From Consultancy to Critique: The ‘Success Story’ of Globalized Zakat Management in Malaysia and its Normative Ambiguities

The administration of Islamic alms (zakat) funds in Malaysia underwent spectacular transformations since the 1990s, shaped by the appropriation of marketized forms of management and a skyrocketing growth of collection and distribution rates. Simultaneously, local zakat funds are increasingly used to pursue targets of sustainable poverty reduction, such as the empowerment of micro-entrepreneurship. This globally inspired ‘success story’ is referred to by various international observers, including development organizations, as a ‘role model’ for other countries to learn from. After illustrating what makes the Malaysian case so particularly attractive, this article develops a critique of international perceptions of this ‘success story’ by making explicit some of its underlying ambiguities. Instead of narrowly celebrating instrumental aspects of business-style organizational innovation and calling for their globalization, a deeper understanding of the discursive embeddedness of Malaysian zakat management would reveal significant normative tensions with secular humanitarian ethics and human rights law, with implications beyond the Malaysian case.     

数据驱动的电子健康服务管理研究：挑战与展望

 电子健康的产生和发展为解决现阶段医疗资源的紧缺和分配不均、医患关系紧张等问题提供了新的途径，同时也带来了新的问题和挑战，而当前关于该方向的基础理论和方法尚不完善，亟待研究者和实践者的关注和探索。结合国内外研究现状，对电子健康服务包含的4个主要方向(即健康大数据分析、基于数据的健康评估和疾病预警、服务管理和价值创造、服务管理实践)进行回顾和梳理，并对中国的研究和实践现状进行详细分析。        基于数据驱动的电子健康服务管理的实践和研究现状，对当前研究中存在的问题进行分析和总结，主要包括由于健康数据的多源性导致的信息管理问题、多参与方导致的服务管理问题和管理实践问题。在此基础上提出健康大数据分析方法、数据驱动的健康评估和疾病预警、基于大数据的电子健康服务过程和管理机制研究、基于大数据的电子健康可持续性价值创造机理研究和管理实践研究5个未来研究方向，健康大数据分析方法包括有偏样本数据检验和矫正方法、纵向研究中健康大数据分析方法、中文医疗信息处理，数据驱动的健康评估和疾病预警包括基于电子病历和移动医疗的个人健康评估和疾病预警、基于电子病历和社交媒体的群体疾病监测和预警，基于大数据的电子健康服务过程和管理机制研究包括用户决策、服务传递和服务管理，基于大数据的电子健康可持续性价值创造机理研究包括用户持续使用、反馈有效性，为今后的电子健康相关研究提供理论和实践指导。     

Ageing and Living Conditions of the Elderly: Sweden 1980–1998

General social reports on ageing and the elderly in Sweden have been published regularly since the 1970s, within the regular system of social reporting for Sweden, based on large-scale annual social surveys ongoing since three decades (ULF). This paper presents key findings from the recent social report for the elderly (Vogel et al., 2000). The recent report studies cross-sectional and longitudinal change in living conditions (trends over two decades; 1980–1998; register and survey data; n = 112,400), comparing between all three generations (youth, elderly, and mid-age), using a set of 82 social indicators within 12 social domains, and furthermore decomposing change in different generations by additional cleavages (social class, gender, family, region). Age variation and trends in living conditions are interpreted with respect to the changing welfare mix, i.e. the institutional configuration between labour market, welfare state and family. Findings are summarized as a generally widening generation gap, with improved living conditions for the elderly, and decreased conditions for the youngest generation.     

中国宝塔在近代欧洲花园设计中的应用

欧洲人对宝塔的兴趣和他们从乌托邦维度审视中国的历史密切相关.中国的宝塔最早出现在欧洲旅行家的传记中,随后逐渐开始了对这一建筑样式的仿造.在巴洛克时期,欧洲园林中的宝塔是专制王权权力欲望的象征.在洛可可时代,宝塔则寄寓着早期启蒙知识分子追求开明专制的政治理想.18世纪中期,欧洲人对东亚宝塔摹仿精确性的要求不断提高,这种仿造与当时人们对东方社会政治模式的平民化想像相一致.但是,到了19世纪初,围绕宝塔虚构的东方神奇世界失去了它的重要性,欧洲人建造宝塔的兴趣也随之减退.     

