Question-Order Effects on Presidential Popularity

A methodological experiment is conducted on the same questionthat is used virtually every month in the Gallup Poll to measurepresidential popularity. The point of the experiment is to determinewhether presidential popularity is affected by the placementof the question within the survey, in response to a recent chargethat alternations in the order in which this question has beenasked invalidate time-series analyses of presidential popularity.The primary finding is that the order in which the questionis presented does not significantly affect the direction ofresponse (the balance between approval and disapproval), butit does affect opinionation (the willingness to make a directionalresponse, whether positive or negative). This effect is foundto be particularly pronounced for less educated respondents.The implications of these findings for time series analysisof presidential popularity are spelled out.     

COMMODITY TAXATION IN WELFARE STATES

Unemployment is a central policy issue in countries with a “generous” welfare system that is hard to reform. This paper addresses why these countries tend to adopt high commodity tax rates in the optimal taxation context. We explore the role of commodity taxation in alleviating moral hazard and hence involuntary unemployment and then provide supportive evidence from a quantitative analysis. Unlike the usual full employment models, at the heart of this paper is a new dimension of distortion, the “between‐states” (employment state vs. unemployment state) consumption choice distortion, which can be dealt with by a certain optimal combination of commodity and income taxation. Our results therefore offer an explanation for the widely observed coexistence of direct and indirect taxation. (JEL D61, D81, H21)     

李玄逸的四端七情论

在朝鲜中期的"四端七情之辩"中,李退溪与李栗谷之间虽未直接交锋,但他们对于"四端七情"的不同看法却分别为后世儒者所继承,而形成所谓"主理派"(岭南学派)与"主气派"(畿湖学派)之对垒。李玄逸是所谓的"主理学者",在"四端七情"的问题上继承退溪的观点。他撰有《栗谷李氏论四端七情辨》。李玄逸的辩驳文字,当中显现三重混淆:首先,他并未意识到,朱子以其理气二分、心性情三分的性理学架构来诠释孟子的"四端"说,其实偏离了孟子的基本观点。其次,他未意识到,在理气论及"四端七情"方面,李退溪的观点已逸出了朱子的性理学架构,反倒是李栗谷更忠于朱子的观点。最后,他也未意识到,当李退溪的观点逸出了朱子的性理学架构时,李退溪反而比李栗谷更接近孟子的基本观点。     

宋诗语词拾诂三例

本文以排比文例之法,对出现于《全宋诗》中“鼎鼎”、“堂堂”、“力贫”等语词加以考释,旨在说明阅读宋诗,有必要了解一下宋代语言变化。     

THE ECONOMICS OF CARPOOLS

The paper shows how separate parts of a work trip enter the decision to carpool, and examines how the size of a carpool is related to the gasoline price, the wage rate, speed limits, and other factors. The paper also suggests that policies designed to promote carpooling may produce perverse effects on gasoline consumption.     

A hybrid approach to sequencing jobs using heuristic rules and neural networks

A hybrid approach to solve job sequencing problems using heuristic rules and artificial neural networks is proposed. The problem is to find a job sequence for a single machine that minimizes the total weighted tardiness of the jobs. Two different cases are considered: (1) when there are no setups, and (2) when there are sequence-dependent setup times. So far, successful heuristic rules for these cases are: apparent tardiness cost (ATC) rule proposed by Vepsalainen and Morton for the former case, and an extended version of the ATC rule (ATCS) proposed by Lee, Bhaskaran, and Pinedo for the latter. Both approaches utilize some look-ahead parameters for calculating the priority index of each job. As reported by Bhaskaran and Pinedo, the proper value of the look-ahead parameter depends upon certain problem characteristics, such as due-date tightness and due-date range. Thus, an obvious extension of the ATC or the ATCS rule is to adjust the parameter values depending upon the problem characteristics: this is known to be a difficult task. In this paper, we propose an application of a neural network as a tool to ‘predict’ proper values of the look-ahead parameters. Our computational tests show that the proposed hybrid approach outperforms both the ATC rule with a fixed parameter value and the ATCS using the heuristic curve-fitting method.     

金圣叹与李渔戏剧结构论比较

金圣叹和李渔的戏剧美学思想存在着诸多差异,反映在戏剧结构理论的探索上,他们的这种差异集中地体现在对于戏剧结构中不同艺术要素的侧重:金圣叹重视人物性格的塑造和感情的展现,并主张以塑造人物为核心来组织戏剧的结构;而李渔则更加推重故事情节的新奇,他将情节视为组织戏剧结构的中心要素。     

台湾信用合作社从业人员组织公民行为之探索性研究

组织公民行为（Organizational Citizenship Behavior,简称OCB）系指组织成员自发性表现出超越组织正式角色要求的行为,这些行为并非工作规范所明订,组织成员可自行选择表现与否,但这些行为整体而言有助于组织绩效。面对当前金融环境的快速变化,信用合作社从业人员除了应遵守明文规范的管理措施之外,更应表现超越工作规范,且有益于组织的行为,亦即组织公民行为,才能有助提升服务质量,增进组织绩效。本研究运用文献探索法,阐述组织公民行为之意涵,探讨信用合作社从业人员应表现的组织公民行为,并对于如何塑造组织公民行为的环境提出具体的建议。