On the difficulty of making social choices

The difficulty of making social choices seems to take on two forms: one that is related to both preferences and the method used in aggregating them and one which is related to the preferences only. In the former type the difficulty has to do with the discrepancies of outcomes resulting from various preference aggregation methods and the computation of winners in elections. Some approaches and results which take their motivation from the computability theory are discussed. The latter institution-free type of difficulty pertains to solution theory of the voting games. We discuss the relationships between various solution concepts, e.g. uncovered set, Banks set, Copeland winners. Finally rough sets are utilized in an effort to measure the difficulty of making social choices.     

Consumer trust in B2C e-Commerce and the importance of social presence: experiments in e-Products and e-Services

Reducing social uncertainty—understanding, predicting, and controlling the behavior of other people—is a central motivating force of human behavior. When rules and customs are not sufficient, people rely on trust and familiarity as primary mechanisms to reduce social uncertainty. The relative paucity of regulations and customs on the Internet makes consumer familiarity and trust especially important in the case of e-Commerce. Yet the lack of an interpersonal exchange and the one-time nature of the typical business transaction on the Internet make this kind of consumer trust unique, because trust relates to other people and is nourished through interactions with them.This study validates a four-dimensional scale of trust in the context of e-Products and revalidates it in the context of e-Services. The study then shows the influence of social presence on these dimensions of this trust, especially benevolence, and its ultimate contribution to online purchase intentions.     

中国“三农”问题研究现状及其成果评价——基于国家社科基金项目及其成果论文的计量分析

随着国家社科基金项目对“三农”问题研究的资助力度不断加强,相关研究发展迅速且成果卓著,对此进行整体梳理,既有助于总结以往研究的经验,也有益于相关问题研究的不断深入.文章以1991-2015年立项的3 375项“三农”问题国家社科基金项目及其18 770篇成果论文为研究对象,对项目信息、成果论文、研究热点与评价等方面进行计量分析,全面呈现中国“三农”问题近30年的发展与研究状况.研究表明,农民、新生代农民工、新农村等为“三农”问题的研究热点,有关农民、农民工的论文最受关注且被引频次最高.     

近一百年来现代化进程中的中国乡村—兼论乡村振兴战略中的“乡村”

建设什么样的乡村、怎么建设乡村,是近代以来中华民族面对的一个历史性课题。 在近百年中国现代化进程中,乡村不断衰败凋敝,这跟近百年来我国所选取的经济发展道路不无关系,更与人们对于“乡村冶和“乡村发展冶的认识紧密相关。 在相当长的一个历史时期内,人们简单地将“乡村冶与“农业冶、“乡村发展冶与“农业发展冶相提并论。 如果不能将乡村视为一个社会的概念,并着力乡村社会建设,即便在经济发展上用尽全力,也将事倍功半。     

东亚乡村振兴社会政策比较研究断想

作为典型的后发外生型现代化模式,东亚各国在努力追求和实现工业化、城市化的同时,也特别注意城乡社会的均衡发展,先后推出了系统的乡村振兴社会政策。 但在以往的研究中,学界一般都是循着国别路径展开的,多注重研究中日韩等国乡村振兴的相关政策提出及实施,而没有从比较社会政策的视角展开总体性比较研究。 故结合东亚主要国家工业化、城市化变迁进程中乡村振兴的社会政策实践,展开总体性的比较研究,深入挖掘政策出台的历史背景,分析解读政策文本的内涵,并注意政策文本之间的复杂关联,以实现对东亚乡村振兴社会政策的总体性研究提炼,为当下正在展开的中国乡村振兴战略提供有益的借鉴。     

农村老年人日常生活家庭照料与社会照料关系研究——基于多层回归模型的分析

文章利用中国健康与养老追踪调查 2011—2012 年的基线调查数据,运用多层回归模型,通过分析社会照料对农村老年人家庭照料获得的影响,探讨家庭照料与社会照料的关系。 回归估计结果显示,个人层次上的年龄、居住状况、失能情况和社区层次上的老龄补贴、经济状况对农村老年人获得家庭照料有不同程度的影响,而代表社会照料的变量在统计上均不显著。 回归估计结果说明,社会照料并不能对缺位的家庭照料起到补充作用,更不会起到替代作用,两者呈现一种非此即彼的“无关系”。 文章的政策启示是,打破家庭照料与社会照料的壁垒,构建一个“流动”的老年照料体系。     

(When) Is job-finding via personal contacts a meaningful concept for social network analysis? A comment to

Chua (2011) argues that in a meritocratic context, institutions restrict the usefulness of social networks in exerting influence on job seekers’ earnings. Regressing job-finding via personal contacts on earnings, he finds negative effects of influence via personal contacts, especially for the well-educated and individuals working in the state sector. In this comment, I argue that these results are ambiguous because (1) the analysis does not sufficiently distinguish between job ‘search’ methods and job ‘finding’ methods, (2) job-finding method indicates information flow rather than a personal contact's influence, and (3) it remains unclear whether Chua's analysis reflects the effect of network usage in job search per se or the effect of self-selection into network usage by individuals with low earning potential.     

基于社会服务项目的儿童福利资源整合

当前,我国儿童福利资源存在资源匮乏、供给分散、可获得性弱等问题,而社会服务项目则是解决这些问题的一种路径。以福利治理为理论视角,尝试以一个留守儿童社会服务项目为例的研究发现,该项目通过不同形式的合作整合了来自政府、军队、群团组织、社会组织、企业、社区等资源,提高了福利资源的供给效率,满足了留守儿童多元化的福利需求,但是,由于项目本身的周期性、制度保障的缺乏等限制,导致了项目难以持续发挥作用。因此,基于社会服务项目的福利资源整合只是一种基于实践基础上的暂时的整合,而最根本的还需要在福利制度上进行整合。     

The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations

We examine the challenges of governance facing organizations that pursue a social mission through the use of market mechanisms. These hybrid organizations, often referred to as social enterprises, combine aspects of both charity and business at their core. In this paper we distinguish between two ideal types of such hybrids, differentiated and integrated, and we conceptualize two key challenges of governance they face: accountability for dual performance objectives and accountability to multiple principal stakeholders. We revisit the potential and limitations of recently introduced legal forms to address these challenges. We then theorize about the importance of organizational governance and the role of governing boards in particular, in prioritizing and aligning potentially conflicting objectives and interests in order to avoid mission drift and to maintain organizational hybridity in social enterprises. Finally, we discuss future research directions and the implications of this work for rethinking traditional categories of organizations, namely business and charity.