The Labor Law and the Preferential Treatment for Small Businesses

Tens of millions of small businesses, including countless individually run businesses, are operating in China. Hampered by their scale and limited job creation capacity, China’s small businesses need a more flexible approach to employment. In fact, their small size and their lack of technical expertise and standardized management mean that these small businesses find it hard to operate in strict compliance with labor laws in the way larger businesses do. Some other countries and regions tend to give preferential treatment to small businesses, exempting them from some of the provisions of labor law. China could consider changing the “one size fits all” provisions of its labor law to give preferential treatment to small businesses with regard to terminating employment contracts, drawing up regulations, signing contracts, and anti-discrimination in employment requirements.     

Gender and the credit rationing of small businesses

Rapid small business ownership growth rates among women have motivated research on issues related to gender and small business performance. The importance of credit access for the success of small businesses, as well as evidence that women have less access to credit than male business owners, has led researchers to explore the reasons for this. In this paper, we estimate a model of credit rationing by gender of the business owner. Our results are consistent with previous studies that find higher loan denial rates and lower loan application rates among women compared with men. Testing the robustness of the results we find that women seem to be rationing themselves in the credit market rather than being discriminated against by banks. Reasons for this self-rationing behavior are an important topic for further research.     

Unemployment Insurance in Algeria: Help or Hindrance?

The issue of employment has become a crucial one in Algeria. Not only does the economy no longer offer opportunities for jobseekers; economic reforms have led to countless public-sector businesses being wound up, putting thousands of people out of work. Against this background, a system of temporary unemployment benefits has been introduced, though its effectiveness has been sharply criticized. How many of the occupations targeted by the legislation setting up the system are actually covered by Algeria's unemployment insurance system, and on what terms? What obstacles are there to the full realization of this system's objectives, and how effective is it in an economic and financial sense? The unemployment insurance system is traditionally accused of clogging up the machinery of employment and preventing a return to a competitive labour market. There are also those who believe that this system helps to foster voluntary unemployment and encourages people to spend more time on leisure pursuits. Our article considers all these views. At the end the reader will also find brief details of unemployment insurance in South Africa and Egypt.     

What the sciences can learn about ethics from business and the professions

Because the sciences are only now beginning to do what businesses and the professions have been doing for some time, scientific laboratories can learn a good deal from business and the professions about how to maintain an ethical environment, both about what doesn't work (benign neglect, role models, sermons, the iron fist, one‐shot programs, and legalism) and about what does work (a systematic multi‐pronged long‐term program).     

Determinants of social assistance caseloads for employable single adults without dependants in Canada

Government officials like the idea of just a small number of households in their respective jurisdiction receiving social assistance. A large number is seen as costly to the public treasury, and declining caseloads are generally viewed as a mark of success for both the economy and the government of the day. But what factors account for the size of a Canadian province's social assistance caseload? This article aims to shed light on this question, with a focus on single adults without dependants (and without serious disabilities) during the 1989–2017 period. One important finding is that when the value of social assistance benefit levels for this group increases by 1% in a province, the social assistance caseload for this demographic rises by 0.457%. Put differently, there is indeed an important behavior response associated with higher benefit levels. In response, we propose that provincial officials budget for higher take up levels when they increase benefit levels for this household group.     

Explaining Diversities in Age-Specific Life Expectancies and Values of Life Saving: A Numerical Analysis

To what extent can life protection account for observed diversities in age-specific life expectancies across individuals and over time? We provide answers via calibrated simulations of a life-cycle model where life’s end is stochastic, and age-specific mortality hazards are endogenous outcomes of life protection, set jointly with life insurance and annuities. Our model links mortality hazards and values of life saving (VLS) as “dual variables”, and offers new insights about the measurement of VLS. Life protection is estimated to account for non-trivial portions of observed levels and inequalities in life expectancies and empirical estimates of VLS by age and education, and over time.     

