Good guys, bad guys: transnational corporations, rational choice theory and power crime

While its scope and scale can be exaggerated, the power transnational corporations (TNCs) exert in the contemporary world is considerable. This is often at the expense of states, or at least is exercised in a way that can undermine states. Some interactions between corporations and states or their officers constitute prime examples of power crime. A blatant form is where corporations either offer or else agree to pay bribes to state officials in order to secure a major contract. This capacity to corrupt state officials via large scale bribes gives corporations significant potential power. This article begins by citing allegations of active corruption of state officials by TNCs, as well as counter-examples (i.e. where TNCs have taken a stand against rent-seeking officials). It then argues that active corruption by corporations constitutes a major dimension of power crime, and seeks to explain apparently contradictory behaviours by TNCs, relating these to rational choice theories and neo-liberalism. It is argued that recent changes in corporate governance and behaviour have made rational-choice models and simplistic neo-liberalism either questionable or redundant. Bu at the same time, globalisation and its stable mate neo-liberalism encourage improper behaviour–various forms of power crime-by corporations.     

解读诚信原则——关于诚实信用原则的法律思考

诚信不仅仅是道德观念 ,而更重要的它是法律规制。诚信原则既是我国社会主义市场经济的基本法则 ,又是我们从事国际经贸往来活动的通行证。然而 ,现阶段我们的诚信状况却不尽人意。其原因固然是多方面的 ,但从法律的角度来思考 ,则很大程度上与人们对诚信原则的法律本质及功能特点认识不清、把握不准有关。诚信原则乃道德准则的法律化 ,诚信本身就是法 ,“帝王规则”甲天下。     

Good faith in international transactions

Conclusion Historically, the conception of good faith has been shaped by a variety of forces — political, mercantile and religious among them. Similarly, the CISG also treats the duty of good faith in a holistic manner; rather that attempt to explicitly define the good faith obligation in isolated provisions, the drafters of the CISG marked good faith as an integral and pervasive requirement. The drafters rightly understood that unfair dealing is best recognized in specific factual scenarios; judges and arbitrators will know bad faith when they see it. Thus, the drafters designed a systematic approach to international sales transactions with the assumption that the basic obligations of good faith and fair dealing are understood by the parties. In so doing, they have provided a source of confidence to traders who, due to the nature of the modern international marketplace, must forge their agreements fax-to-fax rather than face-to-face.Law Clerk, Allan Kanner & Associates, New Orleans, Louisiana. B.A., 1989, Georgetown University; J.D. candidate, 1994, Tulane Law School. For their many valuable suggestions, grateful acknowledgement is made to Chris Anderson, Carla Bachechi and Joachim Zekoll.     

Underinvestment in Public Good Technologies

Although underinvestment phenomena are the rationale for government subsidization of research and development (R&D), the concept is poorly defined and its impact is seldom quantified. Conceptually, underinvestment in industrial R&D can take the form of either a wrong amount or a suboptimal composition of R&D investment. In both cases, R&D policy has not adequately modeled the relevant economic phenomena and thus is unable to characterize, explain, and measure the underinvestment. Four factors can cause systematic underinvestment in R&D-intensive industries: complexity, timing, existence of economies of scale and scope, and spillovers. The impacts of these factors vary in intensity over the typical technology life cycle, so government policy responses must be managed dynamically. In addition to understanding the causes of underinvestment in R&D, the magnitude of the deficiency relative to some “optimum” must be estimated to enable a ranking of technology areas with respect to expected net economic benefits from a government subsidy. Project selection criteria must therefore be based on quantitative and qualitative indicators that represent the nature and the magnitude of identified market failures. The major requirement for management of R&D policy therefore is a methodology that regularly assesses long-term expected benefits and risks from current and proposed R&D portfolios. To this end, a three-stage process is proposed to effectively carry out R&D policy analysis. The three stages are (1) identify and explain the causes of the underinvestment, (2) characterize and assess the investment trends and their impacts, and (3) estimate the magnitude of the underinvestment relative to a perceived optimum in terms of its cost to the economy. Only after all three stages of analysis have been completed can the underinvestment pattern be matched with the appropriate policy response.     

道德诚信与法律诚信的法理解读

诚实信用原则被誉为统帅整个民法领域的“帝王条款,”有利于保护与均衡民事主体的合法利益与社会利益,由此形成法益之平衡格局,并基于此推动商品经济的良性、健康、有序的运行。而这样一个目的价值的实现是诚信原则那复杂交织的道德属性与法律属性在博弈与契合的过程中所产生的能动司法功能对社会经济关系作用的结果。     

论善意取得构成中的善意且无重大过失要件

善意是指对特定的物权信息的不知 ,善意与无重大过失应予区分 ,作为相对独立的两个要件。善意与否及有无重大过失 ,均应由权利人负担举证责任。无重大过失的判断 ,可采用“疏忽之人”的标准     

诚实信用原则之于商标法

通过对商标法实施近30年历史的总结,论证了诚实信用原则在商标法中的基本原则地位和作用,检讨了现行法和"修订送审稿"、"征求意见稿"在贯彻诚实信用原则方面存在的不足,并提出了改进的思路。认为应提高对抢注、恶意异议等不正当行为和侵权行为危害性的认识,强化对商标权的保护;关于确权程序的规定应当增加责任条款,并加大对侵权行为的打击力度。     

信赖保护原则--现代诚信海关新坐标

信赖保护原则起源于罗马法中的“诚信原则”。随着社会主义市场经济的逐步发展和完善, 这一原则也将最终被植入现代行政法领域,从而对现代行政管理产生重大影响。对于建设现代海关第二步发展战略而言,信赖保护也应当成为打造现代诚信海关的新坐标。     

