Social Representations Theory: A Progressive Research Programme for Social Psychology

The study “Psychoanalysis—its image and its public” intimates that common sense is increasingly informed by science. But common sense asserts its autonomy and, in turn, may affect the trajectory of science. This is a process that leads to many differentiations—in common sense, in scientific innovation and in political and regulatory structures. Bauer and Gaskell's toblerone model of triangles of mediation provided a distillation of their reading of “La Psychanalyse.” Here it was argued that representations are multi‐modal phenomena necessitating the use of multiple methodologies (comparative and longitudinal; qualitative and quantitative). In this paper we briefly summarise these arguments and elaborate ways in which social representation theory can be considered a progressive research programme. “Progressive” because as the theory has developed it has extended the range and depth of its conceptual basis; it provides a new synthesis for the social scientific understanding of the phenomena of common sense and of representation; it acts as an antidote to the reductionism of public opinion and, finally, it is a stimulus to depart from disciplinary silos. However, there remain unresolved issues: how to segment the relevant social milieus and how to close the feedback loop from common sense to science?     

企业法人目的限制外行为新探

企业经营范围不是对企业法人权利能力的限制,是对法人机关代表权的限制,法人的权利能力一律平等。法人机关的地位属性设计,应当建立在外部关系和内部关系的区分基础之上。在与第三人的外部关系上采代表说,赋予法人机关与法人一体的地位,承认法人意思构造的内部化。在法人机关与法人的内部关系上,宜采代理说,使法人机关与法人在人格上相分离,在法人机关实施目的外行为时,法人机关被视为代理人,因其过错造成法人损失时在内部对法人负责,其目的在于达成内部约束,以避免法人机关背离法人目的事业进行活动,损害法人的整体利益。     

Social investment,social service and the economic performance of welfare states

This article begins with an examination of the role of social services as the key instrument of social investment strategy, presenting an empirical analysis of its impact on economic performance. A pooled time series, cross‐section analysis was conducted with the data of 15 welfare states from 1990 to 2007 under the ‘social investment hypothesis’ that more social service orientedness brings about a greater positive effect on the economy. The results show that a larger share of social service spending in the total social expenditure – more social service orientedness – contributes to economic growth and labour market performance, whereas a larger aggregate size of the welfare state may have a negative effect on employment. In conclusion, this study suggests that the relatively ambiguous welfare strategy of social investment could be clarified as a ‘transition from income security to livelihood security’ in which emphasis is placed on social service. Key Practitioner Message: ● This study suggests that the key instrument of social investment strategy is social service; ● The results show that more social service orientedness contributes to economic growth and labour market performance.     

Two-parameter decision models and rank-dependent expected utility

This paper extends the existing literature concerning the relationship between two parameter decision models and those based on expected utility in two main directions. The first relaxes Meyer's location and scale (or Sinn's linear class) condition and shows that a two-parameter representation of preferences over uncertain prospects and the expected utility representation yield consistent rankings of random variables when the decision maker's choice set is restricted to random variables differing by mean shifts and monotone meanpreserving spreads. The second shows that the rank-dependent expected utility model is also consistent with two-parameter ranking methods if the probability transform satisfies certain dominance conditions. The main implication of these results is that the simple two-parameter model can be used to analyze the comparative statics properties of a wide variety of economic models, including those with multiple sources of uncertainty when the random variables are comonotonic. To illustrate this point, we apply our results to the problem of optimal portfolio investment with random initial wealth. We find that it is relatively easy to obtain strong global comparative statics results even if preferences do not satisfy the independence axiom.     

A possibilistic hierarchical model for behaviour under uncertainty

Hierarchical models are commonly used for modelling uncertainty. They arise whenever there is a `correct' or `ideal' uncertainty model but the modeller is uncertain about what it is. Hierarchical models which involve probability distributions are widely used in Bayesian inference. Alternative models which involve possibility distributions have been proposed by several authors, but these models do not have a clear operational meaning. This paper describes a new hierarchical model which is mathematically equivalent to some of the earlier, possibilistic models and also has a simple behavioural interpretation, in terms of betting rates concerning whether or not a decision maker will agree to buy or sell a risky investment for a specified price. We give a representation theorem which shows that any consistent model of this kind can be interpreted as a model for uncertainty about the behaviour of a Bayesian decision maker. We describe how the model can be used to generate buying and selling prices and to make decisions.     