Corporate Giving in Australia: An Analysis of Motives and Barriers

This study comprises data analysis of data collected by McNair Ingenuity Research as part of the 2005 Giving Australia study, which estimated the total value of corporate giving for the year 2003–04 at $3.3 billion. This was contributed by 67% of all Australian businesses. Business giving was found to comprise 68% monetary donations, 16% goods and 16% services. This article concentrates on the monetary donations of businesses, reporting on the motives and barriers businesses named for making donations. More than 80% of businesses are motivated to give, at least in part, by altruism, with larger businesses (by number of employees and turnover) more likely to claim benefits in terms of enhancements to employee morale, the organisation's image, supplier/customer relationships and the general level of publicity they were able to attract. The most significant barrier to giving named by both businesses who made a donation and those who did not was that business resources were committed elsewhere. Looking at how additional giving might be stimulated among those already giving to the sector revealed that the most generous businesses also cited more barriers to giving suggesting that they give greater consideration to their giving and the drawbacks thereof.     

Corporate Giving in Australia: An Analysis of Motives and Barriers

This study comprises data analysis of data collected by McNair Ingenuity Research as part of the 2005 Giving Australia study, which estimated the total value of corporate giving for the year 2003‐04 at $3.3 billion. This was contributed by 67% of all Australian businesses. Business giving was found to comprise 68% monetary donations, 16% goods and 16% services. This article concentrates on the monetary donations of businesses, reporting on the motives and barriers businesses named for making donations. More than 80% of businesses are motivated to give, at least in part, by altruism, with larger businesses (by number of employees and turnover) more likely to claim benefits in terms of enhancements to employee morale, the organisation's image, supplier/customer relationships and the general level of publicity they were able to attract. The most significant barrier to giving named by both businesses who made a donation and those who did not was that business resources were committed elsewhere. Looking at how additional giving might be stimulated among those already giving to the sector revealed that the most generous businesses also cited more barriers to giving suggesting that they give greater consideration to their giving and the drawbacks thereof.     

转型期中国知识分子的价值选择

知识分子是谁 ?他们该去扮演什么角色 ?这是知识分子研究当中的核心问题。知识分子是以某种知识技能为专业 ,同时深切关怀国家乃至全人类 ,永远保有一种对于生命意义、终极价值和跟宇宙世界接触的追求 ,承担文化使命的特殊阶层。在价值选择和价值追求方面 ,现代知识分子应当不怕闯入思想禁区 ,亦不再在学术—人文理想、道德—历史尺度的二维空间内逡巡 ,而是勇于直面知识分子“智慧的痛苦” ,高于浪漫 ,超于现实 ,超越传统的认知模式 ,自觉地将社会理想与专业理想结合起来 ,这也才是知识分子的本分。     

Evaluating outcome measures for deinstitutionalization programs

Since deinstitutionalization has become a feature of many state and county mental health programs, suitable and effective measures are needed for evaluating the success of patients in adjusting to community life. This study attempted to identify the factors linked with satisfactory adjustment or return to the hospital and evaluated the usefulness of various measures of success in the community.     

Veterans’ Use of Programs and Services as They Transition to Civilian Life: Baseline Assessment for the Veteran Metrics Initiative

Abstract

A substantial minority of veterans struggle as they reintegrate into civilian life, reporting problems with vocational attainment, legal/financial/housing challenges, physical and mental health conditions, and social/interpersonal issues. While there are thousands of programs and services offered to veterans, little is known about which ones they use. In the current exploratory study, veterans separated from active duty in the prior three-months (48,965) were invited to complete a survey. Two primary questions were addressed: What programs/services did veterans use to assist in their reintegration to civilian life? What specific components/attributes of those programs did veterans report using? A total of 9566 veterans completed the survey. Approximately, two-thirds of veterans used at least one program to enhance their well-being, while one-third reported using multiple programs across multiple domains. Veterans primarily sought assistance for employment and educational advancement. Fewer veterans sought assistance for legal/financial/housing, health, and social functioning challenges. Social service providers and policy makers should be aware of the resources veterans use as they reintegrate into civilian life. Future research should examine factors that predict the use and nonuse of veteran reintegration programs, how use changes over time, and what factors predict program/service use, particularly among veterans at risk for poor transition outcomes.     

