A cultural economy perspective on service sector migration in the global city: the case of Hong Kong

This article argues that in order to fully understand the geography of labour migration to global cities, it is necessary to consider economic forces in conjunction with mediating socio-cultural influences. Support for this argument is based on an examination of the pattern of migration to Hong Kong, a city which plays a significant role in the world economy.
Reported here are the results of an analysis of recently released 1996 by-census data, and the authors' interviews with foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. These findings have shown that highly skilled immigrant workers were drawn largely from developed countries, the main sources of inward investment in this city, while less skilled immigrants were drawn from less developed neighbouring labour markets.
While the geographical pattern of immigration followed broadly that predicted from Hong Kong's position in the world economy, the results have revealed that cultural influences such as language and social networks are also important in shaping the economic roles of migrant workers.     

Bequests as a heir "disciple device."

This paper develops a model ofinter vivos gifts and bequests in a setting of moral hazard and adverse selection. Altruistic parents do not perfectly know how much effort their children make to earn their living, nor do they know their true level of ability.Inter vivos gifts take place prior to the realization of the children's earnings whereas at the moment of bequests, parents do observe them. We show that an optimal transfer policy generally uses a mix ofinter vivos gifts — deemed as more efficient — and bequests — deemed as more redistributive.We are thankful to Allessandro Cigno, Jacques Cremer, Claude d Aspremont and anonymous referees for their comments.Responsible editor: Alessandro Cigno     

The health status of elderly people and the new direction of health services

The projected increase of people in Japan aged 75 years and older in the years to come implies the increase of the disabled elderly. Thus, the core of societal preparation for the aging of the population is generally considered to be the expansion of services for the disabled elderly. However, gerontological studies on the health status of the elderly conducted in Japan show that the prevalence of disability is quite low and even decreasing. Relative to the services for the disabled elderly, preventive services for the healthy elderly have long been overlooked. In 1994, the Metropolitan Tokyo Government organized a task force to develop a new health education program as the preventive health service for the healthy urban elderly. A preliminary plan outlining the health education program--consisting of propagation with a booklet, on-the-job training of practitioners, and development of new curricula and teaching materials--was proposed by the authors for discussion within the task force. Although the inquiry has just begun and the plan is still nascent, it seems adequate to fit the needs for preventive health services in the near future.     

阿拉贡:成长与变化

去年,为了庆祝法共作家阿拉贡的八十岁生日,法共通过它的报刊发表文章,对他的创作展开评价.在新里昂大学组织的"阿拉贡月"的一次报告会上,法共作家普列伏斯特作了这个题目的演说,对阿拉贡在创作道路上经历的三个阶段进行了分析.《新评论》杂志1977年6、7月号刊登了这篇演说,摘译如下.     

经济理论的第二次危机

1971年12月27日,英国经济学家琼·罗宾逊在美国经济学协会第八十四届年会的理查德·艾黎讲座上作了一篇题为《经济理论的第二次危机》的讲演.罗宾逊夫人在讲演中提出了资产阶级经济理论正在经受第二次危机,并对美国凯恩斯派经济理论展开了猛烈的抨击.我国学术界对此讲演曾作过介绍.鉴于这场论争有助于我们了解垄断资产阶级经济理论的发展和演变,现将罗宾逊夫人的《经济理论的第二次危机》和美国凯恩斯派代表人物詹姆斯·托宾的《英国剑桥与美国剑桥之间的论战》两篇文章的摘要一并刊出;同时,我们请中国社会科学院经济研究所黄范章同志写了一篇文章:《从"两个剑桥之争"谈起》,对这场论争的背景和意义,作了扼要的评论.     

当代生活与艺术之死:第二、第三和第一世界

当今所谓的艺术,主要是受20世纪七八十年代以来发展并在全球范围内扩散的美国式“艺术”观念所支配,而再也不受德语的“艺术”或法语的“美的艺术”体系所支配。自从现代主义诞生以来,艺术的历史使命的减弱或者消失已经成为事实,但从全球范围而言,“艺术的终结”这一论断仍有些夸大其词。因为在第一世界的艺术死亡之后(这里存在更多的是文化),第二和第三世界的艺术还生长着。艺术从根本上说还不是一个媒介事件和现象,而是一个同我们每个人相关的东西——不管它是不是商品。     

从所有的地方获得好的构想

一些令你确保构想在你的企业里胜出的可做之事: ▲不要以为你或你的公司拥有全部答案: 这是一个学习型企业的第一条商业法则,如果你以为你无所不 知,那么你就会停止寻找好的构想。 ▲研究竞争对手: 韦尔奇认为,学习好的构想的最佳去处之一就是你的竞争对手那 里。养成一个习惯,每周花1小时时间研究他们的网页、产品目录和其 他所有能使你了解他们的最新创意的东西。     

从语义学到心灵哲学： 重思对阿奎那关于理智之非物质性论证的一些批评

阿奎那关于个别感觉与普遍理性表征的理论是其对理智之非物质性论证的关键部分，但这一理论受到司各特、奥卡姆及布里丹等后来者的批评。然而，这些批评其实都不能成立。阿奎那的论证并不像罗伯特·帕斯纳奥对他的诘难中所说的那样，犯了从一个表征的语义内容推出此表征之本体论属性的“内容谬误”。此外，由布里丹本人的评论可以看出，布里丹实际上不得不接受他所批评的阿奎那论证所蕴含的主要内容。