The Economic Convergence Performance of Central and Eastern European Countries

A critical discussion of a comparative growth analysis about Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries is performed. The main conclusion is that there was economic convergence for most CEE accession candidates, but not between them and Western Europe. Results do justify a separation into first and second-wave accession countries, but also undermine differences in Central and Eastern Europe between accession and non-accession countries. This paper critically examines theories and empirical studies for three types of convergence, namely β,σ and club convergence. Each can be in absolute terms or conditional to the long-term equilibrium (steady state) for each country. Empirical results are provided for all types of convergence from 1996 to 2000, both with population-weighted and non-weighted data. The analysis is performed for differently framed country subgroups considering even Western Europe for better comparability. Once absolute convergence is found through a unit root test about a standard deviation time series of cross-sectional income per capita, the regression coefficient for initial income per capita with the average growth over the sample period as dependent variable (β convergence) establishes the speed of this process. The same method applies to the conditional version by using the distance of the income from the corresponding steady state instead of the level of GDP. Then Markov chain probability matrixes (club convergence) provide information about the past behaviour of the whole cross-sectional income distribution over time, but also about intra-mobility of single countries.     

Side-payments: an effective instrument for building climate clubs?

Climate clubs have been suggested as a gateway to substantial reductions in global emissions. The club approach begins with a small number of enthusiastic countries. This paper asks under what conditions such clubs are likely to evolve into effective cooperation through side-payments to new members. The question is addressed through a range of formal thought experiments using numerical simulations. The model is calibrated using empirical data on countries’ emissions, GDP, populations, and vulnerabilities. It is simple and stylized, but allows for complex and dynamic interactions between actors. Basic equity considerations can be accommodated. The results indicate that side-payments’ theoretical potential for facilitating effective clubs is large. One or two large emitters can initiate a club that grows to cover a substantial share of global emissions if the global benefit–cost ratio for mitigation is around 3 or larger. The size of stable clubs is larger if new members contribute to making side-payments, and somewhat lower if equity considerations constrain the set of possible transfers. Side-payments’ effect is enabled by the large asymmetries between countries. Total side-payment flows range from tens to hundreds of billions of US dollars annually.     

Convergence in Transition Countries – Focus on Investment: Central and Eastern Europe, 1970–1996

Our data on investment in Central and Eastern European economies reveal that, though investment rates were typically high in the 1970s, the marginal efficiency of investment was low. Investment shares begun to decline in the 1980s, before the collapse of the communist system, but there was some recovery in most countries after transition. We use the Kalman filter framework to test for convergence in investment rates. We find some evidence of convergence in Central European countries – former Czechoslovakia, Poland and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. For the remainder of the socialist bloc, however, we were unable to isolate convergence in investment shares.     

Nonlinear convergence in Asian interest and inflation rates: evidence from Asian countries

We examine the dynamics of convergence in seven Asian countries for nominal and real interest rates, and inflation rates. We test for convergence relative to the U.S. and Japan, using quarterly data 1973:2–2011:3, employing nonlinear unit root tests. The linearity test shows evidence of nonlinearity in all the cases. In most cases, we find evidence of logistic smooth transition autoregression-type non-linearity. Moreover, nonlinear unit root tests reveal evidence of nonlinear stationary nominal and real interest rates and inflation differentials in all cases. We interpret these results as convergence in inflation rates and real and nominal interest rates.     

Profiles of urine samples from participants at rave party in Taiwan: prevalence of ketamine and MDMA abuse

Drug abuse patterns are different due to cultural, social and geographical differences. Methamphetamine (MA) is the most important drug of abuse in Taiwan followed by opiates. Recently, there has been an increase of ketamine and MDMA abuse in disco dancing clubs. Here, we report the patterns of drug abuse by the participants in a metropolitan city disco-dancing club and the general public in Taiwan. The positive rates of common drugs of abuse detected in samples collected from participants in a dancing club were as follows: MDMA, 75.7%; ketamine, 47.0%; MA, 41.6%; opiates, 0%. Marijuana and cocaine were detected at much lower rates (3.4 and 4.7%, respectively). Ketamine and one of the amphetamines were detected together in 42.9% of the samples. The positive rates in samples collected from police detainees suspected of drug abuse in the general public were as follows: MA, 76.0%; OPA, 37.0%; MDMA, 6.0%; ketamine, 2.0%.     

