Aerial Bombing and Counterinsurgency in the Vietnam War

Aerial bombardment has been an important component of counterinsurgency practice since shortly after it became a viable military technology in the early twentieth century. Due to the nature of insurgency, bombing frequently occurs in and around settled areas, and consequently it tends to generate many civilian casualties. However, the effectiveness of bombing civilian areas as a military tactic remains disputed. Using data disaggregated to the level of the smallest population unit and measured at multiple points in time, this article examines the effect of aerial bombardment on the pattern of local control in the Vietnam War. A variety of estimation methods, including instrumental variables and genetic matching, show that bombing civilians systematically shifted control in favor of the Viet Cong insurgents.     

Effect on benefits of earnings at ages 65 or older, 1995.

A major policy issue for the Social Security program is the treatment of earnings of persons who have attained retirement age. This article discusses the retirement test and recomputation of benefit provisions, and provides statistical data for 1995. In 1995, about 806,000 persons aged 65-70 had significant earnings resulting in the withholding of benefits by the retirement test. About 1,659,000 persons aged 65 or older realized an increase in their benefit amount because of their earnings.     

苏联解体的原因与后果

1991年12月8日俄罗斯领导人Б.Н.叶利钦、乌克兰领导人Л.М.克拉夫丘克和白俄罗斯领导人С.С.舒什克维奇签署了别洛韦日协议,导致了苏联的解体;苏联解体是20世纪世界史上最重大的历史事件之一,这大概是大多数历史学家和政治学家对此的一致评价,而其他所有有关苏联解体的原因、后果等问题则一直是激烈争论的对象。     

INTERPREIING OFFICIAL RECORDS AS INDICATORS OF RECIDIVISM IN EVALUATING DELINQUENCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS

Evaluations of crime reduction and prevention programs often use information from official law enforcement or judicial records as ostensibly “objective” indicators of criminal or delinquent activity. However. we of data from official police and court records in assessing the effectiveness of a delinquency prevention program in King County. Washington, yielded divergent conclusions regarding program “success,” depending upon choices in interpretation of records used and the data presentation format adopted. these choices also determined which socio demographic and service-related variables appeared to be related to delinquency. The article calls into question the reliability and validity of official record data as indicators of recidivism, calls for rethinking the selection and use of indicators of program effect in evaluation studies, and calls for further research to explore the possible existence of consistent relationships among available delinquency measures.     

当前我国财税法研究十大热点问题

随着我国财政体制改革的不断深入和加入WTO后的现实要求,加强我国相关财税法的理论研究日益重要。当前我国财税法学研究的十大热点问题是:《政府采购法》的出台、《预算法》的修改、《国债法》的制定、《转移支付法》的制定、新《税收征管法》及其新《实施细则》、诚信纳税问题、实质课税原则、纳税人权利及其保护、WTO影响下的中国税法和依法治税问题。总结和评论这些热点问题的研究现状和存在问题有助于推动财税法学的研究。     

低碳视角下政府绩效评价体系研究

政府绩效评价已经成为世界各国政府改革的重要组成部分,在一定程度上提高了政府的行政效率和服务能力,但其有效性受到不同社会经济环境下政府行为价值取向的影响。低碳经济时代赋予了政府新的职能,"低碳化"也成为了政府新的价值取向,文章在低碳经济视角下对政府职能进行重新定位,将"低碳"元素引入政府绩效评价体系中,从评价主体的选择、评价指标的设计、评价方法的确定和评价结果的管理四个方面,对政府绩效评价体系进行了探讨,这对于我国建设低碳政府和推动低碳经济的发展有着重要的现实意义。