Disaster Relief as Social Action: A Weberian Look at Postdisaster Donation Behavior

Disaster relief involves a broad range of participants, which often results in a disjunction between actual disaster needs and the perception of appropriate strategies in relief provision. This research examines data collected through interviews with donation drive operators responding to Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the May 2013 Oklahoma tornadoes. Using Weber's ideal types of social action to understand motivations for engaging in disaster relief, this article argues that motivations for participating in and organizing such drives influence donation strategies, and these motivations can be used to explain persistent donation of nonuseful materiel items. Findings indicate several different motivations for involvement and that donation type appeared linked to motivation. We suggest that motivation for engaging in social action is a valuable approach to better understanding donation behavior and, consequently, addressing the social problem of materiel convergence in the postdisaster environment.     

价值链网络结构范型下社区公共物品协同供给创新

社区公共物品供给治理本质上是一个开放演化、利益关联、耦合自洽和情境适应的复杂网络系统。由于供给手段智慧化、供给过程复杂性、个体能力失败和主体关系不确定性，传统由单中心主导的分立、单一和线性供给模式不能对整体网络化供给问题给出有效释义和策应方案，需要引入价值链网络结构治理新范式。从价值链理论出发，社区公共物品供给是适应协同供给的价值链网络结构系统，价值链网络系统理论与社区公共物品协同供给具有内在契合性。价值链网络结构范型下社区公共物品协同供给的内在要求体现在现实问题逻辑、供给价值诉求和主体关系博弈三方面；价值系统表征为克服供给碎片化、提供“三变”供给路径和技术手段嵌入支撑；构建基础体现在良好的社区文化、坚实的网络基础和规范的政治环境。建构多中心价值链网络协同供给模型，需要从管理协同、运作协同以及消费反馈协同三个层面展开施加管控。     

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.     

中国市场奢侈品消费模式研究--从地位寻求式消费到产品认知式消费

中国市场奢侈品一方面消费强劲,另一方面也面临着传统奢侈品业绩下滑,品牌老化的困境。新一代奢侈品消费群对奢侈品的消费从地位寻求式消费过渡到产品认知式消费,更加关注产品的性价比与品牌个性,要求品牌商适度进行品牌延伸,更加注重奢侈品的内在价值与服务。     

The role of beliefs,trust, and risk in contributions to a public good

This paper experimentally investigates if and how beliefs, trust, and risk attitudes are associated with cooperative behavior. By applying incentivized elicitation methods to measure these concepts, we find that beliefs about others’ cooperation and trust are positively correlated with cooperation in a public goods game. However, even though contributing to a public good resembles a situation of making decisions under strategic uncertainty, elicited risk preferences do not seem to explain cooperation in a systematic way.     

城市社区公共物品多主体协同供给：现状评估及影响因素分析

城市社区公共物品多主体供给是社区公共物品供给建设的发展趋势。基于五省市626份社区样本实地调查数据,深入分析城市社区公共物品多主体协同供给现状及影响主体间有效协同的制约因素。研究发现：我国城市社区公共物品多主体协同供给总体满意度较高,但是多元主体在供需匹配性、效率性、合作性等方面问题凸显。回归分析显示,业务流程关系、信息沟通反馈、主体间的互信程度对城市社区公共物品多主体协同供给具有显著正向影响,自身利益关注程度具有显著负向影响。     

晚明澳门与日本贸易中的中国丝织品

大量史料证明,在晚明近百年间,经澳门葡萄牙商人之手输往日本即所谓澳（门）日（本）贸易中的中国丝织品,数量庞大,品种丰富,贸易价值亦相当可观。由于丝织品本身的特性,它不像生丝那样使用总括议价的一次性批发方式进行销售,而是采取更为市场化的方式逐一售买。作为晚明海上丝路文明的重要一环,相关细节的考证可为大航海时代的整体研究提供借鉴与帮助。     

劣势耐用品厂商的产品质保期与质保服务投入策略研究

在实际中，消费者购买耐用品时均同时获得厂商提供的质保服务，由于产品质保服务影响着消费者的产品使用效用，因此耐用品定价、质保期和产品质保服务投入是影响厂商利润的主要因素。考虑双寡头市场环境下，建立微分博弈模型讨论单位产品质保服务投入和产品质保期对双寡头厂商均衡价格的影响。结论表明双寡头厂商的单位产品质保服务投入越高、质保期越长，均衡价格越高；但单位产品保服务投入与质保服务对消费者效用影响系数的关系影响着竞争对手在均衡价格的变化趋势；劣势的低质量厂商可以通过增加单位产品质保服务投入策略或延长质保期的策略实现在均衡下与高质量厂商以同等价格销售耐用品，但劣势厂商增加单位产品质保服务投入策略要优于延长质保期策略。最后，利用数值分析进一步验证了所得结论的有效性。     

Producing public goods in networks: Some effects of social comparison and endogenous network change

As actors participate in the production of public goods, processes of social comparison may affect the decisions about the individual contributions as well as the endogenously changing structure of an underlying social network. This leads to the transformation of an ordinary n-player Prisoner's Dilemma of collective action into an n-player coordination game. The paper uses agent-based simulations to trace the formation of public goods while varying network characteristics, such as density, segregation, or the strength of relationships. Additionally, the usage of both a forward- and a backward-looking agent model shows possible implications of different assumptions about the actors’ decision making.     

建设服务型政府,实现公共服务提供主体多元化

服务型政府将满足公民需求作为最高工作目标,不仅要求强化社会管理和公共服务职能,更需要通过体制机制创新来促进公共服务的有效供给。其中,公共服务的供给机制有效与否是政府不同层级和不同部门都要面对的普遍性问题。针对公共服务的混合性和复杂性,以及我国在公共服务提供方面的问题,参考发达国家的政府改革经验,我国应培育多元化的公共服务供给主体,通过将分散、异质性的服务需求与非规模化的服务供给对接来间接满足服务需求。多元化供给机制有利于发挥行政机制、市场机制和社会机制的各自优势,并实现三者的有机结合,从而有利于整合各种社会资源,满足公民的异质性公共服务需求。