Development challenges and opportunities confronting economies in transition

“Economies in Transition” (hereafter EIT or EITs) are countries in the process of shifting from “command” to “more open”, liberalized, free market economic systems. In addition to achieving major structural adjustments to their economies, the transformational process requires the introduction of a high degree of transparency in both the economic and political spheres of society. The transfer of state assets to private ownership is one part of the process as well, as is the creation or opening of “political space” that permits the emergence of private enterprise, multiparty political systems, and the introduction of a broad range of non-governmental organizations that carry out missions and functions which people themselves prefer to perform. Thus, the process of economic transformation requires a major socio-political-economic paradigm shift...one that places people and their needs at the center of the transformational process. The process is extremely difficult to achieve and is fraught with many dangers for countries that enter into it without substantial guidance from more economically advanced countries. This paper reports on the social development successes and failures of 31 economies in transition over the 15-year period 1990–2005. Included in the analysis are EITs located in East and South East Asia (N = 5), Central and Eastern Europe (N = 10), all 12 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States including the Russian Federation (N = 12), Turkey (N = 1), and the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (N = 3). Using the author’s extensively pre-tested Weighted Index of Social Progress (WISP), the paper reports data at three levels of analysis: (1) WISP performances for all 31 EITs-as-a-group; (2) sub-regional performances on the WISP and its component sub-indexes for each of the six EIT sub-regions included in the analysis; and (3) country-specific performances on the WISP for each of the 31 countries included in the analysis. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2006 International Symposium and Lecture Series on Social Policy sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and held on the campus of Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 24–27 August, 2006.     

On Exponential Growth and Half-Lives: A Comment on Bermingham

A recent paper (hereafter referred to as the Paper), Bermingham (2003), presented what appeared to be an analytical review of current situation of declining population growth rates in many parts of the world. The Paper suggested that the increasing growth rates before about 1970 constituted exponential growth, but that the currently declining growth rates were not exponential growth. Hence, the paper asserted that we should not use the terms exponential growth and doubling times in describing the current situation. Many of the suggestions in the paper are contrary to established mathematics. These suggestions are examined here in some detail.     

The Development of A County Level Index Of Well-Being

In an effort to assess the level of community need and inform responsive resource allocation, Larimer County, Colorado developed a county-level index of well-being. This paper describes the development of that index including the selection of indicators and the methodology for scoring and presenting those indicators. We also present how the local community used the information and describe problems we found while aggregating indicators. Next, we show the results of evaluating our index using Hagerty et al.’s (2001, Social Indicators Research 55, pp. 1–96) 14 criteria for determining validity and usefulness of quality of life indices. The Larimer County index performed above both the “satisfactory” rating and the mean of the 22 indices evaluated using Hagerty et al.’s. We conclude that the Larimer County index is based on a solid approach that will be helpful to local policy makers.     

Gendering Indicators of Health and Well-being: Is Quality of Life Gender Neutral?

The addition of social indicators and quality of life measures to the raft of traditional health indicators used to assess health and well-being has certainly provided a much-needed contextual understanding of health outcomes. However, most quality of life measures remain undifferentiated by gender. Outcomes can be disaggregated along age, class, ethnic, racial and gender dimensions but few quality of life measures (or social indicators for that matter) are sensitive to the subtle effects of gender socialization on health and well-being. Both social epidemiology and quality of life measures need to be gendered and differentiated to fully capture the diversity of womens and mens health experiences.     

The social condition of the New Zealand people: a pre-election review of social indicator information

ABSTRACT

Many social commentators have considered that alongside the fiscal transparency enjoined by contemporary New Zealand governments, there should be a complementary social responsibility reporting. This task is usually assigned to social indicator frameworks. However, at present (as the 2017 election looms) there is a faltering in the provision of social indicators which have been in place in New Zealand for almost two decades, with the exception of the recent 2016 survey data from Statistics New Zealand and Ministry of Social Development that were made available within a month of writing this article. Having commented on the current status of the New Zealand social indicator system, we present data from the General Social Survey and the Quality of Life survey to at least convey recent trends in subjective social well-being and reported behaviours and experiences. References are also made to the accumulating literature on social well-being in New Zealand, followed by suggestions for more systematic indicator development and underpinning research.     

