The determinants of current account imbalances in the euro area: a panel estimation approach

The aim of this paper is to study the main macroeconomic, financial and structural characteristics that affected current account developments in the member-states of the euro area over the period 1980–2008. The model is based on the intertemporal consumption smoothing approach according to which current account positions are determined by saving and investment decisions. The analysis uses a panel of countries that consists of the initial 12 member states of the euro area and then it expands to 17 countries aiming to see whether the enlargement or potential enlargement would in any way alter the current account determinants. All the determinants of saving and investment decisions, which include factors such as the level of development, demographics, macroeconomic policies and competitiveness, appear to be important in underpinning sustained current account positions in the euro area countries.     

论我国经济贸易仲裁机构制度的改革与完善

在国际商事仲裁立法理论与实践上,仲裁机构不仅包括常设仲裁机构,而且也包括临时仲裁机构。我国现行仲裁法并未就临时仲裁作出规定,这是我国在立法制度上的缺憾。认为,随着经济全球化和国际服务贸易的发展,为了在对等原则上通过仲裁方式解决国际经济贸易合同争议,我国仲裁法应当承认临时仲裁在我国仲裁制度中的法律地位。     

An Econometric Analysis of the Role of Knowledge in Economic Performance

We conduct a regression analysis of the effects of knowledge on aggregate economic performance using data from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank for four groups of countries during 1995–2001. Our results indicate that knowledge is a key driver of economic growth for each group of countries. More importantly, we find that variation in economic performance among these groups may be related to the timing of investment in education, R&D, and information technology, as well as economic policies that affect trade and foreign direct investment.     

China,the United States,bargaining, and climate change

Knowing what is at stake in terms of likely damages from accumulating greenhouse gases, how can major emitters fail to reach agreement on limits? Bargaining analysis suggests that an uneven distribution of abatement costs over time may play a significant part. Using a stylized, complete-information model of the strategic space facing the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, China and the United States, a simple numerical example reaches a strong and surprising conclusion: To be feasible under current technological and economic conditions, any international agreement on climate change will have to allocate a level of future emissions for carbon dioxide in China that is at least twice as large as the level for the United States, in order to account for the effects on Chinese interests from continued economic growth.     

The effect of choice reversals on blindness for identification decisions

The present study examined blindness for identification decisions from target-present (TP) and target-absent (TA) lineups using a field study methodology. Eighty pedestrians were exposed to a staged theft. Subsequently, they were asked to identify the thief and the victim from separate, simultaneous six-person lineups. Their identification decision concerning the thief lineup was manipulated such that participants’ selections were exchanged with a previously unidentified lineup member (choice exchange) and lineup rejections were turned into identifications (choice reversal). Participants were 7–10 times less likely to detect choice exchanges (66.7%) compared with choice reversals (11.2%). Furthermore, identification accuracy was not a prerequisite for detection. Thus, rejections and particularly selections made from both TP and TA lineups are susceptible to choice blindness. Finally, our study implies that for blindness in eyewitness identification decisions between-category changes (i.e. choice reversals) are easier to detect than within-category changes (i.e. choice exchanges).     

Protection for Whom? Creditor Conflict and Bankruptcy

In the absence of a bankruptcy law, private debt collectionremedies generally result in an ad hoc disposal of the debtor'sassets, which reduces the aggregate value of creditors' claims.We show that creditors will often choose not to write privatecontracts that would prevent this inefficient behavior, eventhough these contracts would be to the mutual benefit of allcreditors. Our analysis therefore provides an economic rationalefor the existence of a bankruptcy law that makes a collectiveresolution compulsory for all creditors. We argue that sucha mandate is a requisite part of any effective bankruptcy system,including proposals for market-based resolutions of insolvency.     

The Creation of Investigating Chambers at the International Criminal Court: An Option Worth Pursuing?

At a time when the position of investigating judge has beenabolished in a number of civil law countries, and is being questionedin those in which it remains, it might seem curious to callfor such a position to be created at the International CriminalCourt (ICC). However, experience at the ad hoc internationalcriminal tribunals (‘ad hoc tribunals’), and especiallyat the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslaviashows that the essentially adversarial procedure used in internationalcriminal proceedings is not wholly suitable for trying complexand highly political international cases. Having investigatingjudges participate in the investigations of such cases coulddecisively enhance the effectiveness, legitimacy and fairnessof international proceedings. This would be particularly appropriatein the ICC's complex legal system, which allows victims to participatein the proceedings and claim reparations. However, this newprocedure must clearly come with a number of safeguards in orderto avoid the failures attendant on the use of the investigatingjudge in domestic systems, which could be fatal to an embryonicand fragile international court.     

