Nationalism,patriotism, or national reference? A response to Jacopo Custodi

Jacop Custodi elaborated recently a response to our article “A nationalist party with non-nationalistic voters? Discussing the limits of nationalism in party categorisation” published in the journal Nations & Nationalism. We consider the work of Custodi is an important and original contribution to the study of left politics and nationalism. This being said, we reflect on the negative consequences of overstretching the category nationalism, both referring to parties and to political discourse. The aim of this reply is unpacking and explaining these negative consequences and offering an alternative as well as responding to some specific points raised by Custodi in his reply.     

季节时空交互视角下老年人公交移动性的影响因素研究——以芜湖市为例

公共交通是我国老年人出行的主要交通方式之一,公交移动性是衡量老年人生活质量和幸福感的重要指标。从季节和空间双重维度分析老年人公交移动性的影响因素有助于深入理解老年人出行行为机制。利用公交刷卡数据和地理探测器方法分析了季节时空因子对老年人公交移动性的影响。研究发现：①不同季节中空间因子对老年人移动频率、移动半径和移动熵的解释力和显著性存在明显差异,对老年人移动性影响机制的分析应考虑时空变化的双重影响;②不同空间因子之间以及季节与空间因子之间的交互作用可以显著增强对老年人移动性空间分异的解释力,考虑多个因素的协同效应对深入理解老年人行为有一定帮助。研究试图拓宽老年人移动性影响因素的分析思路,为老年宜居城市建设和城市移动性规划提供重要支撑。     

聚醋酸乙烯酯乳液的表征、性能及其在彩绘类文物保护中的应用

聚醋酸乙烯酯(PVAc)乳液是常见的彩绘类文物保护材料。采用激光粒度仪、热重/差热分析、红外光谱、X-射线衍射、扫描电镜、透射电镜等表征了PVAc乳液的粒径以及胶膜的热稳定性、结构和形貌;采用粘度计、表面张力仪、pH计、电导率仪等研究了乳液浓度与其粘度、表面张力、pH、电导率的关系;通过冻融、室温-高温放置、离心分离研究了乳液的稳定性;同时用PVAc乳液对模拟起甲和酥碱的壁画进行了修复。结果表明,PVAc乳液粒径呈双峰分布,小粒子的平均粒径为380 nm,大粒子的平均粒径为5.85μm;乳液胶膜为非结晶物质,胶膜热重的最终质量残留为1.54%,335℃出现放热峰。PVAc乳液的电导率随浓度的增大而增大,pH随浓度的增大而下降;相同温度下表面张力随浓度的增大而基本呈现低浓度下降,高浓度上升的趋势。相同浓度下,表面张力随温度升高而无显著变化,表明PVAc乳液的表面张力受温度变化影响不大。相同温度下,乳液粘度随浓度的增大而增大;相同浓度下,乳液的粘度随温度的升高而降低。冻融、离心分离和不同温度下静置发现,该乳液出现分层。用该乳液对模拟起甲和酥碱壁画修复后,再分别老化20个循环和12个循环,发现颜料层再次空鼓、起甲。综合分析,说明实验中所使用的该种PVAc稳定性和抗老化能力较弱,在修复彩绘类文物中应慎重选择PVAc的种类,综合考虑PVAc的使用浓度、环境因素对其性能的影响,以达到最佳使用效果。     

