Vagal modulation of 1‐month‐old infants to auditory stimuli is associated with self‐regulatory behavior

During infancy, cardiac vagal modulation has been associated with attentional and social engagement behaviors. While studies have shown that infants display a behavioral repertoire that enables them to interact with others by being able to regulate themselves in order to attend to and to discriminate emotional and social cues, vagal modulation to sensory stimuli and its association with behavioral outcomes at early ages remains to be addressed. In this study, we analyzed the cardiac vagal response of 1‐month‐old infants to two auditory stimuli intensities and whether vagal response was associated with social interactive and self‐regulatory abilities. Therefore, we recorded cardiac and respiratory physiological responses in 28 infants using a Biopac System. Neurobehavioral assessment was performed using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. We observed increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) amplitude to both auditory stimuli intensities when compared to baseline. No intensity effect was found for the RSA response. Additionally, we observed that higher RSA amplitude to both auditory stimuli was positively correlated with adjusted self‐regulatory behaviors, suggesting a convergence between multiple measures assessing infants' state regulation. Results are discussed in light of 1‐month‐old infants' auditory stimuli processing and its implications for regulatory behaviors and the emergent social‐like behaviors.     

Retrospective Paternal and Maternal Parenting Styles,Regulatory Self-Efficacy and Adolescent Risk Taking

This study aims to calculate a scaled risk-taking behavior index and to test a model in which maternal and paternal parenting styles affect risk-taking behavior with a mediation of adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy. Participants were 816 adolescents (44% males) responding to a self-report questionnaire about their risk-taking behavior, regulatory self-efficacy, and retrospective memories of paternal and maternal parenting styles. Results suggested an item rating in the index showing that behaviors considered less risky referred to alcohol use and the unplanned first sexual intercourse, whereas behaviors considered more risky referred to the lack of use of contraceptives and the age of the first sexual intercourse. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of authoritative and authoritarian styles on risk-taking behavior. These styles shaped the adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy, which in turn predicted adolescent risk-taking behavior. Results underline the complex interplay of relationships between parents and their children.     

Decisions,Science, and Values: Crafting Regulatory Alternatives Analysis

Emerging “prevention‐based” approaches to chemical regulation seek to minimize the use of toxic chemicals by mandating or directly incentivizing the adoption of viable safer alternative chemicals or processes. California and Maine are beginning to implement such programs, requiring manufacturers of consumer products containing certain chemicals of concern to identify and evaluate potential safer alternatives. In the European Union, the REACH program imposes similar obligations on manufacturers of certain substances of very high concern. Effective prevention‐based regulation requires regulatory alternatives analysis (RAA), a methodology for comparing and evaluating the regulated chemical or process and its alternatives across a range of relevant criteria. RAA has both public and private dimensions. To a significant degree, alternatives analysis is an aspect of product design; that is, the process by which private industry designs the goods it sells. Accordingly, an RAA method should reflect the attributes of well‐crafted product design tools used by businesses. But RAA adds health and environmental objectives to the mix of concerns taken into account by the product designer. Moreover, as part of a prevention‐based regulatory regime, it implicates important public values such as legitimacy, equity, public engagement, and accountability. Thus, an RAA should reflect both private standards and public values, and be evaluated against them. This article adopts that perspective, identifying an integrated set of design principles for RAA, and illustrating the application of those principles.     

外资法的选择:南非改革《投资保护法案》

国际投资体系正在遭遇危机，越来越多的国家开始质疑双边投资协定提供的投资者保护制度是否确实有益于增加投资的流动，全球多个国家正在审慎地进行外国投资法的改革。基于此，文章以南非的实践为现实起点，通过概述南非投资保护制度变革的缘由以及深入剖析《投资保护法案》的立法意图，阐明其以国内立法维护公共利益监管权力的法律选择，旨在“一带一路”背景下，为远赴南非的中国投资者提供法律风险的预判，揭示外资法变革对于中国投资者可能产生的影响。对于南非建立新的投资保护制度，其将面临的挑战是如何维持稳定、可预测的投资环境与实现投资保护改革的若干目标之间的平衡。      

高管薪酬激励、战略差异与企业研发投入

文章选取2013—2018年A股共计1221家制造业上市企业的数据为研究样本,实证检验了高管薪酬激励、战略差异与企业研发投入的关系。研究发现:高管薪酬激励、战略差异都能显著促进企业研发投入;战略差异能够显著抑制高管薪酬激励对企业研发投入的促进作用。文章不仅丰富了高管薪酬的研究,还为制定企业战略,加大创新力度提供了参考,同时也丰富了企业研发投入影响因素的研究。     

