人民币到底被低估了多少?

人民币汇率是近年来国际关注的焦点.本文借助乔翰森(Johansen)协整分析框架,运用行为均衡汇率(BEER)模型和恒久均衡汇率(PEER)模型,探究了人民币实际汇率和名义汇率的均衡水平.论文认为,人民币汇率的确被低估,但幅度最高不超过15%;渐进的"两步走"改革战略是中国推进固定汇率制转向弹性浮动汇率制的最佳选择.     

The impact of globalization on sociological concepts: Community,culture and milieu

Out of Giddens’ (1990) emphasis on modernity and Robertson's (1992) on globality emerges the need to conceptualize globalization in relation to the social per se. An exemplificatory conceptual case study points to global processes straining older concepts formed for nation state sociologies:deterrtorialization of the community concept results in the imagined community; global culture signals the fragmentation of the culture concept; ‘milieu ‘ has to be extended and generalized for global relevance. Globalization makes the structuration of new forms and types of groups and social relationships a key conceptual problem for sociology. But its impact also highlights the generative processes for new sociological concepts.     

"They're Worse Off Than Us"- The Social Construction of European Space and Boundaries in the German/Polish Twin-City Guben-Gubin

In the context of globalization and European integration, the interplay between social boundaries and territorially defined political borders becomes more complex in that they become increasingly delinked. In some regional settings, this might imply that while the political border is softened, the socio-cultural closure between the border communities becomes even tighter. This article investigates this issue in relation to the German-Polish border region. Looking at the German-Polish twin-city, Guben-Gubin, the first section describes the ways in which cultural closure materializes. Emphasis is given to the link between cultural closure and an increasing alienation of local people from the Europeanized symbolic cross-border politics pursued by the local and regional political elite(s). The second section, however, argues that the "cultural closure" thesis is perhaps too simplistic to grasp the complexity of cross-border interaction of local people. Investigating the cross-border strategies of three milieux, the article concludes that what can be found in a setting like Guben-Gubin is in fact a complex configuration of openings and closures at various spatial and symbolic levels, sometimes taking place simultaneously in one and the same milieu.     

Professionals Assessing Clients' Needs and Eligibility for Electric Scooters in the Netherlands: Both Gatekeepers and Clients' Advocates

Independence and maintaining social contact are important factorsof elderly persons’ quality of life. An electric scootermay support people with mobility problems to achieve these goals.In the Netherlands, needs assessors have been appointed to evaluateclients’ eligibility for electric scooters. They haveto cope with a twofold job assignment: allocating services toonly those clients who are eligible according to predeterminedcriteria, but also acting in their client’s best interest,for the system of needs assessment should be client oriented.This paper examines how needs assessors apply eligibility criteriaand act in the client’s interest at the same time. A qualitativestudy was performed, observing twelve house calls of clientsrequesting an electric scooter. Interviews were held with needsassessors and a document analysis was made. We found that needsassessors used their discretionary room to create their ownpolicy regarding who deserves an electric scooter and who doesnot. They did this by concealing or emphasizing certain information.Especially when needs assessors sympathized with their clients,they did their best to sustain the case. The paper concludeswith the suggestion that needs assessors would benefit fromdiscussing their personal values, not only to agree on theirnorms as a professional group but also to avoid illegitimatearguments influence the decision. Furthermore, needs assessorshould try to influence local social policy, gearing it towardsthe needs of the local community.