End-of-life decisions in Italy: an overview of the current situation

This contribution analyzes end-of-life decisions in Italy. Its aim is to report the complex situation in end-of-life decisions. The scientific work applies an interdisciplinary approach by taking into consideration the position of the medical and biomedical communities. In addition, it examines the perspective of the jurisprudence and of the parliament. The investigation of all these parties is fundamental since Italy is one of the few Western European countries that does not have an ad hoc law ruling advance directives. After a complete and comprehensive study of the standpoint taken by the medical and biomedical communities, in addition to the position taken by the Italian law-maker, this contribution underlines the significance of the role of the jurisprudence. In the conclusions, the author underlines the significance of a specific law governing advance directives since it will end the contrasts between these different communities in addition to provide legal certainty.     

Intimate Violence in Canada and the United States: A Cross-National Comparison

Using data from the 1985 U.S. National Family Violence Resurvey and the 1986 Canadian National Family Life Survey, this paper compares incidence of intimate violence or “common couple violence” (Johnson, 1995) in both countries. As expected, gender symmetry characterizes common couple violence, which is a product of the privatized setting of many American and Canadian households. Although the United States exhibits significantly higher rates of societal violent crime than Canada, Canadian women and men were more likely than their American counterparts to use severe intimate violence and to inflict it, as well as minor violence, more often, which is contrary to the culture of violence theory that guided the study. Similarly, the higher rates of wife-to-husband severe violence across the life course in both countries are inconsistent with the theory. Several ad hoc explanations are presented to account for these unexpected findings.     

Evaluating Productivity Growth Measures in the EU

In this paper we evaluate the productivity growth of the member countries in the European Union (EU) before and after the enforcement of the Maastricht convergence criteria in 1992. Total factor productivity was measured by employing the growth-accounting approach and Tornqvist indices. The evaluation of productivity growth was performed by employing the non-parametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in particular years and within three time periods. DEA was also used to evaluate the relative efficiency of EU members with respect to the convergence criteria with important implications for their economic integration. TFP growth was found to have contributed the most in the EU, while its share in the latest recessions was the smallest as compared to labor and capital share.     

Reforming Chinese arbitration law and practices in the global economy

In the last 50 years Chinese arbitration law and practices has made significant contributions to the international commercial arbitration and strides to manage the rapidly increasing caseload associated with a period of amazing growth in economic interactions between Chinese and non-Chinese parties. In the global economy there are rooms for further improvement. The paper proposed some ideas on reforming the Chinese arbitration law and practices on the arbitration system regarding the ad hoc arbitration, panel system and tribunal jurisdiction, interim measures of protection, as well as standards for the judicial review on the arbitral awards.     

A comparison of programmatic and ‘ad hoc’ restitution in juvenile courts

“Programmatic” and “ad hoc” approaches to restitution can be distinguished by the fact that the former usually involves a full-fledged restitution program with counselors or case workers who are responsible for liaison with victims, documentation of victim losses, development of restitution recommendations as part of the pre-sentence investigation, and implementation and monitoring of the restitution requirements. In an “ad hoc” approach, restitution is ordered on a relatively infrequent basis and, when ordered, it tends to be viewed as a relatively minor part of the probationary requirements, with little or no assistance given to either victims or offenders.

The findings in this study show, first, that a programmatic, as compared to an ad hoc, approach to restitution in Dane County, Wisconsin clearly increased the likelihood that juveniles would repay victims and increased the amount of restitution. The second finding is that juveniles who completed their restitution requirements were less likely to reoffend than were youths who did not complete their restitution. A multiple regression analysis indicated that this effect was probably independent of other factors.*** Funding for this research was provided by Grant Nos. 77-NI-99-0005, 79-JN-AX-0009, and 82-JS-AX-0025 from the Office of Justice Administration and Research, National Institute of Juvenile Justice, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. to the Institute of Policy Analysis, Eugene, Oregon. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Department of Justice.      

