私有化对电信服务商技术能力提高的影响

提出一个技术能力的评估框架,即4种与主要增值活动相关的技术能力(创新能力、设计与工程技术能力、市场营销与销售能力、服务能力)和4种与辅助增值活动相关的技术能力(获取资源能力、人力资源开发能力、战略计划能力、信息技术能力),并将其应用于斯里兰卡电信公司私有化前后的考察,得出私有化带来了技术能力显著提高的结论.     

南充市城区已婚育龄妇女二孩生育意愿研究

2018年4—5月在四川省南充市城区采用便利抽样,以已婚且未育或已育一个小孩的育龄妇女为研究对象,采用自制匿名问卷,以面对面的形式收集资料,了解实施全面二孩政策后南充市育龄妇女的生育意愿,为南充市的人口研究提供参考依据。在213名调查对象中,56人(26.3%)有二孩生育意愿,140人(65.7%)无二孩生育意愿,17人(8.0%)不确定是否生育二孩。南充市被调查者的理想子女个数均值为1.46,意愿子女个数均值为1.27。不同文化程度(χ2=7.512)、配偶月收入(χ2=12.641)、理想子女数(χ2=66.401)、一孩性别(χ2=5.441)的育龄妇女间二孩生育意愿差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。Logistic回归分析显示,第一个孩子性别为女孩(OR=2.641,P=0.021)、丈夫月收入越高(OR=1.761,P=0.028)、理想子女数多于1个(OR=29.040,P<0.001)的育龄妇女更有意愿生育二孩。南充市城区二孩生育意愿处于较低水平,经济收入、理想子女数、一孩性别会影响育龄妇女的二孩生育意愿。全面二孩政策对于促进育龄妇女生育二孩的效应有限,应当建立相关的配套政策,以促进全面二孩政策的实施。     

Simultaneous Confidence Intervals for the Population Cell Means,for Two-by-Two Factorial Data,that Utilize Uncertain Prior Information

Consider a two-by-two factorial experiment with more than one replicate. Suppose that we have uncertain prior information that the two-factor interaction is zero. We describe new simultaneous frequentist confidence intervals for the four population cell means, with simultaneous confidence coefficient 1 ? α, that utilize this prior information in the following sense. These simultaneous confidence intervals define a cube with expected volume that (a) is relatively small when the two-factor interaction is zero and (b) has maximum value that is not too large. Also, these intervals coincide with the standard simultaneous confidence intervals obtained by Tukey’s method, with simultaneous confidence coefficient 1 ? α, when the data strongly contradict the prior information that the two-factor interaction is zero. We illustrate the application of these new simultaneous confidence intervals to a real data set.     

Attenuating Initial Beliefs: Increasing the Acceptance of Anthropogenic Climate Change Information by Reflecting on Values

Anthropogenic climate change information tends to be interpreted against the backdrop of initial environmental beliefs, which can lead to some people being resistant toward the information. In this article (N = 88), we examined whether self‐affirmation via reflection on personally important values could attenuate the impact of initial beliefs on the acceptance of anthropogenic climate change evidence. Our findings showed that initial beliefs about the human impact on ecological stability influenced the acceptance of information only among nonaffirmed participants. Self‐affirmed participants who were initially resistant toward the information showed stronger beliefs in the existence of climate change risks and greater acknowledgment that individual efficacy has a role to play in reducing climate change risks than did their nonaffirmed counterparts.     

Developing Age-Friendly Cities: Case Studies From Brussels and Manchester and Implications for Policy and Practice

Developing environments responsive to the aspirations of older people has become a major concern for social and public policy. Policies and programs directed at achieving “age-friendly” communities are considered to require a wide range of interventions, including actions at the level of the social and physical environment. This article compares the age-friendly approaches of two European cities, Brussels and Manchester, with a particular focus on policies and initiatives that promote active aging in an urban context. The article examines, first, the demographic, social, and multicultural contexts of Brussels and Manchester; second, the way in which both cities became members of the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities; third, similarities and differences in the age-friendly approaches and actions adopted by both cities; and fourth, opportunities and barriers to the implementation of age-friendly policies. The article concludes by discussing the key elements and resources needed to develop age-friendly cities.     

‘Democracy always comes first’: adolescents’ views on decision-making in everyday life and political democracy

Research shows adolescents to be positively oriented towards democracy, but little is known about what it actually means to them and what their views are on decision-making in both everyday situations and political democracy. To gain insight into these aspects of adolescents’ democratic views, we have interviewed 40 Dutch adolescents from second grade of different types of high school. Potential conflict between various democratic principles prevalent in everyday life situations was discussed and compared to how they view decision-making in political democracy. The results of our qualitative study showed that adolescents’ views on issues concerning collective decision-making in everyday situations are quite rich and reflect different models of democracy (majoritarian, consensual, and deliberative). Moreover, how adolescents deal with tensions between democratic principles in everyday life situations varies. While some adolescents combine several principles (for instance, majority rule as a last resort after trying to find broader consensus), other adolescents tend to strictly focus on only one of these principles. Adolescents’ views on political democracy, however, are rather limited and one-dimensional. Those adolescents who seemed to have a more explicit picture of political democracy often preferred a strict focus on majority rule, neglecting minority interests.     

Housing and children: simultaneous decisions?—a cohort study of young adults’ housing and family formation decision

This study contributes to earlier research on homeownership and childbearing by taking into account the potential simultaneity between these two life events. A dataset comprising three different Swedish birth cohorts suggests that these are events that are indeed simultaneous. Different tests indicate that taking this simultaneity into account gives an overall statistically significant improvement of the model fit. However, this result is most obvious for those young adults who faced increasing problems on the housing market. The childbearing decision of these cohorts also seems to be more sensitive to changes in the user cost.     

Unconditional government social cash transfer in Africa does not increase fertility

Among policymakers, a common perception surrounding the effects of cash transfer programmes, particularly unconditional programmes targeted to families with children, is that they induce increased fertility. We evaluate the Zambian Child Grant Programme, a government unconditional cash transfer targeted to families with a child under the age of 5 and examine impacts on fertility and household composition. The evaluation was a cluster randomized control trial, with data collected over 4 years from 2010 to 2014. Our results indicate that there are no programme impacts on overall fertility. Our results contribute to a small evidence base demonstrating that there are no unintended incentives related to fertility due to cash transfers.