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.     

Brazil’s non-indifference: a case for a feminist diplomatic agenda or geopolitics as usual?

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Brazil took advantage of its economically and politically privileged position to challenge global normative structures. In 2004, the concept of “non-indifference” was integrated into the Brazilian vocabulary of foreign policy, justifying and legitimating the country’s acceptance of the invitation to command the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). On the one hand, non-indifference can be read as a discursive maneuver that enabled Brazil to accommodate its non-interventionist agenda to an old geopolitical game, given the pressure imposed upon “global players” to respond effectively and assertively to threats to international peace and security. On the other hand, the “Brazilian way” could also be seen as an alternative to a highly masculinized geopolitical approach to international security. This paper explores possible limitations, tensions and/or opportunities that emerge from the encounter between a feminist diplomatic agenda and a masculinizing ordering of the international space. It does so by contrasting Brazil’s ambition for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the club of powerful states, with Brazil’s diplomatic and military performance during MINUSTAH, widely evaluated as a success due to characteristics such as solidarity, generosity, flexibility and the “warm conviviality” of Brazilian culture.     

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.     

第一次石油危机后国际能源政治的情境变迁

国际政治的参与情境决定行动者的博弈行为类型，参与情境变迁将导致行动者行为发生变化。能源安全是国家对外政策的核心议题之一。1973年爆发的第一次石油危机，凸显了能源安全问题的重要性，改变了二战后国际能源政治的参与情境，构建了行动者新的博弈类型，调整了国际能源政治行动者的博弈策略。为了有效应对国际能源政治的情境变迁，美国通过协调与其他国家的能源关系，设置能源安全国际议程，最终确定了新的国际能源秩序。当前，我国在积极参与国际能源合作的过程中，第一次石油危机后国际能源政治的情境变迁以及国际社会的应对策略具有十分重要的启示意义。     

双循环发展的改革开放空间试验场——我国开发区的缘起、演进和趋势

开发区是我国改革开放进程中重要的"制度安排",在制度转型、市场机制培育、产业结构升级和带动地区经济增长等方面发挥着引领示范作用,但同时也存在政策效应边际递减、土地资源浪费、创新不足等诸多问题.梳理我国开发区过去三十多年的发展经验和不足,并展望其未来定位是一项重要的研究课题.在详细讨论我国开发区的缘起、动力机制、发展阶段、功能演变、面临问题的基础上,文章从制度安排、比较优势、产业集聚和商业环境四个方面总结了我国开发区取得的成功经验.未来,开发区的发展应实现从生产到生活、从效率到公平、从地的繁荣到人的繁荣、从外围到中心、从专业化到多样化、从高速增长到高质量发展、从对外开放到国内国际双循环等方面的转变.     

Dynamic capabilities and high-tech entrepreneurial ventures’ performance in the aftermath of an environmental jolt

This paper contributes to studies on dynamic capabilities (DCs) by showing that a neglected environmental contingency – i.e. the occurrence of a jolt – shapes the DCs–performance relationship. We focus on high-tech entrepreneurial ventures because these are the firms that jolts affect most; in so doing, we also advance the understanding of DCs in the entrepreneurship field. We argue that, in the aftermath of an environmental jolt, the high-tech entrepreneurial ventures that use internationalization and new product development capabilities to modify their resource configuration and regain environmental fit enjoy better performance. Econometric estimates on a sample of 340 Italian high-tech entrepreneurial ventures confronting the consequences of the global economic crisis that began in 2008 confirm that separately using these two DCs has a positive performance effect. This effect is stronger for relatively smaller ventures. Interestingly, despite synergies should arise from the combined use of the two DCs, we do not detect any superadditive effects.     

缅北动荡局势下我国边境安全应对刍议

缅北动荡局势下，我国中缅边境地区面临传统安全与非传统安全双重威胁。从前期系列缅北冲突导致的问题处理经验看，我国中缅边境地区安全应对体系建设在预防意识的主动性、应急制度的协调性、应急体系的系统性方面仍有待进一步提升。立足中缅边境地区安全问题的特殊性，其应对可从立足跨境民族众多的实情主动应对、立足边境安全事件的复杂性系统应对、立足边疆经济的落后性持续应对等方面予以加强。     

The servant leadership advantage: When perceiving low differentiation in leader-member relationship quality influences team cohesion,team task performance and service OCB

How does servant leaders' unique ability to place each follower's needs above their own influence relationships between followers and impact their collective performance? In a study that integrates principles of servant leadership with the social comparison theoretical framework, we tested a group-level model to examine how servant leadership induces low perceived differentiation in leader-member relationship quality (perceived LMX differentiation) within a group, which strengthens team cohesion and in turn positively influences team task performance and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (service OCB). Our sample comprised 229 employees nested in 67 work teams. Structural equation modeling results indicate that servant leadership significantly predicts low perceived LMX differentiation; perceived LMX differentiation is strongly related to team cohesion such that the lower the perceived differentiation, the stronger the team's cohesiveness. And, team cohesion is also strongly related to both the team's task performance and service OCB. Perceived LMX differentiation and team cohesion mediate the effect of servant leadership on both team task performance and service OCB.     

Regulatory Institutional Distance and MNCs' Subsidiary Performance: Climbing up Vs. Climbing Down the Institutional Ladder

We investigate the possibility of regulatory institutional distance exerting an asymmetric effect on multinational corporations' (MNCs') subsidiary performance depending on the direction of institutional distance. We use the term ‘institutional ladder’ to differentiate between upward distance, referred to as when the subsidiary is operating in a relatively stronger institutional environment than its parent-firm's home country, and downward distance for vice versa. Combining institutional theory with organisational imprinting and learning perspectives, we argue that the implications of regulatory institutional distance on subsidiary performance are relatively more positive (or less negative) when MNCs are climbing down the institutional ladder as compared to when MNCs are climbing up the institutional ladder. We also argue that subsidiary ownership strategy – i.e. the choice of a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) versus joint venture (JV) – moderates the above-mentioned implications of institutional distance on subsidiary performance. We test these hypotheses based on a panel data-set of 1936 foreign subsidiaries representing 70 host countries and 66 home countries and spanning the 12-year period: 2002–2013.     

基层公务员职业认同特征及其对工作绩效与离职倾向的影响研究

基层公务员的职业认同对公务员队伍建设和推进国家治理能力现代化有着重要的意义。本文通过对760名基层公务员的问卷调查发现：基层公务员职业认同包括职业行为投入、职业发展认同和职业价值认同三个维度，呈现出以价值认同为核心、行为投入为外层、发展认同居中的圈层结构；基层公务员职业认同接近较高水平，但职业发展认同较低；不同类型基层公务员职业认同呈现出一定差异，其中青年公务员的职业认同显著低于中老年公务员，低职级公务员较高职级公务员职业认同更低。进一步分析发现，基层公务员职业认同能正向预测工作绩效，职业认同能负向预测离职倾向。在此基础上，本研究提出提升基层公务员职业认同的相关对策建议。