中国对外直接投资与海外资源寻求型并购——中铝并购力拓的案例分析

尽管中铝收购力拓以失败告终,但中国寻找海外资源的战略并购仍旧热情不减。现有的交易理论或投资理论无法恰当地解释中国大型国企收购海外矿产公司的行为动机,而通过分析中铝收购力拓的案例可以得出：与跨国公司不同,中国大型企业“走出去”是国家打造世界强国和实现全球化发展战略的一部分;由于软预算约束及中国政府的大力支持,中国大型企业在风险承受和资金筹集方面具有的优势远远优于海外竞争对手;全球金融危机为中国大型企业的赶超战略提供了机遇,海外跨国公司应该认清其与中国大型企业的差别,以从中国对外直接投资中获益。     

Differences in soil chemical properties with distance to roads and age of development in urban areas

The main objective of this study was to characterize variation in soil chemical properties with length of urbanization period and distance to roads. Urban boundaries from 1920’s (old), 1960’s (middle) and 2000’s (new) were identified for three cities in northeast Ohio: Massillon, Wooster and Canton. Within each identified historic boundary, soil samples were collected from two road-side and two interior lawns in one public school site in each city. Thus, there were three urban age and two distance-to-roads classes. Soil particle composition and basic chemical properties including pH, available phosphorus (P), exchangeable potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), cation exchange capacity (CEC), nitrate, total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), and soil organic matter (SOM) were measured. Two notable spatio-temporal patterns appeared repeatedly in the data set. First, total C, total N and SOM were higher in the soils of old (>50 years) urban sites than of newly developed sites. Similar, but not always significant, trends in soil pH, and exchangeable Ca were also observed. Second, road-side soils had higher pH, Ca, total C and N than interior sites regardless of urban age. These data indicate that key soil chemical properties can vary in predictable ways with urban age and distance-to-roads classes. Such variations in key soil chemical properties may influence or reflect soil biota and biogeochemical processes in urban soils.     

Are European social safety nets tight enough? Coverage and adequacy of Minimum Income schemes in 14 EU countries

Figari F, Matsaganis M, Sutherland H. Are European social safety nets tight enough? Coverage and adequacy of Minimum Income schemes in 14 EU countries This study explored and compared the effectiveness of Minimum Income (MI) schemes for persons of working age in the European Union (EU). Using the European microsimulation model EUROMOD, we estimated indicators of coverage and adequacy of MI schemes in 14 EU countries. In terms of coverage, we found that in several countries, some individuals are ineligible for MI even when they fall below a poverty line set at 40 per cent of median income. With respect to adequacy, we show that in certain countries, a large fraction of those entitled to MI remain at very low levels of income even when MI benefit is added. Overall, our findings suggest that MI schemes in Europe remain divergent, and that their clustering may be more complex than has hitherto been allowed for. Key Practitioner Message: ?The ability of European welfare states to fight poverty is a key policy question, especially at times of crisis;?Adequacy and coverage of Minimum Income schemes are crucial aspects of the answer;?Microsimulation allows us to separate the effectiveness of MI schemes ‘by design’, from issues of benefit administration, targeting errors and so forth.     

Abstracts

Reference is made to CCETSW's Paper 20:8, 1987, with its stated aim of ‘promoting high standards and good practice in social work through an improvement in the quality of social work education' and with its concern for the training taking place within practice itself. There follows a presentation of the view, that a course in which practice is the central subject, is crucially different from a theoretical one, requiring a different structure and the use of the material of practice as a main teaching resource; and that such a course could be at a high level, but needs lecturers from the universities and colleges to come out into practice to join with accredited teachers in teaching from it. Some illustrations are given of the use of practice material and of the kinds of frameworks available. It is suggested that the areas of emphasis described by CCETSW would facilitate and make more necessary such changes. It is important that there is an ethos common to CCETSW, the agencies and education.     

Multimedia Benchmarking Analysis for Three Risk Assessment Models: RESRAD, MMSOILS, and MEPAS

This paper is one in a series that describes results of a benchmarking analysis initiated by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An overview of the study is provided in a companion paper by Laniak et al. presented in this journal issue. The three models used in the study—RESRAD (DOE), MMSOILS (EPA), and MEPAS (DOE)—represent analytically-based tools that are used by the respective agencies for performing human exposure and health risk assessments. Both single media and multimedia benchmarking scenarios were developed and executed. In this paper, the multimedia scenario is examined. That scenario consists of a hypothetical landfill that initially contained uranium-238 and methylene chloride. The multimedia models predict the fate of these contaminants, plus the progeny of uranium-238, through the unsaturated zone, saturated zone, surface water, and atmosphere. Carcinogenic risks are calculated from exposure to the contaminants via multiple pathways. Results of the tests show that differences in model endpoint estimates arise from both differences in the models' mathematical formulations and assumptions related to the implementation of the scenarios.