The Russian Military Spending: Modernization Not Rearmament

The Russian Federation has come back on the international scene, in the past years, thanks to its economic expansion and its political stability. The defence sector, a pillar of the Soviet regime, takes advantage of this situation and is receiving increasing funds, although the fraction of the GDP remains constant. Some experts fear a renewed arms race and a new threat for the world security. The analysis of the overall figures leads to a more moderate view. The situation of the Armed Forces suffers from many problems and it is far from being dangerous for the world stability. The core of the Army, the personnel, is in a terrible situation with a huge gap compared with other developed nations. In addition, Russia endures a demographic collapse and it will be always more difficult to find capable arms that use the new generation armaments of the proclaimed modernization plans.

论农村剩余劳动力转移过程中的抑制政策及政府角色

农村剩余劳动力向城市转移是工业化和现代化的必然趋势.可是,许多城市为了缓解城市就业压力,倾向于实行阻碍农民进城打工的"抑制政策".这种抑制政策具有很强的违规性、片面性、狭隘性和盲目性,不利于市场经济的发展、人的全面发展以及社会的进步.所以,作为农村剩余劳动力向城市转移中的关键角色--政府,应努力消除一切阻碍农民进城就业的各种因素,并采取一系列措施促进农村剩余劳动力向城市转移.     

A Permutation and Combination-Based Solution on the Ranking of Multivariate Populations in the Case of Ordered Categorical Responses with Application to the Evaluation of the Indoor Environment

This article deals with the problem of classifying and ranking several multivariate populations of interests using the permutation and combination approach providing also an inferential validity of the procedure. The need to define an appropriate classification of populations, i.e., products, services, teaching courses, degree programs, and so on, is very common within many areas of applied research. Many times the populations of interest are multivariate in nature meaning that many aspects of that populations can be simultaneously observed on the same unit/subject. From a statistical point of view, when the response variable of interest is multivariate in nature, the problem may become quite difficult to cope with especially in case of ordered categorical responses, due to the large dimensionality of the parametric space. Nonparametric inference based on the NPC methodology however, allows us to overcome these limitations, without the need of referring to assume any specified random distribution.     

Underemployment among Mexican-origin women

The authors compare the determinants of three forms of marginal employment between Mexican-origin and white women: unemployment, involuntary part-time employment, and working poverty. They address two main questions. First, are there differences between Mexican-origin and white women in the propensity for unemployment, involuntary part-time employment, and working poverty? Second, do the effects of personal characteristics and job location on underemployment vary by ethnicity? Data are drawn from the Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement File of the 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS). Using multinomial logistic regression models, we show that ethnicity matters in the likelihood of working poverty but not for the other forms of underemployment. Results also reveal that the effects of personal attributes and job location on the likelihood of unemployment, involuntary part-time employment, and working poverty vary for each ethnic group, leading to a double disadvantage for working poor Mexican-origin women.     

中国西部民族地区发展旅游业与弘扬民族文化的融汇

当前少数民族文化有被边缘化的趋势,而将少数民族文化作为旅游资源进行开发可以促进民族地区旅游业的发展,更有利于民族文化的传承与弘扬。但若“单一”地开发少数民族文化旅游资源,成本过高且缺乏吸引力,应对其进行“系统”开发,比如以流域为纽带等。本文详细论证了“酉水旅游带”的开发,特别应明确该旅游带的“文化主题”、系列个体旅游点的“文化主题”及其联系。     

On the dynamic measurement of economic openness

The empirical relationship between economic openness and economic performance is much debated in the economic literature. No definitive conclusions seem to be reached yet, part of the problem being the very measurement of economic openness of a national economy. In their article in the Journal of Policy Modeling, Ruíz Estrada & Yap (2006) propose a new method to measure economic openness and to empirically assess the openness–growth nexus as a new tool for policy-makers: the Openness Growth Monitoring Model (OGM-Model). The authors claim: (i) that their method is different from and more flexible than existing empirical methods, (ii) that higher levels of openness do not lead to income growth, and (iii) that customs unions perform better than free trade areas. This short article challenges the three claims of the authors.     

Change and Stability in Parent–Child Contact in Five Western Countries

Although much is known about changes in the conjugal family, little is known about trends in contact between parents and adult (independently living) children. Using unique survey data, we study changes in contact with the mother and the father in five western countries over a 15-year period (Austria, West Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and Italy). We describe changes and we examine the role of compositional changes in the trend. We find no evidence for a decline in intergenerational contact, in contrast to notions of individualism. In two countries, there has been an increase in contact with the mother and in three countries no net trend is observed. Contact with the father has not changed. Other forms of contact (e.g., telephone contact) have increased. Some compositional changes have had a downward pressure on the trend, leading to a decline in contact (i.e., rising education, declining church attendance), but these pressures have been compensated by counteracting compositional changes (declining sibsize) and by behavioral changes.

果利达植物调节剂在荔枝生产上的应用研究

应用湛江师院研制的果利达植物调节剂,对荔枝进行了初步应用试验,结果表明:(1) 果利达植物调节剂可以提高荔枝座果率,其中果利达3 # 效果最好,于盛花期使用40 、20 、10 和5ppm ,穗平均座果率分别比对照提高6 .6 % 、94 .6 % 、37 .6 % 和148 .6 % ;(2) 果利达调节剂用于荔枝,较低浓度(10 、5ppm) 座果效果比较高浓度(40ppm) 好;落花期用药比盛花期用药效果好,两次用药比一次用药效果好;(3) 在荔枝上应用果利达调节剂40 、20 、10 、5ppm ,使荔枝果实增大,平均单果重比对照分别提高17 .43 % 、5 .8 % 、10 .8 % 和20 .7 % ,两次用药平均单果重提高55 .3 % ,可食部分百分含量也有所提高.     

我国货币政策传导不畅的成因探析

在阐述我国货币政策传导机制理论依据的基础上,认为当前我国货币政策传导不畅的原因主要是机构活力不足、金融经济结构不对称、微观经济主体引致需求不足和金融市场发育不健全等。     

De gustibus non est disputandum? A new approach to the estimation of equivalence scales

We argue that when the household composition changes, consumption patterns vary not only because of the cost effect that equivalence scales try to measure, but also because of a “taste” or “style” effect. This effect can be identified and measured, under a few assumptions, with the use of a new methodology, calledDM ² (Decomposition Model of the effects of Demographic Metamorphosis), that can be viewed as a generalisation of Ray's (1983) price-scaling approach to the construction of equivalent scales. An empirical application to data drawn from the Istat 1995 Italian Household Budget Survey suggests that the proposed method improves our understanding of households' consumption patterns and the reliability of the equivalence scales that we derive. We gratefully acknowledge helpful comments from Giorgio Calzolari, Franco Polverini, Ugo Trivellato and an anonymous referee, but retain full responsibility for all errors, and for the processing of Istat (Italian Institute of Statistics) microdata on Household Budgets. Financial support for this research was provided by the italian MURST (Research project on “Equivalence scales” directed by Prof. Guido Ferrari, University of Firenze, Ref. No. 9913105354; and Research project on “Low fertility in Italy: between economic constraints and value changes”, directed by Prof. Massimo Livi Bacci, University of Firenze, Ref. No. MM13107238). Preliminary findings on this research topic have been presented in a few seminars and conferences: cf., e.g., De Santis and Maltagliati (2000 and 2001).