Applying the ICF‐CY to identify children's everyday life situations: A step towards participation‐focused code sets

Adolfsson M. Applying the ICF‐CY to identify children's everyday life situations: a step towards participation‐focused code sets With the long‐term goal to create an interdisciplinary screening tool with code sets focusing on children's participation in everyday life situations (ELS), the purpose of the present study was to identify ELS for children 0–17 years. The views of professionals and parents in Sweden, South Africa and the USA were integrated based on ICF‐CY ¹ 1 The WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, version for Children and Youth.
linkages. The chapters Self‐care and Major life areas seemed most obvious to include in ELS. At the 2nd ICF‐CY level, 11 categories emerged as ELS, with Hygiene and Recreation as the most obvious. Two sets of ELS were identified for infants/preschoolers and school‐aged children/adolescents. Professionals and parents agreed on ELS for the older age group. Findings suggest that ELS differ in context specificity depending on maturity and growing autonomy. The study has implications for the future screening tool that is intended to support children with disabilities in describing what matters most to them in intervention planning. Key Practitioner Message: ?Children and parents need opportunities to express their opinions during intervention processes, but a structured family–professional collaboration model is lacking; ?Using ICF‐CY‐based models, including holistic views of participation in everyday life situations, increases professionals' focus on family perspectives; ?Models to connect interventions to participation in everyday life situations enhance children's motivation and support interdisciplinary assessment.     

Assessment issues in working with mothers who induce illness in their children

Mothers who induce illness in their children are abusing them. What must be uppermost in the mind of the child protection worker is the effect of the mother’s behaviour on the child. A good assessment of the mother is essential in making decisions about the child’s safety. Schreier & Libow (1993) estimate that nearly 10% of mothers who deliberately induce illness in their children ultimately kill them. The construction with the mother of a comprehensive genogram is an essential tool for assessment. Denial by the mother is usual and overt confrontation is usually not a helpful technique. Key assessment questions are: What are the mother’s real feelings about this child? Can the mother imagine what life will be like with a well child? Is this mother more than extremely anxious or overprotective towards her child? This difficult, complex work can arouse intense feelings in individual workers and within the assessment team. Good supervision is essential.     

Cumulative harm in the child protection system: The Australian context

Cumulative harm is a major child protection concern, with significant consequences for child well‐being and development often into adult life. This systematic literature review examines how the construct of cumulative harm is understood and operationalized within current Australian child protection legislation, policy, and practice and situates this within an international context. Scholarly articles and grey literature were qualitatively analysed to explore two main research questions: How is cumulative harm to children identified, assessed, and ultimately incorporated into child protection and legal structures? And what are the most effective responses to cumulative harm identified for child protection practice? What was found was that although the construct of cumulative harm is increasingly incorporated into child protection practice and legislation, in practice, this remains crisis‐driven. Although the literature emphasized prevention and early intervention as responses to reducing the cumulative impact of adverse childhood experiences, there is negligible research on what constitutes an effective response to cases involving cumulative harm. They are cases which are less visible within the child protection paradigm; attention to the impact of risk of maltreatment and its influence on long‐term developmental outcomes is less well addressed creating uncertainty and ambiguity about effective responses for child protection.     

Digitalization,Street‐Level Bureaucracy and Welfare Users' Experiences

Internet/web‐based forms of communication have increasingly been implemented by welfare agencies. However, there have been few studies of the experiences of welfare service users and the consequences of new technology for welfare service users. To what extent is the new technology adopted by the Norwegian Welfare and Labour Organization (NAV) used, and how do the users apply and experience the new possibilities? Do screen‐to‐screen encounters replace face‐to‐face encounters, and is this trend affected by age, gender, education or type of benefit? To answer these questions, we combine survey data, short‐term fieldwork in welfare reception areas and qualitative interviews with people receiving health and work‐related benefits. Our study indicates that screen‐to‐screen interaction in general does not replace face‐to‐face encounters, as many face‐to‐face encounters are related to screen communication. However, digital competence combined with life circumstances appears to be the source of a new divide between welfare service users.     