Consistency of the kernel density estimator: a survey

Various consistency proofs for the kernel density estimator have been developed over the last few decades. Important milestones are the pointwise consistency and almost sure uniform convergence with a fixed bandwidth on the one hand and the rate of convergence with a fixed or even a variable bandwidth on the other hand. While considering global properties of the empirical distribution functions is sufficient for strong consistency, proofs of exact convergence rates use deeper information about the underlying empirical processes. A unifying character, however, is that earlier and more recent proofs use bounds on the probability that a sum of random variables deviates from its mean.     

Individuelle Freiheit als Grundlage normativer Ökonomik

The economic approach to CSR has been increasingly criticized as being too narrow to provide a basis for ethical judgments. However, economic theory makes an implicit but fundamental ethical judgment as it emphasizes individual freedom, premising that everyone should be free to make their decisions in the marketplace. I interpret this ethical judgment explicitly and derive three implications, which allow assessing the legitimacy of corporate action in a globalized world. More specifically, I argue that contracts must rely on the voluntary and informed consent of all people concerned to be legitimate. Companies have the responsibility to ensure that these criteria are met in their contracts.     

Efficiency versus fairness: The evaluation of labor market policies by economists and laypeople

The present study examines the criteria used by economic laypeople (N = 380 German citizens) and economists (N = 80 professors or postgraduates in economics) in judging reform measures as illustrated by policies of governmental labor market intervention policies. Results reveal substantial differences between economists and laypeople. Most laypersons favored labor market interventions and regarded them as both, efficient and fair. In contrast, most economists opposed labor market interventions and regarded them as both, inefficient and unfair. Using structural equation modelling we further show that the relative importance of efficiency and fairness differs between both groups. While economists base the acceptance of a certain reform measure mainly on its perceived efficiency, laypersons mainly focus on its perceived fairness. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.     

Just how multi-level is leadership research? A document co-citation analysis 1980–2013 on leadership constructs and outcomes

The use of multi-level theories and methodologies in leadership has gained momentum in recent years. However, the leadership field still suffers from a fragmented and unclear evolution and practice of multi-level approaches. The questions of how and to what extent multi-level research has evolved in both leadership phenomena and leadership outcomes, and which informal research networks drove this evolution, remain vastly unexplored. In this study, the extent of literature published between 1980 and 2013 is analyzed using a document co-citation analysis and invisible colleges' framework. This allows us to map the evolution of the multi-level intellectual structure of the leadership field. Specifically, we identify a number of distinct colleges – their conceptualization of leadership and outcomes – and trace their evolution paths over thirty years. We find a considerable fragmentation of the field, with the usage of multi-level leadership conceptualization mostly embraced by more peripheral clusters. Finally we discuss implications for further research with regard to a set of distinct trajectories for the future evolution of multi-level approaches in the leadership domain.     

Wie beeinflussen Geschlecht und Bildungsherkunft den Übergang in individuelle und strukturierte Promotionsformen?

The recent expansion of structured doctoral programs in Germany aims on reducing social selectivity in access to doctoral studies. Therefore, this article firstly explores if gender and educational background differences differ on the transition to individual and structured doctorates. Secondly, it examines the underlying mechanisms that may account for these differences. Analyses are based on data from the DZHW graduate panel studies. Findings confirm that the effects of educational background on entering a structured doctoral program or grant program are lower than those found on transition to individual doctorates, where doctorates are pursued within a research assistant position or as an external doctoral candidate. Gender only influences the transition into a PhD within a research assistant position. Mediator analyses show that this gender difference can largely be explained by subject choices, student assistant jobs and parenthood. For educational background differences, performance differences also explain a big part of the effects. To what extend these mechanisms contribute to unequal entry chances, however, varies between different formal PhD contexts.