Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for high dimensional inversion in remote sensing

Summary.  We discuss the inversion of the gas profiles (ozone, NO₃, NO₂, aerosols and neutral density) in the upper atmosphere from the spectral occultation measurements. The data are produced by the 'Global ozone monitoring of occultation of stars' instrument on board the Envisat satellite that was launched in March 2002. The instrument measures the attenuation of light spectra at various horizontal paths from about 100 km down to 10–20 km. The new feature is that these data allow the inversion of the gas concentration height profiles. A short introduction is given to the present operational data management procedure with examples of the first real data inversion. Several solution options for a more comprehensive statistical inversion are presented. A direct inversion leads to a non-linear model with hundreds of parameters to be estimated. The problem is solved with an adaptive single-step Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Another approach is to divide the problem into several non-linear smaller dimensional problems, to run parallel adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo chains for them and to solve the gas profiles in repetitive linear steps. The effect of grid size is discussed, and we present how the prior regularization takes the grid size into account in a way that effectively leads to a grid-independent inversion.     

上市公司并购重组与企业整体资产评估

随着我国证券市场的日益发展和完善,上市公司间的兼并、收购和资产重组等经济活动日趋频繁,企业整体资产评估是并购重组过程中资产业务的基础,是资产或产权交易的前提条件。尽管实践中可以通过多种估价方法来估测企业整体资产的价值,但由于我国资产评估市场尚不成熟,企业整体资产评估缺乏科学、可行的评估体系,评估结果难以真正地反映企业整体资产的内在价值。因此,必须采取有效措施规范资产评估市场,提高整体资产评估的质量,为证券市场的健康发展打下良好的基础。     

制度如何引导人──对不年检公司执照被吊销问题的法经济学分析

公司因违法行为而被吊销营业执照和因不参加年检而被吊销营业执照有着相当的差异,目前的制度对后者采取了一种想当然的、过于简单化的处理方式,它没有实质性地、有效地改变相关主体的利益结构。因此应该进行制度变革,降低公司注销成本,提高公司被吊销的代价,使制度能够有效引导人的行为,从而以最低代价实现其应有的规范功能。     

审视经济全球化

由于各国经济发展的不平衡,经济全球化的当代特征表现为三角化、区域一体化和跨国公司的迅速崛起。经济全球化正在改变现有政治格局,推动世界政治朝全球性方向演进并形成全球性的治理机构或协调治理形式。在以发达国家为主导、跨国公司为主要动力的经济全球化过程中,中国作为发展中国家在国际竞争方面处于弱势,这要靠全党全民运用自己的智慧和力量,利用自己已经具备的各种有利条件去应对全球化的挑战。从人类社会经济形态演进的自然历史过程看,经济全球化不过是资本主义的社会化生产和市场全球性扩张的新的历史阶段。从马克思的立场看,全球化将会是资本主义时代的终结,并为社会主义社会的到来做好准备,随全球化而来的将是一个更加美好的新世界。     

Wikipedia in the anti-SOPA protests as a case study of direct,deliberative democracy in cyberspace

This paper contributes to the discussion on deliberative, direct democracy and volunteer mobilization in the Internet era by analyzing the vote participation levels of Wikipedia volunteer editors (Wikipedians). On 18th January 2012 in the ‘first Internet strike’ against the American ‘Stop Online Piracy Act' legislation, over two thousand Wikipedians took part in the vote concerning whether their site should undertake a protest action, with vast majority expressing support for this action. However, the vote participants formed only a tiny fraction of the total number of Wikipedians who number in millions. Although Wikipedia can be seen as an open, democratic forum practicing deliberative, direct democracy, the process of voting on Wikipedia is significantly influenced by participation inequality, with a majority of the vote participation coming from a small group of most active contributors – an effective oligarchy. This paper discusses the intricate dynamics between Wikipedia egalitarian ethos and the creed to discuss project matters deliberately on one hand and the conspicuous lack of promotion and advertisement stemming from a rule against ‘canvassing’ and an overall skepticism regarding the status of majority votes. While voters' passivity and lack of interest play a major role, as expected, another factor emerges as a significant factor responsible for the low levels of participation: an inefficient information distribution system, as the vast majority of Wikipedians were not aware of the ongoing discussions and the vote itself until after their conclusion.     

