The politics of mortgage credit expansion in the small coordinated market economies

Abstract

Recent contributions to the comparative political economy literature claim that liberal market economies are vulnerable to asset booms and busts because of financial deregulation, shrinking welfare states and a political ideology emphasising financial self-sufficiency. This article examines the rapid expansion of mortgage lending in three coordinated market economies (CMEs): Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. This expansion is puzzling given that all three countries are CMEs with generous welfare states. Yet the pattern of mortgage lending resembles the Anglo-Saxon or liberal market economies (LMEs) more than other CMEs. The article argues that mortgage bubbles in the small CMEs emerged as the unintended outcome of pairing neoliberal programmes to expand home ownership with collectivist housing institutions. This resulted in supply restrictions and rising property values which saddled households with extraordinarily high mortgage debts. In short, mortgage credit bubbles are not unique to Anglo-liberal welfare states and may have different origins.     

“党建”与“共建”:形塑基层社会治理格局的双重逻辑——基于杭州市D区的考察

从党的政策表述及当前实践来看,基层社会治理格局的形塑过程蕴含着“党建”与“共建”的双重逻辑。“党建”的出发点是巩固党的组织优势和执政基础,表现为基层组织体系从“有形覆盖”走向“有效覆盖”,进而为引领基层社会治理准备条件。“共建”要求探索“一核多元”的治理模式,既要实现基层党组织对“共建”力量的联结和协调,也要保障多元治理主体的有效参与,同步推进群众自治、社会共治和公共服务。“党建”与“共建”的双重逻辑呈现,亦关联着社会治理研究范式的更新。     

关山初度:七十年来的中共革命史研究

70年来的中共革命史研究,与整个中国共产党革命的历史进程一样,走得辛苦,来之不易。有成绩与进步,也有不足和曲折。本文无意讲述70年中共革命史研究进展的全过程,只是撷取一些笔者以为重要的革命史研究问题,予以切入,窥察70年来尤其是近年来中共革命史研究关注的重点及其展现的趋势性变化。关于过往的讨论当然不仅仅是为了回望,更重要的还在于由此探寻今后需要进一步深入研究的方向。     

清代因案修例的现象还原与性质界定——兼论其对完善案例指导制度的启示

清代的因案修例,即基于某一司法案件对《大清律例》中的相关条例进行修改。这是清代司法实践中一种常见的法现象。《大清律例通考》《读例存疑》等考证类释本和《驳案汇编》《刑案汇览》等描述类案例集,分别以法律文本备注和刑事案例陈述的形式,记载了因案修例的诸多实例。结合因案修例的各方面特征来看,它属于清代法律的一种司法创制机制,带有典型的传统中国特色。清代统治者通过此种机制从司法案件中抽象出成文法则,进而实现法律文本稳定性与适应性的均衡。对于当前我国的案例指导制度,因案修例有着重要的启示意义,其对明确案例指导制度的发展路径和方向,以及完善“由案到法”的衔接机制、指导性案例的审核机制、类案判断机制、指导性案例的退出机制等,具有积极的可借鉴之处。     

Directors’ duties under the 2019 Companies Act of Ghana

The scope of directors’ duties forms perhaps the most important part of corporate governance. This paper considers the trajectory of the regulation of directors’ duties under Ghanaian company law from the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) to the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992). Using the 2017 to 2019 financial institutions’ insolvencies in Ghana as a backdrop, it considers whether the scope, formulation and structure of directors’ duties within the new legislation is capable of promoting corporately-beneficial director behaviour. It also discusses whether the framework is apt to deal with similar lapses in corporate governance marked by reckless and opportunistic director behaviour. It discovers that Act 992 places a greater reliance on specific rules while retaining the largely principles-based regulatory technique adopted for regulating director conduct under Act 179. The overall tenor of the framework of directors’ duties under the new Act points to a firmer legislative view of the serious consequences of reckless director conduct. The paper concludes that the language of the framework regulating director conduct is capable of promoting corporately beneficially director behaviour and is also apt to deal with the kind of lapses in corporate governance which led to mass financial sector insolvencies in Ghana.     

Bringing the Falklands/Malvinas Home: Young People's Everyday Engagements with Geopolitics in Domestic Space

This paper draws on recent research examining feminist and everyday geopolitics to focus on the relatively neglected domestic sphere as a space where geopolitical events like the Falklands/Malvinas war are learnt, (re)produced, remembered and contested by young people. It presents qualitative data drawn from interviews with young people from Argentina (Río Gallegos) and the Falkland Islands (Stanley), locations with intimate connections to the 1982 war. It argues that research in domestic environments that engages the familial relations, objects and practices that embody geopolitical pasts can help make sense of how young people (are able to) express geopolitical agency.     

Red Tape,Rule Burden,and Legitimate Performance Trade-Offs: Results from a Vignette Experiment

Abstract

Goals in the public sector are complex and managers can face situations in which pursuing one legitimate goal necessitates performance trade-offs in other areas. This study tests how knowledge of legitimate performance trade-offs shapes the perception of red tape. Using a vignette experimental design and a sample of university students, between group t-tests and regression analyses suggest that, when evaluating increased rule burden, individuals that are provided with information about how objectively burdensome rules serve alternative values such as equity and effectiveness associate them with lower levels of red tape. A series of Monte Carlo simulations suggest that this effect is substantial.