Exploring Neglected Dimensions of Social Policy: The SDW, Fiscal Welfare and the Exemplar of Local Taxation in England

Titmuss's Social Division of Welfare (SDW) thesis is a vitally important but much neglected element of social policy analysis. This article seeks to explore the SDW, with a particular focus on fiscal welfare. Fiscal welfare has been described as forming a hidden welfare state, and while taxation is one of the main ways in which governments affect the lives of citizens, studies of welfare pay remarkably little attention to its impact. Fiscal welfare is examined by using, as an exemplar, local taxation in England, a subject that itself is neglected within social policy. Local taxation in England is of interest because it illustrates the impact of a system of taxation on different groups of citizens, and how this can operate to the benefit of rich over poor citizens. This is because the current system is highly regressive, meaning that those on low and middle incomes spend proportionately more of their income paying the tax than do those on high incomes. What is of further interest is how within the debate about reform of local taxation, concern with regressivity becomes obscured and ceases to be the focus of attention. We are thus provided with an example of how fiscal welfare remains a hidden issue. The article concludes by arguing that social policy analysis needs to move beyond the narrow confines of social welfare and develop a broader understanding of welfare, based on the SDW.     

Effect of Inventory Information Discrepancy in a Drop‐Shipping Supply Chain

This article investigates the impact of information discrepancy between a drop‐shipper and an online retailer on the drop‐shipping supply chain performance. The inventory information misalignment between them contributes to the failure of order fulfillment and demand satisfaction, and hence the associated penalties are incurred. In this article, we first analyze the penalties of ignoring such information discrepancy on both the drop‐shipper and the online retailer. We then assess the impact of information discrepancy on both parties when the drop‐shipper understands the existence of the information discrepancy but is not able to eliminate the errors. The numerical experiments indicate that both parties can have significant amount of the percentage cost reductions if the information discrepancy can be eliminated, and the potential savings are substantial especially when the errors have large variability. Furthermore, we observe that the online retailer is more vulnerable to information discrepancy than the drop‐shipper, and the drop‐shipper is likely to suffer from the online retailer's underestimation of the physical inventory level more than the problem of its overestimation. Moreover, even if eliminating errors is not possible, both parties could still benefit from taking the possibility of errors into consideration in decision making.     

环境信息披露的污染减排效应评估

本文利用我国2008年正式实施环境信息披露制度这一外生冲击构造准自然实验,基于2004-2017年我国285个城市的面板数据,通过双重差分法系统评估环境信息披露对工业污染物排放的影响。克服环境信息披露的测量困难与内生性问题,首次考察环境信息披露的污染减排效果,并借助数理模型对其影响机制进行规范阐释。研究发现,环境信息披露能够显著降低工业污染物排放水平,且该影响具有一定的时滞性和长期性;同时,减排作用会随地区环境污染程度和环境规制力度的增强而呈现递增规律;此外,机制分析的结果表明,其传导机制主要来自于产业结构转型和减排技术进步。为验证研究结论的稳健性,本文提供了平行趋势、工具变量、安慰剂等多种方法的检验结果。本文的研究在经验上丰富了环境信息披露与环境污染治理之间关系的相关讨论,为提升我国环境污染治理水平、打赢污染防治攻坚战提供有益的政策启示。     

中国上市 ITO 企业经营效率评价及影响因素分析

运用基于规模报酬可变的投入导向的超效率DEA模型,对在沪深两市上市的具有代表性的30家中国ITO企业的经营效率进行实证研究,结果表明中国上市ITO公司整体运营效率不高,且各企业之间存在显著差异性。为分析企业规模、员工素质、研发投入等因素对中国上市ITO企业效率的影响,采用Tobit模型发现企业规模、员工素质、政府支持等因素对企业运营效率有着积极地影响,而研发投入对企业运营效率的影响并不显著。     

Temporal Disaggregation: Methods,Information Loss,and Diagnostics

This research provides a generalized framework to disaggregate lower-frequency time series and evaluate the disaggregation performance. The proposed framework combines two models in separate stages: a linear regression model to exploit related independent variables in the first stage and a state–space model to disaggregate the residual from the regression in the second stage. For the purpose of providing a set of practical criteria for assessing the disaggregation performance, we measure the information loss that occurs during temporal aggregation while examining what effects take place when aggregating data. To validate the proposed framework, we implement Monte Carlo simulations and provide two empirical studies. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Does IO Economics Really Make the Case for Investments in IT: A Rejoinder

The preceding critique [1] of the paper “The Information Problems in Organizations: A Research Model for the Value of Information and Information Systems” [3], reaches general conclusions with respect to the original paper and the applicability of economics to MIS research. These conclusions are based on arguments developed at a different level of analysis than that used in the original paper, and without considering the goals and intent of the original paper. The differences between the critique and the original paper are highlighted.     

高校图书馆与新时期信息素质教育

信息是当今社会最重要的资源之一,人们对信息的需求正呈现出多层次、多样化的形式。在新的信息环境下,高校图书馆应与时俱进地积极转变观念,拓展教学内容,规范相关要求,在信息素质教育中作出突出的贡献。     

A Learning Curve Analysis of Expert System Use*

In this article, we study how an expert system affects novice problem solving in a financial risk analysis domain. We demonstrate that novice performance is improved after exposure to an expert system. Further, we show that novice performance continues to improve when the system is withdrawn. By comparing learning curves for people with exposure to those without, we can assess how much the system has benefitted its users. We demonstrate a quantitative methodology to measure the increment of learning due to the use of an information technology. We also explore the issue of how expertise is transferred from the system to the user.     

Auditors' Assessment of Management's Disposition: An Attributional Analysis*

Auditors' assessment of management's dispositions presumably affects their subsequent judgments. However, little is known about the process by which auditors infer characteristics of management. This paper proposes the theory of correspondent inferences [25] as a framework for examining auditors' assessment of management's dispositions; the model is tested in a laboratory experiment using experienced audit managers. The results are consistent with the proposed theoretical framework. Implications for future research are discussed.     

The Career Advancement Prospects of Managers and Professionals: Are MIS Employees Unique?

The present study examined the career advancement prospects of MIS and non-MIS employees, as well as the relationships of career advancement prospects with job performance evaluations, job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment for MIS and non-MIS professionals and managers. Participants included 134 MIS professionals and managers and 397 non-MIS professionals and managers of a large communications company. The results provided no evidence that MIS employees experience more restricted career advancement prospects than non-MIS employees. In addition, job performance evaluations generally had positive effects on career advancement prospects; career advancement prospects had a number of positive effects on job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment; and job satisfaction and career satisfaction had positive effects on organizational commitment. These findings are related to prior research, suggestions for future research are offered, and implications for the management of MIS employees are identified.