Social investment effects of public education,health care,and welfare service expenditures on economic growth

The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically examine whether public spending in education, health care, and welfare service operates as a fruitful investment in welfare states, which has been implied in the literature of social investment arguments. Based on comprehensive review of existing literature, this study suggested a tripartite mechanism of social investment effect of such spending, that is “enhancement of human capital,” “support for labor force participation,” and “job creation.” To find the empirical evidence, a pooled time‐series cross‐section analysis was conducted with the data of 15 advanced welfare states from 1980 to 2015 using estimation technique of fixed‐effect model. The results confirmed that public spending in education, health care, and welfare service had a positive medium‐term as well as long‐term effect on economic performance, while cash‐type welfare spending had an obscure or no visible effect on economy. Government consumption that is a proxy and control variable of size of the welfare state showed a positive effect on real GDP in the medium term but a negative effect in the long run. In conclusion, this study suggests that reinforcing social services should be recognized and dealt with as essence of social investment strategy.     

Re‐thinking Indigenous over‐representation in prison

It is now nearly two decades since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommended that a determined effort be made by all Australian Governments to reduce the level of Indigenous over‐representation in prison. The disparity between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous imprisonment rates, however, is now wider than it has ever been. This article reviews research published over the last twenty years which calls into question both the Royal Commission's analysis of the causes of Indigenous over‐representation in prison and subsequent policies adopted to reduce it. It concludes by arguing that future efforts to reduce Indigenous over‐representation in prison should be directed at dealing with the underlying causes of Indigenous involvement in crime, especially drug and alcohol use, child neglect and abuse, poor school performance and unemployment.     

Nurtured from Above and Growing from the Roots: Social Investment Funds and Decentralization in Zambia and Malawi

Social investment funds aim at the provision of social infrastructure through community involvement and participatory procedures. This paper focuses on two specific social investment funds, those in Zambia and Malawi. Both have a strong commitment to participation by the community, signified particularly in direct disbursement to those communities. They aim to work through the field units of government administration in a decentralized manner instead of creating parallel structures. The Zambian social fund has decentralized its procedures to a considerable degree, and it is a role model in this respect. The Malawian social fund is not such a powerful catalyst for organizational change, as it is confronted with much stronger residues of authoritarianism. Nevertheless, like the Zambian fund, it is an effective and cheap mechanism for delivery of social infrastructure. Both social investment funds are resisting merger, with comprehensive decentralization programmes aiming to bring the district administration under an elected local authority that Zambia and Malawi have both initiated. This paper argues that this resistance is rational. It pleads for an organic growth of decentralization instead of legislating it into existence. The experience of these social investment funds show that it is more fruitful to graft the decentralized procedures of social funds on to existing institutions than to embark on comprehensive decentralization programmes.     

论人力资本投资与健康城市建设

从人力资本投资角度研究健康城市建设,我们发现,健康城市建设与人力资本投资是一种相辅相成的关系。一方面,健康城市建设具有增进人力资本的巨大功能,健康城市的宗旨、过程和具体指标都起到了增加人力资本存量的客观效果;另一方面,人力资本投资推动了健康城市建设,对教育、医疗保健、劳动力流动等方面的投资是健康城市建设的先决条件。因此,必须优化人力资本投资的主体结构、类别结构、地区结构和城乡结构,推进健康城市建设。     

Terrorism and the effectiveness of security spending in Greece: Policy implications of some empirical findings

Greece has over the years faced serious security challenges from domestic as well as transnational terrorist activity. This paper examines empirically the effectiveness of counter-terrorism policy and particularly it focuses on current and investment expenditure on domestic security and public order. Using annual budget data for the 1974–2004 period, it investigates whether current and investment spending by the Ministry of Public Order has been an effective policy measure to counter terrorism. The results seem to suggest that such investment has at best a weak negative impact on internal terrorist actions. The main policy implication of this finding is that investing in counter-terrorist infrastructure and equipment can potentially prove to be an effective policy measure in the fight against terrorism. This, however, may be conditional upon a number of other factors including other anti-terrorist measures such as legislation or how efficiently such expenditure is used.     

Absolute and relative risk aversion: An experimental study

Kenneth Arrow posed the hypotheses that investors reveal decreasing absolute risk aversion (DARA) and increasing relative risk aversion (IRRA). It is very difficult to empirically test these two hypotheses since one needs to analyze an investor's investment decisions at various points in his/her economic life cycle as the investor's wealth varies. An experimental study is conducted to test these two hypotheses when the subject's wealth varies depending on his/her investment performance. The experiment involves an actual money gain or loss which is indexed to the individual's investment performance. It is found that DARA is indeed strongly supported, but IRRA is rejected.     

