The impact of revenue diversification on municipal debts: comparing short-term and long-term debt levels

The extant literature has offered two competitive implications of revenue diversification: revenue stabilisation and fiscal illusion. Stabilisation helps governments have less revenue volatility, while fiscal illusion expands tax burdens through the increase in expenditure. The competitive views on revenue diversification leave a niche to explore the association between revenue diversification and debt levels in local governments. We estimate the static and dynamic effects of revenue diversification on both short-term and long-term debt levels in 150 fiscally standardised cities. Our findings show that local governments with greater revenue diversification are more likely to reduce short-term debts while expanding long-term debts. The findings imply that a stabilised revenue structure helps local governments better manage operational budgets but also invest in capital projects with greater debt capacity.     

评美国公共行政理论中的宪政主义范式

美国公共行政理论中的宪政主义范式在夯实方法论基础、拓展理论视野和充实知识框架等方面为公共行政学的发展作出了积极的贡献。但与此同时,宪政主义范式也招致不少学者的批判,主要表现为:宪政主义的价值理念违背了公共行政学成立的初衷;宪政主义的规范取向,是一种空洞的理论;宪政主义内部价值之间存在着悖论;宪政主义过于强调一元路径,忽视了公共行政的本质。未来美国公共行政理论中的宪政主义范式在迈向成熟化和系统化的过程中,必须要在行政哲学、价值理念、方法论和政府管理领域等方面实现合理的转变。     

美国医疗保险照顾计划及其对我国的启示

在现代保险法制中,健康保险是一个新兴的领域。与欧洲、日本等以国家为主导的健康保险法制建设不同,美国采取的是一种公私混合的多元化模式,即以商业健康保险为主,以政府主办健康保险为辅,并为此制定了一系列的法律、法规,形成了一个比较完善的健康保险法律体系。而在政府主办的健康保险事业中,1965年推出的医疗保险照顾计划(Medicare)处在核心的地位。本文就医疗保险照顾计划的由来、主要内容、实施效果以及对中国的启示作了详细论述,对借鉴美国医疗保险照顾计划、克服我国在老年人和残疾人健康保险上的问题以及如何改进等,提出了思路。     

Negotiating sustainable trade: explaining the difference in social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements

Since the early 2000s, both US and EU Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include social standards that aim to protect workers and the environment. However, the US and the EU have chosen fundamental different approaches for the enforcement of these clauses. While the US pursues a sanction-based approach, the EU solely relies on dialogue and cooperation mechanisms. Hence, to the surprise of many, social standards in U.S PTAs appear to be stricter than the ones in EU PTAs. Why do the two biggest trade powers of the world handle social clauses in PTAs so differently? In this paper, I argue that disparities in domestic politics account for their different strategies towards social standards. Drawing on the principal-agent literature, the paper analyses the PTA negotiations of the US and the EU with Peru and Colombia.     

Negotiating interference: US democracy promotion,Bolivia and the tale of a failed agreement

Since 2009 the USA and the Bolivian government have been trying to fix their broken diplomatic relations. These negotiations culminated in 2011 in the signing of a bilateral agreement but, ultimately, failed to establish a basis for mutually acceptable development aid relations. This article analyses these negotiations and suggests a partial explanation that accounts for their dynamics and results. Specifically it shows how the negotiations have pitted Bolivian demands for state sovereignty and mutual respect, based on an egalitarian understanding of inter-state relations, against the US emphasis on common obligations and universal rights, informed by a non-egalitarian notion of liberal hegemony.     

Regulating Assisted Reproduction in Canada,Switzerland, and the USA: Comparing the Judicialization of Policy-Making

This article analyses the extent to which courts shape policies for assisted reproduction. While the USA is considered to be the most litigious country, Canada has observed a growing involvement of the courts from the 1980s onward, and Switzerland is characterized by a modest degree of judicialization. Based on national patterns, we would expect litigation and court impact to vary across these three countries. As the empirical analysis reveals, policy-process-specific variables such as the novelty of regulation, self-regulation by key stakeholders, and the policies in place better explain the variation in the judicialization of policy-making.     

商标获得显著性认定标准的中美比较

美国商标法规定的认定获得显著性的最低标准是满5年连续地实质上独家使用，这个标准也在相关案件的处理中得到了较好的执行。我国虽然在认定获得显著性的终极标准上与美国一致，但是并没有规定出类似的具体最低标准。商标显著性的核心含义是控制者的唯一性，而知名度和开始使用时间的先后虽然与获得显著性有密切联系，但是都不能反映显著性的本质。同时，没有最短使用时间的限制条件，也不便于实务操作。因此，建议将认定获得显著性的最低标准规定为：满5年连续地独家控制。     

论1898～1935年美国在菲律宾经济政策的旧殖民性——以国际比较视角和档案为基础的分析

美国在菲律宾殖民统治时期的经济政策对菲律宾政治、经济和文化的发展有深刻影响。但从国际比较视角看，美国在菲律宾殖民统治时期的经济政策呈现出旧殖民性的特点，而不是学术界主流观点认为的新殖民主义，主要表现：失败的土地改革，保守的贸易政策，有限的工业化。     

工会在美国企业年金制度发展中的作用

"二战"之后,工会不仅成为推动美国企业年金制度迅速扩展的重要力量,而且对美国企业年金制度发展产生了重要影响。可以说,工会为推动企业年金制度发展成为美国老年人退休收入保障的第二支柱奠定了坚实而广泛的实践基础,从而使美国企业年金制度真正具有了社会公共性质。     

Interdependenz und ideologische position: Die konditionale Diffusion der Zigarettenbesteuerung in den US-amerikanischen Bundesstaaten 1971–2006

This paper inquires into the interdependence of cigarette taxation in the US states between 1971 and 2006. It is argued that diffusion influences emanating from the tax policies of other states have an effect that is conditional upon the government ideology in a focal state. Specifically, it is shown that only those state governments that are not positioned on the far right end of an ideology continuum use an environment of high cigarette taxes to pursue their fiscal and health policy goals. At the same time, interventionist ideology can only be effective if it operates within a favorable policy environment. I argue that casting policy diffusion as conditional allows for empirically more accurate and theoretically richer models.