Family Relationship Centres: partnerships with Legal Assistance Services

In June 2009, the Commonwealth Attorney General in Australia announced a Family Relationship Centres/ Legal Assistance Partnerships Program, (the “Better Partnerships” program). Its aim was to assist separated or separating families, “by providing access to early and targeted legal information and advice when attending Family Relationship Centres” (McClelland, 2009). After contextualizing this significant shift in policy and practice, the present paper reports on largely positive key results of an evaluation of the program by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The paper concludes with reflections on future challenges and possibilities regarding ongoing collaboration between Australia's legal and family relationship sectors.     

Balancing domestic regulation and trade liberalisation under the GATS: universal access issues in South Africa's telecoms sector

The service sector increasingly has become the cornerstone of a great number of economies in both the developed and developing world. The main barrier to trade in services is the imposition of domestic regulations which are aimed at ensuring the affordability, availability and efficiency of services. Such domestic regulations are important for services and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) consequently recognises the right of countries to regulate in order to achieve these goals. The GATS, however, also seeks to discipline such regulations to ensure that they do not hinder trade in services. This article seeks to assess these seemingly competing interests in the context of South Africa's history and its burgeoning telecommunications sector.     

论发挥税式支出在公共服务均等化中的作用

完善公共财政体制，实现基本公共服务均等化是当前我国公共财政建设的主要内容。税式支出作为国家调节经济的一种财政手段，对公共服务均等化有着同样重要的推进作用。     

中国养老社会保险基金指数化策略分析

由于越来越多的养老基金发起人相信基金管理人不可能取得优于证券市场的表现,再加上他们对指数化策略在解决委托-代理等问题上的企盼,运用指数化策略进行管理的养老基金越来越多。在我国当前养老社会保险基金正准备入市的情况下,对养老基金运用指数化策略的基本原理、运作机制等进行了比较系统的阐述,得出了指数化策略可以作为中国养老社会保险基金的一种投资策略的结论,也许可以为有关决策者提供一点借鉴。     

公务员退休金制度改革：理由与方略

公务员退休金制度的核心是退休金的筹集与发放制度,我国迫切需要进行此项制度的改革,理由是:平衡国家与公务员的合理负担的迫切需要;公平公务员之间利益分配的必然要求;实现公务人员与非公务人员合理流动的现实选择。改革的总体目标是:建立国家与公务员个人共同负担制度,逐步建立多元的公务员退休保障制度;尽快与社会保障制度接轨,实现公务员退休金管理与服务社会化。具体步骤是:积极稳妥,分类分步实施,并赋予公务员一定的选择权。     

The impact of plurilateral trade agreements on developing countries – to participate or not to participate?

In the wake of the impasse in the Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks, sector-specific plurilateral trade agreements (PTAs) have been gaining traction. However, PTAs mostly appeal to developed countries, with the uptake among developing countries (including least-developed countries) being very limited. This article investigates the factors contributing to such a phenomenon, whether there is indeed merit in developing countries playing a more active role in PTAs and how they might be encouraged to do so. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted with specific attention being given to the effects, on a selection of developing countries, of participation in four PTAs: the Trade in Services Agreement, the Government Procurement Agreement, the Environmental Goods Agreement and the Information Technology Agreement II. Among the findings was that although, according to the qualitative analysis, policymakers are generally disinterested in the four PTAs because they are not aligned to the countries’ economic interests or they threaten policy space, the quantitative analysis revealed that gains could often be made from more active participation in these agreements. This clearly points to a research gap and highlights the need for more in-depth analysis of the potential of PTAs in the developing world.     

The economy of qualities

The aim of this paper is to highlight the main characteristics of what the authors call 'the economy of qualities'. The authors show that qualifying products and positioning goods are major concerns for agents evolving within the 'economy of qualities'. Competition in such an economy is structured through two basic mechanisms. The first is what the authors propose to call the process of singularization of products. The second is the mechanism whereby consumers are attached to, and detached from, goods that are proposed to them. At the heart of these logics, one can find multiple socio-technical devices that are designed by economic agents, which ensure the distribution of cognitive competencies, and which constantly and finely tune supply and demand. Relying upon Jean Gadrey's work, the authors claim that the economy of qualities is nowhere more effective than in services providing activities, and especially in those sectors that invest heavily in New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Finally, the authors suggest that, in the economy of qualities, the functioning and the organization of markets are issues that are shared by scholars and actors. In these highly reflexive markets, a collaboration between them is needed.     

从多层次到多支柱:养老保障体系改革再思考

在对多层次养老保险体系反思的基础上,从多支柱理论和我国现实国情出发,构建了以多支柱为核心特征的养老保障体系。零支柱:以低收入者和农民为对象的普惠制国民养老金,旨在防止老年贫困。第一支柱:以正式就业者为对象,由基本养老保险社会统筹部分改造而来的基本养老金,目标在于保障就业者退休后的基本生活,突出社会再分配。第二支柱:以正式就业者为对象,由基本养老保险个人账户部分和企业年金计划合并而来的职业年金计划,使退休职工生活水平比单一的第一支柱有所改善,同时有助于应对老龄化危机。第三支柱:自愿性的个人养老储蓄计划,为有较高需求的高收入者提供的更高层次的保护。     

Quo vadis information society? Notification of draft rules on e-services in the EU

From its inception the European legislator has adopted a mixed approach to the regulation of a novel and complex phenomenon of the Internet based commerce. The idea of harmonisation or approximation of laws has been accompanied by a parallel process of monitoring of draft laws pertaining to e-commerce, known as the notification procedure under 98/34/EC directive related to information society services. The aim of this paper is to analyse the notification principle in the light of the Notification Directive as well as the practice of states as evidenced by data gathered in a database of submitted drafts.