广西玉林市博物馆馆藏七件铜鼓的初步分析研究

迄今已有2 700多年历史的铜鼓,是南方少数民族地区节日、喜庆、兵事、婚丧、祭祀、礼乐等场合使用的一种重器。为了对锈蚀状况做出科学的现状评估,为器物保护修复技术路线的制定和修复工作的开展提供科学指导,对玉林市博物馆馆藏7件铜鼓综合运用了体视显微镜、金相显微镜、激光显微拉曼光谱仪(RS)和环境扫描电镜及能谱仪(ESEM-EDAX)等仪器进行了金相组织和合金成分分析以及锈蚀产物的分析。分析结果显示:7件器物皆为泥范铸造成型,未见热、冷加工处理现象。7件铜鼓皆为铅锡青铜合金,总体呈低锡高铅的特点。组织形态呈典型α固溶体树枝晶偏析,锡含量处于6.0%～12.2%,分布较为集中,处于中等含量水平(5%≤Sn15%);铅含量处于14.4%～28.2%,铅含量普遍较高且分布较为集中,处于中高铅(10%≤Pb15%)和高铅含量(Pb≥15%)水平,合金中高铅含量配比应为工匠有意合金配比选择;铜鼓的腐蚀类型为α固溶体富铜相优先腐蚀,保存环境主要是富氧、少氯,铜鼓表面锈蚀产物主要为绿色孔雀石和蓝色蓝铜矿以及氧化物,有少量白色白铅矿。在保护修复工作中对于这些无害锈可保留,不予处理,并注重防氧。对于铜鼓表面夹杂泥土,需进行清洗去除。研究结果可为器物保护修复技术路线的制定和修复工作的开展提供科学指导。     

被“局外中立”遮蔽的历史:清政府日俄战争善后筹议

清政府的日俄战争善后,不仅涉及主权恢复与利益挽回,更与东北边圉安全以及“龙兴之地”的未来命运息息相关,清廷上下极为重视,对战争善后的筹议与“局外中立”平行展开.从战事爆发到两国议和,内外臣工数次集中讨论日俄局势因应之策与战后东北经营方略,有针对性地提出调停争端、严守中立、加强边防、改制行省、推行新政、开埠通商以及联日抗俄等涉及内政外交的多项建议,基本确定了战争善后的总体框架,拉开了清政府日俄战争善后的序幕并为之奠定基础.梳理这一过程,可见清政府应对两国战和局势、处理战争善后的心路历程,有利于把握战争善后事务的基本脉络及各项举措之间的内在联系,且对于清末新政研究不无裨益.     

Evidence on economies of scale in local public service provision: A meta-analysis

The standard theory of optimal jurisdictional size hinges on the existence of economies of scale in the provision of local public goods and services. However, despite its relevance for forced local amalgamation programs and related policies, the empirical evidence on the existence of such economies of scale remains elusive. The main goal of this paper is to produce an updated and comprehensive quantitative review of the existence of economies of scale in the provision of local public goods using a meta-analysis approach to systematize the wide range of empirical approaches and modeling frameworks found in the previous literature. Our analysis confirms the presence of moderately increasing to constant returns to scale in the provision of local services with no reduction in the average costs of production in the delivery of most local public services beyond a certain, modest jurisdictional size, which many studies have estimated at 10,000 residents. Also, the potential for economies of scale differs at least across three traditional services: education, water and sanitation, and garbage collection, being highest for education and lowest for garbage collection. Our analysis also offers guidelines for future empirical research in this area. Physical output and production cost data should be used, together with translog specifications for the modeling of cost functions. Last, we find evidence that the determinants of output cost elasticity include bidirectional publication bias and population density but do not include the presence or absence of modern “lean” production technologies or the (perceived) capital intensity of the sector, contrary to conventional wisdom. These findings have significant policy implications for countries considering jurisdictional consolidation programs.     

Inter- and intraregional inequality in a spatial economy

In this paper, we develop a three-region economic geography model with workers of heterogeneous skills and mobility rates to consider how first-nature, regional differences impact both inter- and intraregional inequality. In our model, the skill premium within a region summarizes both the degree of intraregional inequality between mobile, skilled workers and immobile, unskilled workers and the interregional inequality through differences in the welfare of unskilled workers across regions. Regions with the highest skill premium have the greatest degree of intraregional inequality and provide the lowest level of welfare to unskilled workers, relative to other regions. We find that the skill premium will be higher in regions with a greater supply of unskilled labor, lower supply of housing, or are more remote. An increase in a region's housing supply or centrality will lower intraregional inequality and raise the welfare of the local, unskilled workforce. However, the magnitude of these changes are declining in the initial number of skilled workers in the region. The model is extended to consider imperfectly elastic housing supply. The larger the price elasticity of housing, the larger the range of values, such that more populated regions will host a disproportionate share of skilled workers, have lower levels of intraregional inequality, and provide higher levels of welfare for unskilled workers.