The unit extended Weibull families of distributions and its applications

In this paper, two new general families of distributions supported on the unit interval are introduced. The proposed families include several known models as special cases and define at least twenty (each one) new special models. Since the list of well-being indicators may include several double bounded random variables, the applicability for modeling those is the major practical motivation for introducing the distributions on those families. We propose a parametrization of the new families in terms of the median and develop a shiny application to provide interactive density shape illustrations for some special cases. Various properties of the introduced families are studied. Some special models in the new families are discussed. In particular, the complementary unit Weibull distribution is studied in some detail. The method of maximum likelihood for estimating the model parameters is discussed. An extensive Monte Carlo experiment is conducted to evaluate the performances of these estimators in finite samples. Applications to the literacy rate in Brazilian and Colombian municipalities illustrate the usefulness of the two new families for modeling well-being indicators.     

Framing socioecological complexity: The long-term evolution of multiple dimensions of desertification risk in Italy

Desertification risk depends on the interplay of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers, among which climate change, soil depletion, landscape modifications, and biodiversity decline are key factors of change in Southern Europe. The present study introduces a diachronic analysis of desertification risk in Italy adopting a multidimensional approach based on four dimensions (ecological, economic, demographic, and administrative) assessed at three dates (1961, 1991, and 2011). These risk components were evaluated separately in Southern Italy, a formerly affected region (sensu United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification), and Northern/Central Italy, a nonaffected region in the country. All risk measures document how the divide between affected and nonaffected regions in Italy has gradually reduced. Because of local warming and rising human pressure, Northern Italy has recently displayed a level of desertification risk close to those observed in Southern Italy over the last 30 years. These results suggest a thorough revision of the national classification of risky areas, that may inform more specific mitigation and adaptation policies responding effectively to recent socioenvironmental trends and local (economic) dynamics. The intrinsic system's evolution observed at both regional and national level in Italy may be generalized to a broader European context. Our work finally documents the appropriateness of a multidimensional definition of desertification risk grounded on the joint analysis of ecological, demographic, economic, and administrative indicators. A comprehensive knowledge of socioeconomic patterns and processes of change contributes to more precise scenario modeling and design of integrated strategies mitigating desertification risk.     

合同能源管理项目关键成功因素研究进展

目前对合同能源管理项目关键成功因素的研究主要集中于关键绩效指标与关键成功因素、关键成功因素的识别与分类、关键成功因素的分析方法以及数据收集方法4个方面,并取得了一定的研究成果。但在关键成功因素的选择、关键成功因素的变化规律、关键成功因素的分析方法等方面存在不同程度缺陷,影响了研究结果的实用性。后续研究可以从面向过程的视角,选择结构方程模型、数据包络分析等方法研究合同能管理项目不同阶段的关键成功因素变化规律及其相互关系。     

基于社区利益要求及其实现方式的非财务指标关注程度实证研究

从社区角度出发,对社区所关注的反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的关注程度进行排序研究和分组研究,研究得出：社区对不同类的反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的关注程度存在显著差异;不同类别社区和不同规模社区对反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的同一类非财务指标的关注程度可能存在显著差异。企业应根据本企业利益相关者社区的特点和社区对非财务指标关注的需要以及关注程度的差异,对社区所关注的非财务指标信息与社区进行充分信息沟通,以满足本企业利益相关者社区关注相关信息的需要。     

医院岗位绩效考核平衡计分卡指标的设计

公立医院的社会公益性质要求医院建立一套既突出岗位价值与贡献和工作效率，又避免以追求创收为目的、经济指标为主的岗位薪酬考核体系。综合运用现代人力资源理论和管理科学理论、结合我国公立医院薪酬体系的现状，设计一套系统、科学有效的按岗取酬、按服务质量和工作效率取酬的岗位考核平衡计分卡指标。运用双层规划法将业务部门的指标考核联系到职能部门，应用层次分析法辅助确认指标权重。