Restoring trust through transparency: Examining the effects of transparency strategies on police crisis communication in Mainland China

Employing a 2 (accepting crisis accountability vs denying crisis accountability) x 2 (high vs low information substantiality) x 2 (high vs low participation) online experiment (N = 293), this study examines how different transparency strategies influence public anger and trust in a Chinese police crisis context, offering insights on government social media crisis communication. In general, transparency is crucial for Chinese local governments, especially police agencies, in managing crises on social media. Reporting organizational crisis accountability, delivering sufficient and evidence-based messages, and enabling public discussion on social media are three transparency strategies that can help minimize public anger and rebuild public trust. Results suggest the positive effects of delivering messages in crisis situations by using transparency. Furthermore, the study points out that police organizations in China should consider the possibility of information overload and unexpectedly low overall expectations for government transparency among Chinese publics.     

Diversified committees in hiring processes: Lab evidence on group dynamics

In recent years, committee quotas have been introduced to combat the underrepresentation of women in male-stereotyped environments. However, the lack of clarity surrounding in-group preferences and gender differences in group dynamics calls into question the inclusion of women as a solution to the gender gap in labour market outcomes. In this paper, I provide experimental evidence to show: a) how the gender composition of committees affects the probability of female candidates being recruited in a hiring process; and b) how men and women behave in group dynamics as a mechanism explaining the outcome of the policy. I designed a laboratory experiment in which groups of three subjects had to jointly select two candidates from a pool of six to perform a task. Female candidates’ probability of success did not improve as the number of women in the committee increased. I found that male-majority committees were the most beneficial for female candidates. In these groups, men and women exhibited a similar level of voice and influence during deliberations, proposing both male and female candidates for recruitment. Conversely, female-majority groups were the most detrimental to female candidates. Women in female-majority groups exhibited a similar level of voice, but men, who proposed more male candidates, were more influential, which limited the contribution of women. The paper suggests that having more women in the committee does not necessarily benefit female candidates and calls for caution when it comes to designing policies for equality in the labour market.     

拉丁美洲社会制度特征与组织的人际关系模式

拉丁美洲的国家在自然环境、文化、经济发展水平、社会制度等诸多方面存在差异,但由于历史的传统和相似的政治、经济经历,这些国家的文化存在着一些共同的特征。其表现在社团主义、官僚独裁主义、惠配主义、家长式专制制度。文化传统对组织的影响是巨大的,这种影响包括对组织的结构、层级、制度、人际关系等诸多方面。     

Minimum income in the Western Balkans: From socialism to the European Pillar of Social Rights

In this article, we examine the evolution of minimum income programmes in the Western Balkans (comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). During socialism, Yugoslavia developed a rudimentary minimum income protection programme, while Albania did not have one. As countries moved towards a market economy, socialism's legacy remained relevant, but especially since 2000, governments have taken more direct responsibility for the minimum income schemes—typically under the influence of the World Bank. The attention was paid to strict targeting accuracy rather than to adequacy or sufficient coverage of the lowest deciles. In essence, neither socialist nor neoliberal policymakers ever recognised anything but the poverty relief function of the minimum income. Both ideologies were hostile, or at best indifferent, to increasing the adequacy and generosity of minimum income programmes, perceiving them as impediments and distractions that slowed socialist and neoliberal transformations. Despite some reform initiatives supported by the World Bank and, more recently, the European Union, the generosity and adequacy of minimum income programmes remain low, and coverage keeps declining. There have been very few efforts to develop inclusion function of the minimum income, while the activation aspect has achieved very little, sometimes degrading into punitive programmes of unpaid community work. In this dismal picture, the European Pillar of Social Rights action framework could serve as a guide for a long overdue third phase in the Western Balkans' minimum income policy evolution.     

中国社会核算矩阵编制方法研究

 本文以联合国历次SNA标准为基础,设计了两种形式的社会核算矩阵,采用“bottom-up”的编表模式构建了中国2007年社会核算矩阵Ⅰ型表和Ⅱ型表。提出并采用了“分项平衡法”,对初始矩阵中所有不平衡项目进行逐项处理,实现了整个社会核算矩阵的总体平衡,并将调整结果与国际上常用的“交叉熵”方法结果进行了比较。     

