Consumption and Saving Behavior of Older and Younger Baby Boomers in Korea

The 1998 Korean Survey of Family Income and Expenditures was used to examine the overall consumption and saving behavior of Korean baby boomers and compared the differences in consumption and saving behavior between older and younger boomers. The t -test results indicated that the younger boomers allocated a significantly higher percentage of their expenditures on food away from home, household appliances, transportation and communication than did the older boomers, whereas the older boomers spent higher amounts and allocated larger budget shares on their children's education than did the younger boomers. The results of Ordinary Least-Squares (OLS) regression analysis showed that, holding other factors constant, older boomers not only spent significantly more in the total consumption expenditures and education expenditures, but older boomers also saved significantly less than did younger boomers.     

Privatization of refuse removal and labor costs

We examine the labor-cost savings associated with privatization by comparing earnings and employment trends of public and private sector refuse workers. Findings suggest that high union earnings for workers in the public sector are a source of labor-cost savings in the refuse industry. Evidence on job changers does not indicate that earnings for this group of workers are a compensating differential. Metropolitan area employment findings suggest that municipalities are less likely to use union refuse workers in the public sector when a relatively small percentage of area residents belong to a union. The authors thank Jacqueline Agesa, Keith Bender, Maria Crawford, and Richard Perlman for valuable suggestions. Research assistance from Eric Blackburn is greatly appreciated.     

Deposit Insurance,Institutions, and Bank Interest Rates

Many recent institutional reforms of the financial system have relied on the introduction of an explicit scheme of deposit insurance. This instrument aims at two main targets, contributing to systemic stability and protecting depositors. However, it may also affect the interest rate spread in the banking system, which can be viewed as an indicator of either inefficiency or market power in this financial segment. This paper provides an empirical investigation of the effect of deposit insurance and other institutional and economic variables on bank interest rates across countries. We find that deposit insurance increases the lending–deposit spread in banking. The main effect seems to arise not from the deposit side though, but from an increase in the lending rate. We interpret this result as evidence of the presence of moral hazard problems related to this instrument. We also find that higher quality of institutions is associated with lower spreads, thus contributing to eroding sources of market power in the banking sector.     

世界贸易组织：优势、挑战与前景

本文探讨了世界贸易组织的优势和面临的挑战，并对其发展前景作了展望。作者认为，与过去的国际贸易组织和关贸总协定相比，世界贸易组织具有许多优势，世界经济联系越来越紧密、冷战后各国对经济安全的重视、世界经济多极化的发展、发展中国家贸易政策的自由化和自身较完善的机制等都是其优势所在。但同时世界贸易组织也面临着各国经济摩擦加剧、发达国家贸易保护主义抬头、区域经济集团剧增和自身机制尚存在缺陷等挑战。基于以上分析，作者对世界贸易组织的未来前景持谨慎的乐观态度，认为世界贸易组织不会象国际贸易组织那样中途夭折，也不会象关贸总协定那样软弱被动，它将在成员国之间不断的冲突与妥协中存在并发挥比较强有力的作用。     

基于顾客资源的动态竞争优势

随着市场竞争环境变化的加剧,企业战略竞争的基点正在从企业内部的资源转移到企业适应外部环境的动态能力上,顾客资源因能有效地衔接企业内部资源和外部环境机会而成为弥足珍贵的战略性资源,以顾客资源为基础构筑的核心竞争力正日益体现出强大的动态竞争优势。因此,企业只有通过加快转变企业的战略管理理念、重构企业内部的业务流程、改革传统的价值链模式和实施企业的顾客忠诚化管理等途径构筑基于顾客资源的动态竞争优势,才能将企业立于竞争的不败之地。     

融贯中西与古今文化诗学的意象体系——鲁迅诗歌意象的类型分析

意象是诗歌的生命。鲁迅诗歌使用了大量的审美意象,融贯中西与古今文化诗学,形成了自己独立的体系。鲁迅诗歌意象为六种类型,以三组对立的形态出现,即:历史性意象/现实性意象;东方意象/西方意象;社会性意象/人化自然的意象。这些意象的使用,昭示了鲁迅忧国忧民的伟大人格,并形成鲁迅自己独特的诗风。同时,他的诗歌与我国传统诗歌相比较,具有鲜明的现代性,与后起的新诗相比,又具有深厚的传统文化诗学的底蕴。     

论现代企业经营思想

企业行为受其经营思想的支配,企业的经营思想取决于企业所处的客观环境。在市场经济与现代企业制度的约束下,企业普遍应树立的经营思想有:守法观念、效益观念、用户观念、创新观念、竞争观念和战略观念。各种观念应当互为配合,形成一个有机的整体。     

婚龄性别比失衡对社会运行和发展的影响——来自吉林省延边朝鲜族自治州农村地区的调查分析

婚龄性别比失衡问题到底有什么样的社会影响?这些社会影响的性质、影响范围以及具体表现又是怎样?为了回答这些问题,我们对延边地区进行了实地调查和深度访谈,发现该地区的婚龄男女性别比失衡相当明显。在这些地区,由于婚龄女性人口的大量向城市(国外)流动,当地的很多成年男性到了婚龄,都面临着无妻可娶的窘境。由此,对社会造成了一些负面的影响,社会运行和发展出现了一定程度上的离轨。     

斜腿刚构桥几何布局的优化设计

采用数学规划的方法从静力和动力两方面对斜腿刚构桥的几何布局进行优化设计。静力优化设计的优化目标是截面截面应力平方均值最小，动力优化设计的优化目标是结构自振周期平方和最小。采用了直接搜索法寻优。通过算例可知，这两种优化设计方法均可行，且均为刚性设计。