Proactive international strategies of cluster SMEs

In this conceptual paper, proactive international strategies of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the cluster context are discussed. The majority of cluster SMEs assume passive roles as network participants in the process of internationalisation. However, a smaller fraction adopts proactive strategies to foreign expansion acting as leaders of networks. SMEs as network leaders are embedded in the source clusters and dependent on local networks that provide them with complementary resources. We assert that this mutual dependence between a firm's resources and the development of industrial agglomeration should be reflected in the strategic options that SMEs adopt when going international. This paper contributes by synthesising and evaluating a comprehensive range of SME-strategic options and by proposing the proactive competitive strategies of SMEs in the international arena that are both feasible and effective. The feasibility of adopting a specific strategy means the suitability for this group of companies, considering their characteristics. The evaluation of the effectiveness of each strategy was performed according to the objectives of avoiding lock-in and of protecting and developing the core competencies embedded in cluster networks. We address the research gap in evaluating the outcomes of SME international strategies and in synthesising a comprehensive range of cluster SMEs' strategic options.     

Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel

How do changes in employment uncertainty matter for fertility? Empirical studies on the impact of employment uncertainty on reproductive decision-making offer a variety of conclusions, ranging from gender and socio-economic differences in the effect of employment uncertainty on fertility intentions and behaviour, to the effect of employment on changes in fertility intentions. This article analyses the association between a change in subjective employment uncertainty and fertility intentions and behaviour by distinguishing male and female partners’ employment uncertainty, and examines the variation in these associations by education. Using a sample of men and women living in a couple from the Swiss Household Panel (SHP 2002–2011), we examine through multinomial analysis how changes in employment uncertainty and selected socio-demographic factors are related to individual childbearing decisions. Our results show strong gendered effects of changes in employment uncertainty on the revision of reproductive decisions among the highly educated population.     

Rapid Reregulation,Agricultural Restructuring,and the Reimaging of Agriculture in New Zealand1

Abstract As a member of the Cairns Group, New Zealand is an excellent case for investigation of the impacts of market-based restructuring and the emergence of new mechanisms for regulation. The paper examines how agriculture in New Zealand has been impacted by economic reforms that have fundamentally changed the nature and interrelations of regulatory arrangements and economic processes. The paper sketches the origins of New Zealand's agricultural crisis and the main features of the reforms, outlines developments in several global commodity chains (meat, dairy, apples) that since the mid 1980s have shaped regulatory and governance adjustments, and explores dimensions of a reimaging of agriculture in new conditions. The paper concludes that agri-food restructuring in New Zealand is implicated in the wider integrative project of globalization. Agriculture's reconstruction reopens the scope and terms under which New Zealand labor and households might be able to participate in the agri-food sector.     

工作搜寻理论、匹配模型及其政策启示——2010年诺贝尔经济学奖获得者研究贡献综述

本文首先简要介绍了戴蒙德、莫藤森和皮萨里德斯这三位诺奖得主的主要研究贡献.随后对这三位经济学家的主要理论--工作搜寻理论和匹配模型进行了简单回顾和梳理.最后,对上述理论的政策启示进行了讨论.     

具有多元权值约束的鲁棒 LPM 积极投资组合

在用方差控制投资组合风险的同时,由于方差的对称性导致投资组合的收益也受到限制． 相比之下,下偏距 (lower partial moment: LPM) 由于具有只控制风险,而不限制收益的特点,在近年来倍受关注． 但在非正态假设下,LPM 无法获得良好的解析性质． 在对资产收益分布未知的假设下,通过使用最坏情形下的LPM来度量投资组合的损失,提出了具有多元权值约束的鲁棒积极投资组合问题,并获得了具有m( m=0,1,2) -阶 LPM 约束的鲁棒积极投资组合问题的解析解． 通过分析解的性质和比较问题的有效前沿,得到了许多有趣的和新颖的结果． 数值结果比较表明,鲁棒LPM模型比经典的均值－方差模型具有许多更好的性能．     

《创新创业基础》课程混合式教学模式对医学生创新行为影响研究

2020年11月30日,教育部推出首批国家级"金课",线上线下混合式优质在线课程位列其中.该文结合1068位在校医学专业大学生问卷调查情况,利用SPSS软件剖析了《创新创业基础》课程中混合式教学模式与创新行为的两个维度,即产生创新构想和执行创新构想间的相关性,混合式教学对医学生创新行为的正向影响.据此,该文针对性地提出...     