保障性住房与新生代农民工城市居留意愿——来自2017年中国流动人口动态监测调查的证据

住房是农民工进入城市、融入城市的安身立命之所,而建设保障性住房(简称“保障房”)是改善农民工居住条件,推进农民工市民化进程的关键举措之一.在此背景下,结合最新的2017年中国流动人口动态监测调查数据,系统考察了保障房对新生代农民工城市居留意愿的影响.研究表明:第一,居住在保障房的新生代农民工比例仍然偏低,意味着针对农民工的保障房建设依然任重道远.第二,相比于租房,保障房对新生代农民工城市居留意愿具有显著正向影响,在加入其他解释变量后,结论保持一致.考虑到模型中潜在的选择性偏误,运用倾向得分匹配法构建反事实框架加以纠正,并通过逆向概率加权法、逆向概率加权回归调整法、调整变量衡量方式等进行稳健性检验,结论依然成立.第三,保障房对新生代农民工城市居留意愿的影响存在代际差异,相比于90后农民工,保障房对80后农民工的影响更明显.由此,提出要发挥保障房在农民工市民化进程中的作用,应当突出保障房建设的多样性与差异化、优先考虑就业居住超五年和80后农民工等方面实施更有利于新生代农民工的住房制度改革举措.     

所为非所想?农户风险管理意愿与行为的悖离分析

实现农户风险管理意愿与行为统一是降低农业风险对农户农业生产负面影响的重要途径。利用2018年东北三省和湖北省种植大户的调查数据,从自然风险与市场风险两方面,对农户风险管理的意愿、行为及其悖离进行分析,并探究形成悖离的原因。研究发现：对于自然风险,大部分农户使用了有效的风险管理工具,但风险管理意愿不高;农户的市场风险管理行为极为少见,与之相悖的是,农户具有较高的市场风险管理意愿。结果表明,风险管理实际行为控制、风险管理执行意愿和风险管理外部环境是影响农户自然风险管理意愿与行为悖离的主要因素;此外,农户对农业保险缺乏了解,以及目前农业保险存在的不足也是导致此悖离的重要原因;风险管理执行意愿和风险管理外部环境是影响农户市场风险管理意愿与行为悖离的主要因素。此外,农户获取信息渠道不足,对市场风险管理工具缺乏了解,甚至存在明显的误解与不信任也是导致农户市场风险管理意愿与行为悖离的重要原因。因此,为了有效实现农户风险管理意愿与行为的统一,应健全农业保险的推广机制,加强市场风险管理的宣传,扩大“保险+期货”的试点,发挥新型主体的带动作用。     

Quality Provision with Heterogeneous Consumer Reservation Utilities

This study examines a firm's quality and price decisions when consumers differ not only in their willingness‐to‐pay for quality but also in their reservation utility for the basic product. We find that while the firm offers lower‐quality products when consumers' valuations for quality deteriorate, the optimal quality may increase with a negative shift in consumers' reservation utilities. We also investigate the optimal price and quality of the products within a vertically differentiated product line when the number of products is exogenously given. The existing literature shows that when consumers differ only in their willingness‐to‐pay for quality, the firm sets the efficient quality for consumers with the highest valuation for quality, whereas the concern for cannibalization pushes down the quality of inferior products. We find that when consumers are heterogeneous in both their reservation utility and valuation for quality, the concern for cannibalization may distort the quality upwards, even for consumers with the highest willingness‐to‐pay for quality. In addition, a low‐quality product may enjoy a higher profit margin than a high‐quality product within the product line.     

Migration decision-making and migration industry in the Indonesia–Malaysia corridor

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the involvement of migration industry (MI) in the migration system of Indonesia and Malaysia. The two countries share an extensive border and have much in common in culture and history but they are very different in geographical size, population and economic development, the latter being a main cause for labour migration from Indonesia to Malaysia. The changing context of government policies generates new niches for migration services taken up by formal and informal intermediaries, thereby confronting migrants with a varied migration-decision field and thresholds during their migration process. Much of the migration is legal, but a large part of it also takes place outside the control of the national governments. While taking mental processes in migration decision-making as starting point, we analyse how the MI, by way of fostering, facilitating and controlling geographic mobility and localised employment, connects to the production and negotiating of three migration decision thresholds faced by migrants.     

基于服务驱动假说的消费者自提包裹选择意愿研究

基于淘宝网买家样本,分析了上门投递服务缺陷、上门投递感知风险与消费者自提意愿的关系,试图在新的认知环境下重新检验服务驱动假说。研究表明,上门投递服务缺陷一方面对消费者自提意愿产生了直接的促进作用,另一方面也通过上门投递感知风险的中介效应施加了间接作用;自提感知价值既在上门投递服务缺陷与消费者自提意愿间发挥了调节作用,又对上门投递感知风险的中介作用产生了调节。根据研究结论,可推测当前阶段下服务驱动假说具有一定合理性,相关企业应当明确自提点服务定位,并且需要调整营销推广思路。