Evaluating the Possible Impact of Pension Reforms on Elderly Poverty in Europe

Since the 1990s, reforms have changed substantially both the nature of state pension provision and the level of generosity. This article tries to assess the impact of these changes using estimates of pension wealth for a number of hypothetical cases. By focusing on all prospective pension transfers rather than just those at the point of retirement, this approach can provide additional insights, especially on the impact of changes in benefit indexation. These estimates corroborate existing evidence that reforms have decreased generosity significantly. Moves to link benefits to contributions have made systems less progressive, raising adequacy concerns for certain groups. The reforms have, in particular, strengthened the need of ensuring better access to labour markets, of having in place adequate crediting arrangements and minimum pensions.     

When Social Partners Unite – Explaining Continuity and Change in Austrian and Dutch Labour Market Governance

Why do Austria and the Netherlands, two highly corporatist, coordinated, consensual countries diverge with respect to the involvement of social partners in their Public Employment Service? By comparing and contrasting the competing predictions of the power‐resource, employer‐centred and social partnership approaches, we identify a key omitted variable that can explain the observed variations: the ability of the social partners to unite on reform positions. We demonstrate that when the social partners are divided, their collective power is reduced and partisan‐based policy outcomes become more pronounced. In turn, when the social partners jointly favour a particular outcome, their collective power increases and they can override governmental reform plans, even if the government holds a large legislative majority. These findings highlight the causal importance of power relations between and within the social partners for institutional continuity and change.     

拜物主义的形成根源及其治理对策

针对当下社会中存在的奢靡风气、拜物主义现象,通过分析拜物主义基本特征、探索其历史根源,提出相应的治理对策。分析认为,当前社会中形成拜物观的主要原因在于曾经存在的物质匮乏的历史、当今经济的快速增长以及消费时代的到来。为此,需要人们树立居安思危的社会意识和建立合理而健康的人生观和价值观,学习古人尚俭的品质、进行心理疏导,优化消费环境,从而走出拜物主义的误区。     

土改与乡村权力关系的重塑——以新中国成立初期的四川绵阳专区为例

新中国成立初期的土地改革,从经济上摧毁了旧社会政治关系的基础,颠覆了我国乡村社会传统的政治格 局和秩序,对当代中国历史发展产生了深远影响。本文以新中国成立初期（1950—1952 年）四川绵阳的史料为基础, 借助政治社会学视角研究新中国成立前后的重大历史事件与中国社会变迁,探讨我党确立执政地位的历史逻辑。新 中国成立初期,我党通过政治动员,成功地让农民形成了具有明确指向的阶级意识,积极投身到群众运动之中。同 时,“公审斗争”和“没收赔罚”彻底摧毁了地主的权威,农民由此掌握乡村的话语权,成为政治活动的主体。我党通过 干部整训,着力培育造就新的基层执政者,实现了乡村权力关系的重塑。     

Activation,Public Employment Services and their Clients: The Role of Social Class in a Continental Welfare State

This article fills a gap in the existing literature by investigating how public employment service (PES) staff actually deal with their clients under a continental regime of activation. The results reported here are based on interviews both with PES staff and their unemployed clients in Germany. We argue that due to its Bismarckian origins as an insurance‐based system of ‘unemployment protection’, Germany's system of unemployment compensation is attractive not only for the marginalized, but also for core workers. As a result, PES staff deal with clients from very heterogeneous class backgrounds. We demonstrate that social class is a significant factor in client outcomes, and that earlier research has perhaps overemphasized the role of frontline staff as ‘street‐level bureaucrats’. While staff do have considerable power, the result of the encounters between the administration and clients also depends on the capabilities of the clients, which, in turn, are strongly related to social class.     

Value orientations of social welfare policy structures

Substantial literature exists around the variation of welfare policy development in liberal democracies. The contrast of the American welfare state to those in Europe has sparked significant analytical literature about which factors are most significant in the variation. The literature extensively examines many of these factors but has neglected the significance of social values. This article discusses values and policy development as a foundation for further studies linking specific values to policy and institutional development. First, I discuss theorists who have identified value orientation as significant to welfare state variation; second, I review the major comparative welfare state literature. Finally, I discuss the major variation categories through the lens of social values by identifying the significant value orientation of sample policy structures. Comparative welfare state literature benefits from elucidating the values orientation of welfare policies that define the welfare state typological categories. Including the role of social values in welfare state comparisons promotes greater understanding of the origins and trajectory of current policy. Key Practitioner Message: ● Increase understanding of welfare state variation factors; ● Frame questions about social values reflected in social policy.     

政府债务、经济增长与非线性效应

本文基于61个国家1980-2009年的面板数据,采用系统GMM方法对政府债务与经济增长之间的非线性关系进行了实证检验,较好的克服了变量内生性问题。研究表明,政府债务与经济增长之间存在着非线性(倒U型)关系,这种关系普遍存在于发达国家和发展中国家;证明了债务阈值的存在性,且两组国家中政府债务阈值的大小存在差异。但是,政府债务阈值并不具有唯一性和确定性,它随利率、通货膨胀、经常账户和金融发展的变化而显示出动态性特征,且上述变量对两组国家的影响存在显著的区别。     

Media,fear, and nuclear energy: A case study

Although electricity generation technologies and safety have improved gradually over time, nuclear power, including generation facilities and waste repositories, are seemingly stigmatized in American culture. Contemporary literature has considered the impact of widely broadcasting nuclear accidents and how media coverage might alter public risk perceptions and in turn, U.S. nuclear policy. This paper discusses the vacillation of public support in recent decades and its ties to both media and scientific reporting. The analysis identifies how media coverage of accidents at Chernobyl, Three-Mile Island, and Fukushima overwhelmed scientific claims of safety and security in nuclear energy production. Additionally, the discussion considers how to bridge the information gap between scientists, citizens, and policymakers through increased knowledge dissemination. Finally, the implications of improved scientific communication in democratic policymaking processes are discussed.     

现代化进程中新生代农民工价值观的矛盾透析

作为推进城镇化的重要元素,新生代农民工的现代化直接关系到他们自身的发展与我国城镇化的顺利实现。因此,分析把握新生代农民工在现代化过程中的价值观矛盾现状与成因,从而引导树立社会主义核心价值观体系为主导的价值观,从制度、组织、文化等层面为新生代农民工的精神家园寻求一条融入现代化的道路。     

当代中国人的日本观研究述评

20世纪90年代以来,国内学界对当代中国人日本观的形成、变迁、特点以及将来发展等问题进行了一般性研究,并对当代中国主要政治家和中国共产党、国内媒体和知识界以及一般公众的日本观进行了分类研究,还就媒体因素对当代中国人的日本观的影响、影响当代中国人日本观的文化因素、中日两国相互认识以及对日新思维等专题进行了研究。今后需要各相关部门对此项研究工作进一步加强重视,努力实现该研究的跨学科跨部门整合,并在具体研究工作中注重研究方法和研究内容的创新。