A Comment on the Utility of Prevalence Estimates of Pathological Gambling

The case is presented that researchers interested in policy aimed at treating the pathological gambler need to shift focus to improving the utility of prevalence estimates. It is argued that researchers supplement prevalence estimates with practical and well-defined measures of severity and other predictors and correlates of help-seeking. The dimension of severity is emphasized as one means of providing estimates that are relevant to policy makers when placed in the context of additional measures that improve their meaning and utility. Estimates may then be partitioned along these dimensions to ascertain the proportion of gamblers most likely to need or seek treatment for gambling-related disorders. The recommendations provided are subject to a number of possible objections and are presented in the interest of stimulating further discussion such as the distinction between symptom assessment and the measurement of severity.     

农村公共事业与农民生活满意度

本文以6个省1586户农户的问卷调查结果为依据,运用序数Logistic模型,探讨农村公共事业、农民个人特征、家庭特征对农民生活满意度的影响。结果表明,农村公共事业发展对农民生活满意度影响显著,其中农村卫生事业发展对农民生活满意度的影响最大,其次是农村教育事业发展,农村文化事业发展对农民生活满意度的影响最小。根据分析结果,本文提出了以下政策建议:在今后的农村公共事业发展中,政府应渐进增加农村公共事业支出比重,不断调整农村公共事业支出结构,并随时更新文化娱乐活动内容,以适应广大农民的精神需要。     

广州市非户籍常住人口的变化分析

广州市是中国社会经济发展水平较高的大城市,也是“珠三角”外来人口的主要流入地。2010年全国第六次人口普查结果显示,广州市的非户籍常住人口规模高达476．0万人,占广州市人口总量的37．47％。而且,通过与2000年全国第五次人口普查结果的对比发现,广州市非户籍人口的年龄结构、地区分布、家庭户比重、行业及职业构成等都发生了一定的变化。非户籍常住人口构成的这些变化,对广州市的外来人口管理、公共服务的均等化以及户籍制度改革等提出了新要求。     

Public corruption: A study across regions in Italy

This work explores the determinants of public corruption using a regional panel dataset on crimes perpetrated in Italy by public officials against the public administration in combination with a set of demographic and socio-economic variables. The results suggest that both the size and the composition of public spending at the local level explain corruption. We also find that regions where social capital is higher are more likely to face a lower incidence of corruption crimes. Moreover, regions which have historically placed less importance on rooting out corruption may be stuck in a vicious circle of higher levels of corruption.     

Macroeconomic and financing determinants of out of pocket payments in health care: Evidence from selected OECD countries

In this paper, we examine the impact of macroeconomic, as well public and private health insurance financing (PHI) factors on out of pocket (OOP) healthcare expenditures, by using fixed/random effects and dynamic panel data methodology to a dataset of 26 EU and OECD countries for a period lasting from 1995 to 2013. The existing empirical literature has focused on testing the hypothesis that several macroeconomic and health financing determinants have an effect on OOP healthcare expenditures. Nevertheless, the related articles have not well tested the hypothesis concerning the potential impact of PHI financing on OOP spending. We find that public and PHI financing have a significant countervailing effect on OOP spending. Moreover, we show that unemployment rate has a significant positive impact on OOP expenditures. Sensitivity tests with variation of specifications and samples show that our findings are robust. We argue that policy-makers should give serious consideration to PHI institution; our results indicate that there is an inverse effect on OOP spending. We suggest that our examined countries have to provide financial risk protection to their citizens against OOP payments, rather than only attending health budgetary retrenchments in order to adjust public finances.     

公私合作（

被视为新公共治理一部分的公私合作制（PPP）,迄今为止作为一个概念还没有形成共识性定义。大多学者采用与个案相关的事实描述,对PPP诸多属性特征的概括和侧重各有不同。根据德国关于PPP的文献进行分析,从经济学、政治学和法学视角出发,在PPP参与者的身份、目标和相互关系等议题进行探讨的基础上,对PPP跨学科的属性特征进行确认,以实现对PPP概念的统一理解。     

公共压力、企业国际化与企业环境治理

企业环境行为和环境治理责任是社会各界普遍关注的重要话题。本文借助2011年年底的PM2.5爆表事件作为外生冲击,系统地考察了PM2.5爆表事件后企业国际化对环境治理行为的影响机理和作用机制。实证检验发现：第一,在PM2.5爆表事件后,相比于国际化程度低的企业,国际化程度高的企业环境治理绩效更好,表现为企业环境资本投资更多;第二,PM2.5爆表事件带来的公共压力对国际化程度高的企业环境治理的提升现象在信息透明度低、分析师跟踪少的企业更加显著;第三,在民营性质、高管理层权力及行业竞争程度高的企业中,PM2.5爆表事件带来的公共压力对国际化程度高的企业环境治理的提升现象更为明显。     

理智应对舆论

舆论具有理性和非理性的两面性。如果过于强调一方面,就会走向极端。理智应对舆论的态度应该是,既要看到它理性的一面,也要看到它非理性的一面,既要保证舆论公开、自由地表达,又要防止媚众。具体来说,应当引导而非控制,使舆论从非理性向理性转化;理性而非媚众,防止“多数的暴虐”。     

Emergent Management Strategies in a Public Agency: A Case Study of Alternative Fuel Vehicles

The ability of public organizations to invest in emerging technologies is dependent upon the degree to which they can effectively manage the risks of being a lead-user in a political environment. However, little is known about the dimensions and implications of the different forms of risk faced by innovative public organizations as well as the strategies employed to manage them. This paper addresses these issues by studying how one public agency implements a program of replacing its transportation fleet with alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs).

Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Public Involvement in the Immigration Plan for the Nanji Islands, China

A centralized political context such as China provides a harsh environment for public involvement program that intends to share decision-making power with the public, however, there are still learning opportunities that can survive and prepare the public for a meaningful participation in the future. This article illustrates this point by designing a public involvement program that is implementable and educational in Nanji Islands, China. The public involvement program is designed to solve conflicts and tension regarding to an immigration plan between the public and local government and organized by a third party. It includes information sharing, public representatives election, and negotiation meeting between public representatives and governmental officials. The six-dimension framework from Alterman’s classic work is employed to test its feasibility within the local context.