Bureaupreneurs in China: we did it our way

This article explores the different and sometimes conflicting explanations of the success of the collective enterprises (town–village-enterprise) in China during the first phase of transition (1979–1995). It is argued that explanations, relying on cultural variables are not sustainable and this for two reasons. First, the importance of the collective enterprise is shrinking while the private sector is clearly on the rise. Second, other factors, referring to characteristics of the local and central political, administrative and economic environment, in which the Chinese enterprise has to (had to?) operate, provide for a sufficient explanation of the peculiar structure of the Chinese collective enterprises. These enterprises are seen as the result of ?bureau-preneurship’ because local bureaucrats were integrated in their management in order to pre-empt predatory behaviour and to facilitate the relationships with the central institutions. The article contributes to the property rights’ theory of the firm as it analyses an empirically very important case in which firms with unclear property rights and structures, apparently not conducive for incentives, might still be the most efficient option.     

Comment on Franz Von Benda-Beckmann, “anthropological approaches to property law and economics”

This comment deals with criticisms of law and economics analysis as they can be formulated from the point of view of an anthropologist. These criticisms are taken seriously. The author first addresses so-called defects of law and economics analysis which should be considered underdeveloped areas of the approach. Secondly, and more specifically, weaknesses of the property rights approach are taken up. In the author's view, they should be dealt with in future law and economics work. Finally, methodological issues are being addressed which, if not considered with circumspection, could impair the scientific integrity of the law and economics approach.     

Whose Development? How Women Living Near the Yanacocha Mine,Peru, Envision Potential Futures

Among women opposing expansion of mining operations in Cajamarca, Peru, narratives of preferred alternatives diverge: from sustainable mining to alternative economic development, to more radical alternatives to ‘development’. In these accounts, both the women's relative powerlessness and agency become apparent. This article critically explores women's views of development and their imaginings of their region with or without mining. I argue that those who opposed mining show a continuing engagement with questions of development in the aftermath of conflict over natural resource extraction, highlighting a common thread of desires for bottom-up initiatives embracing local knowledge, practice and history.     

The Liberal Value of Privacy

This paper presents an argument for the value of privacy that is based on a purely negative concept of freedom only. I show that privacy invasions may decrease a person’s negative freedom as well as a person’s knowledge about the negative freedom she possesses. I argue that not only invasions that lead to actual interference, but also invasions that lead to potential interference (many cases of identity theft) constitute actual harm to the invadee’s liberty interests, and I critically examine the courts’ reliance on a principle of ‘no harm, no foul’ in recent data breach cases. Using a number of insights from the psychology of human belief, I also show that the liberal claim for protection of privacy is strengthened by the observation that often the privacy invader cannot be held responsible for the influence on the invadee’s negative freedom.     

Social Science and the Public Interest

Social Science and the Public Interest

Social Science and the Public Interest January/February 2012