Linear symmetric rankings for TU-games

We define ranking as an equivalence relation on the set of power indices and study those that have a linear and symmetric representative. Moreover, we classify—or parametrize—those rankings that reward “positive” payoffs for “positive” participation. It is shown that these are in 1-1 correspondence with the points of the standard simplex. Moreover, this correspondence is convex. Finally, we contrast this classification with Saari–Sieberg’s approach via “positive” semi-values.     

Min- and Max-induced rankings: an experimental study

The current paper is the first to report an experimental study of “Min- and Max-induced rankings” (MMIR), i.e., a family of set rankings that require preferences over sets to be induced from comparison of the best and/or worst elements within those sets. These MMIR do not perform well in predicting preferences over simple sets of monetary outcomes. In this paper, we investigate the axiomatic underpinnings of these models by means of pairwise choice experiments. From this investigation, some important conclusions can be drawn: Axioms that prevent rankings to be based on total-goodness, as well as monotonicity conditions (ensuring that replacing a set element with a better one results in a better set) cannot be refuted. Axioms that rule out any utilization of the relative difference in the values of the outcomes and axioms that prevent rankings to be based on average-goodness are all systematically violated. The Uniform Expected Utility (UEU) criterion seems to meet the apparent shortcomings of the MMIR. Some frequently occurring preference patterns, however, suggest that a significant portion of the participants uses neither a Min- or Max-induced ranking, nor UEU, but some other unspecified decision rule, possibly characterized by the tendency to prefer a diversification of uncertainty.     

Social Justice and the Reform of Social Security

There have been massive increases over the years in expenditure on the public services loosely grouped together as the “welfare state”, but widespread dissatisfaction persists. This article is a critique of the proposals for reform presented in the Report of the Commission on Social Justice, set up by the late John Smith. The report contains a sweeping condemnation of existing arrangements and puts forward a series of recommendations ranging from the health service to decentralization in government and from employment policy to benefits for the elderly. As was perhaps inevitable, some are more precisely presented than others. An important example of the more fully specified proposals is one to establish what would, in effect, be a means-tested “pension guarantee”but with “means”so defined as to exclude capital and with much improved “disregards”. Another is the endorsement of the proposals to extend social insurance to part-time workers—a proposal which raises some controversial issues. There is much in this report that deserves close attention, and it is, therefore, all the more unfortunate that its proposals are not presented in the form of a quantified plan for social policy. Even for the first five years or so of the fifteen the Commission has in mind, there is no attempt at quantification. The importance of economic growth is rightly stressed, but “faster growth”can become a panacea that obscures the need for choice, not only between private and public expenditure but also between the various components of public policy itself.     

“桑梓情谊”的现代转化：费孝通社会理论的情感维度

费孝通的社会理论在社会结构方面更受学界重视，而其中的情感维度尚未得到足够关注。本文试图在费孝通早年有关中国现代化的理论视域中，梳理他有关“桑梓情谊”与“亲属情谊”“乡土工业”“村镇地方团体”之间关系的探索和讨论，进而呈现费孝通社会理论中对于情感的重视。 在费孝通看来，中国的现代化应该以中国传统社会组织为基础来嫁接西方现代技术， 从而推动整个社会从传统向现代的有效过渡。 在此过程中，他尝试将既旧且新的“桑梓情谊”阐释为现代中国社会的情感基础。 文章认为，“桑梓情谊”表征并构造了本地的根源与大社会的流动以及地方与国家的人际关联， 是理解费孝通社会理论之情感维度的关键，对我们思考当代中国现代化建设也有一定的启示。     