我国职业足球运动员的劳动者地位和劳动法保护

职业足球运动员虽然与职业足球俱乐部具有劳动关系的属性,但在人力资源上具有不同于一般劳动者的特征,作为劳动法中的特殊劳动者,应当纳入劳动法的保护范围。基于职业足球运动员劳动权益保护的特殊需求,劳动法在实体法上应当对职业足球运动员的就业自由权、工资收入、工伤赔偿、工会组织等问题作出特别规定;在程序法上应当将职业足球运动员与职业足球俱乐部的劳动争议纳入劳动争议处理程序,并就其劳动争议处理体制作出特殊设计。     

Peer Reactions,Peer Behavior,Student Attitudes,and Student Deviance: a Comparison of College Students in Japan and the USA

This study presents evidence on the cross-cultural generalizability of differential association/social learning theory by testing whether the causal processes of learning attitudes toward deviance, posited by the theory, are equally applicable, and the causal links, specified by the theory, are equally strong in two diverse cultures—the USA and Japan. Drawing on the literature concerning cultural variability in individualism-collectivism, we predicted that the effects of peer reactions to deviance and peer deviance on a person’s attitudes toward deviance should be stronger in Japan than in the USA, and that the mediating effect of a person’s attitudes on the relationship of peer reactions and peer deviance to a person’s deviance should be weaker among Japanese than among Americans. Analyses of comparable survey data from college students in the USA (N?=?625) and Japan (N?=?591) provide generally supportive, but somewhat mixed, evidence regarding our predictions. In both countries, peer reactions to deviance predicted student attitudes toward deviance more strongly than did peer deviance. Peer deviance strongly predicted student deviance, while peer reactions to deviance predicted less strongly, and the effects were mediated by student attitudes in both countries. Contrary to the hypotheses, peer reactions and peer deviance did not predict student attitudes more strongly in Japan than in the USA. Also, peer deviance predicted student deviance more strongly in the USA than in Japan. In agreement with the expectations, the relation between student attitudes and student deviance was stronger in the USA than in Japan.

     

State power and diffusion processes in the ratification of global environmental treaties, 1981–2008

There have been many explanations for why countries ratify global environmental treaties. They range from neorealist theory, to hegemony theory, world society theory, and network embeddedness theory. Drawing on hegemonic transition theory, this paper provides evidence that prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, strong and weak countries ratified a treaty if the USA or the USSR ratified the treaty first. After the fall of the Soviet Union, countries’ proximity to world society institutions increased the likelihood of ratifying a treaty, and only weaker countries emulated the ratifications of the USA and Russia. However, weaker countries also emulated economic, religious, and language peers, diplomatic ties, and neighbors as well. In contrast, more powerful countries ratified treaties more independently. We studied the ratifications of eight universal environmental treaties by 166 countries between 1981 and 2008 and showed that as the geopolitical context changed, the diffusion process changed. The paper argues that the hegemonic transition which took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s was an enabling event that helped to explain the new roles that major powers assumed in the 1990s and 2000s and opened the door to the ascendency of global institutions and broader participation in the environmental regime.     

论非法证据排除规则的两种立法模式

本文通过对英美两国有关非法证据排除规则的发展历史及其具体法律规定的考察,归纳出非法证据排除规则的两种立法模式:强制排除模式和裁量排除模式,并在总结其他国家的立法经验和教训的基础上,提出在我国确立非法证据排除规则应采取裁量排除的立法模式.     

The Tools,Tactics, and Mentality of Outlaw Biker Wars

Warfare among rival outlaw motorcycle clubs has been and remains a critical dynamic in the subculture. This paper examines the role of war mentality in the biker subculture and how it has changed overtime. Specific exemplary and noteworthy events are discussed to illustrate critical ideas. Also examined are the changing tactics, defenses, and tools used in these conflict and how the mentality of the outlaw biker club has contributed to the evolution of warfare from impulsive, self-gratifying mayhem to more calculating symbolic and instrumental acts.     

