The Important Things in the Life of Older People: Elderly Women in Social Houses and Home Care

The purpose of the article is to analyze the aging experiences of elderly women in Estonia and the factors influencing them. The assessments of two groups using social services are compared—the elderly living in Tallinn’s social houses and the elderly receiving care at home. From February to August 2011, a total of 80 elderly women were interviewed. Inhabitants of social houses find that their old age is satisfying more often (65% of the inhabitants of social houses and 40% of the people in home care). Many home care clients were convinced that it is best to spend old age among loved ones and in a familiar environment. Those living at home have many difficulties, which is why 20% of them are on a waiting list to go to a social house. Home services should include services with which the inhabitants of social houses are very satisfied.     

Baghdadi Jews in Hong Kong: converting cultural,social and economic capital among three transregional networks

This article is an analysis of the attempts of Baghdadi Jewish traders in Hong Kong in the second half of the nineteenth century to construct and convert cultural, social and economic capital within and between the transregional networks of the Baghdadi diaspora, the Jewish diaspora and the British colonial elite. The analysis of the multiple and multi‐directional intersections between the cultural, social and economic characteristics of the three networks shows that Baghdadi social capital accounted for significant ruptures and disjunctures between the increasing cosmopolitanization, deterritorialization and hybridization of the Baghdadi traders' cultural identities and the definition of Baghdadi cultural capital. An understanding of the role of Baghdadi social capital in accounting for the construction and convertibility of cultural, social and economic capital among these three transregional networks helps to explain the reproduction of social inequalities under increasing conditions of globalization, that is, under conditions that potentially augmented the number of sources defining cultural capital.     

基于跨界融合的“千店千面”零售模式研究——以超市发的创新实践为例

在连锁超市企业纷纷向全渠道零售转型升级的同时,一些超市企业通过生活性服务功能集成的跨界融合,实现了“千店千面”的零售模式创新。以超市发为例,利用2019年的访谈数据,采用探索性案例研究法,对门店资源丰富但单店空间资源有限的超市企业跨界融合并助力“千店千面”零售创新的驱动因素、实现路径、跨界服务功能模块选择、价值创造等进行了探讨。通过案例分析发现:跨界融合是超市企业实现差异性营销的重要途径,能够更好地满足社区居民的差异性、多样性、便捷性需要;超市企业跨界融合的一般路径是“商品组合精简—商圈分析—门店主客群选择和特色定位—跨界功能模块选择—商业集聚”,其中商品组合精简为跨界融合提供了空间条件。超市企业在跨界服务功能模块选择中,不仅要坚持便利性导向,还应分析生活性服务在市场关联性和购买频率两个维度上的特征,进而围绕高频刚需型服务构建零售组合。这样有助于平衡连锁经营中“变”(差异化)与“不变”(标准化)的关系,并为连锁超市企业提升效率和树立统一形象提供保障。     

企业创新融资理论和实证研究综述

创新金融一直是世界各国学术界关注的主题.从企业融资视角,系统梳理了各种融资方式和企业创新之间关系的已有文献,总结了各种融资方式影响创新的理论机制和实证结果.发现各类融资方式在支持创新方面都有各自的优劣势,创新企业需要根据发展阶段和创新类型选择合适的融资方式,金融投资机构的专业性是影响创新和融资之间关系的重要因素.结合中国环境,提出相应的政策建议:即从系统性角度考虑构建创新金融体系;改善银行创新融资环境,推动专业性银行的发展;对股票市场板块功能准确定位,加强证券机构投资者建设;引导以风险投资为代表的私募基金高质量和规模化发展.     

Semi‐Parametric Models for the Multivariate Tail Dependence Function – the Asymptotically Dependent Case

Abstract. In general, the risk of joint extreme outcomes in financial markets can be expressed as a function of the tail dependence function of a high‐dimensional vector after standardizing marginals. Hence, it is of importance to model and estimate tail dependence functions. Even for moderate dimension, non‐parametrically estimating a tail dependence function is very inefficient and fitting a parametric model to tail dependence functions is not robust. In this paper, we propose a semi‐parametric model for (asymptotically dependent) tail dependence functions via an elliptical copula. Under this model assumption, we propose a novel estimator for the tail dependence function, which proves favourable compared to the empirical tail dependence function estimator, both theoretically and empirically.     

Turbulent markets need flexible supply chain communication

This paper consists of three main sections. The first section discusses market turbulence and the transition from mass production to mass customization as driving forces for organizational change and optimization, which leads to IT-support and virtual enterprises. The second section describes the key-elements of supply chain management as one building block for virtual enterprises. Low-cost and flexible Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the key-enabler to automate the interactions between companies and their partners. In the third section, a complete concept and a prototype realization for Internet EDI-using XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is proposed. This approach is based on Internet and XML, because the implementation of traditional EDI (e.g. EDIFACT, ANSI X.12) is mostly too costly for small and medium sized enterprises, which has to be integrated as suppliers and customers in a supply chain. XML will be the international standard for Internet communication in the near future.     

TALENT AND/OR POPULARITY: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A SUPERSTAR?

We show that both talent and popularity significantly contribute to stars' market values in German soccer. The talent‐versus‐popularity controversy on the sources of stardom goes back to Rosen (1981) and Adler (1985) . All attempts to resolve the controversy empirically face the difficulty of accurately identifying talent. In professional sports, rank‐order tournaments help in ascertaining talent. Analyzing a team setting, we use 20 different performance indicators to estimate a player's talent according to his ability to increase the team's winning probability. (JEL J31, J44, L83)     

On a Class of Random Probability Measures with General Predictive Structure

Abstract. In this study, we investigate a recently introduced class of non‐parametric priors, termed generalized Dirichlet process priors. Such priors induce (exchangeable random) partitions that are characterized by a more elaborate clustering structure than those arising from other widely used priors. A natural area of application of these random probability measures is represented by species sampling problems and, in particular, prediction problems in genomics. To this end, we study both the distribution of the number of distinct species present in a sample and the distribution of the number of new species conditionally on an observed sample. We also provide the Bayesian Non‐parametric estimator for the number of new species in an additional sample of given size and for the discovery probability as function of the size of the additional sample. Finally, the study of its conditional structure is completed by the determination of the posterior distribution.     

Communicating About Xenotransplantation: Models and Scenarios

Xenotransplantation entails using organs from genetically modified animals as a way to solve the shortage of human organs for transplantation. As with other novel technologies, if xenotransplantation is to be judged fairly, proponents must explain its complex, uncertain, and unfamiliar risks and benefits. Xenotransplantation's risks include the possibility of a recombinant virus infecting human transplant recipients, potentially causing an epidemic of an unfamiliar disease. Using materials vetted by scientific experts, we communicated the variables and relationships determining this risk in three formally equivalent formats: (a) a graphic model, (b) scenarios structured by the graphic model, and (c) both the model and the scenarios. Participants were randomly assigned to receiving one set of materials. They rated them as equally clear and studied them equally long, suggesting similar ease of cognitive processing. Compared to participants receiving the scenarios, those who received the graphic model better identified causes and effects of the risk, and saw less risk of xenotransplantation. Participants who received both the model and the scenarios generally showed intermediate responses. The study demonstrates a general procedure for developing and evaluating formally equivalent graphic and scenario communications regarding highly uncertain risks. In this application to xenotransplantation, presenting a graphic representation improved people's understanding of the risk.