Textbook Affordability in the Time of COVID-19

Abstract

This article provides a background of the textbook affordability problem affecting students attending United States higher education institutions, both prior to and during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as potential solutions to the problem. Solutions discussed include the availability of open materials in online repositories, publisher responses like inclusive access, institutional incentive programs, and initiatives by library consortia or other statewide programs. The responses of various stakeholders to make textbooks accessible to students during the pandemic are also covered.     

先秦的“法治”思想和实践考量

先秦法家在与儒家“礼治”的争论中提出“法治”思想,并与战国时期富国强兵的国家策略结合,变法图存的“法治”实践此起彼伏。其中最为成功的是秦国的商鞅变法,秦国由此迅速崛起并最终吞并六国,建立起统一的封建国家。秦帝国的建立是“法治”思想和实践的里程碑,大秦将集权专制和“法治”相互糅合,将法家重刑思想发展到极端,走向了崇尚暴力和滥刑滥杀的野蛮恐怖境地,导致天下怨叛,秦王朝二世而亡,君权至上最终将法治引向了集权专制的死胡同。     

The context of employment discrimination: interpreting the findings of a field experiment

Although field experiments have documented the contemporary relevance of discrimination in employment, theories developed to explain the dynamics of differential treatment cannot account for differences across organizational and institutional contexts. In this article, I address this shortcoming by presenting the main empirical findings from a multi‐method research project, in which a field experiment of ethnic discrimination in the Norwegian labour market was complemented with forty‐two in‐depth interviews with employers who were observed in the first stage of the study. While the experimental data support earlier findings in documenting that ethnic discrimination indeed takes place, the qualitative material suggests that theorizing in the field experiment literature have been too concerned with individual and intra‐psychic explanations. Discriminatory outcomes in employment processes seems to be more dependent on contextual factors such as the number of applications received, whether requirements are specified, and the degree to which recruitment procedures are formalized. I argue that different contexts of employment provide different opportunity structures for discrimination, a finding with important theoretical and methodological implications.     

The Absolute Difference Law For Expectations

We revisit the addition law for expectations and present a sibling law: the absolute law for expectations. We show that these two laws and their corresponding laws for probabilities can be reconciled under a single framework. As an application, we use the absolute law for expectations to calculate the mean absolute deviation. Finally, we remark on a hidden point in a related article previously published on these pages; this will help readers to avoid a potential pitfall.     

Overcoming barriers: engaging younger students in an online intercultural exchange

This paper reports on a small-scale project involving an online school exchange between two classes of 12-/13-year olds located in the North of England and the Ruhr area of Germany. The overarching aim of the project was to develop intercultural understanding in foreign language learning through communication in an online environment. Analysing data from website posts, lesson observations, student questionnaires and interviews, the paper investigates the extent to which the project realised this goal, and examines emerging practical and pedagogical issues. Comparing the processes and outcomes of this project in secondary education to similar projects in Higher Education (HE), the research found that the young people learnt more than older students about cultural similarities than differences. They were thus less likely to be party to cultural misunderstandings, developing friendly relationships and openness towards a people of a different culture. However, their failure to notice differences may have been due to a lack of in-depth discussion and absence of more demanding student tasks. The paper concludes that in order to develop more sophisticated intercultural learning, expertise derived from telecollaboration in HE needs to be adapted to the lower secondary school context, drawing particularly on auto-ethnography and ethnographic interviewing.     

Modeling of Discrete HNBUE Class with Hypothesis Testing Application

A new model is proposed to test whether an equipment whose life is measured in discrete time units fails due to uncontrollable chance factors alone against the alternatives that it degrades over time in the sense of discrete HNBUE (harmonic new better than used in expectation) aging. The test is shown to be consistent and the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic has been obtained. The critical points and the power of the test against various alternatives from discrete HNBUE class have been studied by means of simulation. Finally, the test is applied to a discrete reliability data to examine the performance.     

“带头学科”学说值得商榷

为了正本清源、消除误解、清除理论迷雾，本文运用文献资料分析方法，细致研究了凯德洛夫提出的“带头学科”学说的历史演变“轨迹”，得出结论认为该学说值得商榷：“带头学科”语义不清，“更替律”似是而非，“周期减半律”不合常理。因此，当今自然科学发展中有无“带头学科”？它是什么？这些都是引起争议的问题。     

论反垄断私人诉讼原告资格的二元化

我国当前民事诉讼立法对适格原告的要求过于严格,无法契合反垄断私人诉讼的特殊需求,导致此类纠纷中私人利益和公共利益得不到有效的司法救济。借鉴域外经验,结合自身国情,构建我国反垄断私人诉讼原告资格制度至关重要。私人提起反垄断诉讼因其利益指向的不同有着反垄断私人诉讼之“公益诉讼”和“私益诉讼”的分化。在起诉者利益指向分化下,二者面临着截然不同的困境和需求,由此在原告资格的确立上也应有所差异,即反垄断私人诉讼适格原告二元化。     

地方政府重大决策机制存在问题及优化路径

地方政府作为地方公共事务管理者，决策正确与否直接关系到公共管理活动的成败，并且在一定程度上影响地方经济发展的水平及其核心竞争力。由于我国地方政府现阶段决策主体多元性及其职能模糊性，一些重大决策失误现象屡屡发生，造成了有限资源的巨大浪费，严重影响了地方政府在人民群众中的威信和形象。对此，我国地方政府迫切需要优化重大决策机制，包括明晰体制内外决策主体的职能、第三方评估、公众参与、决策终身责任追究及倒查机制等，以推进地方政府决策的民主化、科学化和法治化。     

股权质押与市值管理:基于中国沪深股市A股上市公司的实证检验

本文以沪深两市上市公司为研究对象，基于2012-2016年的样本数据，运用STATA14探讨了上市公司发生股权质押后，相较不存在股权质押的公司是否会更有可能进行市值管理，以及股权质押、股权激励和市值管理三者之间的传导机制。基于相关数据的实证结果显示，控股股东在发生股权质押行为后，为了避免股价发生异常波动或者持续下跌从而引发公司治理层面的风险，相较不存在控股股东股权质押情形的公司的确更有可能进行市值管理；进一步分析发现，股权质押后，控股股东会通过股权激励这种手段来进行市值管理。