课间圈养问题探析

课间圈养日渐成为一种普遍的教育问题。这一问题的产生有两个重要原因，一是自我保存的时代精神对教育的规约，二是中国实施的独生子女政策。这一普遍的教育问题产生了较为严重的教育后果：课间圈养限制了学生好动的天性，不利于其身心健康以及未来的自我保护；课间圈养阻断了孩子与自然的亲密接触，使其无法习得在与自然的交往中产生的直观的安全知识以及丰富的生命体验；课间圈养阻碍了教师教育教学活动的顺利展开，阻碍了教师教育责任的真正履行。走出课间圈养，需要从两个方面入手：一是从根本上确立和落实玩的规则，明确规则的性质、制定规则的主体以及落实措施；二是建立并完善相应的法律法规及保险制度。     

精神分析与战争经验 作为《精神分析引论》主线的战争问题

弗洛伊德精神分析学说在思想史上的革命性意义同它对战争经验的体悟密切相关。19世纪末以来,战争不仅意味着历史处境,更塑造了现代人的总体经验。如果要从战争经验出发理解弗洛伊德的学说体系,他大战时期的讲演录《精神分析引论》可以充当核心的阐释文本,将精神分析学说从第一哲学、社会学推展到新的“再教育”思想。作为第一哲学,精神分析由普遍怀疑还原出战争状态下诸意向交织、冲突的自我,并逐步揭示自我的爱欲本能与死亡本能;在此基础上,作为社会学的精神分析呈现了日常生活的战争面貌,其实质为人的爱欲本能同死亡本能的纠缠与冲突;最终,为引导爱欲,节制死亡本能,作为新的教育学说的精神分析指明了现代教育的限度、条件和未来的希望。     

Going It Alone: Post-9/11 Veteran Nonuse of Healthcare and Social Service Programs During Their Early Transition to Civilian Life

Transitioning from military to civilian life is challenging for a substantial number of veterans. Successful transitions require veterans to function well in various well-being domains including employment, education, financial, health, and social relationships. There are many programs and services designed to assist veterans transition to civilian life. However, veterans rarely avail themselves of supportive resources. This study examined veteran nonuse of programs and services within the first three months of their transition to civilian life. Results revealed that male veterans often reported that they did not need programs. Female veterans and veterans from the lowest enlisted ranks were more likely to report that they did not know if they were eligible for support programs. A small percentage of veterans indicated they had not found the right program or did not know where to go to get help. Veterans need clear information about available programs, eligibility requirements, where to locate them, and how to identify which programs will benefit them. Future research should focus on what predicts veteran use of programs and services, how use changes over time, and how programs and services should be advertised/marketed to different veteran populations, particularly those at risk for poor transition outcomes.     

The nature and culture of social work with children and families in long‐term casework: Findings from a qualitative longitudinal study

Social work in the United Kingdom is preoccupied with what social workers cannot do due to having limited time to spend with service users. Yet remarkably little research has examined what social workers actually do, especially in long‐term relationships. This paper draws from an ethnographic study of two social work departments in England that spent 15 months observing practice and organizational life. Our findings show that social work some of the time has a significant amount of involvement with some service users and the dominant view that relationship‐based practice is rarely achieved is in need of some revision. However, families at one research site received a much more substantial, reliable overall service due to the additional input of family support workers and having a stable workforce who had their own desks and were co‐located with managers in small team offices. This generated a much more supportive, reflective culture for social workers and service users than at the second site, a large open plan “hot‐desking” office. Drawing on relational, systemic, and complexity theories, the paper shows how the nature of what social workers do and culture of practice are shaped by the interaction between available services, office designs, and practitioners', managers', and service users' experiences of relating together.