INDIVIDUAL WELFARE WHEN CONSUMERS CAN SHOP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

The statewide system of health insurance exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 will allow millions of U.S. citizens to change their health care policies more easily than they can switch automobile or homeowner insurance coverages, because deniability based on prior claim history is illegal. Focusing on this consumer endogeneity of health insurance policy choice, we examine the individual moral hazard welfare implications of a reduction in the price of medical care, which is a potential consequence of the ACA. We show that endogenous policy choice plays a key role in determining the welfare outcome. While moral hazard welfare improvement is not precluded, a distinctly possible outcome is that the consumer revises his/her choice of insurance policy so as to retain some portion of the reduction in expenditure risk caused by the medical care price decrease. In this event, moral hazard welfare loss is higher than it was before the price decrease, although the increased loss is tempered by the endogenous contract choice effect. This result resuscitates an old conventional wisdom. (JEL I11, I13, I30)     

关丁我国新破产法之立法焦点问题的探讨

随着我国改革开放的进一步发展,特别是在市场经济体制的确立和深化之后,现行<破产法>的局限性及其缺陷日益显现出来.目前,我国<破产法>的修订工作正在进行,这项修改工作势必面临着诸多难题有待解决,鉴于破产法理论的浩瀚、中国破产实践问题的复杂性,本文就新"破产法"中设置的管理人制度、破产债权确认制度,这些在立法之中的焦点问题进行了探讨.     

From bias to coverage: What explains how news organizations treat social movements

Why do newspapers cover social movement actors, and why is this coverage sometimes favorable? Early scholarship saw the news media mainly as a source of data on collective action, and sought to ascertain its biases, but scholarship has increasingly focused directly on why movements gain coverage, especially coverage that can advance their goals. To understand why and how newspapers cover movement actors, we start with the insight that movements rely on the news media for many reasons, but their coverage is largely in the control of news institutions. In this review, we focus on perspectives that specify 3‐way interactions between the characteristics of newspapers, social movement actors, and the social and political contexts, but we begin with how news media institutions are organized. We conclude with suggestions for future research that take advantage of the digital revolution of the last generation.     

新闻语篇功能分析

新闻语篇分析有着重要的理论与现实意义,本文主要从词汇、句法、信息结构特征和人际功能等几个方面,分析了新闻语篇的语言特色,揭示了其语类特征.     

论法治对人治的批判精神

法治对人治的批判精神主要表现为 :坚持人性本恶 ,反对人性本善 ;注重对公共权力的监督 ,反对个人专断 ;坚持法律价值主义 ,反对法律工具主义。     

MARS as an alternative approach of Gaussian graphical model for biochemical networks

The Gaussian graphical model (GGM) is one of the well-known modelling approaches to describe biological networks under the steady-state condition via the precision matrix of data. In literature there are different methods to infer model parameters based on GGM. The neighbourhood selection with the lasso regression and the graphical lasso method are the most common techniques among these alternative estimation methods. But they can be computationally demanding when the system's dimension increases. Here, we suggest a non-parametric statistical approach, called the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) as an alternative of GGM. To compare the performance of both models, we evaluate the findings of normal and non-normal data via the specificity, precision, F-measures and their computational costs. From the outputs, we see that MARS performs well, resulting in, a plausible alternative approach with respect to GGM in the construction of complex biological systems.     

Friends in high places: A dyadic perspective on peer status as predictor of friendship quality and the mediating role of empathy and prosocial behavior

Friendships and peer status play important roles in the social landscape of adolescents and are related to developmental outcomes. Yet, how peer status is related to friendship quality and what role social skills play in this association remains unclear. In this study, we use Actor–Partner Interdependence (Mediation) Modeling (Ledermann, Macho, & Kenny, 2011 ) to investigate how two forms of peer status, preference and popularity, are related to positive and negative friendship quality in mid‐adolescence. Results show that adolescents who are friends with more preferred (i.e., likeable) and popular adolescents report higher friendship quality. These partner effects were partially mediated by adolescents’ own prosocial behavior and their friends’ empathy levels. Higher levels of empathy of one's friend and one's own lesser preference for equity explained why adolescents were more satisfied in a friendship with highly preferred (i.e., likeable) adolescents. Interestingly, empathy was not a mediator for the link between friendship quality and popularity. These findings promote a better understanding of the interplay between different levels of social complexity (i.e., individual, dyadic and peer group level) in adolescence.     

Attachment Styles and Self‐Image in Turkish Adolescents

The purpose of this article is to examine the attachment styles and the relation of these styles to the self‐image in Turkish adolescents. The study included 378 adolescents (196 females and 182 males) from high schools with different socioeconomic status (SES) who were administered Relationship Scale Questionnaires and Offer Self‐Image Questionnaires. The findings indicate that adolescents from a low SES had significantly low scores on self‐image scales compared with those from high and middle SES. It was found that secure attachment patterns affect social relationships and superior adjustment aspects of self‐image positively. The results of this study show that attachment patterns play an important role in the development of the self‐image, which is a crucial psychological structure gained in adolescence.     

Factors Motivating Individuals to Take Precautionary Action for an Expected Earthquake in Istanbul

Istanbul is expected to experience an earthquake in the near future, but individuals show limited interest in preparing for it. This study aims to identify the factors associated with taking action to prepare for an earthquake and mitigate its effects at the individual level. A field survey was carried out in 2007 in two districts of Istanbul with different levels of earthquake risk. Within these districts, three socioeconomic levels were considered. A total of 1,123 people were interviewed face to face. Analysis indicated that the educational level of the respondents was the leading factor associated with taking at least three measures, followed by living in a higher earthquake risk area, having participated in rescue and solidarity activities in previous earthquakes, a higher level of knowledge about earthquakes, home ownership, a higher score for action‐stimulating attitudes, being younger, and a higher general safety score, in that order. The findings pointed to the role of knowledge about earthquakes and possible mitigation/preparedness measures, and thus the importance of developing effective awareness programs. Such programs should also consider the characteristics of different groups in the population. Motivated individuals, such as those who have participated in rescue and solidarity activities in previous earthquakes, could be involved in reaching other people.     

关于我国社会保障税的政策研究

社会保障税是筹集社会保障所需资金的一种税 ,是许多国家社会保障体系中主要的资金筹措手段。文章介绍了世界各国社会保障制度的基本情况 ,分析了我国社会保障制度存在的主要问题 ,指出我国开征社会保障税势在必行 ,提出了我国开征社会保障税的目标和应遵循的基本原则 ,阐述了开征社会保障税应考虑的几个问题。