A Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Health Care and Mortality Inequalities in China

Two geographers specializing in China TYalyze that country's health care inequality from 1990 to 2008, for the purpose of: (1) examining spatial-temporal variations of health care inequality at multiple scales (the regional, provincial, and county levels); (2) exploring whether economic growth and transition to a market economy have exacerbated the unevenness of health care; and (3) analyzing the impact of health care inequality on health outcomes, especially mortality. The authors apply GIS-based spatial statistical methods to detect spatial-temporal patterns of health care, and use multilevel regression to examine the linkages between health care, mortality, and regional economic inequality, and ultimately to assess the sensitivity of health care inequality to geographic scale and examine whether reforms implemented to date have resulted in more equitable access to health care. The paper also demonstrates how the concurrent transitions of decentralization, marketization, globalization, and urbanization in China have interactively contributed to health care inequality and mortality.     

A NON-PARAMETRIC APPROACH TO ATTENUATION RELATIONS

Abstract

A non-parametric multidimensional regression method is proposed for the prediction of seismic ground motion parameters. The main features which distinguish the method from standard regression procedures are: (1) The relationship between the input and output variables is not selected a priori by a prediction law, (2) an arbitrary number of input variables Can be taken into account, provided that an appropriate data base exists, and (3) the computational procedure is very simple. The results can be easily updated when new information becomes available. The method has been applied for the derivation of attenuation relations by using a combination of databases compiled by other researchers. In the majority of the cases discussed in this paper, the method was used for the prediction of horizontal peak ground acceleration as a function of magnitude and distance. In some cases, ground conditions were also taken into account. Some results on the attenuation relations of peak ground velocity and displacement, as well as Arias intensity, are also presented.     

New regression equations for stature estimation for medieval Scandinavians

Estimating stature from skeletal remains in an archaeological context requires appropriate methods that take into account possible temporal and spatial changes in body proportions. New regression equations—both least squares (LSQ) and reduced major axis (RMA) equations—were thus developed for estimating living stature from the long bone lengths of medieval inhabitants (N = 60) of Westerhus, Sweden. The living stature of these skeletal specimens was determined by using the anatomical method. Findings in this study reveal that LSQ regression equations systematically overestimate statures of short individuals and underestimate those of tall individuals, whereas the RMA equations—both combined sexes and sex‐specific equation—provide more accurate stature estimations for individuals of very different statures. The combined sexes RMA‐equations should be used for cases in which the sex is unknown because they provide more accurate stature estimations than sex‐specific equation with a wrong sex determination. These new equations are more appropriate than generally used regression equations for estimating statures of the medieval period Scandinavians. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Old Wine in New Bottles: The Utility of Data Reanalysis in the Social Sciences

Abstract

The authors reconstruct processes of ethnic identification among residents of rural northeast China from the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth through an analysis of naming behavior. They apply discrete-time event-history techniques to individual life histories compiled from longitudinal, nominative household-register data from state farms in what is now Liaoning Province to identify the individual and household circumstances associated with the adaptation of Han or Manchu names, focusing on the role of heredity and status. Ethnic identification in late imperial northeast China was potentially fluid. Many residents were descended from migrants from Shandong who became hereditary tenants on state land administered by a system of Manchu government known as the Eight Banners. As banner people, or qiren, these residents could legitimately claim to be Manchu. As descendants of Shandong migrants, they could also claim to be Han. They could express their choice of ethnic identity through their choice of names not just for their children but also for themselves. Names not only express ethnic self-identification, but their registration by state authorities in the analyzed data also implies official recognition and legitimacy. The authors' results demonstrate that ethnic identity was not hereditary but subject to individual and family choice.     

Spatial analysis of bureaucrats’ attempts to resist political capture in a developing democracy: The distribution of solar panels in Ghana

Can civil servants in a developing democracy successfully resist political capture in the distribution of public goods? Existing research tends to highlight political patronage logics of distribution, and scholarship focuses primarily on politicians’ motivations. But service decisions are often made by bureaucrats, who sometimes explicitly try to avoid capture and allocate on the basis of need. Using qualitative interviews and spatial regressions with geo-coded data from a solar panel program in Ghana, we examine such a situation. We show that, despite considerable efforts to thwart it, national-level civil servants were unable to fully resist political capture. While solar panel distribution partially corresponded to need for electricity, we find that panels also went to areas where voter turnout was historically inconsistent, likely to motivate voter turnout. The direction of these relationships was consistent across subnational space, but the magnitudes varied considerably and were strongest in districts adjacent to Lake Volta. Qualitative data analysis reveals that this subnational variation reflects the logistics of space and the historical politics of place. The article contributes to theories of distributive politics and of voting behavior, and highlights the need for subnational disaggregation across space.     