中国投资东盟的驱动机制探析

中国自提出"走出去"战略11年来,对外直接投资呈现较快增长。在世界经济总体放缓、美国经济复苏乏力、欧债危机日益严重的国际背景下,中国企业对外直接投资的区位选择是决定国际化战略能否成功的关键因素之一。当前,对外直接投资在中国和东盟的经济合作中还具有巨大潜力。驱动中国企业对东盟直接投资的因素主要有市场因素、生产成本因素、经营发展因素、政策因素等几个方面。     

旅游目的地影视社会表象与影视旅游——基于传媒学的研究

旅游目的地形象作为一种特殊的社会表象,是刺激旅游行为产生的重要因素之一。在旅游目的地社会表象形成过程中,影视传媒起着十分重要的作用。影视传媒区别于其它媒体的特点、议程设置功能、受众文化心理结构等特点以及大众传媒背景等都会影响旅游目的地影视社会表象的形成。影视社会表象的＂社会共享性＂与＂行为说明性＂决定了影视旅游是一种必然的大众旅游行为。     

On the Conditional Value-at-Risk probability-dependent utility function

The Expected Shortfall or Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) has been playing the role of main risk measure in the recent years and paving the way for an enormous number of applications in risk management due to its very intuitive form and important coherence properties. This work aims to explore this measure as a probability-dependent utility functional, introducing an alternative view point for its Choquet Expected Utility representation. Within this point of view, its main preference properties will be characterized and its utility representation provided through local utilities with an explicit dependence on the assessed revenue’s distribution (quantile) function. Then, an intuitive interpretation for the related probability dependence and the piecewise form of such utility will be introduced on an investment pricing context, in which a CVaR maximizer agent will behave in a relativistic way based on his previous estimates of the probability function. Finally, such functional will be extended to incorporate a larger range of risk-averse attitudes and its main properties and implications will be illustrated through examples, such as the so-called Allais Paradox.     

Minimal representation of a semiorder

In a multicriteria decision problem it may happen that the preference of the decision-maker on some criterion is modeled by means of a semiorder structure. If the available information is qualitative, one often needs a numerical representation of the semiorder. We investigate the set of representations of a semiorder and show that, once a unit has been fixed, there exists a minimal representation. This representation can be calculated by linear programming and exhibits some interesting properties: all values are integer multiples of the unit and are as scattered as possible in the sense that, in the set of all representations contained in the same bounded interval, the minimal representation is a representation for which the minimal distance between two values is maximal. The minimal representation can also be interpreted as a generalisation of the rank function associated to linear orders.     

社区教育经费投入的问题与原因分析

目前我国社区教育经费投入存在投入总量不足、人均经费较低、总体效率不高和投入不平衡等问题,其原因是多方面的.文章认为,建立与社区发展相协调的多元化投入渠道和保障机制,是确保社区教育稳定、持续发展的必由之路.     

The Effects of Judicial Strength and Rule of Law on Portfolio Investment in the Developing World*

Objective. Applying existing theories relating to investment risk, this article examines the effects of judicial strength and adherence to the rule of law on portfolio investment in the developing world. We aim to demonstrate that countries with higher levels of judicial strength and rule of law are more able to attract portfolio investment because they provide greater protection of property rights and a better risk environment for investors. Methods. Using time‐series data for 79 developing countries for the period 1996–2005, we employ panel‐corrected standard errors multivariate regressions to demonstrate that higher levels of judicial strength and rule of law are associated with higher levels of portfolio investment. Results. We find that a one standard deviation increase in overall judicial strength and rule of law results in more than a 50 percent increase in portfolio investment. In separate analyses, we show that a one standard deviation increase in specific measures of judicial independence, impartial courts, and protection of property rights leads to increases in portfolio investment ranging from 27 percent to 184 percent. Conclusion. Judicial strength and adherence to the rule of law are important determinants of portfolio investment in the developing world.     

公共投资、经济增长与腐败的相关问题研究

投资是社会经济发展的动力 ,但腐败的存在 ,极大地影响了投资的绩效和经济发展的质量 ,在公共投资领域的表现尤为明显。为了提高公共投资推动经济增长的绩效 ,必须剔除或弱化腐败对公共投资的消极影响 ,要求在公共投资项目决策与实施过程中 ,设置有效的腐败预防制度     

Holding Our Own: Value and Performance in Nonprofit Organisations

This essay explores the role of values in relation to nonprofit organisations' performance. The centrality of values to performance is explored in relation to staff productivity and motivation, investment in organisational development and leadership from both CEOs and Boards. An argument is developed that values are central to the performance of nonprofit organisations. Despite calls for nonprofit organisations to become more “business‐like”, this essay argues that the third sector's performance is directly related to the mission driven nature of our organisations.