Political demand and policy advice: a framework for analysis

ABSTRACT

In the policy advice literature, there has been two main “waves” of research focus. In the first wave, the focus of scholarly attention tended to focus on single policy advice actors. A key innovation was offered by Halligan, who sought to frame policy advice within a policy advisory system, with a focus on government control and location. In later research, Craft and Wilder called for a “second wave” of research which also sought to integrate factors such as policy content, context, ideational compatibility but also reflect the increasingly polycentric advice landscape. This article contributes to the second wave drawing attention to a key element of the institutional dynamics of policy advice systems, namely the issue of political “demand”. A core argument offered in this article is that the dynamics of demand need to be interrogated more fully, and be given greater prominence in current understandings of PAS dynamics. The net effect of marginalizing “demand” factors is that it can de-politicize the extent and nature of advice-giving, and reduce it to a seeming technocratic exchange. To expand our understanding of demand, this paper offers a framework for understanding the dynamics of demand within policy advice systems.     

State of the Union addresses and presidential position taking: Do presidents back their rhetoric in the legislative arena?

Politicians and presidents are routinely criticized for the mismatch between their policy statements and their legislative actions. While a few studies explore presidents’ support for policy commitments made during their election campaigns, no study systematically examines this relationship for presidents throughout their terms. To determine whether presidents follow through on their policy statements, I examine presidential mentions of three policy areas in State of the Union addresses from 1953 to 2000 and presidents’ subsequent positions on floor votes in Congress. The results indicate that rhetorical attention to economic policy and foreign relations in these speeches increases the chances that presidents will take positions on legislation in these same areas, but there is a disconnect between the rhetoric and their actions on health and social welfare policy. I suggest that this difference can be attributed to their anticipation of success in each policy area because presidents do not want to attach themselves to legislative defeats.     

Leveling the Playing Field: Should Student Evaluation Scores be Adjusted?*

Objectives. Colleges and universities routinely use evaluation scores to assess the quality of an instructor's teaching for purposes of promotion and tenure and for merit‐raise allocations. This article attempts to identify the determinants of these scores, and to suggest ways that departments' numerical rankings of instructors might be adjusted. Method. This article applies a feasible generalized least squares model to a panel of data from master's‐level classes. Results. We find that instructors can “buy” better evaluation scores by inflating students' grade expectations. Also, the teaching experience of instructors has an impact on evaluation scores, but this effect is largely seen as an increase after tenure is granted. In addition, we find evidence of a bias against nonwhite faculty. Conclusion. Our results suggest that an adjustment to the usual departmental rankings may be in order.     

On the Analysis of Negative Freedom

This paper presents a non-preference-based approach to the analysis of negative freedom. It is argued that a proper understanding of (different conceptions of) negative freedom necessitates an examination of the consequences of changes in the set of feasible alternatives. For this reason the paper does not focus on freedom rankings of opportunity sets but on freedom rankings of opportunity situations, i.e., pairs consisting of a feasible set and an opportunity set. Three different freedom rankings of opportunity situations are axiomatically characterised. Each of the three rankings forms a generalisation of the purely cardinality-based freedom ranking of opportunity sets presented by Pattanaik and Xu (1990).     

An experimental investigation of transitivity in set ranking

A decision under ‘complete uncertainty’ is one where the decision maker knows the set of possible outcomes for each decision, but cannot assign probabilities to those outcomes. This way, the problem of ranking decisions is reduced to a problem of ranking sets of outcomes. All rankings that have emerged in the literature in this domain imply transitivity. In the current study, transitivity is subjected to an empirical evaluation in two experiments, where subjects are asked to choose between sets of monetary consequences. After analysis with a Bayes Factor, very few violations of transitivity were found. It can be concluded that transitivity seems a plausible condition for the ranking of sets of monetary consequences.     

明词别集叙录

明词别集是明代词学文献的重要一翼,对于了解和把握明代词学的发展与传播具有重要的认识价值。然而,由于明词研究起步较晚,至今尚未得到系统清理。关于明词别集的甄别认定,应该注重“已有”或“曾有”,而不以今之存否或存词数量多寡为判断标准。具体的判断依据与操作方法可称之为“五看”,即一看明词别集的编刊流传;二看明代以来私家或官修书目著录;三看有关明词别集的序跋;四看明人诗文别集中其词单独成卷且有词集专名或有专题序跋者;五看明清以来词集丛编、丛刻中小集收录之情况。赵尊岳倾其半生精力辑成《明词汇刊》,于明代词学文献建设厥功至伟,然而,其于明词有见必收,裁词加题,其中有仅存一阕二阕者亦视为专集,这从汇辑明词的角度来看是完全必要的,若一例视为别集则似有未当。根据以上所言“五看”之法,目前所认定的明词别集为七十九家八十余种。     

The “Exceptional”United States: First New Nation or Last Welfare State?

