Structural empowerment,psychological empowerment,and work engagement: A cross-country study

In this cross-country study we drew on job demands-resources theory to investigate whether psychological empowerment mediates the positive association between structural empowerment and work engagement and, consequently, task performance and intention to quit. A total of 1033 employees working in the service sector in Spain (N = 515) and the United Kingdom (N = 518) participated in the study. Multi-group structural equation modeling analyses revealed that psychological empowerment partially mediated the positive relationship between structural empowerment and work engagement, and that work engagement associated positively with task performance and negatively with intention to quit. Invariance analyses suggested that the positive link between psychological empowerment and work engagement was stronger for employees working in the UK than in Spain, providing support for partial structural invariance of the hypothesized model. These findings suggest that psychological empowerment is an underlying mechanism that may explain why structural empowerment relates positively to work engagement with implications for theory (i.e., extend the nomological network of the investigated constructs) and management practice (e.g., emphasize the role of structural empowerment for work design).     

Latin American convergence and divergence towards the mortality profiles of developed countries

It is uncertain whether Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries are approaching a single mortality regime. Over the last three decades, LAC has experienced major public health interventions and the highest number of homicides in the world. However, these interventions and homicide rates are not evenly shared across countries. This study documents trends in life expectancy and lifespan variability for 20 LAC countries, 2000–14. By extending a previous method, we decompose differences in lifespan variability between LAC and a developed world benchmark into cause-specific effects. For both sexes, dispersion of amenable diseases through the age span makes the largest contribution to the gap between LAC and the benchmark. Additionally, for males, the concentration of homicides, accidents, and suicides in mid-life further impedes mortality convergence. Great disparity exists in the region: while some countries are rapidly approaching the developed regime, others remain far behind and suffer a clear disadvantage in population health.     

关于独立董事制度的一个经济逻辑分析

运用体制转轨和渐进改革的宏观视角、使用制度演进和制度创新的分析方法、结合公司治理结构的发展,对独立董事制度的构建背景、意义、发展途径进行一个比较详尽深入的经济逻辑分析,认为在制度潜力发掘—市场规范发展彼此良性互动的作用机制下,独立董事制度将逐渐成熟壮大,最终形成对原有公司治理机构体系的冲击,促使公司治理结构的不断优化和市场的不断成熟规范化变迁。     

Causal inference with generalized structural mean models

Summary.  We estimate cause–effect relationships in empirical research where exposures are not completely controlled, as in observational studies or with patient non-compliance and self-selected treatment switches in randomized clinical trials. Additive and multiplicative structural mean models have proved useful for this but suffer from the classical limitations of linear and log-linear models when accommodating binary data. We propose the generalized structural mean model to overcome these limitations. This is a semiparametric two-stage model which extends the structural mean model to handle non-linear average exposure effects. The first-stage structural model describes the causal effect of received exposure by contrasting the means of observed and potential exposure-free outcomes in exposed subsets of the population. For identification of the structural parameters, a second stage 'nuisance' model is introduced. This takes the form of a classical association model for expected outcomes given observed exposure. Under the model, we derive estimating equations which yield consistent, asymptotically normal and efficient estimators of the structural effects. We examine their robustness to model misspecification and construct robust estimators in the absence of any exposure effect. The double-logistic structural mean model is developed in more detail to estimate the effect of observed exposure on the success of treatment in a randomized controlled blood pressure reduction trial with self-selected non-compliance.     

基于因果关系的教育研究方法思考

探索、检验因果关系是教育科学研究的重要目标之一,相关分析、回归分析、路径分析等常用统计方法存在许多不足。结构方程模型是针对这些不足提出来的,从统计思路上,它具有优点,但还不够完善,应引起我国教育学界的注意。     

中英文特殊诗体的对比--书写形式变异的英文诗与中国的回文结构诗

诗歌一般拥有新鲜的、独特的想象、又常被说是“带有音乐性的思想”,而且语言特别优美和精练。比喻、象征等手段用得多而巧妙。但是在视觉方面,诗人也有所创新。这表现在书写形式变异的英文诗和中国的回文诗。本文通过分析麦克高夫和卡明斯的两首英文诗,以及苏轼等人的回文诗,探讨中外诗人力图通过书写形式的安排,从视觉方面展现诗歌的魅力。     

《诗经》叙事艺术特征阐释

叙事艺术在《诗经》中体现充分、反映显赫。本文从《诗经》所特有的现实主义诗风主题追求 ,以及叙事艺术的结构模式在《诗经》中体现两方面对叙事艺术特征进行阐释。也就是在题材和体裁两方面进行阐释 ,在题材上 ,表现出反映社会政治、人事、婚姻、爱情等方面内容。在体裁上 ,主要表现方式体现在叙事的抒发型、情节型、记实型这三类诗歌中。勾画出了叙事艺术在《诗经》中的轮廓 ,总结了叙事艺术在《诗经》中存在的方式。     

情景喜剧《武林外传》中的语域偏离与语篇幽默效果

古装情景喜剧《武林外传》在全国热播，掀起一阵收视高潮，其原因值得探究。本文运用Hauiday的语域理论，试从语域转换、语域混合和语域借用角度来分析该剧的幽默语言特点，探究其产生具大幽默效应的独特魅力。     

Detecting parameter shift in garch models

This paper applies recent theories of testing for parameter constancy to the conditional variance in a GARCH model. The supremum Lagrange multiplier test for conditional Gaussian GARCH models and its robustified variants are discussed. The asymptotic null distribution of the test statistics are derived from the weak convergence of the scores, and the critical values from the hitting probability of squared Bessel process.

Monte Carlo studies on the finite sample size and power performance of the supremum LM tests are conducted. Applications of these tests to S&P 500 indicate that the hypothesis of stable conditional variance parameters can be rejected.     

Pathways between education and health: a causal modelling approach

Summary.  The association of poor education and poor health has been consistently observed in many studies and in various countries. Thus far, studies examining the mechanisms underlying this association have looked at only a limited set of potential pathways. This study simultaneously examines six distinctive pathways, which have been hypothesized to link education and health and found support from previous studies. A causal analysis of education and health was performed using structural equation models. Data were used from six phases of the National Child Development Study, which is based on following up an initial sample of 17416 children who were born in 1958. The association between education and health appears to be explained by a combination of mechanisms: adolescent health and adult health behaviours for men and women, adult social class among men and parental social class among women. We conclude that improvements in population educational attainment may not automatically lead to improvements in population health, and that health policies for improving health and reducing health inequalities need to target specific causal pathways.