旅游动机与旅游者重游意向的关系研究:基于logistic模型

了解旅游者的旅游动机以及哪些动机影响旅游者再一次重游行为,是旅游地经营管理的关键问题。本文从旅游动机出发,开发设计旅游测量问卷,以网上调查为手段,对旅游者的旅游动机和重游意向之间的关系进行了研究。通过对问卷的因子分析和主成分分析,首先提炼出了六项旅游动机公因子;然后通过logistic回归模型对旅游动机与旅游重游之间的因果关系进行测量。结果发现:旅游动机确实影响旅游者的重游决策,但并不是所有的旅游动机都会使旅游者产生重游意向。在所提炼的六项旅游动机公因子中,"休闲度假动机"和"学习提高动机"对旅游者的重游意向有着正向影响,重游概率随着这两个动机的提高而增大;"探新求异动机"与"获取声望动机"对旅游者的重游意向有负面影响,重游概率随着两方面动机的增高而减小;而"感情交流动机"与"外界刺激动机"与旅游者重游意向没有显著影响。     

会展社会影响尺度与独立变量的相关性研究——广交会的实证研究

研究会展社会影响尺度与独立变量的相关性是会展社会影响研究的重要组成部分,对于扩大积极的会展社会影响和控制消极影响有着重要的实践意义。研究了11个独立变量与会展社会影响尺度的3个公共因子之间的相关关系,结果表明,独立变量对公共因子的影响有限,只有性别、居住地、居住时间、文化程度、收入和在相关行业工作等6个独立变量与会展社会影响感知显著相关。广交会案例表明:第一,性别方面,女性的个人收益感知强于男性。第二,居住地方面,海珠区居民对广交会社会影响的正面感知最弱,负面感知最强;天河区和广州其他区居民对广交会社会影响的正面感知相对较弱,负面感知相对较强;而越秀区的居民对广交会的正面感知最强,负面感知最弱。第三,在广州居住年限越长的居民对广交会社会影响的感知越消极。第四,文化程度越高的居民,对于广交会社会影响的感知越消极;第五,收入方面,居民月均实际收入越高,对个人收益感知越弱;第六,在相关行业工作的居民的个人收益感知比不在相关行业内工作的居民感知更强烈。     

城市公园视觉景观质量的影响因素分析——以北京市紫竹院公园为例

本文将主客观评价法相结合,对北京市紫竹院公园视觉景观质量影响因素进行分析。课题组实地评价并拍摄照片,室内请评判者给照片打分评出美景度分值,请专家对主观性因子评价,与实地评价结果做一致性检验;对两种方式获取的数据进行方差分析、相关分析,并建立线型回归模型。结果表明:主观性因子的实地评价和室内问卷评价结果具有一致性;专业背景不同不影响评判者对景观美景度的评判结果;美景度与区内因子呈正相关,与区外因子呈负相关;区内的3个因子更能影响对景观的评判,其中,自然景观所占比例影响最为显著。     

河南省县域贫困程度及影响因素分析

贫困地区的地理识别,是区域扶贫政策精准、有效实施的前提。以经济指标衡量河南省县域相对贫困程度,并借助有序logit回归模型分析社会经济发展、自然条件、区位交通、历史基础4类变量16个影响因子对区域贫困状况的影响程度。分析发现,河南省县域综合经济发展水平存在较大的区域差异,经济发展水平相对较低的县域多分布在豫西和豫东南,且区域内存在部分潜在贫困县。回归分析结果表明,工业化水平、居民储蓄水平、气温、湿度、到最近城市的距离、国道道路密度、期初经济水平7个因子对县域贫困程度影响显著。地区扶贫政策实施过程中,在重视经济因素的减贫效应时,也应重视自然因素的致贫效应,政府主导,因地制宜,逐步实现区域协调发展。