中国和平崛起的国际环境分析和外交战略选择

和平崛起的中国面临从不平等的国际社会成员变成平等的成员,从国际体系的抗争者变成受益者,从国际舞台的边缘走向中心,国际关系的重心由大西洋转向太平洋等国际环境等基本特征,应作出适当的外交战略选择。把握方向,坚持＂韬光养晦＂;承担责任,善于＂有所作为＂;求同存异,阐述和谐主张;擅用传播,塑造良好形象等应是当前中国外交战略中应有的内容。     

Too risk averse to purchase insurance?

This paper suggests a new explanation for the low level of annuitization, which is valid even if one assumes perfect markets. We show that, as soon there is a positive bequest motive, sufficiently risk averse individuals should not purchase annuities. A model calibration accounting for lifetime risk aversion generates a significantly smaller willingness-to-pay for annuities than the one generated by a standard time-additive model. Moreover, the calibration predicts that riskless savings finance one third of consumption, in line with empirical findings.     

Why good practice of OR is not enough—Ethical challenges for the OR practitioner

This paper develops the idea that following rules of good OR practice is necessary, but not sufficient for ethical OR. Several challenges of introducing ethical aspects into OR are discussed, evidencing difficulties and ambiguities in the relationship to be established between the OR practitioner and his/her clients, decision-makers or stakeholders. It shows that neither analysis nor modelling work nor the choice of analytical tools is entirely ethically neutral; incomparability, incommensurability and incertitude must be dealt with. The purpose of this article is to detail several difficulties or dilemmas an OR practitioner may be confronted with in the course of his or her assignment. In such situations, following rules of good practice may not be sufficient to indicate how to act in a morally good way. This paper aims at stimulating reflection by structuring the debate; it may leave the reader unsettled—unsettlement being a result and even aim of many discussions in moral philosophy.     

龙眼果皮酶促褐变产物的提取、稳定性及抗氧化活性研究

为了研究龙眼果皮酶促褐变产物的最佳提取工艺、稳定性和抗氧化活性,以样品中总蒽醌含量为指标,通过单因素和正交试验法,考察乙醇的浓度、料液比、提取时间、提取温度4个因素对应用回流法提取褐变产物的影响,探讨提取龙眼果皮中酶促褐变产物的最佳工艺条件.采用分光光度法对褐变产物的稳定性和体外抗氧化活性进行了测定.结果表明,回流法提取酶促褐变产物最佳工艺条件为:乙醇浓度为70％,提取时间为8h,料液比为1∶2,提取温度为40℃.在试验温度范围内,酶促褐变产物比较稳定;但对光照比较敏感,尤其是在紫外光下稳定性较差;在酸性条件下的稳定性比在碱性和中性条件下好;在4种不同种类添加剂影响下,其稳定性均变差.体外抗氧化试验结果表明,龙眼果皮总蒽醌浓度为9.55 μg/mL时,对1,1-二苯基-2-三硝基苯肼自由基(DPPH·)清除率为74.1％;浓度为4.55 μg/mL时,羟基自由基(·OH)清除率达81.6％;浓度为6.70 μg/mL时,超氧阴离子自由基(·O2-)清除率达86.1％.回流法可提取龙眼果皮中酶促褐变产物.温度对酶促褐变产物稳定性影响不明显,光照、pH、食品添加剂因素影响其稳定性.酶促褐变产物具有一定的清除DPPH·、·OH和·O2-自由基的能力.