A Data Envelopment Analysis-Based Methodology Adopting Assurance Region Approach for Measuring Corporate Social Performance

Many research papers calculate corporate social performance (CSP) with the net score method, i.e., by subtracting the number of concerns from the number of strengths. Although widely adopted, this method implies, perhaps mistakenly, that each indicator is of equal importance and that however serious the social misconduct a firm may have engaged in, it can be completely offset by some positive social action. The method also implies that a given firm that has done both a lot of harm and a lot of good will have CSP similar to that of another firm that has done little harm and little good. In this study, however, we question the appropriateness of the net score method in terms of its ability to truly reflect CSP and truly identify the real effects of CSP on various characteristics. We therefore propose a data envelopment analysis-based methodology that adopts the assurance region approach for evaluating CSP, through which various CSP indicators are converted into a single composite measure of CSP. Our findings show that our proposed methodology consistently performs better than the net score method in evaluating CSP.

     

Household Assets,the Role of Government Assistance,and Depression Among Low-Income Families in Shanghai

As China’s economy is rapidly changing from a planned to a capitalist economy, many families find themselves financially struggling. In some cases, conflicting values and attitudes may contribute to mental health challenges such as depression that would lead to further feelings of helplessness and immobilization. Using a random sample of 1006 low-income households from Pudong District of Shanghai, China, this study aims to examine the relationships between household assets, beliefs about government as the primary way to improve economic circumstances and self-reported depressive symptoms. In addition, this study investigates the mediation effects of beliefs that government is the best change agent for improved life circumstances on the relationship between household assets and depression. We found those who indicated that government was the main means for attaining a better life had significantly higher depression levels whereas higher numbers of household assets were associated with lower depression levels. We also found that viewing government as the most important change agent only partially mediated the relationship between household assets and depression (p?<?.001). Findings from this study support anti-poverty policies and social work related practice initiatives aimed at assisting low income families in China, in particular the need to address psychological as well as economic needs.

     

Migration and fuel use in rural Zambia

Population and Environment - What is the effect of migration on fuel use in rural Zambia? Opportunities to increase income can be scarce in this setting; in response, households may pursue a...     

Vocational Status,Hukou and Housing Migrants in the New Century: Evidence from a Multi-city Study of Housing Inequality

In the 1960s and 1970s, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union experienced an unanticipated stagnation in the process of mortality reduction that was accelerating in the west. This was followed by even starker fluctuations and overall declines in life expectancy during the 1980s and 1990s. We identify statistically the extent to which, since the 1990s, the countries of the post-communist region have converged as a group towards other regional or cross-regional geopolitical blocks, or whether there are now multiple steady-states (‘convergence clubs’) emerging among these countries. We apply a complex convergence club methodology, including a recursive analysis, to data on 30 OECD countries (including 11 post-communist countries) drawn from the Human Mortality Database and spanning the period 1959–2010. We find that, rather than converging uniformly on western life expectancy levels, the post-communist countries have diverged into multiple clubs, with the lowest seemingly stuck in low-level equilibria, while the best performers (e.g. Czech Republic) show signs of catching-up with the leading OECD countries. As the post-communist period has progressed, the group of transition countries themselves has become more heterogeneous and it is noticeable that distinctive gender and age patterns have emerged. We are the first to employ an empirical convergence club methodology to help understand the complex long-run patterns of life expectancy within the post-communist region, one of very few papers to situate such an analysis in the context of the OECD countries, and one of relatively few to interpret the dynamics over the long-term.     

ENTERTAINING MALTHUS: BREAD,CIRCUSES, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Motivated by the basic adage that man does not live by bread alone, we offer a theory of historical economic growth and population dynamics where human beings need food to survive, but enjoy other things, too. Our model imposes a Malthusian constraint on food, but introduces a second good to the analysis that affects living standards without affecting population growth. We show that technological change does a good job explaining historical consumption patterns and population dynamics, including the Neolithic Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Great Divergence. Our theory stands in contrast to models that assume a single composite good and a Malthusian constraint. These models generate negligible growth prior to the Industrial Revolution. However, recent revisions to historical data show that historical living standards—though obviously much lower than today's—varied over time and space much more than previously thought. These revisions include updates to Maddison's dataset, which served as the basis for many papers taking long‐run stagnation as a point of departure. This new evidence suggests that the assumption of long‐run stagnation is problematic. Our model shows that when we give theoretical accounting of these new observations the Industrial Revolution is much less puzzling. (JEL B10, I31, J1, N1, O30)     

Blocking Rumor by Cut

In this paper, a rumor blocking problem is studied with an objective function which is neither submodular or supermodular. We will prove that this problem is NP-hard and give a data-dependent approximation with sandwich method. In addition, we show that every set function has a pair of monotone nondecreasing modular functions as upper bound and lower bound, respectively.     

青年大学生法律教育论

大学生法律教育是高校素质教育的重要组成部分,对建立社会主义市场经济,对依法治国,建设社会主义法治国家目标的实现具有现实意义。对大学生进行法律教育重在培养他们的法律观念,各级组织和高校表现重视这项工作,不仅要坚持做好这项工作,而且要不断改善社会和学校的法制环境,为大学生法律教育创造良好的社会条件和实践基础。同时要求相关的道德、素质、纪律以及专业教育的有机配合,才能取得实效。     

教育断层与道德失衡——社会行业风气对大学生思想教育的影响

本文对作为在社会行业风气中处于核心地位的医德医风现状．及其对医科大学生所产生的影响进行分析的基础上进一步就如何加强医科大学生思想道德教育提出了一些针对性措施。     

作为幻象的图腾制度——读《图腾制度》

结构主义人类学大师列维-斯特劳斯(Claude Lévi-Strauss)于2009年10月30日去世,享年101岁.在48年前,也就是1962年,他发表了<野性的思维>②以及<今日图腾>③.1973年,罗德尼·尼德汉(Rodney Needham)将<今日图腾>翻译成英文并出版,并将标题改为了<图腾制度>④.2005年,渠东根据法文版和英文版将这本经典著作翻译成中文并以<图腾制度>⑤为名出版.     

台湾大学生身体意象知觉落差研究

拥有正向的身体意象才易维持身心健康,对台湾大学生身体意象知觉落差的现状研究发现:四成的大学生存在身体意象知觉落差;性别、身心状况、学习满意度对大学生身体意象知觉落差有显著影响。身体意象是重要的公共与教育议题,了解影响大学生身体意象知觉落差因素,不仅有助于个人的自我正确认知,也有助于学校防治策略的制定。