Abusive Supervision and Well-Being of Filipino Migrant Workers in Macau: Consequences for Self-Esteem and Heritage Culture Detachment

Abusive supervision in the workplace has been shown to have important direct consequence in work and work relationship, and also indirect consequences to workers’ well-being and relationships outside work. Consequences of abusive supervision have not been studied among migrant workers whose status in the host country of work is dependent on maintaining the work contract. This study investigates abusive supervision in 247 Filipino migrant workers in Macau, who hold temporary work contracts and work visas to engage in various low-skilled work (e.g., domestic helper, security guard, etc.). The study tests a model representing the indirect consequences of abusive supervision on the self-esteem and acculturation orientation of migrant workers, in particular, on the tendency to reject their heritage culture in their attempt to acculturate in the host country. Mediation analysis indicated that abusive supervisory perceptions led to lower self-esteem (b = ?.19), which in turn relates to tendency to reject their heritage culture as part of acculturation (b = ?.45) [indirect effect = .08, 90 % CI .04, .15]. The rejection of heritage culture is interpreted as a coping response to the negative indirect consequences of abusive supervision perceptions that may be partly attributed to being a migrant Filipino worker. The results are discussed in terms of how the acculturation of migrant workers reflects aspects of their well-being that may be adversely affected by vocational-related stress in the host country.     

Vocational Status,Hukou and Housing Migrants in the New Century: Evidence from a Multi-city Study of Housing Inequality

In the 1960s and 1970s, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union experienced an unanticipated stagnation in the process of mortality reduction that was accelerating in the west. This was followed by even starker fluctuations and overall declines in life expectancy during the 1980s and 1990s. We identify statistically the extent to which, since the 1990s, the countries of the post-communist region have converged as a group towards other regional or cross-regional geopolitical blocks, or whether there are now multiple steady-states (‘convergence clubs’) emerging among these countries. We apply a complex convergence club methodology, including a recursive analysis, to data on 30 OECD countries (including 11 post-communist countries) drawn from the Human Mortality Database and spanning the period 1959–2010. We find that, rather than converging uniformly on western life expectancy levels, the post-communist countries have diverged into multiple clubs, with the lowest seemingly stuck in low-level equilibria, while the best performers (e.g. Czech Republic) show signs of catching-up with the leading OECD countries. As the post-communist period has progressed, the group of transition countries themselves has become more heterogeneous and it is noticeable that distinctive gender and age patterns have emerged. We are the first to employ an empirical convergence club methodology to help understand the complex long-run patterns of life expectancy within the post-communist region, one of very few papers to situate such an analysis in the context of the OECD countries, and one of relatively few to interpret the dynamics over the long-term.     

基本养老服务制度建设的理论阐释和政策框架

随着人口老龄化程度的加深,养老服务已经成为政府和全社会关注的重大民生工程。其中,基本养老服务制度建设成为一个关键议题。文章认为,如果这一关键议题不搞清楚,势必会影响养老服务的路径选择,甚至影响所选择的养老服务的发展路线和发展道路是否顺畅。为此,文章结合已经出台的养老服务政策,首先,从社会政策理论的角度阐明在什么情况下要建立基本养老制度,以及社会福利体制与基本养老服务制度建设的关系;其次,对养老服务制度建设的意识形态理据和中国养老服务模型的选择进行阐述,据此提出混合经济的养老服务模型,认为必须建立基本养老制度,厘清政府与市场之间的关系和界限;再次,提出基本养老服务制度的政策框架。     

雷锋生命价值的三重维度及当代意蕴

雷锋的生命价值从历史、空间、境界三重维度上表现为延伸性、普遍性和超越性。雷锋的生命价值符合人与社会全面发展进步的需要,即符合人的超越性的要求、符合群体共同发展的要求、符合中华民族道德实践的要求、符合中国共产党的宗旨要求,是对生命为什么有价值、生命价值是什么、怎样实现生命价值问题的直接解答。     

Interval estimation for conformance proportions of multiple quality characteristics

A conformance proportion is an important and useful index to assess industrial quality improvement. Statistical confidence limits for a conformance proportion are usually required not only to perform statistical significance tests, but also to provide useful information for determining practical significance. In this article, we propose approaches for constructing statistical confidence limits for a conformance proportion of multiple quality characteristics. Under the assumption that the variables of interest are distributed with a multivariate normal distribution, we develop an approach based on the concept of a fiducial generalized pivotal quantity (FGPQ). Without any distribution assumption on the variables, we apply some confidence interval construction methods for the conformance proportion by treating it as the probability of a success in a binomial distribution. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated through detailed simulation studies. The results reveal that the simulated coverage probability (cp) for the FGPQ-based method is generally larger than the claimed value. On the other hand, one of the binomial distribution-based methods, that is, the standard method suggested in classical textbooks, appears to have smaller simulated cps than the nominal level. Two alternatives to the standard method are found to maintain their simulated cps sufficiently close to the claimed level, and hence their performances are judged to be satisfactory. In addition, three examples are given to illustrate the application of the proposed methods.     

Sexual agreements and intimate-partner violence among male couples

Objectives: In the United States, HIV continues to disproportionately affect men who have sex with men. One promising area of research that may inform the development of behavioral interventions among male–male couples is within the realm of sexual agreements. Methods: The purpose of our analysis was to determine whether respondents who report having an open agreement or an agreement breakage also report a higher incidence of recent (within the previous 12 months) intimate-partner violence (IPV) compared to respondents who report having a monogamous agreement or no agreement breakage after controlling for demographic variables. Results: Results showed that men who have an open agreement are less likely to report recent physical IPV. Conclusions: The results highlight the need to develop dyadic behavior interventions that address sexual agreements and stress management.     

领导干部党性修养评价机制研究

建立健全领导干部党性修养评价机制,是加强党的执政能力建设,建设高素质执政骨干队伍的客观需要。坚定的政治信念、牢固的党纪意识、严谨的自律能力、优秀的道德品质和勤勉的工作作风是评价领导干部党性修养的主要内容。要明确评价领导干部党性修养的指导思想、评价主体和评价原则,要建立健全领导干部党性修养的评价指标体系,不断探索科学的评价领导干部党性修养的方式方法。     

现代性批判:权力和资本的不同视角——福柯与马克思现代性批判思想的比较

对微观权力的分析是福柯打破教条化马克思主义的一种努力,拓展了现代性批判的视野,在一定程度上丰富和补充了马克思的现代性批判思想,使我们从丰富多彩的社会生活中对现代性的黑暗、矛盾有了更加深刻的理解。整体上说,福柯的权力概念过于泛化,而且只有与马克思的资本概念联系起来理解才能避免抽象化。福柯所倡导的微观政治、生存美学忽视了宏观权力在当代社会的统摄作用,它所表达的不过是西方国家在马克思所主张的无产阶级革命没有希望情况下的一种抗争。     

On hysteretic vector autoregressive model with applications

This paper proposes a new hysteretic vector autoregressive (HVAR) model in which the regime switching may be delayed when the hysteresis variable lies in a hysteresis zone. We integrate an adapted multivariate Student-t distribution from amending the scale mixtures of normal distributions. This HVAR model allows for a higher degree of flexibility in the degrees of freedom for each time series. We use the proposed model to test for a causal relationship between any two target time series. Using posterior odds ratios, we overcome the limitations of the classical approach to multiple testing. Both simulated and real examples herein help illustrate the suggested methods. We apply the proposed HVAR model to investigate the causal relationship between the quarterly growth rates of gross domestic product of United Kingdom and United States. Moreover, we check the pairwise lagged dependence of daily PM2.5 levels in three districts of Taipei.