Improving Ethical Knowledge and Sensemaking from Cases through Elaborative Interrogation and Outcome Valence

The case-based approach to learning is popular among many applied fields. However, results of case-based education vary widely on case content and case presentation. This study examined two aspects of case-based education—outcome valence and case elaboration methods—in a two-day case-based Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) ethics education program. Results suggest that outcome information is an integral part of a quality case. Furthermore, valence consistent outcomes may have certain advantages over mixed valence outcome information. Finally, students enjoy and excel working with case material, and the use of elaborative interrogation techniques can significantly improve internally-focused ethical sensemaking strategies associated with personal biases, constraints, and emotions.     

The theory of constraints: a methodology apart?—a comparison with selected OR/MS methodologies

Mingers (J. Oper. Res. Soc. 54 (2003) 559; Int. Trans. Oper. Res. 7 (2000) 673; J. Mingers, A. Gill (Eds.), Multimethodology: Towards the Theory and Practice of Combining Management Science Methodologies, Wiley, Chichester, 1997), Mingers and Brocklesby (Omega—Int. J. Manage. Sci. 25(5) (1997) 489; Systemist 18(3) (1996) 101) and others have sought to develop classificatory frameworks that would be useful in understanding the nature and characteristics of Operational Research/Management Science (OR/MS) methodologies and the philosophical assumptions underpinning them. This paper extends their work to the domain of methods and methodologies known as the Theory of Constraints (TOC). In particular, the paper helps position TOC methods and tools in relation to traditional OR/MS methodologies, methods and tools, and provides a basis for continuing multi-methodological development across the two domains.The paper concludes that the tools, techniques and methods of TOC can be viewed as a methodological set of complementary hard and soft tools and methods that contribute to all phases of activity and across all three social, personal and material dimensions of the Mingers–Brocklesby framework, and share the ontological and epistemological characteristics and assumptions of extant OR/MS methodologies.     

软预算约束、银行危机与金融监管

本文利用不完全信息动态博弈模型,探讨了金融危机、监管者的软预算约束与银行道德风险之间的关系.研究发现:金融危机愈高,监管者的软预算约束愈大,因此,消除软预算约束是降低金融危机最重要的监管措施;建设性模糊策略能够有效消除金融机构对软预算约束的预期心理;随着银行的道德风险上升,金融危机也会升高.     

现金价值与公司资本结构

在金融风险凸起的环境中,现金流控制至关重要。现金持有虽可保证债务偿还,更可抓住投资机会,但同时带来持有机会成本,两方面的平衡成为决策的出发点。考察了资本结构对现金边际价值的影响,揭示权益投资者对公司现金资产的价值评价。结果表明：现金边际价值随着现金持有量的增加而减小,随着杠杆的增大而减小,随着融资约束的出现而增大;中国上市公司的现金边际价值明显低于美国公司,说明中国证券市场的效率具有提高的潜力。     

边缘治理:城市化进程中的城郊村社区治理——以浙江省T村社区为个案

浙江省T村社区是一个介于城乡之间的城郊村,在城市化进程中,村社区治理呈现出明显的边缘性特征:治理体制的双轨化、治理范围的村落化、组织结构的两栖化、组织职能的叠合化。城郊村社区治理的的边缘化是多种因素影响的结果,其中最为重要的原因是:城乡二元性社会体制的制约、城郊村社区城市化制度的供给不足、城郊村社区的现实需求。     

Bias‐reduced marginal Akaike information criteria based on a Monte Carlo method for linear mixed‐effects models

In linear mixed‐effects (LME) models, if a fitted model has more random‐effect terms than the true model, a regularity condition required in the asymptotic theory may not hold. In such cases, the marginal Akaike information criterion (AIC) is positively biased for (?2) times the expected log‐likelihood. The asymptotic bias of the maximum log‐likelihood as an estimator of the expected log‐likelihood is evaluated for LME models with balanced design in the context of parameter‐constrained models. Moreover, bias‐reduced marginal AICs for LME models based on a Monte Carlo method are proposed. The performance of the proposed criteria is compared with existing criteria by using example data and by a simulation study. It was found that the bias of the proposed criteria was smaller than that of the existing marginal AIC when a larger model was fitted and that the probability of choosing a smaller model incorrectly was decreased.     

The role of marriage in immigrants’ human capital investment under liquidity constraints

This paper presents a two-period human capital investment model, which is used to study the optimal investment decisions of credit-constrained married immigrants relative to single immigrants and native couples facing a perfect capital market. The model predicts that: (1) The comparative advantage in investment in local skills of one of the spouses may emerge from his/her higher growth rate of imported human capital. (2) The optimal investment of each spouse is non-increasing in the level of imported human capital of the spouse with the comparative advantage in investment, while it is non-decreasing in the level of imported human capital of the other spouse. (3) When two immigrants get married, the spouse with the comparative advantage in investment invests more than when he/she was single whereas the other spouse invests less.

农村最低生活保障退出机制构建研究

低保退出机制是农村最低生活保障制度的重要组成部分,它的建立对于完善农村最低生活保障制度有着十分重要意义。但目前低保退出机制相对滞后,其中低保标准较低、福利依赖、收入核定困难是主要制约因素。建立分类救助模式与脱贫扶助体系、完善家庭收入核定手段、对低保对象实施动态管理以及强化村级监督等是突破障碍。构建我国农村最低生活保障退出机制的有效途径。     

A semiparametric additive rates model for recurrent event data

Recurrent event data often arise in biomedical studies, with examples including hospitalizations, infections, and treatment failures. In observational studies, it is often of interest to estimate the effects of covariates on the marginal recurrent event rate. The majority of existing rate regression methods assume multiplicative covariate effects. We propose a semiparametric model for the marginal recurrent event rate, wherein the covariates are assumed to add to the unspecified baseline rate. Covariate effects are summarized by rate differences, meaning that the absolute effect on the rate function can be determined from the regression coefficient alone. We describe modifications of the proposed method to accommodate a terminating event (e.g., death). Proposed estimators of the regression parameters and baseline rate are shown to be consistent and asymptotically Gaussian. Simulation studies demonstrate that the asymptotic approximations are accurate in finite samples. The proposed methods are applied to a state-wide kidney transplant data set.     

The production of disability research in human geography: an introspective examination

The ‘geographies of disability’ is an important and evolving area of scholarship within human geography. Uniting the disparate areas of inquiry in this sub‐discipline are researchers’ shared interests in understanding processes of disablement and socio‐spatial experiences of disability. What drives human geographers to engage with this scholarship? We address this and other introspective questions through presenting an analysis of the findings of an online survey conducted with 30 such disability researchers. The overriding purpose is to understand how and why these researchers do what they do. Our presentation of the survey findings is divided into four organizational categories: (1) the researcher; (2) the inquiry; (3) the research outputs; and (4) the institutions. A key finding is that conducting disability research in human geography is very much about negotiating around or through constraints while identifying and enacting enablers in order to accomplish goals associated with producing disability research.