CAN ENTRY OR EXIT EVENT STUDIES INFORM HORIZONTAL MERGER ANALYSIS? EVIDENCE FROM GROCERY RETAILING

This study estimates how prices change following the entry and exit of grocery retailers. We estimate the effects of entry (exit) by comparing affected markets to a set of unaffected markets using both a difference‐in‐difference estimator and a synthetic control estimator. We find that entry typically results in reduced prices. More surprisingly, we find that exit is frequently associated with falling prices. Our estimated effects of entry on grocery prices are similar in magnitude to estimates of merger price effects in the supermarket industry. This finding suggests that entry event studies may be a useful tool for horizontal merger analysis. (JEL L11, L4, L81)     

四川六县(市、区)计划生育工作“三结合”资金投入与产出对比调查

本文通过对四川省六县（市、区）计划生育工作“三结合”资金投入和产出比较，表明计划生育工作“三结合”能实现最佳效益     

The Philippine Male Aging Survey

The aging male is fast becoming a global concern. The problem is predicted to become a major health issue that should be addressed immediately in order to prevent disability, morbidity, and, more importantly, mortality. As part of its commitment to increase awareness and create interest in the care of Filipino aging males, The Philippine Society for the Study of the Aging Male Foundation, Inc. (PhiSSAM), a multi-specialty society established in 2000, embarked on a survey among Filipino physicians to determine their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding male aging. Results showed that the majority of doctors (about 87%) thought that men may experience andropause. Most would diagnose patients based on symptoms alone, while only 20–30% used testosterone levels to make a diagnosis of andropause. Decreased libido and less strong erections were the symptoms very closely associated with low testosterone. Of those doctors responding, 89% agreed that andropause can affect the quality of a man's life as much as menopause can affect a female; only 38% had already prescribed/instituted treatment for andropause. Of the 62% non-prescribers, 58% said they were either very likely or fairly likely to institute treatment in the future if there were more clinical trials, more medical information, and more information on drugs. Major concerns on testosterone replacement therapy included prostate cancer, benign prostatic hypertrophy, and heart disease. The findings in this pilot survey indicate a need among the doctors in the Philippines for education about andropause and the available treatments.     

创立城市计划生育工作的新体制

面对新形势下的城市计划生育工作 ,天津市计划生育委员会走依托社区、依靠群众的路子 ,建立属地管理的新体制和寓管理于服务之中的工作新模式 ,并搞好配套改革 ,保证新体制和新模式的运行。     

A fundamental rethink of practice learning in social work education

A common response to the need to place increasing numbers of social work students in field education or practice learning placements has been to broaden the range of organisations in which placements are sought. While this strategy has provided many beneficial learning opportunities for students, it has not been sufficient in tackling ongoing difficulties in locating work-integrated learning opportunities for social work students. We argue that new approaches to finding placement opportunities will require a fundamental rethink as to how student placements are understood. This paper introduces an innovative project which started with a consideration of learning opportunities and built a structure to facilitate these, rather than rely on organisational availability to host students on placements.     

Practices of exclusion and injustices within social work education

Despite being a major influence, there are few studies investigating the impact of accreditation on the social justice remit of social work education. This article is guided by two questions: What are the social justice responsibilities of professional associations regulating social work education via accreditation? and What contribution can institutional ethnography make to understanding and change in this area? Drawing on a data-subset from a larger institutional ethnography, selected narratives of two informants, a social work student and a social work lecturer, are discussed. These narratives reveal how key documents of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) used to re-accredit social work courses influence how the study and work of the informants happens. Analysis of the narratives and documents bring the textually organised process of the re-accreditation of social work programmes into view. While this article reports on an Australian context, the issues raised concerning social injustice, epistemological equity and the implicit curriculum are relevant for social work education across many parts of the world. The contribution of this article is to recommend institutional ethnography as a research approach to generate understanding and transformation of organisations with social justice objectives, to redress exclusion and injustice.     

Women and health: female circumcision

Documented cases of female circumcision are reported for Malaysia, Indonesia, East and West Africa. Infibulation is reported for East and West Africa. A specific village listing is provided. Female circumcision as practised in African villages is designed to reduce sexual enjoyment. Those girls who refuse the operation are often ostracized. Sunna circumcision, the cutting of the prepuce of the clitoris, is performed with razor blades and knives by old women. In some areas cuts in the vagina are made to make childbearing easier. The result is the opposite. Moslems perform infibulation (fastening the labia majora together) to insure virginity and paternity. In Kenya defenders of the practise of clitoridectomy say its opposers are viewing the situation emotionally from a Western perspective. Changes are typically resisted by men, especially if they are perceived as being determined by outsiders.     

Editorial: the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women

China was the unwilling host of the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women. China held up the entry visas of thousands of women who wanted to attend the conference, the Huairou Forum site was completely unsuitable for a world conference, and journalists were treated like nuisances by the Chinese government. Despite these obstacles, the conference was a success which should produce permanent results. Women managed to get to the conference, ideas were exchanged, woman-to-woman solidarity was expressed, and journalists still managed to report what they saw and learned. Women supported each other at the Fourth World Conference on Women like never before to reach and convey their consensus of a desire for peace and recognition of their human rights and needs.