Capitalizing the Crisis? Explanatory Factors for the Design of Short‐time Work across Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development Countries

This article looks at the financial and economic crisis 2008–10 in 18 Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development states and seeks to investigate explanatory paths for the subsidization of further education within short‐time work programmes. Several hypotheses are put to the test: first, a classical partisan difference argument; second, a varieties of capitalism approach proposing a successful joint rallying of employers and employees for subsidization in coordinated market economies; and, lastly, the merged hypothesis that right‐wing parties in a coordinated economic context might subsidize feeling the pressure to overcompensate an ‘issue ownership’ of left parties in the field of employee‐friendly policies. We identify four explanatory paths: coordinated economies in the sample subsidized when they were economically closed or highly indebted. The results also support our combined hypothesis, that New Zealand – a left‐governed liberal market economy – and right‐governed coordinated market economies of the non‐Scandinavian type subsidized.     

Social networks and labour market outcomes in a meritocracy

This paper examines the significance of personal contacts in job searches, in the context of Singapore's meritocratic system. I show that in certain sectors, such as the state bureaucracy, social networking brings no distinct advantages as appointments are made exclusively on the basis of the academic credentials of the candidates. Thus, personal contacts are not always useful, especially in labour markets that rely heavily on the signalling role of academic credentials to match persons to jobs and allocate rewards. In contrast, personal contacts are more useful among less qualified job searchers in the private sector.     

云南少数民族传统绣花鞋的种类及其文化内涵

云南少数民族传统绣花鞋是民族服饰的重要组成部分。它以独特的外观造型、丰富的文化内涵,从一个侧面反映了各民族不同的生活习俗、宗教信仰、审美意识和民族历史,同时也凝聚着各民族的聪明和智慧。     

全球视角下植物新品种保护对我国种子出口贸易的影响分析

基于2000—2009年我国种子出口面板数据,采用面板数据模型分析我国主要种子出口国植物新品种保护实施及我国植物新品种保护效果对其进口我国种子数额的影响.实证分析结果表明,种子进口国加入UPOV公约的1978Act和1991Act均对我国种子出口产生显著的抑制作用;但种子进口国拥有的有效力的品种权数量对我国种子出口的影响不显著;此外,我国拥有的有效力的品种权数量对种子出口产生积极的促进作用.     

A simple theory of ‘meso’. On the co-evolution of institutions and platform size—With an application to varieties of capitalism and ‘medium-sized’ countries

This paper deals with institutional emergence in the well-known ‘evolution of cooperation’ framework and focuses on its size dimension. It is argued that some ‘meso’ (rather than ‘macro’) level (to be numerically determined) is the proper level of cultural emergence, diffusion, and retention. Also Schumpeterian economists (K. Dopfer et al.) have discussed institutions as ‘meso’ phenomena, and Schelling, Axelrod, Arthur, Lindgren, and many others have dealt with ‘critical masses’ of coordinated agents, including related segregations of populations. However, the process and logic of emergent group size has rarely been explicitly explored so far. In this paper, ‘meso’ will be explained, in an evolutionary and game–theoretic frame and a population perspective, in terms of a cooperating group smaller than the whole population involved. Mechanisms such as memory, monitoring, reputation chains, and active partner selection will loosen the total connectivity of the deterministic ‘single-shot’ benchmark and thus allow for emergent ‘meso’-sized arenas, while expectations to meet a cooperative partner next round remain sufficiently high. Applications of ‘meso-nomia’ include the deep structure of ‘general trust’ and the surprisingly high macro-economic and macro-social performance in ‘small’ and ‘well-networked’ countries which helps to explain persistent ‘varieties of capitalism’. A strategy for empirical application of the theoretical approach and some first empirical indications of its relevance are presented.     

Public relations role in a global competition “to sell” alternative political and socio-economic models of market economy

This article extends the transitional public relations approach to international public relations research. The arguments are presented that public relations strategies and instruments were and are further on used in that competition to promote, and sometimes impose certain political and socio-economic models of market economy. The main global players, first of the United States, but most recently also China are trying to “sell” their own model not only in the former socialist/communist but also in developing countries. On the other hand, the campaign to promote European social model has just been initiated by the European Parliament.     

饮食民俗谫论

饮食民俗是物质生活民俗之一。由于受经济、政治、地域和气候、宗教信仰和语言等因素的影响,中国的饮食民俗形成了特有的民族风格。除了饮食的次数、主食与副食搭配以外,中国饮食民俗结构中的饮食过程、饮食俗信和禁忌有着自己的鲜明个性。中国的饮食民俗主要分为日常食俗、节日食俗和宗教食俗三大类。     

Promoting workplace‐based training to fight youth unemployment in three EU countries: Different strategies,different results?

During the economic crisis, youth unemployment grew exponentially in many European countries. It was argued that countries with a high level of firm involvement in the provision of initial vocational training were better equipped to address this problem. Boosting workplace‐based training was therefore seen as the right strategy to tackle unemployment. Using Denmark, Spain and the UK as case studies, this article analyses how countries with different skill formation systems have improved this type of training. While the UK reinforced the voluntaristic character of its training regime, Denmark improved the quality of its vocational education, and Spain made reforms to the training and apprenticeship contract. Interestingly, the countries achieved different results. To explain this divergence, it is argued that while the reforms made in the UK and Denmark were compatible with the national institutions and coordination mechanisms, this was not the case in Spain, where reforms were implemented in a non‐complementary way. Key Practitioner Message:

• After the economic crisis it was argued that countries with a high level of firm involvement in the provision of initial VET were better equipped to fight youth unemployment.
• The study analysed how countries with different skill formation systems improved this type of training and assessed their relative success.
• The article shows that when implementing reforms policy makers must take into account the institutions and mechanisms of coordination that prevail in each country. Otherwise, reforms may be unsuccessful.

     

《二十四诗品》伪书说再证——兼答祖保泉、张少康、王步高三教授之质疑

我与汪涌豪教授1994年提出《二十四诗品》伪书说,至今已经十多年。学者补充了许多新的证据,也提出了一些质疑,后者尤以祖保泉、张少康、王步高三教授之论述为详,然而其(伪书说)主要证据已被否定之论,并无有力证据支持。本文详尽罗列三家的主要依据,并就张少康《关于〈二十四诗品〉真伪问题的争论》所陈八条观点,逐一申述我见,认为八条都不能成立。又对苏轼二十四韵一段话作了进一步的诠释,并罗列宋元人对苏轼这段话的申述,以明苏轼语与司空图无涉。此外,对《二十四诗品》里唐以后的痕迹作了考释,并对唐宋文献的传布规则,从学理上作了适当的说明。本文结论是:从目前来看,《二十四诗品》的问世时间,还没有突破十四世纪初(即西元1300年)的上限。     

“多元性”是当代设计的最显著特征之一

在现代主义设计遭到异议后 ,设计开始注重人性化、个性化和文化内涵 ,追求精神高于物质的人文设计境界。这种观念上的转变是工业社会到信息社会的最大转变 ,是对高度工业化时代的科学和技术带来的一系列非艺术、非个性、反传统和反形式的现代主义设计的否定。以往的美学将美局限在狭小的范围里 ,这就大大缩小了美的范围 ,使美的内容显得贫乏单调 ,难以满足日益增长的审美需要。当代设计崇尚共生美学观 ,主张科学与艺术共生 ,技术与人性共生 ,传统与创新共生 ,现实与未来共生 ,如同一切事物具有多重性、多向性、多样性一样 ,各种形式、各种风格相互依存 ,相互补充 ,在矛盾中趋向统一 ,在统一中表现矛盾 ,呈现出丰富复杂的多元状态