A global meaning of supply chain social sustainability

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to help reduce tensions in supply chain social sustainability (SCSS) decisions by providing a common global, contextual definition of social sustainability. This exploratory study utilised an inductive structured interview method to capture SCSS concept meanings. Those interviewed are from, have lived, and worked in developed economies, emerging economies and the base of the pyramid (BOP) economies. The results present a new global baseline definition of SCSS to inform theory and practice by finding that SCSS meanings differ not only between the different levels of economic development, but also within the levels as well. Culture, community and whether basic human needs are met all weigh into perspectives of what this concept is and should entail; a broad, contingent definition is most appropriate moving forward for sustainability planning and execution. Further research with stakeholders in more countries and communities is needed to validate our proposal.     

Confidence intervals for secondary parameters following a sequential test

In sequential studies, formal interim analyses are usually restricted to a consideration of a single null hypothesis concerning a single parameter of interest. Valid frequentist methods of hypothesis testing and of point and interval estimation for the primary parameter have already been devised for use at the end of such a study. However, the completed data set may warrant a more detailed analysis, involving the estimation of parameters corresponding to effects that were not used to determine when to stop, and yet correlated with those that were. This paper describes methods for setting confidence intervals for secondary parameters in a way which provides the correct coverage probability in repeated frequentist realizations of the sequential design used. The method assumes that information accumulates on the primary and secondary parameters at proportional rates. This requirement will be valid in many potential applications, but only in limited situations in survival analysis.     

20世纪中西文化观念的冲突与会通

中西两种文化是两种类型的文化系统,前者是实践理性精神,而后者则是理论理性精神。１８４０ 年鸦片战争后,西学东渐并与中学发生了冲撞,中国人开始向西方学习,先学其技术,后学其制度,再学 其科学方法和价值观念,直至从哲学思维的深层上试图融合中西两种文化。在此方面．现代新儒家的诸 种努力是颇有借鉴意义的。本文在评判诸种文化会通方案的基础上,指出中西文化的会通是一项艰巨和 复杂的任务,首先必须淡化和消除民族文化中心主义的立场和观念;而要真正实现中西文化会通,还需 要作长期坚韧不拔的努力。     

Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington,D.C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project,June--July 1993

This paper reports the results of a prospective experiment in which a group of approximately 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi assembled in Washington, D.C., from June 7 to July 30, 1993. It was hypothesized that levels of violent crime in the District of Columbia would fall substantially during the Demonstration Project, as a result of the group's effect of increasing coherence and reducing stress in the collective consciousness of the District. A 27-member Project Review Board comprising independent scientists and leading citizens approved the research protocol and monitored the research process. Weekly crime data was derived from database records provided by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (DCMPD), which are used in the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Statistical analysis considered the effect of weather variables, daylight, historical crime trends and annual patterns in the District of Columbia, as well as trends in neighboring cities. Consistent with previous research, levels of homicides, rapes and assaults (HRA crimes) correlated with average weekly temperature. Robberies approximately followed an annually recurring cycle. Time series analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, showed that HRA crimes dropped significantly during the Demonstration Project, corresponding with increases in the size of the group; the maximum decrease was 23.3% (p < 2 × 10–9) [24.6% using a longer baseline, with 1988--1993 data (p < 3 × 10–5)], coincident with the peak number of participants in the group during the final week of the assembly. When the same period in each of the five previous years was examined, no significant decreases in HRA crimes were found. Robberies did not decrease significantly. However, a model that jointly estimated the effect of the Demonstration Project on both HRA crimes and robberies showed a significant reduction in violent crimes overall of 15.6% (p = 0.0008). Further analysis showed that the effect of the coherence-creating group on reducing HRA crimes could not be accounted for by additional police staffing. The time series analysis for HRA crimes gave results that are highly robust to alternative model specifications, and showed that the effect of the group size was cumulative and persisted after the Demonstration Project ended. Also, calculation of the steady state gain based on the time series model predicted that a permanent group of 4,000 coherence-creating experts in the District would have a long-term effect of reducing HRA crimes by 48%.     

Survival Convergence and the Preceding Mortality Crossover for Two Population Subgroups

In this paper, we present and develop the argument that if the survival functions for two population subgroups converge in later life, a mortality crossover must precede the occurrence of this convergence. Specifically, two survival curves, S ₁(x) and S ₂(x), associated with two distinct population subgroups, G₁ and G₂, tend to converge before all members die out, as often observed and anticipated. This convergence leads to an increased mortality acceleration for the “advantaged” group, and eventually fosters the occurrence of a mortality crossover. We present a mathematical proof for this relationship and offer several explanations for the mechanisms involved in the process of survival convergence and the preceding mortality crossover. This new presentation demonstrates that mortality crossover is a highly observable demographic event given the trend of survival convergence in later life.     

