日本学界战国秦汉史研究的回顾与展望(2020)

在过去不久的2020年中,日本汉学界在中国古代史研究领域取得了丰硕成果。本文全面搜集日文论著中战国秦汉史的最新研究成果,析分为文献研究、政治制度史、社会习俗、对外关系、学术思想以及考古与美术史等分支领域,逐一介绍其具体观点。文章在对研究内容进行概述的同时,措意于呈现研究方法及学界最新趋势与动态,并略述及日本汉学界与中国及欧美的学术交流意识,期待能为世界范围内的古代中国研究者提供一定的参考。     

CORPORATE TAX POLICY AND INDUSTRY LOCATION WITH FULLY ENDOGENOUS PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH

This paper considers how national corporate tax policy affects productivity growth through adjustments in geographic patterns of industry in a two‐country model of trade. With trade costs and imperfect knowledge spillovers between countries, production concentrates partially and innovation concentrates fully in the country with the lowest tax rate. A rise in the international corporate tax differential accelerates productivity growth through an increase in the production share of the low‐tax country that improves knowledge spillovers from industry to innovation. The paper also investigates the relationship between the corporate tax differential and the level of market entry, and analytically characterizes the effects of changes in tax policy on national welfare. (JEL F43, O30, O40, R12)     

Transformation: Canadian Social Policy Since 1985

This paper sets out to document and explain the major structural changes which have taken place in Canada's social security system since the mid-1980s. Most major programs have been cut back one way or another, in response to a combination of pressures. Foremost amongst these has been the commitment to reduce federal and provincial government deficits. In addition there have been the consequences of high unemployment and increasing job insecurity, demographic and social changes, and "tax fatigue" on the part of the public. The paper documents major recent changes of social policy both in general—with regard to the changed approach evident at federal level and its effect on social transfers to the provinces—and in respect of key programs, including unemployment/employment insurance, old age pensions/the Canada Pension Plan, and child benefits. The paper next identifies "currents and undercurrents" common to all of the developments commented on: the decline of universality, the practice of "social policy-making by stealth", the evidence of the contemporary Canadian public's "collective ambivalence and loss of memory" in respect of the major, historic social programs. It concludes by urging the case for social reinvestment in genuinely sustainable social policy, in the currently more favourable fiscal climate.     

Linking Objectives to Actions: A Decision Support Approach Based on Cause–Effect Linkages

The process of translating objectives into actions is a difficult task. This difficulty is due to the wide range of possibilities and the lack of structured information. Managers must take into account relevant information and generate a range of options before a decision is reached. So far, little is available to guide managers in translating a set of objectives into actions. This paper presents a three‐stage action‐planning process to address this gap. The process, supported by a software tool, takes managers through the stages of model building, action generation, and action evaluation and selection. A case study illustrates the application of the process. The paper concludes by discussing the implication of this work for managers and academics.     

The Use and “Abuse” of Family in Policy Matters

Family as an institution and as rhetoric appears to play an inordinate role in shaping social policy formation, implementation, and evaluation. Its impact affects the work of applied and academic sociologists in multiple ways. Given its importance and the manner in which it operates, I argue that family may be usefully studied as an ideograph. I present a detailed analysis of how family operates rhetorically to shape and constrain policy-related matters. I also illustrate how it affects and delimits consideration of some specific social concerns, and I conclude that social science practitioners should conscientiously take family into account as we do our own work.     

Running On Empty: Transport, Social Exclusion and Environmental Justice

This is a timely and well-conceived collection, published ata time when transport and its attendant constellation of concernsare a major preoccupation of governments and citizens acrossthe world. We are living in a time when mobility, for some atleast, has increased beyond what anyone could have imagineda generation or so ago. At the same time, we are facing potentiallycatastrophic and certainly very far-reaching consequences bothat the micro level of local environmental damage and at themacro level of climate change. This book attempts to synthesizea wide range of issues into a coherent and productive argument,structured