Error minimization and deterrence in agency control

In the presented oversight model, in which a regulatory agency may collude with regulatees, a watchdog organization may scrutinize the agency’s decision-making and find evidence speaking for collusive behavior. Found evidence is of a specific, stochastic quality. Courts will overturn the administrative decision when the evidence presented in court exceeds a minimum quality standard set by the political principal. Lowering the quality standard increases the odds of finding evidence of sufficient quality and, hence, leads to increasing collusion deterrence and to a lower probability of acquitting collusive administrators (type I error), but also to a higher probability of convicting an innocent administrator (type II error). It is shown that, when welfare-maximization gives rise to an interior solution, the welfare-maximizing standard of evidence is lower than the one that merely minimizes the costs of legal errors without taking deterrence costs into account, but will imply incomplete deterrence. However, conditions can and will be identified under which both error cost minimization and complete deterrence coincide with welfare-maximization.     

核安全峰会与核安全全球治理

美国奥巴马政府上台以来,为应对核恐怖主义对美国国家安全造成的严峻威胁,提升国际社会应对核安全威胁的能力,重塑美国在核领域的领导地位,积极推动由各国首脑参加的核安全峰会。经过四届核安全峰会,国际社会在促进凝聚核安全共识、设定合作重点并推动核安全全球治理的建章立制等方面取得了诸多成果,但也面临着在后峰会时代保持国际合作势头、明确和完善核安全全球治理范畴以及进一步完善均衡的核安全全球治理机制等挑战。为确保核安全全球治理在后峰会时代的可持续发展,国际社会应在治理范畴方面分清主次,在治理模式方面坚持全球合作治理与国家治理相结合,发挥国际原子能机构的核心作用。拥有大量核材料与先进核安全技术的大国在全球治理中负有特殊责任,理应发挥表率作用。     

Old (Molotov) cocktails in new bottles? “Price-tag” and settler violence in Israel and the West Bank

In the early morning of July 31, 2015, masked attackers threw firebombs into two Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Duma, south of Nablus, killing three Palestinian civilians. Contrary to claims by Israeli and Palestinian politicians, this attack was neither an isolated anomaly nor just another incident of settler violence. Instead, it was the latest attack in an important but largely unknown phenomenon called “price-tag,” in which a loosely connected group of young Israelis called “hilltop youth” burn Palestinian mosques and destroy property in hundreds of attacks accompanied by threatening graffiti that references Israeli settlers, outposts, and anti-Arab slogans. Using an original dataset of price-tag incidents and interviews with key actors, we demonstrate that the perpetrators, targets, and strategies of price-tag are different than previous patterns of settler violence. Whereas previous settlers saw the Israeli state as legitimate and largely decided to cooperate with it, the hilltop youth have decided to confront it by using price-tag attacks to deter settlement withdrawals and chain-gang the state into a conflict with the Palestinians. This analysis of the strategic logic of price-tag reveals its potential to shift the political landscape within and between Israelis and Palestinians.     

The Green New Deal Must Preserve the Existing Nuclear Fleet

Abstract

As the largest source of carbon-free energy in the United States, nuclear energy must play a vital role in reducing emissions. This article suggests the Green New Deal, an ambitious federal proposal to address climate change, should aim to preserve the existing nuclear fleet by authorizing states to establish zero emission credit (“ZEC”) programs. The ZEC programs will provide credits, in the form of revenue, for the carbon-free attribute of nuclear energy. This article posits the ZEC programs should be based on a model ZEC program developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and explicitly authorized by amendment of the Federal Power Act to avoid issues of preemption.     

Coal and nuclear technologies: creating a false dichotomy for American energy policy

The American electric utility industry is entering a moment of transition. Once viewed as a stable and secure consortium of publicly regulated monopolies that produce and distribute electricity, the industry has weathered market restructuring only to face the ever-present risk of natural disasters, price fluctuations, terrorist attacks, and blackouts. This paper uses five criteria—technical feasibility, cost, negative externalities, reliability, and security—to evaluate the broad portfolio of energy technologies available to American electricity policymakers. Upon close inspection, energy efficiency practices, renewable energy systems, and small-scale distributed generation technologies appear to offer many advantages over large and centralized nuclear and fossil fueled generators. Contrary to the mimetic commentary produced by the media, these three approaches would present policymakers a superior alternative for curbing electricity demand, minimizing the risk of fuel interruptions and shortages, helping improve the fragile transmission network, and reducing environmental harm     

惩罚性赔偿的根据与适用:法经济学观点

惩罚性赔偿的法经济学研究从20世纪70年代到现在已经产生了许多重要的成果,其中威慑理论最为成熟。但是,除了最优威慑外,还存在其他一些正当化的理由,如赔偿不足、惩罚等。惩罚性赔偿的适用,要考虑行为的可谴责性、被告的财富状况,也要考虑到诉讼成本等诸多因素。     

日朝关系与朝核问题

二战结束至今,日朝之间仍未建立外交关系,因此,两国又被称作“近而远的国家”。目前,战争赔偿问题、日本人绑架问题、导弹发射及出售问题已成为日朝恢复邦交关系的一些障碍因素。尤其是朝核问题成为今后相当长一段时期影响日朝关系的一个主要因素。     

论《不扩散核武器条约》的缺陷与朝鲜"核危机"

<不扩散核武器条约>是核裁军领域中一项十分重要的条约,由于它是在特殊历史条件下核大国与无核国通过斗争妥协所得到结果,因而它在确定有核国与无核国权利义务上存在着比较严重的"失衡"现象,尤其是无核国应当获得的"不受核攻击"的安全保证在条约中未得到很好的体现,引起了无核国家的不满和质疑.目前所爆发的朝美"核危机"也从侧面说明该条约到了需要修改的时候了.     

日本核损害赔偿制度及其与我国的比较

日本早在上个世纪60年代,就已建立了较为完善的原子能立法体系,因此才能在福岛核电站事故发生后较为从容地应对核损害赔偿问题.中国自上个世纪70年代起也开始发展和利用核能,与快速发展的核能事业不相符的是,我国关于核损害赔偿的法律制度仍然处于缺失状态,如何对可能发生的核事故进行及时、有效的赔偿是未来我国核能发展面临的重要课题.因此,我们有必要在比较研究外国立法的基础之上来修正我国的立法.     

试析美国奥巴马政府的核不扩散政策

奥巴马政府上台后,美国核不扩散政策出现了重要转变。这一转变既是奥巴马政府对布什政府核不扩散政策进行反思的结果,又是修复美国国际形象和维护其世界领导地位的战略需要,更是美国对朝鲜和伊朗的核开发问题施加压力的一种手段。奥巴马政府对美国核不扩散政策的调整,有利于国际核军控工作走上正轨;将对中国产生多重影响;对地区核问题的解决所产生的效果具有不确定性。