关键时刻的语境大串联——关于文化研究的对话

这里刊出的是两位著名文化研究学者的一篇对话,主题自然是文化研究。劳伦斯.格罗斯伯格早年学习历史与哲学,后在英国伯明翰大学当代文化研究中心做研究,师从文化研究领军人斯图尔特.霍尔。他撰写和主编的大量论著在文化研究领域具有广泛影响,许多成为经典性论著。他主编的《文化研究》杂志,创刊于1987年。20年来,该杂志发表了近千篇学术论文,对文化研究领域的形成和发展有举足轻重的意义。刘康现担任美国杜克大学公共政策学院中国传媒中心主任、教授,南京大学兼职教授。照对话者的看法,文化研究的要旨在于如何“讲好故事”,路径之一乃是“串联”(articulation,又译作“接合”)。“串联”概念源出于斯图尔特.霍尔,旨在将不同事物联系起来构成新东西。对话者首先提出了跨学科的“串联”,以问题为中心,将不同学科的视角、方法、观念和理论相互碰撞,必然会产生各种新的观念。以问题为核心,就是强调回到问题本身是研究之宗旨所在。这就触及到所谓的“激进的语境主义”,也就是将特定问题带回到它们出现的那个特定社会、政治、经济和文化背景之中。提倡从问题出发、反对理论先行,这就击中了当前一些文化研究普遍存在的弊端。“关键时刻”概念特指社会矛盾激化的重要时刻,是语境的另一种描述,中国和西方目前都处在这一时刻。劳动的贬值,共同价值的衰落,文化的经济化,消费社会的崛起,传媒的影响等,都作为关键时刻的问题凸现出来,向文化研究提出了挑战。理论如何与大众“串联”,是对话又一重要主题,将文化研究变成公共知识,而非学院派的密语,看来是今后文化研究所面临的难题。在这方面右派比左派做得更好,也更有效,倒是一个发人深省的问题。于是,文化研究议程的创新,特别是在中国,如何从理论消费转向理论生产,乃是一个不容忽视的重大问题。     

转型期中国省际经济波动对经济增长的空间溢出效应

本文基于中国31个省市1979-2012年的数据,采用动态空间杜宾模型,实证分析转型期中国省际经济波动对经济增长的空间溢出效应及其形成机制,得出结论如下:经济波动在淘汰本地区低效率投资项目和企业、优化投资结构、从而对本地区经济增长产生正向直接效应的基础上,因受中国地区间激烈竞争和产业同构的影响,会吸引邻近地区的优质资源,对这些地区的投资结构产生不利影响,进而对经济增长产生负向空间溢出效应.并且,从动态视角的检验发现,相比于短期,两种效应在长期的作用更大.本文关于经济波动对经济增长空间溢出效应的研究对于解释中国经济波动与经济增长的关系机理,以及对于区域经济协同发展、加快国内市场一体化相关政策的制定具有重要意义.     

Why social status matters for understanding the interrelationships between testosterone,economic risk‐taking,and gender

We conduct an extensive review of the literature on testosterone and economic risk‐taking behavior. In sum, there is evidence of a positive association between testosterone and economic risk taking, although it is unlikely to be a strong association given the abundance of null results. However, we argue that the existing literature may overstate the causal effects of testosterone on economic risk taking (or even report a spurious correlation) because this research has not considered the potentially confounding role of social status. Status could concurrently influence both testosterone and economic risk taking, given that testosterone is a social hormone with a reciprocal relationship with social status, and social status has been found to drive risk‐taking behavior. We also argue against using findings from this literature to make gender essentialist claims, primarily because social phenomena influence the size—and existence—of gender differences in economic risk‐taking behavior. We conclude with suggestions for future research.     

“Open to all and everybody”? The Irish Film Board: accounting for the scarcity of women screenwriters

Despite the many social and cultural changes that have occurred in Irish society since the Irish Film Board was re-established in 1993, the Irish film industry remains strongly male dominated. Specifically, Irish women constitute a minority of produced screenwriters and writer/directors. This article contributes to an understanding of the discursive resources that key decision makers in the Irish Film Board draw upon in order to talk about gender. A number of interpretative repertoires are used to rationalize its position in relation to the dearth of women screenwriters, four of which are examined here: evasion and deflection; gender neutrality; project-led funding; and a difficulty making sense of entrenched gender issues, articulated here as “I don’t know.” Within the respondents’ repertoires an ideological dilemma can be identified in the conceptualization of gender as both relevant and irrelevant.     

Singlish or Globish: Multiple language ideologies and global identities among Korean educational migrants in Singapore1

South Korean early study abroad students and their parents in Singapore negotiate and redefine the values of Mandarin, English, and Singlish used in Singapore in an attempt to forge their own transnational identities. In this process, these Korean migrants tend to place more emphasis on metapragmatic discourses; that is, how to speak the languages appropriately. They then use such metapragmatic evaluations to justify their use of the local varieties and practices of language in Singapore. Their discourses are based on two language ideologies –pragmatism and sociolinguistic competence – which are examined here as alternative forms of language legitimacy that coexist with the dominant notion of legitimate language. These multiple language ideologies provide the basis for Korean migrants’ emerging notions of the ‘Asian global,’ a desirable transnational subject who is more practical and sociocentric than the conventional image of high‐ranking elites, with greater adaptability to various local situations. ????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ????, ???? ??? ???? ???? ????, ??, ???, ????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???. ??? ??? ?? ????, ??? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??, ? ?? ??? ??? ? ??? ???, ??? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ?? ????, ??? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ????? ? ????? ????? ?? ??? ??. ??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ???? ? ?? ???????? ?? ????, ??? ??? ???????? ?? ???? ???????? ???? ??. ??, ??????? ??? ?? ?? ???????? ??? ??? ???? ‘???? ???’? ??, ? ??? ??????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??, ?? ??????? ???????, ??? ??? ???? ???? ? ??? ? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ????. [Korean]