Ling Zhu

Public service innovation, defined as the adoption of new technology and methods of service delivery, is at the heart of public management research. Scholars have long studied public and private sector innovation as distinctive phenomena, arguing that private sector innovation aims to increase firms' competitive advantage, while public sector innovation purports to improve governance and performance. The public-private dichotomy overlooks the complex way how organizations interact with each other for service delivery. Public services are increasingly delivered through the web of collaborative networks, in which organizations compete and cooperate simultaneously. This Element explores how coopetition, namely the simultaneous presence of competition and collaboration, shapes innovation in the health care sector. Analyzing panel data of 4,000+ American hospitals from 2008 to 2017, this Element finds evidence that coopetition catalyzes the technology and service process innovation and offers practical implications on managing innovation in competitive environments.

Economic growth and its relevant subjects have been given the first priority in the research agenda since China initiated economic reforms in 1978, while the topics of social protection and gender equality have been largely left at the periphery for a long period. This book is a collection of evidence-based studies conducted mainly in poor areas of rural China during the recent two decades. Based on individual interviews and sample data analyses, this book emphasizes the importance of cooperative organizations to poverty reduction, and puts forward that gender equality is closely related with sustainable development. In addition, it addresses the issues of food security and elimination of social exclusion - the key to bridging economic divide. It also studies social protection, including basic health protection system, nutrition and healthcare for children, old age security for landless farmers and rural migrant workers. By providing first-hand accounts of different vulnerable groups, such as the poor, women, migrant workers, ethnic minorities and small farmers, this book offers valuable insights into studies of contemporary Chinese society and economy.

Economic growth and its relevant subjects have been given the first priority in the research agenda since China initiated economic reforms in 1978, while the topics of social protection and gender equality have been largely left at the periphery for a long period. This book is a collection of evidence-based studies conducted mainly in poor areas of rural China during the recent two decades. Based on individual interviews and sample data analyses, this book emphasizes the importance of cooperative organizations to poverty reduction, and puts forward that gender equality is closely related with sustainable development. In addition, it addresses the issues of food security and elimination of social exclusion - the key to bridging economic divide. It also studies social protection, including basic health protection system, nutrition and healthcare for children, old age security for landless farmers and rural migrant workers. By providing first-hand accounts of different vulnerable groups, such as the poor, women, migrant workers, ethnic minorities and small farmers, this book offers valuable insights into studies of contemporary Chinese society and economy.

In den 20er und 30er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts heben eine Reihe bedeutender Kunstler die Bedeutung der visuellen Spannung hervor. Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee und Hans Hofmann bezeichnen Spannung als das eigentliche innere Element eines Kunstwerkes; Formen und Farben seien dagegen nur die ausseren Trager der Spannung. Das vorliegende Buch geht der Idee dieser Kunstler nach und versucht das Phanomen der Spannung im bildnerischen Kontext zu erklaren. Im ersten Teil wird versucht, den Begriff der visuellen Spannung so prazise zu fassen, dass sich hieraus Verfahren der Spannungsanalyse von Werken der bildenden Kunst ableiten lassen. Dabei wird zwischen der Spannung der Formen und der Spannung der Farben unterschieden. Es wird gezeigt, dass beide Arten von Spannung ihren Grund in der mehr oder weniger starken graduellen Abweichung von einer je eigenen Form- bzw. Farbbasis haben. Der zweite Teil des Buches baut auf den Untersuchungen der Philosophin Susanne K. Langer auf. Unter Zugrundelegung der in ihren Werken entwickelten Begrifflichkeit wird gezeigt, in welchem "Abbildungsverhaltnis" der im ersten Teil des Buches entwickelte Begriff der visuellen Spannung zu der sogenannten psychischen Spannung, dem Grundelement der zeitlichen Verlaufsstruktur des Bewusstseins, steht.

Oil tankers are not the only vessels that have caused oil pollution at sea. Numerous spills in the past have been of heavy fuel oil from non-tankers. However, the international liability and compensation regime covered only oil pollution damage caused by oil tankers. There was thus a need to bring the law on marine oil pollution responsive to oil pollution damage caused by non-tankers. In March 2001, the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage was adopted following a diplomatic conference at the International Maritime Organization. Though this convention has not yet come into force, its various aspects should already be considered as they will surely affect the maritime industry as a whole and the non-tanker sector, in particular. This book provides a timely and comprehensive study on the concept of compulsory insurance, its main purpose of ensuring compensation and its interrelations with other features such as the rule of strict liability and the limitation of liability under the convention.