Narrowing of Public Responsibility in Finland, 1990–2010

Public responsibility in Finland has narrowed in the last 20 years while the sphere of the private sector has been increased. The economic crisis of the early 1990s was not the cause, but an accelerator of public sector/welfare state retrenchment in Finland. Based on which, it was easy for the advocates of neo‐liberal reforms to argue that the changes were a must. The welfare state programmes however, are popular among the Finnish population and therefore large one‐time cutbacks have not been possible beyond the immediate aftermath of the economic crisis. This article looks into three different methods through which the Finnish welfare state has been gradually cut since then: (1) by not raising income transfers along with the rising cost of living and wages; (2) by reducing funding of public services; and, on the other side of the coin (3) through regular tax cuts contracting the revenue side. Welfare state retrenchment in Finland has therefore been achieved in a subtle fashion through slow gradual weakening of social programmes on one hand, and through cuts in revenue on the other that have left proportionally more in the hands of the wealthier. These combined movements have resulted in a drastic reversal in the trend in income inequality in Finland.     

Identifying Factors that Influence State-specific Hunger Rates in the U.S.: A Simple Analytic Method for Understanding a Persistent Problem

An existing measure of food insecurity with hunger in the United States may serve as an effective indicator of quality of life. State level differences in that measure can reveal important differences in quality of life across places. In this study, we advocate and demonstrate two simple methods by which analysts can explore state-specific contributions to state-specific hunger rates. Using existing survey data and the U.S. Department of Agriculture measure of household food insecurity with hunger, we illustrate how comparing group-specific hunger rates within states and how the demographic method of standardization can both be used to assess how a state’s population and local characteristics influence hunger rates and other quality of life indicators associated with hunger.     

Indicators and Indices of Child Well-being: A Brief American History

This paper traces the history of indicators and indices of child well-being from its origins in the social indicator movement of the 1970s through recent developments in the field. Initial work calling for comprehensive sets of indicators of child well-being and later recommendations for indicator improvement are detailed. Products that resulted from these recommendations, such as comprehensive indicator reports and online resources are described. The development of child well-being indices is shown to parallel the history of indicators. The contributions of state and international indicator and index projects are included as well. Important aspects of child well-being indicator development are uncovered through documenting its history, including the need to focus on subjective as well as objective measures of well-being, and the need to develop indicators for the multiple ecological contexts of children’s lives, but to separate measures of context from measures of child outcomes. A rough consensus emerges across the history of indicator efforts on the critical domains of child well-being: physical, psychological, cognitive, social, and economic well-being. Recent recognition of the importance of indicators of positive development is noted. This paper was funded by the KIDS COUNT project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.     

A People-Based Approach to OBM

Abstract

This rejoinder discusses some common points raised in the commentaries of this special issue of JOBM, including (1) different definitions of positive and negative, (2) use of the terms reinforcement and establishing operation, and (3) concerns over the abandonment of behavior analysis for mentalistic research. In addition, a people-based approach to psychology is introduced and advocated as a leading-edge approach to understanding and improving organizational behavior.     

美国州别研究的意义、内容与方法--以北卡罗来那州为例

州本身就是美国政治经济体系的重要环节,中美关系的发展现状对我们开展美国州别研究提出了新的要求.研究美国各州与中国的经贸关系应该以各州经济发展的总体情况研究为基础,以各州与中国经贸往来中的大宗货物为重点,数据收集与加工分析的方法、典型个案分析的方法与比较研究的方法并用.     

国际视野下的腐败治理

冷战结束后,随着全球化的深入发展,全球性问题日益增多,全球治理理论应运而生。跨国界的腐败问题成为国际视野中不容忽视的社会问题,是全球治理的重要目标。要彻底根除全球性的腐败问题,需要加强主权国家、联合国与非政府组织之间的通力合作。只有这样,才能实现对全球性腐败问题的有效善治。     

The effects of social and political openness on the welfare state in 18 OECD countries

Studies examining the relationship between globalisation and the welfare state tend to focus on the effects of economic dimensions of globalisation, the extent to which a country is part of the world market. Globalisation also has social and political dimensions and the effects of these on welfare states – in terms of social security transfers and generosity – are studied in this article. Data from the KOF Index of Globalisation , the OECD Historical Statistics and the Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset are used to analyse the effects of social and political openness on the welfare states of 18 countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development between 1970 and 2000. The analyses show that social security transfers and generosity have increased less in countries with the highest increase in social openness and that the welfare state is not affected by political openness.     

阿拉伯国家支持巴勒斯坦事业的双重性

基于阿拉伯民族主义共同利益,阿拉伯国家均支持巴勒斯坦人事业,这为巴勒斯坦人的长期斗争提供了可能。然而,在支持巴勒斯坦人的同时,阿拉伯各国又有着不同的利益考量,这对巴勒斯坦问题产生了一些消极影响。阿拉伯国家对巴勒斯坦问题的政策,在深层次上反映了阿拉伯民族主义和地方阿拉伯民族主义之间的关系,即阿拉伯民族主义往往是实现地方阿拉伯民族主义利益的一种工具或手段。     

不遵守Bell不等式的量子缠绕(英)

本文给出正交态及非正交态的量子缠绕，通过分析两个实例，发现能够产生不遵守Bell不等式最大限度的缠绕态。     

另一种和亲——也谈中唐以后公主下嫁藩镇问题

唐代中晚期,政局糜烂,内外交困。唐朝政府在不断对外采取和亲政策的同时,更频频地将公主下嫁到各个藩镇,以求取国家内部的表面和平。这种政治婚姻,是另一种意义上的和亲。但和亲本身是否有效,更多地决定于政权双方的实力对比,所以,唐朝政府对各藩镇的“和亲”政策,并没有收到预期的效果,最终以失败告终。