近十年西部少数民族民间美术研究的发展态势与思考——基于2010-2019年国家社科基金艺术学项目的统计分析

从国家社科基金艺术学立项项目研究角度切入,将2010-2019年间有关西部少数民族民间美术研究的立项项目作为研究对象,对项目类型、项目负责人及其所在单位,以及项目名称的高频词等内容进行统计分析。研究表明,近十年来西部少数民族民间美术立项总体呈持续增长态势,不但注重基础理论研究,而且与时俱进,项目研究紧密与国家政策导向关联。西部少数民族民间美术研究的未来发展,应继续加强基础理论研究,注重实践应用研究,关注艺术学新兴边缘学科研究。     

Measuring social dynamics in a massive multiplayer online game

Quantification of human group-behavior has so far defied an empirical, falsifiable approach. This is due to tremendous difficulties in data acquisition of social systems. Massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) provide a fascinating new way of observing hundreds of thousands of simultaneously socially interacting individuals engaged in virtual economic activities. We have compiled a data set consisting of practically all actions of all players over a period of 3 years from a MMOG played by 300,000 people. This large-scale data set of a socio-economic unit contains all social and economic data from a single and coherent source. Players have to generate a virtual income through economic activities to ‘survive’ and are typically engaged in a multitude of social activities offered within the game. Our analysis of high-frequency log files focuses on three types of social networks, and tests a series of social-dynamics hypotheses. In particular we study the structure and dynamics of friend-, enemy- and communication networks. We find striking differences in topological structure between positive (friend) and negative (enemy) tie networks. All networks confirm the recently observed phenomenon of network densification. We propose two approximate social laws in communication networks, the first expressing betweenness centrality as the inverse square of the overlap, the second relating communication strength to the cube of the overlap. These empirical laws provide strong quantitative evidence for the Weak ties hypothesis of Granovetter. Further, the analysis of triad significance profiles validates well-established assertions from social balance theory. We find overrepresentation (underrepresentation) of complete (incomplete) triads in networks of positive ties, and vice versa for networks of negative ties. Empirical transition probabilities between triad classes provide evidence for triadic closure with extraordinarily high precision. For the first time we provide empirical results for large-scale networks of negative social ties. Whenever possible we compare our findings with data from non-virtual human groups and provide further evidence that online game communities serve as a valid model for a wide class of human societies. With this setup we demonstrate the feasibility for establishing a ‘socio-economic laboratory’ which allows to operate at levels of precision approaching those of the natural sciences.All data used in this study is fully anonymized; the authors have the written consent to publish from the legal department of the Medical University of Vienna.     

Dialogic communication in 140 characters or less: How Fortune 500 companies engage stakeholders using Twitter

The current study extends the investigation of online relationship building by examining how Fortune 500 companies use the popular social network site Twitter to facilitate dialogic communication with stakeholders. A content analysis of a random sample of the Twitter profiles maintained by Fortune 500 companies (n = 93) and individual tweets posted on those profiles (n = 930) examined the use of dialogic features within the Twitter profiles as well as the individual tweets. Results indicated that organizations that have a dialogic orientation to Twitter use (61%) employed the principle of conservation of visitors to a greater degree and generation of return visits to a lesser degree than organizations with a non-dialogic orientation to Twitter (39%).     

政府信息公开报告制度在中国的生成与发展

公布各级行政机关政府信息公开年度报告制度作为我国信息法制建设中的一项制度创新,已经获得了初步实践和展开。通过对2008年度各省部级机关公布的报告文本的实证分析,我们发现有些机关没有认真履行《条例》规定的公布报告职责;主管部门对各级机关有效履行本项职责的指导、监督不够;公众参与不够等问题。主管部门应针对存在的问题,以编制报告指南、提供报告文本模板的方法来指导各级行政机关做好本项工作,并督促具有管理公共事务职能的组织和与人民群众利益密切相关的公共企事业单位也履行公布报告义务,支持社会公益组织对公布报告的组织化参与、系统化监督和全面专业化的评议,以促进这一新型法规制度的落实与持续发展。     

京汉铁路利权的赎回及其是非得失

京汉铁路由于借款比利时而被比利时所控制。中国政府赎回京汉铁路,是20世纪初中国理性民族主义的体现,是收回路矿利权运动中最大的成果。北洋集团重要成员陈壁、梁士诒等在赎路过程中的积极努力应该给予充分肯定。清政府在经济困窘的情况下,主要通过借款的方式赎回京汉铁路是无可厚非的。京汉铁路的赎回不仅有着极大的经济利益,更为重要的是政治影响,中国终于摆脱了外国的控制,自主地经营属于自己的铁路管理了。