China's Forest Sector Markets: Policy Issues and Recommendations
SUMMARY Based on the papers contributed to this Special Issue and other studies an effort is made to identify the major policy issues facing the Chinese forest sector. The policy analysis is organized around the so-called ‘supply china’ (from stump to final products' markets). The discussion of policy issues and implications centers on the identified large and growing gap in the demand/supply balance of forest products. A major problem to carry out the policy analysis is the identified lack of consistent and transparent data for the different components of the ‘supply chain’. This is a situation which must be substantially improved in order to undertake relevant policy setting for the Chinese forest sector.
The energy transition in rural China
Based on an analysis of a nationally representative rural household survey and various sources of aggregate statistics, we explore patterns of residential energy use in rural China within the conceptual framework of the energy transition. We find that residential energy consumption varies tremendously across geographic regions due to disparities of access to different energy sources, prices, climate, income and urbanisation level. Household demographic characteristics, in particular household size, have an important impact on residential energy use. Aggregate time series data show that the transition from biomass to modern commercial sources is still at an early stage, and cross-sectional data suggest that incomes may have to rise substantially in order for absolute biomass use to fall. We also find that energy use patterns as a function of net income, rather than total expenditure, are more consistent with the energy transition model in rural China.
First-line nurse managers in university hospitals--captives to their own professional culture?
AIM
This study investigates whether first-line nurse managers in hospitals share common dispositions related to managerial work and leadership, what they are like, and what their relationship is with the various expectations set on them.


METHODS
The first data were collected by focus group interviews in the autumn of 2000 and analysed using qualitative content analysis and frame analysis. The second data set were part of a questionnaire survey addressed to the same managers in 2001 with a focus on their diverse leadership roles.


RESULTS
Among first-line nurse managers, the management frameworks of a nurturing mother and an administrative nurse displayed the strongest prominence, and the emphasis seemed to be evolving towards the administrative. The results from the survey confirmed the findings of this study in relation to first-line nurse managers' management frameworks.


CONCLUSION
The line of development found in this study may add to the permanence of operations and the stability of the operative culture at a university hospital. It may also diminish the opportunities for nursing development in university hospital wards and weaken the potential for a new kind of competence among both managers and their subordinates.