Why spouses depress each other: A cross‐national study to test the shared resource hypothesis in depressive symptom concordance within older adult couples

The shared resource hypothesis suggests that married couples share the same environmental resources, which shape their health concordance. This study tests its cross‐national applicability. Cross‐sectional 2012–2013 Health and Retirement Study data from China, England, Mexico, and the United States were analyzed. Heterosexual couples (age ≥60) who were married or partnered were studied (N = 20,565 pairs). Dyadic data were analyzed by multilevel models to examine the effect of self and spousal social and physical health statuses on depressive symptoms. Regression models were used to test the relationship between couples' shared resources and depressive symptom concordance. Results indicated both husbands and wives' depressive symptoms were associated with their own and spouses' social and health statuses. Most couple‐level resources were insignificant predictors for Chinese and Mexican couples' concordance, but having more social and financial resources was associated with higher concordance among British and American couples. Self‐reported health was the most consistent predictor in all countries. The shared resource hypothesis was more applicable to depressive symptom concordance within couples in the United States and England, but not in China and Mexico. Couple‐centered intervention is suggested for clinical practice, and the spousal effect should be considered in policymaking.     

全球公民社会的作用及其变革

全球化引发的全球治理真空,需要全球公民社会发挥作用。而全球化密切交往中全球意识的扩展和社会资本的兴起,也为全球公民社会的产生提供了条件。全球公民社会在参与全球治理、扶持弱势群体、抑制全球强权、弥补“民主赤字”等方面扮演着积极的角色。由于力量的相对弱小和参与机制的不健全,全球公民社会的作用还受到局限。全球公民社会需要解决好自身的独立性、合法性、平衡性等一些重大问题,以谋求更大的发展。     

论近现代转型时期的寰球中国学生会

寰球中国学生会是我国最早的留学生中介机构之一 ,它在 1 91 9- 1 92 0年间为赴法勤工俭学的各批留学生提供服务 ,并且成为“五四运动”期间上海学生运动的活动中心。它在与学校、社团、报纸等一些公共领域的基本元素的紧密结合中建构起一种对社会发展产生影响的推动力。     

论全球生产的网络化及其推动力量

在产业转移的浪潮中,世界经济局势发生了很大的变化。在经济全球化的过程中,市场经济规则在世界范围内被广泛接受。受惠于科技革命特别交通和信息技术的巨大进步,跨国公司得以在世界范围内寻找战略资源满足其趋利性动机,形成了全球生产网络。     

对外新闻编译中的叙事建构策略——以《环球时报》为例

对外新闻是我国对外宣传的重要渠道,其编译的成功与否直接影响我国国际形象,乃至国际话语权的确立。对外新闻是国家对外讲述中国故事,传播中国声音的行为,其编译本质上是新闻再叙事行为。通过尝试在对外新闻编译研究中引入叙事理论视角,以环球时报中英文网的新闻语料为例,从时空建构、选择性采用、标示性建构以及参与者重新定位等角度探讨对外新闻编译中叙事建构策略的具体运用,为提高我国对外新闻编译传播效果探索新的策略和路径。     

Global product development projects: measuring performance and monitoring the risks

Abstract

This article investigates the development and application of key performance indicators for global product development. Two in-depth, longitudinal case studies with multinational Danish manufacturing companies were conducted, and highlight how key performance indicators, typically used for collocated, cross-functional product development, do not provide the predictive insight required to avoid the additional risks encountered in the global product development environment. Grounded in the case study results and building on established methodologies in performance measurement literature, a framework was developed and validated in two additional Danish companies to support project managers to develop: preventive indicators, which support the avoidance of identified risks, and outcome indicators, which support the measurement towards the attainment of project objectives. The study is unique as it is one of the very few longitudinal studies of engineering design activities in a global context, providing the in-depth contextual understanding towards key risks and their influence on performance; an important step to support researchers and practitioners with the development of preventive measures.     

Culture and Crisis Communication: Nestle India's Maggi Noodles Case

Extant theoretical paradigms in the field of crisis communication are organization-centric and do not adequately recognize the role of culture. The purpose of this essay is to analyze a crisis faced by Nestle India using the framework of global public relations which defines culture broadly to include political, economic, media, societal, and activist cultures. Our analysis revealed that a multinational corporation with over a century of presence in the country struggled to align itself to the complexities of the cultures of the host country. In the case of Nestle India, whereas environmental variables such as political economy and Westernization of urban India boosted the growth of its instant noodles, the multinational also struggled to cope with the rise of media corporatization, activist pressure and the vagaries of regulatory enforcement not to speak of cultural nationalism. It is evident that Nestlé's crisis response was governed more by its traditional corporate culture than by an ability to keep pace with the changing demands of its environment, leading to the amplification of an issue into a crisis. The study concludes that multinationals that ignore culture will be forced to pay a heavy price both in terms of reputation and the bottom line.     

NGOs, Global Governance and the UN: NGOs as “Guardians of the Reform of the International System”

The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the United Nations (UN), as well as in world politics in general, is increasingly gaining the attention of scholars of international law, political science and social anthropology. Using extensive earlier research on NGO-UN relations and on the concept of global governance, it is concluded that although NGOs are becoming increasingly influential actors on the international arena, several problems impede their influence from growing within the UN. Once the inefficiencies of NGOs participation in United Nations’ bodies and institutions have been described, we propose some modalities of reform of this Organization, with the purpose of improving the involvement of world civil society in UN decision-making processes, and increasing its democratic profile. Finally, the study suggests several areas that require future research and more in-depth study in order to make predictions about how NGO-UN relations will evolve in the coming decades.

FDI’s Impact on Transitional Countries, Serbia as a Rational Choice: The FIAT-ZASTAVA Case

The privatization process and foreign direct investments (FDI) are among the most important economic issues in transitional countries. FDI has enormous influence on transitional countries that need serious structural changes. In this paper we will study FIAT’s decision to invest in the Serbian automotive industry. We will try to rationalize FIAT’s decision because Serbian car manufacturer ZASTAVA was not the only alternative for FIAT to invest in the Balkans. In order to justify FIAT’s decision we will apply the Mullins model of horizontal and vertical FDI, examine the importance of the cooperating history between two car manufacturers and compare macroeconomic conditions and Global Competitiveness of Serbia and Romania, which was the main alternative for FIAT. Finally, we will also try to explain why FIAT decided to announce the investment at the end of political campaign in Serbia when pools gave anti-European parties higher chances for victory, instead of waiting to see the outcome of the elections.

‘It’s all bollocks!’ and other critical standpoints on the UK Government’s vision of global citizenship

The UK Government’s International Citizen Service (ICS) sends volunteers abroad to ‘fight global poverty’ as ‘global citizens’. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the construction of development on the ICS programme forecloses important political and historical contexts, resulting in a model of global citizenship we might term ‘soft’. This article presents data from interviews with ICS volunteers with a specific methodological concern of recognizing the agency of young people and allowing their responses to lead discussion. The outcome is a range of themes across the data that critique the Government’s model of citizenship and, I argue, shows the volunteers to be ‘critical’ global citizens. I then ask whether we can consider this a mode of resistance. I conclude with a final data set that – the case is made – presents an imperative to allow these volunteers to have their perspectives on historical and contemporary North–South relations recognized as a critical mode of global citizenship.