Are VAT reforms an effective tool for promoting culture? A quasi-experiment in Spain

Sponsoring culture is a long-term profit-generating investment that public policy makers can achieve by means of Pigouvian subsidy or tax schemes. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the three VAT reforms implemented between 2012 and 2018 (one tax raise reform and two tax cut reforms) in the cultural sector in Spain. We first provide visual evidence and empirical estimates of the tax shifting and the distribution of the VAT burden between consumers and producers. We then use a regression discontinuity design to assess the causal effects of these VAT reforms on performing acts and cinema consumption (both in the extensive and the intensive margin). Several interesting findings arise from our results. First, we find that producers only passed through 45% of the VAT cut to consumer prices. Second, the effect of the 2017 VAT reduction on performing arts slightly increased the number of households consuming these cultural services, whereas the 2018 tax cut on cinema had no significant effect in the number of moviegoers (extensive margin). Third, the cultural spending per household conditional on participation (intensive margin) increased after the two VAT rate reductions. Finally, we test for asymmetries in pass-through with respect to the 2012 tax raise and we find (i) no evidence of prices responding more strongly to increases than to decreases in VAT, (ii) a symmetric response of the number of households consuming these cultural services, and (iii) an asymmetric response of the average cultural spending conditional on participation.     

城镇化、工业化对农业全要素生产率增长的影响研究——来自重庆37个县(区)面板数据的证据

文章基于2000—2016年重庆37个县（区）面板数据，使用序列DEA方法测算了重庆农业全要素生产率变动，在此基础上探讨了重庆农业全要素生产率增长的时间演变，并从理论和实证层面系统考察了城镇化和工业化对农业全要素生产率增长的影响。结果表明：首先，2000—2016年间重庆市农业全要素生产率呈上升趋势，2007年后重庆市农业全要素生产率增长更为明显，并且重庆市各地区呈现出明显的空间不平衡性。其次，动态面板模型的实证结果表明城镇化对农业全要素生产率增长具有显著正向影响，工业化对农业全要素生产率增长也具有显著正向影响。最后，研究还发现基础设施、教育水平以及金融发展程度对农业全要素生产率增长均具有显著正向影响，而产业结构对农业全要素生产率增长具有显著负向影响。     

基于OBE教育理念的土木工程专业英语教学改革实践

为提高土木工程专业学生的英语应用能力和《土木工程专业英语》课程的教学效果，本次教改实践以OBE（成果导向教育）教育理念为教改指导思想，以土木工程专业英语教学为教改对象，设计了土木工程专业英语教学的教学内容、教学组织和教学评价等教学环节，在河北工程大学土木工程专业学生中进行了教改实践。教改实践结果表明，基于OBE的土木工程专业英语教学模式在提升土木工程专业学生英语应用能力方面具有很好的效果。本次教改实践的成果值得本校其他工科专业和其他兄弟院校借鉴。     

Paradox of public sector capacity building: Lessons from MATT2 UK–Bangladesh co‐operation

This study focuses on the Government of Bangladesh and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) public sector capacity‐building project under collaborative public governance. It examines the efficiency and effectiveness of a foreign‐funded and multistakeholder‐led public sector capacity‐development initiative dubbed Managing at the Top Stage 2 (MATT2) project, and how it contributed to the human resource capacity development in Bangladesh. A combination of data from Government sources, in‐depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation and author analysis was adopted. The results showed the project to have been largely successful, despite some challenges.     

感知风险对在线旅游产品购买意愿的影响分析

旅游电子商务发展迅猛,互联网购物平台的虚拟性和远程性强化了消费者感知风险,它也成为影响旅游电子商务发展的重要因素之一.文章聚焦消费者感知风险,运用SPSS 19.0及AMOS 21.0软件,构建以5个维度的感知风险为自变量、购买意愿为因变量、信任为调节变量的结构方程模型,探讨变量间相关关系.结果发现:感知风险对信任的影响差异较大,仅经济风险感知与信任呈显著负相关;感知风险对购买意愿总效应皆呈负相关;信任作为中介变量存在明显的调节作用,有效地降低了感知风险对购买意愿的负向影响.     

