individual-level support for the economic system. We also test for differences in the perception of economic performance due to political attitudes and personal properties. The findings partly support the hypotheses, indicating that macro-economic factors matter for individual-level attitudes towards the economy. Attitudes towards different institutional elements of the economic system also differ in the degree to which they are political or economic, and influenced by economic performance. Individual features – education and personal economic stakes – affect attitudes towards the economy, but a substantial share of the individual-level variation in economic attitudes remains unexplained.     

平台竞争、排他性协议与竞争瓶颈

在很多双边市场中，经常出现平台一边的用户与平台之间产生利益纠纷的现象，例如顺丰速运与菜鸟网络之间的纠纷等，本文从理论模型的角度研究了这种经济现象。文章通过将双边市场的用户分为视平台有差异和无差异两种类型，研究了平台如何掠夺视平台无差异的用户所有剩余的问题。研究发现，平台厂商有与视平台无差异的用户签订排他性协议的激励；无论签订排他性协议与否，这类用户都将被掠夺所有剩余，产生了所谓的"竞争瓶颈"；排他性协议带来的福利效应并不明确，当平台的边际成本和交叉外部性参数较大时，排他性协议的签订能够提升社会总福利。     

Assessing the market values of soccer players – a robust analysis of data from German 1. and 2. Bundesliga

The paper examines to what extent a player's market value depends on his skills. Therefore, a data set covering 28 performance measures and the market values of about 493 players from 1. and 2. German Bundesliga is analysed. Applying robust analysis techniques, we are able to robustly estimate market values of soccer players. The results show (1) that there are significantly underrated and overrated players and (2) that a player's affiliation to a certain team may contribute to his market value. We conclude that a club's reputation affects the market values of its players and that star players are in tendency overrated.     

区块链技术下智能合约之于合同的新诠释

应用于交易领域的智能合约融入区块链技术,以代码形式表现,可实现合同履行的自动化和不可逆,超越了传统意义上的合同模式.自助行为说、代理说将智能合约视为对合同过程的外部增强,是侧面功能的法律阐释,并未完全捕捉到实质.智能合约并不一定跨越整个合同过程,也可仅是合同过程某个方面或某个阶段.法律意义上的智能合约不是合同新类型,而是合同关系形式的新发展,即当事人缔结和履行合同的新形式,合同性质未发生实质变化.智能合约满足特定要件构成特殊的书面形式,具有"书面形式+自动履行"功能的特质.民事主体通过智能合约形式订立合同应遵守《民法典》等现行法律的具体规则,以保证合同依法成立与生效.智能合约不等同于具有法律效力的合同,认定其效力应结合智能合约应用中的具体问题展开具体分析.从立法上确认智能合约,在符合国家现有法律、政策基础上编写和应用,实现形式的合法化、内容的规范化是该技术谋求长远发展的保障.技术起步的现阶段,纸质合同、一般电子合同与智能合约在不同方面发挥协作作用,会在未来一段时间内成为民事交往、商业交易的主要状态.     

Response strategy to environment context factors using a lean and agile approach: Implications for firm performance

Based on the environment-strategy performance perspective and dynamic capabilities framework, we develop a theoretical model and hypotheses specifying how supply chain collaboration as a response to environment context factors – competitive intensity, supply uncertainty, technological turbulence and market turbulence, using a lean and agile strategy may influence firm performance. We test the model using partial least square structural equation modelling on data collected from a field survey with responses from 152 manufacturing firms representing a variety of industries. Empirical findings generally support the relationship between collaboration and firm performance using a lean and agile strategy. Also, for firms in industries that face environments characterised by high supply uncertainty and competitive intensity with, technological turbulence, the study finds evidence of a direct relationship between these environmental factors and supply chain collaboration. The findings provide an initial strategic response framework for appropriately aligning a lean and agile supply chain strategy through collaboration with environment context factors to achieve firm performance improvements.     

Formal governance,interfirm coordination,and performance in partnerships: An empirical investigation of a mediation model

This study investigates the extent to which formal governance mechanisms such as contracts and equity ownership affect interfirm coordination and partnership performance. We analysed data from a survey of 301 Korean firms to show that interfirm coordination partially mediates the relationship between contract completeness, defined as the extent to which a contract specifies task operations and contingencies, and partnership performance. Furthermore, we find that more complete contracts can attenuate the negative effects of equity ownership on coordination, and that this effect is particularly strong when partner tasks are interdependent and relational norms are weak.     

产需不确定下基于零售商风险规避的三级供应链组合契约模型

针对产需不确定下单一供应商、制造商和风险规避的零售商组成的三级供应链系统，建立了分散和集中情况下的最优决策模型。通过设计风险共担和GL组合契约实现了三级供应链的协调。讨论了风险规避零售商的最优订购决策，分析了风险规避对供应链期望效益的影响。比较了风险规避和风险中性两种情况下零售商的最优决策。探讨了组合契约的协调问题及契约参数之间的关系。研究表明供应链的期望利润随着产需不确定的增加而减少，风险规避下零售商的期望利润低于风险中性时的期望利润，零售商的期望利润随着风险规避程度的加大而减少，零售商最优订购量随风险规避程度的增加而变化。最后数值算例验证了模型和契约协调的有效性。