民事诉讼中的诚信原则探究

作为民事实体法中的一项重要原则 ,诚信原则在民事诉讼法中的确立是适应诉讼观的变化和诉讼日趋复杂化的需要。民事诉讼中的诚信原则主要体现在对当事人滥用诉讼权能的规制 ,并发挥行为规范与裁判规范的双重功能。由于程序法的形式严格性决定了民事诉讼中诚信原则适用的补充性。     

英语世界中的诚信原则

本文以英美两国为例探讨了诚信原则在英语世界的运作情况。在英美法系 ,主观诚信未受争议地长期存在 ,一般被理解为“不知” ,个别被理解为“确信” ;出于对法律与道德相分离的强调 ,英美法系的取得时效制度设以较低的人性标准 ,不包含诚信要件。在英国 ,就诚信原则的来源有“继受说”与“本土说”之争 ,但两说存有共识 ,学者亦多主张诚信制度来自大陆法系。在美国 ,客观诚信有其制定法依据 ,通常只涉及合同履行和争议解决阶段 ;就其含义 ,有“默示条款说”、“排除者说”和“自由裁量权限制说”之争     

Legislating School Crisis Response: Good Policy or Just Good Politics?

Over the past decade, a growing number of schools have responded to students' safety and mental health needs following campus violence and other crises. More recently, policymakers have joined this trend, proposing legislation requiring schools to establish crisis response programs. This paper provides an overview of crisis response initiatives implemented by school districts following traumatic events, including school violence. It then examines recent state legislation and other policies, followed by a discussion of the advisability of such mandates, given the scant research and evaluation of school crisis response to date.     

什么是良法

广义的良法是指对社会发展起积极或推进作用的法,从一定意义上说,也就是具有真、善、美之品格的法。“真”是指法的内容的合规律性;“善”是指法的价值的合目的性;“美”是指法的形式的合科学性。依法治国,应是依良法治国。     

论善意取得

善意取得制度源于日耳曼法的"以手护手"原则。作为继受罗马法的大陆法系各国民法并未接受罗马法奉行的"无论何人不能以大于自己所有的权利让与他人"的原则,吸收了日耳曼法中"以手护手"的法理念,普遍确认了善意取得制度;英美法系本身就源于日耳曼法,善意取得当然成为英美法系各国民法的一项重要制度。我国现行民事立法尚未明确规定善意取得制度,但在司法实践中已得到认可。     

侵权行为法中的诚实信用原则研究

侵权行为法是维持整个私法权利体系平衡的最为重要的法律部门。现代社会经济生活的飞速发展造成各种侵权行为的泛滥,保持侵权行为法体系的开放性已是当务之急。诚实信用原则在法律中的作用在当代呈不断加强的趋势,成为整个私法领域的"帝王条款"。侵权行为法与诚实信用原则的结合具有特殊的意义。文章从自然法的角度考察了侵权行为法中的诚信观念,在介绍三种诚信观——主观诚信、客观诚信和裁判诚信的内在逻辑关系的基础上,分析了侵权行为法的程序特征,论证了侵权行为法与诚实信用原则结合的合理性,提出了侵权行为法诚信原则的实现途径、制度基础以及注意义务的判断标准。     

论民事诉讼中的诚信原则

民事诉讼法中引入诚信原则的目的在于修正对抗制诉讼模式的过头之处.所谓“协同型诉讼模式”便是诚信原则的具体展开.我国民事诉讼法不仅有必要将诚信原则作为一项基本原则予以规定,而且还需要规定一系列的制度和规则将诚信原则落到实处.本文基此分析了当事人违背诚信原则的各种客观表现形式,并提出了防治这些行为的法律对策.     

The Unauthorized Practice of law: Do Good Fences Really Make Good Neighbors—or Even Good Sense?1

While the legal profession's efforts to suppress the practice of law by non-lawyers go back to colonial times, the modern unauthorized practice movement began in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Its greatest success, however, took place during the 40 years from 1920 to 1960. Recent years have seen the reversal of some of the prior successes in the field, and current challenges to unauthorized practice restrictions raise serious questions about their present validity. Do the benefits to the public from the enforcement of rules against the unauthorized practice of law justify continuation of the effort?     

从雾霾论公众共用物的良法善治

大气是一种典型的公众共用物.包括雾霾在内的大气污染是一种典型的公众共用物悲剧.防治雾霾可以纳入防治公众共用物悲剧的轨道,通过建立健全防治公众共用物的治理和善治机制,可以有效地防治包括严重雾霾在内的公众共用物悲剧.在防治公众共用物悲剧时,应该采取包括“政府管理、市场调节、社会调整”这三种调整机制在内的多种调整机制,综合运用“三只手”去对付“一只脚”,形成“政府主导、市场运作、公众参与”的公众共用物综合治理(善治)机制.制定有关公众共用物的良法是使公众共用物得到保护的前提,而良好的法律必须首先明确公众共用物及其使用权的性质和特点.法律上的公众共用物是一种独立形态的财富和资产,应该实现从三种财产到四种财产的转变.公众共用物使用权是公众共用物保护、供给和监管的核心,应该实现从三种权利到四种权利的转变.     

国际法治:良法善治还是强权政治

国际法治意味着法治的原则适用于国际关系之中。法治的理想激发着国际法学家在国际社会实现法治,但是由于存在着重重障碍,强权政治在国际关系中仍然占据主导地位。但是,有可能建立人类利益作为国家决策的基础,代替以往抽象的国家利益和安全考虑。基于此,国际法治可以在良法善治的前提下实现。