The role of technology in reconfiguring volunteer management in nonprofits in Hong Kong: Benefits and discontents

There is plenty of evidence demonstrating that volunteering generates benefits for individuals and society at large. However, the role of technology used in recruiting, managing, and retaining volunteers in nonprofits is underexplored in East Asia. Drawing from in‐depth interviews with representatives of eight nonprofits, we examine how technology reconfigured volunteer management in nonprofits, identify its limitations and shortcomings, and discuss strategies in which technology can be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer management. We found, through this study, that the use of technology reconfigured key aspects of volunteer management: improving recruitment by enlarging and diversifying the volunteer pool; enhancing precision and speed of volunteer matching; improving nonprofits’ ability to recruit professionals; and reducing overall administrative burden of volunteer management within these nonprofits. However, challenges in volunteer management resulting from technology uptake were also observed, including resistance among frontline staff to adopt technology, and volunteer accountability and quality assurance. Specifically, it was found through this study that the extent to which nonprofits are able to effectively utilize technology in volunteer management is contingent on how well volunteer managers are able to actualize the notion of capacity optimization, create a friendly volunteer environment, and build rapport with volunteers. Implications for enhancing organizational capacity in volunteer management vis‐à‐vis the role of technology in the third sector are further discussed.     

Navigating Intersectional Approaches,Methods, and Interdisciplinarity to Health Equity in LGBTQ+ Communities

Abstract

The broad spectrum of health services and wellness surrounding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities operates within multiple layers of social inequities. Research using intersectionality features numerous research methods purposed specifically for clarity toward increasing health equity. Generated in the scope of various research methods (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods), utilizing intersectionality illustrates potential to explore complex phenomena and outcomes within LGBTQ+?communities. As intersectionality thrives on interdisciplinarity, this article focuses on three overarching purposes: (a) accentuate health equity and social justice across an interdisciplinary scope for LGBTQ+?communities, (b) highlight formative principles grounded in intersectionality, and (c) supplement recommendations for research targeting health equity.     

The more you know,the more you give: Influence of online disclosure on European community foundations' donations

Competition is high in the charitable contributions market, and donors demand to know how nonprofit organizations use the money they receive. In scrutinizing the variables that affect the capacity of nonprofits to attract donations, previous research has highlighted the positive influence of the amount of financial and performance information that nonprofits disclose through their websites. This study explored whether the depth of the organizations' online disclosures also affects these donations. In line with existing studies on regression‐based economic models of giving, this study considered community foundations—focusing on the United Kingdom and Italy—and its results indicated that managing the depth of the information provided through financial reports can influence donors' sensitivity and willingness to donate.     

国有商业银行信贷中的几个经济学问题

在信贷市场上,银行和企业分别扮演着委托人和代理人的角色,两者存在着信息不对称。重点探讨了信贷市场中由于信息不对称性而产生的道德风险、逆向选择、机制设计、寻租行为等经济学问题及其解决办法。     

A multi-group structural equation model (SEM) examining asset holding effects on educational attainment by race and gender

Little is known about the processes through which parents' and children's wealth may influence children's math and reading scores. Even less is known about how these processes may vary across race and gender. In this study we analyze Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data using multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine wealth effects by gender (male/female) and race (white/black). Results suggest that there are important statistical differences across race and gender. For example, we find that children's school savings predict math scores among white children but not black children. Net worth is a positive predictor of black males' math scores but a negative predictor of black females'. In the case of income, we find that it is directly related to black females' math scores but not black males'. In general, findings suggest that liquid forms of wealth (i.e., forms of wealth that are easily converted into cash) may be better predictors of children's academic achievement than net worth.     

基于Logit模型的上市公司财务预警实证分析

以2005-2007年中国上市公司为研究对象,采用Logit模型对上市公司财务预警进行实证分析,并对模型的预测效果进行了检验。结果表明logit模型可以对上市公司一年后是否出现财务危机进行预测。     

Hong Kong Parents’ Perceptions and Experiences of Involvement in Homework: A Family Capital and Resource Management Perspective

This qualitative study examines Hong Kong Chinese parents’ perceptions and experiences of involving in their primary school children’s homework process. It draws upon the theoretical frameworks of family capital theory and family resource management perspective to explicate the role of parents in enhancing children’s homework outcomes. Information was collected through individual and focus-group interviews with 52 parents who had at least one child attending primary school. Findings of this study provide a glimpse into the range of homework-involvement strategies used by Chinese parents, and reveal parental goals and cultural values embedded in the generation of family capital. Such understanding on parental involvement is helpful for schools and policy-makers in cultivating parents’ participation in home-based learning processes for children.     

Intimacy and its Denial: When Sons and Daughters Talk About Fatherhood,Marriage, and Work

In this article, I want to offer two vignettes to show the internal workings, or the psycho-social interiors, of the Chinese family. How are the private, the personal, the internal, the local, and the familial being affected by the public and the global, by the external forces in the midst of globalization—and, of course, vice versa? One vignette concerns children: sons and daughters, talking about their own fathers and about fatherhood in Singapore. The other vignette concerns daughters and single women in Hong Kong talking about men, intimacy, sexuality, marriage, family, and, more importantly today, work. The two post-colonial societies are similar and different in a number of ways.     

Simulation of stationary Gaussian vector fields

In earlier work we described a circulant embedding approach for simulating scalar-valued stationary Gaussian random fields on a finite rectangular grid, with the covariance function prescribed. Here, we explain how the circulant embedding approach can be used to simulate Gaussian vector fields. As in the scalar case, the simulation procedure is theoretically exact if a certain non-negativity condition is satisfied. In the vector setting, this exactness condition takes the form of a nonnegative definiteness condition on a certain set of Hermitian matrices. The main computational tool used is the Fast Fourier Transform. Consequently, when implemented appropriately, the procedure is highly efficient, in terms of both CPU time and storage.     

我国农业高校SSCI论文计量分析——以部分农业高校为例

为了解和研究我国农业大学社会科学研究的现状和特点,进一步促进农业大学社会科学研究的发展,以SSCI收录中国农业大学、南京农业大学和华中农业大学等6所主要农业大学论文的相关数据为依据,从论文数量、被引频次、文献类型、学科分布等方面进行了统计与分析。结果表明,近5年是农业高校社科研究的快速发展时期,但仍然存在SSCI论文整体数量少、学科覆盖面窄等问题,从政策支持、组建研究团队、SSCI数据库使用等方面提出了有关建议。