Humor and satire in politics: Introducing cultural sociology to the field

The landscape of political humor and satire is changing rapidly, and it is becoming an increasingly relevant aspect of our culture. Although scholars have been actively trying to capture this change, majority of the existing frameworks for understanding humor and satire in politics still reduce these phenomena to mere genres or rhetoric tools. In addition, they provide insufficient accounts concerning the reception of humor and satire, and neglect to interpret and explain what they communicate. In the article, a general understanding of humor and satire outside of a political context, followed by an overview of studies discussing humor and satire in politics through their applications in social movements, as leadership tools, and through their manifestations in mass media has been presented. Lastly, a cultural sociological perspective to the field has been introduced. It has been argued that approaching humor and satire in politics through a structural hermeneutic method of the Strong Program will enable us to recognize and treat political humor and satire as autonomous and complex cultural systems which carry an internal power to move people.     

“四史”教育融入高校思政课教学的五维逻辑进路

历史照亮过去，历史启迪未来。以党史、新中国史、改革开放史、社会主义发展史为核心内容的“四史”教育，是以历史为基础的思想政治教育。从党史、新中国史、改革开放史、社会主义发展史中挖掘思想政治理论课教育资源，对高校传承红色基因、落实立德树人根本任务具有重要的指导意义。以庆祝中国共产党成立100周年为契机，将“四史”教育融入高校思想政治理论课教学，必须遵循相应的逻辑理路：树立正确党史观、坚定理想信念的价值追求是融入的逻辑立场；强化大历史观、理解党的伟大贡献是融入的逻辑方法；坚持内在统一性、把握“四史”教育的整体性逻辑是融入的基本前提；抓住侧重点、精准对接各门大学生思想政治理论课程是融入的逻辑核心；坚持实践逻辑、引导大学生从“四史”中汲取智慧和力量是融入的根本遵循。     

鲍德里亚的消费经济批判及其艺术性变革

在鲍德里亚看来，当代社会在经济现象形态方面表现为消费经济的活跃，需要进行符号经济学批判。当代消费经济具有独特的运行机制，是将各种商品都转化为符号体系的过程，这既是资本的进一步扩展、资本增值的实然逻辑，又是技术理性的渗透、媒介信息的传播，还是物体系的形成、拜物教的深化。消费经济及其奢侈文化从大都市扩散到世界各地，推动了当代商业的发展。当代消费经济令人与人之间关系冷漠，围绕人的不再是实际物品，而是众多意义，需要用结构主义符号学分析其运行机制，采用艺术性变革的方式消除消费异化。艺术能够建构具有救赎作用的乌托邦，不应只为了满足感官刺激，而要通向真理之路，唤醒人的创造潜能，改造消费社会的不合理机制。     

Informality,emotion and gendered career paths: The hidden toll of maternity leave on female academics and researchers

While the negative impact of child‐raising and caring on women's career progression in academia is well‐established, less is known about the role of academic women's lived experiences of maternity leave as an institutional practice. This article presents the findings of a qualitative study of the lived experiences of female academics and researchers in an Irish university. The analysis intrinsically links organizational structures and problems with the lived and felt dimensions of work. The findings point to the need for better structural accommodations for maternity leave which address the relationship between caring and career disadvantage within academia. The article adds to existing literature on the intersection of motherhood and academia by unpicking the specific role of maternity leave as both a lived experience and an institutional practice that can reinforce gender inequalities in academia.     

邓小平四川藏区民主改革思想与实践

民主改革是20世纪中后期中国共产党采取协商方式，领导部分边疆民族地区上层人士及劳动人民，开展以废除奴隶制或农奴制、消除剥削压迫、土地改革为中心的社会改造。建国初期，邓小平等依据民主主义的任务，结合民族地区实际，提出采取协商方式、实行宽大措施开展土改的构想。再经总结，提升为民主改革（和平协商土地改革、直接过渡），载之宪法，成为共产党的“既定方针”，改造部分民族旧社会形态。即使采取协商方式开展改革，也有可能遭到反对。针对叛乱，邓小平确定“政治争取为主与军事打击结合”的方针，组织群众，平息叛乱，保障改革、坚决改革。在改革上，邓小平及时作出指示，引导改革顺利开展，确定“发动群众、上层协商”的改革方针。“发动群众”表明改革依靠群众；“上层协商”反映用“赎买”施以改革，从而形成有中国特色的社会改造方式。文章通过对为什么要改革、怎样改革、依靠谁改革，以及如何对待叛乱的分析，阐述了邓小平对民主改革的认识，也是邓小平解决部分民族地区社会形态的理论成果。