Multilevel embeddedness: The case of the global fisheries governance complex

This paper explores how bilateral and multilateral clustering are embedded in a multilevel system of interdependent networks. We argue that in complex systems in which bilateral and multilateral relations are themselves interrelated, such as global fisheries governance, embeddedness cannot be reduced to unipartite or bipartite clustering but implicates multilevel closure. We elaborate expectations for ties’ multilevel embeddedness based on network theory and substantive considerations and explore them using a multilevel ERGM. We find states’ bilateral ties are embedded in their shared membership in multilateral fisheries agreements, which is itself clustered around foci represented by similar content and treaty secretariats.     

Global Innovation Networks – Organizations and People

Innovation is increasingly the outcome of global networks that connect geographically dispersed knowledge centers. The international business (IB) literature has developed a sophisticated understanding of the multinational enterprise (MNE) as an organization generates value by integrating knowledge across national borders. We advance this literature by making three key arguments. First we highlight the three megatrends that shape the strategy of the modern MNE: the disaggregation of the value chain into ever narrower activities, the migration of value to knowledge-intensive intangibles and the rise of huge emerging markets like China and India, whose domestic firms can grow to enormous size before venturing abroad. Second, we trace these three megatrends to falling spatial transaction costs, enabled in the main, by digitalization. Third, we draw on earlier research on the generic forms of global linkages, arguing that the IB literature has limited itself to organizational pipelines, while paying relatively little attention to personal relationships. The latter are particularly important in the genesis of both entrepreneurship and radical innovation, but are particularly sensitive to the anti-globalization policies. An environment where technology continues to reduce spatial transaction costs, while policy raises them, strengthens large MNEs at the expense of innovative international new ventures.     

Contradictions and crises of neoliberal–imperial globalization and the political opportunity structures for the Global Justice Movements

The Global Justice Movements emerged in the context of the contradictions and crisis of neoliberal–imperial globalization and the critique of it. They therefore express and provide a basis for the politicization of the negative consequences of post-Fordism and its crisis. This article examines the structural changes of the last 30 years from a Gramscian perspective of neoliberal globalization as a “passive revolution” and as the deepening of a “imperial mode of living” at a global scale. It is argued that examining structural changes helps us to understand why protest and social movements re-emerged around the year 2000. The article discusses some central features of the Global Justice Movements by focusing on the international Attac movement and the recent Occupy movement.     

Latino Faces,Corporate Ties: Latino Advocacy Organizations and Their Board Membership

Although they have increased exponentially since the 1960s, social scientists know little about ethnic advocacy organizations. These nonprofits are important bridges between underresourced communities and mainstream funding organizations and their directors are established ethnic leaders. Sociologists study interlocking directorates—or shared board membership—to understand how organizations fit together within broader social networks. Network concepts, particularly the theory of institutional isomorphism, suggest that organizations are likely to be similar to the extent they are connected and operate within a common organizational field. We apply this logic to Latino advocacy organizations to examine the underlying source of cohesion across this ethnic field. We ask whether the organizations are tied by interlocking directorates of ethnic elites who sit on their boards of directors or if board members' common affiliation with other elite institutions creates the structural conditions that facilitate potential ideological or behavioral similarity. A social network analysis of five prominent Latino advocacy organizations reveals support for both hypotheses: Latino board members are both embedded in ethnic‐based networks and entrenched within elite organizational webs. This suggests that ethnic elites who sit on the boards of Latino advocacy organizations are also corporate elites, selected for the social capital they bring to these nonprofits.     

Global Governance,neoliberalism and national responses: The case of Bangladesh’s ready‐made garment (RMG) sector

This article on the ready‐made garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh shows how over‐reliance on foreign capital for development financing and deregulated investment—a hallmark of neoliberal economic arrangements—undermines the incorporation of SDGs’ and INGOs’ equity principles, contributing to biased policy responses yielding unequal outcomes. The article cautions that while countries prioritize economic growth over social and environmental nourishment and continue to adopt neoliberal economic policies to promote economic growth, inequity is unavoidable, if not inevitable. Thus, the way forward may be to shift the focus of ‘development’ from the economy to society, to building ‘good societies’ where institutions and strategies, including those that contribute to economic growth, are organized such that these complement not compromise the evolution of such societies.