The author discusses the American welfare state in the context of Lash and Urry's thesis on ‘disorganized capitalism’. Attention is directed to the claim that the US welfare state has been the laggard of organized capitalism but is becoming the pathbreaker in defining patterns of public welfare provision under an increasingly disorganized capitalism. In this context the US may be “showing the way” to the welfare states of Western Europe. A number of claims about the “exceptional” nature of US development are reviewed and a number of reservations are entered against the “disorganization” thesis as applied to the welfare state. It is suggested that attention should be focussed upon contemporary patterns of welfare state re-organization rather than dis-organization.     

Social Inequality under a New Social Contract: Long-term Care in Japan

The 1990s saw the beginning of new developments in the social policy agenda of Japan. A combination of further cuts in social expenditure and increases in financial resources through various means has become inevitable in response to the increasing cost burden of an ageing society, the prolonged recession and changes in the Japanese family. In this context, “kaigo hoken” (long‐term care insurance) was introduced in 2000 to increase revenue and fill the gap vacated by the family. The scheme introduced a different concept to the public: that long‐term care was no longer “expected’’ from the family or “allocated” by the state, but has become part of a “social contract” based upon a system of mandatory contributions, uniform entitlements and consumer choice. This paper first explores the role of the new scheme in creating social inequalities among individuals (and families). A panel survey is used to highlight different patterns of care provision and the varying degree of financial pressure among different income groups. Second, based on qualitative research, the paper examines how the new scheme has transformed the relationship between older people and their families who have played a central role in this arena. The scheme has consequently divided “traditional” families and their liberal counterparts, as a result of care work being “commodified”. It is apparent that this scheme has not only responded to fill the existing care gap but may also help accelerate the changes that have been taking place for the last two decades.     

“公共自信”：“公共自卑”的“天敌”

具有公共性质的自卑心理态势已成为当下社会管理创新的一个瓶颈问题。35年前的“个体自卑”促成了改革开放,现在改革开放又造成了“公共自卑”。这种自卑心理上的螺旋式运行是否是社会的一种常态,还需要进一步的观察和思考。现实是,一方面是人际之间的交往、沟通、理解和支持越来越少;另一方面则是“私性”的认同、私欲的膨胀、私利的猖獗,进而导致了世风日下甚至人心迷乱。对国家来说,“公共自卑”是“国家意识”的一种毒瘤。既然是毒瘤,其内部就势必蕴涵有一种特别和特殊的势能。用好了,可以把“反能量”转化为“正能量”;用不好,则容易把“正能量”转变为“反能量”。十八大报告的“自信说”不仅提出“公共自卑”管理的“公共自信”的方向、方面和方法的思路,而且还提供了一个克服“公共自卑”的心理学上的有力武器。     

The attraction of uncertainty: Interactions between skill and levels of uncertainty in market-entry games

The experimental market entry paradigm has been used to illuminate the role of self-assessed skill in risk taking. Specifically, success only accompanies entry if a participant is one of the better ranked entrants on the skill criterion. We investigate what happens when participants face an additional source of uncertainty that perturbs relative skill rankings. Interestingly, this has asymmetric effects. On average, chances of success are increased for those with low rankings but decreased for those with high rankings. Thus, we predicted that the additional uncertainty would lead to more entry by the former but less by the latter. Our data supported the first prediction but, for those with high skill rankings, the existence of additional uncertainty made little difference. Finally, although we observed “excess entry” (i.e., too many participants entered markets), this could not be attributed to overconfidence. We conclude by contrasting our results with others in the literature.     