Financial Compensation for Victims of Catastrophes: A Law and Economics Perspective

This article examines the various approaches legislators may use to compensate victims of catastrophes. Traditional law and economics of insurance literature, with respect to government relief and insurance solutions towards financial compensation, is used to analyze (highly diverging) approaches in Europe and the United States. First, the importance of liability (insurance) is discussed in cases where a liable injurer can be identified; second, the possibilities of first-party insurance are examined, whereby various regulatory solutions (particularly the French model of providing mandatory coverage for catastrophes) is critically discussed. The (first-party) insurance solution is compared with public intervention, and a distinction is made between ad hoc government relief on an ex-post basis and structural compensation funds. The solutions applied and discussed in many countries are critically analyzed for their ability to provide adequate compensation at low costs and their effects on incentives for prevention and for developing private (insurance) solutions.     

试谈建立临时仲裁制度的内在价值

在我国由于法律思维、法律传统及其在立法上的特殊影响,致使人们未给予临时仲裁应有的关注。从仲裁制度的起源、仲裁的性质、仲裁制度的社会作用、临时仲裁的本身特质来看,临时仲裁都是极具内在价值的。因此,根据我国的现实状况,我国在国际商事仲裁领域及早建立临时仲裁制度非常必要。     

Criteria for Evaluation of Burden-sharing Rules in International Climate Policy

This article presents nine criteria for assessing, comparing, and ranking burden-sharing rules and conceptual frameworks used in climate policy negotiations and agreements. Three of the criteria are concerned with fairness principles and six criteria are operational requirements. The application of these criteria is illustrated in the context of six different burden-sharing schemes. The Multi-sector Convergence approach and the Triptych approach received highest average score of the six schemes. The Brazilian proposal received a similar total score, but unevenly distributed with a high score on fairness principles and low score on operational requirements. The European Union member countries employed the Triptych approach when they differentiated their national abatement targets prior to the 1997 Kyoto meeting. The Multi-sector Convergence approach was developed in a joint ECN (Netherlands Energy Research Foundation) and CICERO (Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo) project. It is a sector-based, global approach that comprises convergence of per capita emissions at the same level in all countries. Sector-based approaches have a distinct advantage compared to other approaches because they reflect the economic structure of countries rather well. Such approaches could play a useful role in future climate policy negotiations, not the least in discussions on binding climate targets for developing countries.     

Regulatory delay and growth: a cross country analysis

This paper exploits cross country data on regulatory delay for 135 countries. The results from the regression analysis suggest that waiting time stemming from business procedures has a negative impact on economic growth, especially when we take into account possible endogeneity.     

La justicia y los contextos. reflexiones sobre el quehacer de la justicia desde una perspectiva humanista y de género*

In this essay I present a comparative survey about the situation of two countries that have worked, in a almost parallel manner over time but divergently in the solutions applied, the topic of genre violence against women, especially femicide violence: Mexico and guatemala. Both countries enacted rules ad hoc to attend this world high impact problem and initiated specialized mechanisms in view of the application of his own legislations, pointing to the need of a justice operator’s specialization and invites to the reflection about the deconstruction of justice itself, as well as the reconstruction from the context in which it operates and the genre perspectives and humans rights.     

海南自由贸易港临时仲裁制度的建设研究

海南自贸港的仲裁机制应置于国际竞争中去考量。在海南自贸港中构建临时仲裁制度符合市场经济发展的规律和该制度自身发展的规律。尽管目前临时仲裁制度已在自贸区内有限开放,但临时仲裁制度在海南自贸港落地的障碍主要来自于我国仲裁机构的定位不合理,“三特定”的界限模糊,临时仲裁裁决的执行和认可缺乏规制,现有临时仲裁规则普适性的缺失。我国香港地区的临时仲裁的发展数据表明,成熟和强大的法律体系、临时仲裁的高度保密性、仲裁机构的有限介入和当事人的意思自治是该项制度迅速发展的重要原因,值得参考。海南自贸港在立法路径上可根据《立法法》对《仲裁法》第16条和第18条作出变通处理或者根据《立法法》对临时仲裁制度作出系统性的规定,并报全国人大常委会批准,应重新认识仲裁机构的促进性和服务性并高度尊重当事人的意思自治,还原临时仲裁的本质属性。     

Empirical analysis of civil litigation determinants: The Case of Spain

This paper analyses the determinants of civil litigation in Spain drawing on the Law and Economics approach. Using a panel data for 50 Spanish provinces, this study makes a first exploratory approach to empirically investigate the effect of the 2000 Civil Procedural Law Reform on the demand for civil justice over the period 1995–2010, controlling for other determinants of litigation such as the economic growth, the expansion of the Bar, the number of judges, and other socio-demographic characteristics. According to the results, the growing number of civil cases filed in Spain in recent years seems to be a consequence of the combination of the law reform, relevant socio-economic factors, and most importantly the economic recession.