美国“一股一权”制度的兴衰及其启示

股东控制是美国公司法的基础,而"一股一权"则是该基础的核心。纽约证券交易所在20世纪初迫于政治压力,在上市公司标准中确立了一股一权原则。但在1980年代,纽约证券交易所因美国证券交易所和纳斯达克交易所的竞争压力,放弃了这一上市标准,引起了美国学者对该原则的广泛争议。一股一权原则的合理性尽管经过了学者的多次论证,但大部分国家公司法并没有将这一原则贯彻到底。实证研究表明,股权结构与公司业绩并不存在确定的关系。允许公司按实际情况设计股权结构,可能更有利于公司长远发展,但其前提是健全公司治理制度和投资者保护制度。     

The Extent and Correlates of Public Support for Deterrence Reforms and Hot Spots Policing

As one approach to prison downsizing and criminal justice reform, scholars recommend altering the nature of policing by reallocating resources toward policing and increasing sentinel patrols and hot spots interventions. Public attitudes toward these reforms are unknown. In the current police crisis, shifting policies in ways disfavored by the public can impact police‐community relations, especially among those disproportionately affected. The current study uses survey data from a nationally representative sample of Americans to evaluate whether the public is receptive to the suggested reforms. Our results indicate that the majority of the general public believes policing is more cost‐effective than incarceration and supports a focus on sentinel patrols and crime hot spots, although there is less support for hot spots policing among blacks, Hispanics, and lower income individuals. The hot spots policing strategy most preferred is situational prevention, and the least supported is aggressive order‐maintenance policing.     

Self-interest,distributive justice,and the income distribution: A theoretical fragment based on St. Anselm's postulate

The Mertonian starting idea for this paper is St. Anselm's idea that the will has two inclinations: an affection for what is to the person's own advantage and an affection for justice. We show that in decision-making situations, where the individual must choose a course of action from among a set of alternatives, the individual, subject to the two inclinations and thus guided by the twin considerations of own good and the common good as he/she forms the preference orderings for the alternatives, is in one of three states: (i) the state of Harmony, defined by perfect coincidence of the orderings induced by the two criteria; (ii) the state of Conflict, defined by perfect reversal of the orderings; and (iii) the state of Ambiguity, defined by ordering-pairs which are neither identical nor exactly opposite. The most general result states that if the number of alternatives is two, then the individual is in either Harmony or Conflict; if, however, the number of alternatives exceeds two, then Ambiguity is also a possible outcome. We then apply the framework to the case of choosing an income distribution, letting the own-good and common-good criteria dictate orderings based on personal outcomes (such as own income or own income rank) and social outcomes (such as mean income or income inequality), respectively, and examining the relation between the two orderings in five families of probability distributions. In the special case where own good is an increasing function of own income and the common good is a decreasing function of income inequality, our results show that each society has a group in Harmony (the poorest group) and one additional group, either in Conflict or in Ambiguity. Finally, we speculate about the behavioral and social implications of the three states and their configurations in the population.     

Rulemaking Amidst Growing Diversity: A Club-of-Clubs Approach to WTO Reform and New Issue Selection

The diverse nature of World Trade Organization (WTO) membershipmakes it highly unlikely that members will all be willing andable to sign on to the full range of agreements that many membersmight find desirable. The paper proposes an approach in whichthe WTO would supplement its core agreements with additional‘clubs’ to which only some members would subscribe.The approach is a compromise in which diversity can co-existwith a more extensive set of commitments for willing members.The paper provides suggestions for how the clubs would be selectedand how they would operate. Clubs would be chosen where theycould help promote the WTO’s central missions: loweringbarriers to trade, reducing the discriminatory effects of domesticpolicies, and enhancing economic development through trade.All WTO members would participate in negotiating club rules,but members would be free not to join. Clubs would use the DisputeSettlement Understanding (DSU) to deal with disputes, but suspensionof concessions in the event of violations would be confinedto the provisions of the same club in which the violation occurred.     