Conjuncture and cultural reproduction in the process of embedding: social work practice in the context of government purchase of services in China

This paper focuses on the Chinese government’s policy of purchasing social services and discusses how relevant organisations provide social work and develop it within local socio-political and cultural contexts. An ethnographic research method was adopted for the study by the first author while participating in social work development in Q City. We argue that the policy of purchasing social services succeeded in achieving “embedded development” but also created a “conjuncture structure” in cultural reproduction. However, due toprofessional social workers in China have, in practice, passively responded to the conjuncture there has been a failure to reproduce professional values of social work in the Chinese cultural context. Therefore, further development of social work in China needs to strengthen cultural reflection in practical actions, focus on the exploration of cultural connections between social work practice and local communities, and enhance the cultural capacity of social workers in the local cultural context.     

Party politics: the political impact of the first ladies’ social role

All first ladies have entertained socially while in the White House. Indeed, the role is so much a part of the office that hosting is expected of the presidential spouses. This article considers the political impact of social hosting, a function that has often had significant consequences on the presidency and has allowed first ladies to influence political affairs.     

Adoption and permanence planning in Scotland: Impact of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 on key processes and timescales

Adoption and permanence planning has been a key feature of Scotland's policy in relation to children and young people who are “looked after.” Although policy and law has significantly developed in recent years, there has been comparatively little research on permanence processes in Scotland. This paper outlines key findings from the first comprehensive study of permanence planning in Scotland. It examines the process for two cohorts of children where adoption or other types of permanence orders were made. The children were selected under the long standing Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 and the more recent Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007. In total, 300 cases were examined, analysing data from the children's first contact with services through to the order made by the Scottish Courts. This paper pays particular attention to the timescales found at key stages under the two sets of legislation and asks what difference the change in legislation has made.     

Constraints and the Measurement of Freedom of Choice

This paper introduces considerations about constraints in the construction of measures of an agent's freedom. It starts with motivating the exercise from both the philosophical and the informational point of view. Then it presents two rankings of opportunity sets based on information about the extent of options and the constraints that a decision maker faces. The first ranking measures freedom as variety of choice; the second as non-restrictedness in choice.     

北京话第二人称代词句法、语义、语用的历时嬗变（1750-1950）

在汉语史上,第二人称代词曾经是个庞大的家族,鼎盛时期家族成员多达10多个,而1750年至1850年的这个一百年间便处于这个鼎盛时段的末期,自1850年至1950年间的这个一百年,北京话第二人称代词系统就规模而言便开始式微,主要表现为家族成员锐减,由之前的10多个减缩为三四个。这在分处于三个时点的典型北京话文本《红楼梦》、《儿女英雄传》、《正红旗下》等中也得到了比较清晰的反映。《红楼梦》中第二人称代词有“你”、“你们”、“你等”等10个;创作于1850年前后的《儿女英雄传》中第二人称代词则有“你”、“你们”、“汝”、“尔”等11个;《正红旗下》中第二人称代词竟只有“你”、“你们”、“您”等3个。较之这种系统的演变更为细腻深刻因而也更需要关注的是第二人称代词系统中的一些重要个体在句法、语义、语用层面的发展演变。     

我国乡镇政权角色和行为的社会学研究综述

本文按照“结构 / 制度”和“过程 / 事件”两种研究取向，梳理了社会学界对1980年以来乡镇政权的角色和行为研究的成果。前者解释了乡镇政权由于考核评分体制的压力而被动产生失范行为的原因；后者以动态的、微观的研究视角分析具体事件过程中乡镇政权的行动者其角色和策略选择。“结构 / 制度”和“过程 / 事件”研究并不矛盾，可以相互借鉴。综合上述研究，文章认为对当前农村税费改革后乡镇政权在“国家”和“农村社会”新型互动关系中的角色和行为的研究也可借鉴上述研究。