How to improve the quality of life in peripheral and lagging regions by policy measures? Examining the effects of two different policies in Germany

Peripheral regions commonly appear to be less attractive to live in and policymakers all over the world are applying various measures to make them more attractive. This paper analyzes the effects of two very different measures: The German municipal fiscal equalization scheme and the German structural funds for economically weak areas (GRW). It focusses on the impact on perceived quality of life, measured through interregional migration between German labor market regions. Using a spatial vector autoregressive panel model, we find evidence that equalization transfers have a significant positive impact on regional net migration and contribute to the aim of regional equity. These effects are especially found for regions with low endogenous fiscal capacities. GRW funding reveals no significant effects on net migration rates in total, but short-term effects in rural regions.     

城市公租房社区生活空间质量研究——以西安市为例

以城市社会生活空间质量观理念为研究框架,运用核密度、缓冲区分析等方法从社区物质环境以及居民对社区感知两个维度对城市公租房社区的生活空间质量进行评价。研究发现：西安市公租房社区空间布局较为偏远,集聚特征明显;除教育资源外,医院、商业以及游憩等资源均处于低可获性状态;社区居民对公租房社区房屋面积、房屋质量、物业管理、社区绿化等方面满意度较低,社区归属感及长期居住意愿不强。西安市公租房社区在社区资源可获性方面存在一定的空间剥夺现象,社区整体生活空间质量水平不高。     

Impact of planning mandates on local plans: a multi-method assessment

An increasing number of subnational government bodies mandate municipalities to establish a vision for their future development with a local plan. Outside the U.S., few studies have assessed whether these mandates succeed at increasing formal quality, policy focus and implementation of local plans. In addition, the reasons that prompt governments to impose mandates remain unclear. To tackle these issues, we used a multi-method approach combining interviews, plan content analysis and questionnaires to compare mandated and voluntary planning in Switzerland. Our analysis reveals that mandates only have limited impact on local plans. In particular, they do not produce higher quality plans than voluntary planning and do not improve implementation of policies. Our results may imply that (a) planning mandates from subnational governments are ineffective in general or (b) Swiss mandates in particular entail too few requirements and enforcement mechanisms to show a clear effect. Further studies could explore this issue empirically by comparing the characteristics of different planning mandates and assessing their effect on the quality and implementation of local plans. Alternatively, future research efforts could also examine how to find a compromise between mandated and voluntary planning in order to increase local commitment towards plan making.     

谈谈如何做好新形势下的档案工作

档案是人类社会历史发展的真实可靠的记录,是一种不可再生的重要信息资源。档案工作承担着资政育人、传承文明、保存历史、服务社会的重要职能,档案工作者的良好素质是发挥档案服务职能的关键所在。因此,本文认为,只有提高档案意识,坚持改革、不断创新,全面提高档案人员综合素质,才能充分发挥档案工作的服务职能,使档案工作在现代化建设中发挥更大的作用。     

Postcrisis recovery in the regions of Europe: Does institutional quality matter?

This paper investigates how institutional quality and its components (quality, impartiality, and control of corruption) are associated with the economic recovery in the aftermath of the global recession (2010–2016). The evidence suggests that the postcrisis dynamism of a region depends on whether its economy is accompanied by a good governance at the local level. The results also show the heterogeneity in the effects of institutional characteristics and other traditional determinants of growth for the high-income club (core) and the low-income club (periphery), respectively. This evidence can provide indications to define ad hoc policies apt to mitigate the recent surge in inequality among EU regions.     

“经世”意识与南宋川陕边防史地类文献

南宋时期,川陕地区战略地位突出。为了给边疆防御提供借鉴,川陕边防史地类文献大量涌现,探讨川陕地区历史与地理之风日益兴起。本文在梳理南宋川陕边防史地类文献具体情况的基础上,总结出其强烈的经世思想、重视地图的作用、突出的地理学成就等特点。     

The History of Political Thought as secular genealogy: the case of liberty in early modern England

ABSTRACT

The History of Political Thought originated in, and partially remains an adjunct to the academic study of politics. As such it is not a mere subject matter or authentic tradition of speculation, but a secularising genealogy in some tension with an impulse to rigorous historicity. It provides an under-acknowledged context for the thinkers and concepts placed within it. The difficulties and consequent distortions are illustrated with reference to seventeenth-century discussions of liberty. It is argued that notions of negative liberty and Republican liberty as an ideological alternative are secularising genealogical projections that distort the character of seventeenth-century debate; but that republican liberty can be reformulated in more historically plausible terms as a special case of one of the entailments of contentious office-holding in and beyond a secularised conception of the political. Thomas Hobbes's conceptions of liberty provide a concluding illustration.     

Simple strategies for improving inference with linked data: a case study of the 1850–1930 IPUMS linked representative historical samples

Abstract

New large-scale linked data are revolutionizing quantitative history and demography. This paper proposes two complementary strategies for improving inference with linked historical data: the use of validation variables to identify higher quality links and a simple, regression-based weighting procedure to increase the representativeness of custom research samples. We demonstrate the potential value of these strategies using the 1850–1930 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series Linked Representative Samples (IPUMS-LRS)—a high quality, publicly available linked historical dataset. We show that, while incorrect linking rates appear low in the IPUMS-LRS, researchers can reduce error rates further using validation variables. We also show how researchers can reweight linked samples to balance observed characteristics in the linked sample with those in a reference population using a simple regression-based procedure.     

长三角城市群城市发展质量测度及时空演变格局

基于复合指标视角,全面认识和提高城市发展质量,是推进长三角城市群实现高质量一体化发展的有效途径。论文从经济、社会、科教、设施、环境等5个维度出发构建城市发展质量评价指标体系,定量测度城市发展质量,分析2008—2018年城市发展质量时空演变格局。结果显示：①长三角城市群城市发展质量加速提升,但仍然存在差距,且各项城市发展质量呈现非均衡性;②上海市发展质量平均得分最高,三省一市平均得分差距不断缩小,表明长三角城市群城市发展质量具有显著的绝对收敛趋势;③城市发展质量平均中心经历了分散→集聚→分散的动态演化过程,其中经济发展质量平均中心位移最大,科教发展质量平均中心位移最小。移动轨迹大多呈现“先西后东、整体向西,先北后南、整体向北”,说明城市发展质量提升速度西部高于东部,北部高于南部。     

The platform business model and business ecosystem: quality management and revenue structures*

A platform is a two-sided market. It is an environment established to allow multiple groups such as suppliers and consumers to exchange their views for fair transactions. Platforms evolve through the connection and interaction of participants, and act as ecosystems of coexistence that can provide values and benefits to all participants. Care must be taken in building such a business ecosystem to successfully stabilize the platform model. This research indicates how a business ecosystem can be constructed by analysing quality management and revenue structures – core elements in any platform business model with a distinct group of users on either side. Through 12 case studies using 30 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group interviews, this research suggests the conceptual framework, ‘12 different types of quality management and revenue structure strategies’. These will serve as the conceptual framework from which to build platform business model ecosystems.