A Comparative Study of Children and Adult Homicide Rates in the USA and the Major Western Countries 1974–1999: Grounds for Concern?

The aim of this study is to examine the changing patterns of child homicide in the USA and the other 9 major Western countries between 1974 and 1999. On the basis of standardized WHO mortality data, 5-year mean rates of Baby (<1 year), Infant (1–4), Child (5–14), and General Population Rates for Homicide (GPRH) were analyzed for 1974–78 and 1995–99 for the USA and major Western countries. The analysis provided ratios of change for children's homicide between 1974 and 1999 and ratio of ratios between adult' and children's homicide. Over the period USA male Baby homicide rose by 78% and Females 44% with a combined rise in All Children [0–14] homicides of 45%, within the context of a declining adult GPRH. In the 1970s, 3 major Western countries had either higher or similar children's homicide rates to the USA, but by the late 1990s none did. Moreover, between 1974 and 1999, the USA had the biggest rise in Baby (<1) and All Children's deaths, and only France had substantial increases, whereas Baby homicide rates fell significantly in 6 other countries. The findings indicate a worrying deterioration in U.S. child homicides. Possible links with child abuse and explanations for the results are briefly discussed. Urgent case-specific research is required to determine the cause/s for and how to reverse the worsening child homicide situation in the USA.     

中美特殊经贸关系与“契约”之路径

晚近,中美作为非同质的两个世界大国,新兴的一方与守成的另一方发生了巨大的权力变迁,相应地,双方在国际经贸领域的收益分配也出现了反转的态势,同时中美形成的激烈经济与战略竞争使得双方经贸关系"政治化"更加明显。缘此,中美之间的既有经贸关系正面临着前所未有的变动压力,或已难以完全固守普适于各国的统一"规则",客观上需要引入一种可适时而变的专门"契约"加以修补,借以寻求双方之间收益分配的再平衡。     

A Comparative Analysis of Trends in Regional Development in Russia and Ukraine

The electoral law under which the elections of 12 December 1993 were held suffered from many flaws and clearly was not well suited to Russia's political realities. In particular, importing a proportional voting system, which presupposes established parties and stable value orientations among the population, onto Russian soil raises grave doubts. A simple majority system, preferably with two rounds, would be substantially better suited to Russia at the end of the twentieth century, with its political parties resembling voters' clubs and with most of its citizens not yet having perceived themselves as part of any social group or having socialized their own interests. However, a special study, based on a comparison of the voting results for candidates and for party lists in electoral districts, is needed to confirm this hypothesis.     

Confidence in the Police: Where does Taiwan Rank in the World?

The study of public opinion toward the police in Taiwan has not, heretofore, included comparative research. The current study fills this void in the literature by analyzing the data from the World Values Surveys. It was found that Taiwanese confidence in the police was reasonably good for a society experiencing democratic transition. Although lower than many more mature democratic societies such as Finland and the USA, confidence in the police is among the top one-third of fifty countries and is significantly higher than those found in other Asian and European countries that also experienced democratic transition. Further regression analyses of data from the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan indicated that the differences between those three countries are substantive and cannot be explained away after the demographic social and attitudinal variables have been controlled.An early version of this paper was presented at “The Second International Conference in Crime and Its Control,” Taiwan, April 2005. We would like to thank Professors Susyan Jou and Lanying Huang, for providing information on Taiwan, and Professor Alethea Helbig, for polishing the languages of the paper. The views expressed in the paper are all ours.     

亚洲法研究:过去、现在与未来

亚洲法研究始于二十世纪五、六十年代的美国,其后在欧洲、亚洲国家陆续展开。存在两种主要的亚洲法研究进路,一是以"法律与发展理论"为代表的西方法律视角;一是基于亚洲法的内部立场。美国的"法律与发展理论"经历了三个阶段的发展历程,各个阶段有其自身的特征。亚洲的亚洲法研究始于日本,韩国、中国等国家也正逐步展开,但其也存在若干困难。未来的亚洲法研究需要亚洲国家加强合作以及建立起对亚洲法的身份认同。     

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.