Regulation as a cause of firm fragmentation:the case of the Spanish construction industry

Team members organize their relationships to achieve efficient incentives in accordance with institutional constraints. When these constraints change, the rights and tasks of members are reallocated, generating a new contractual structure [or governance mechanism] that solves more easily the problem of collective action associated with team production. We show how this process has worked in the case of Spanish construction firms, in which more restrictive labor and tax regulations have induced parties to substitute market contracts for labor contracts because of the need to avoid moral hazards. We argue that this explains the increased fragmentation of the Spanish construction industry, and technical change does not seem to account for this process.     

A note on exogenous changes in incentives for and deterrence of corruption

In this note we amend the model elaborated by Acemoglu and Verdier (2000, The American Economic Review, 90(1),194–211), to examine how agents respond to an exogenous change in incentives. In particular, we apply the theoretical framework to the consequences on the corruption level in Italy of a famous sentence of the Italian Corte di Cassazione in plenary session: in this sentence, no. 500 of 1999, a revolutionary interpretation of the law has increased the area of civil liability for both the public administration and bureaucrats. This is one of the few cases in which the judge substantially legislates in a system of civil law, and the modification in incentives towards or away from corruption comes from an authority that is not part of the game.      

Electoral Manipulation as Bureaucratic Control

Bureaucratic compliance is often crucial for political survival, yet eliciting that compliance in weakly institutionalized environments requires that political principals convince agents that their hold on power is secure. We provide a formal model to show that electoral manipulation can help to solve this agency problem. By influencing beliefs about a ruler's hold on power, manipulation can encourage a bureaucrat to work on behalf of the ruler when he would not otherwise do so. This result holds under various common technologies of electoral manipulation. Manipulation is more likely when the bureaucrat is dependent on the ruler for his career and when the probability is high that even generally unsupportive citizens would reward bureaucratic effort. The relationship between the ruler's expected popularity and the likelihood of manipulation, in turn, depends on the technology of manipulation.     

Examining Deterrence and Backlash Effects in Counter-Terrorism: The Case of ETA

Scholars are increasingly drawing on models and theories from the field of Criminology to offer new insights on terrorist violence. A particularly useful framework by LaFree, Dugan, and Korte works from the assumption that illegal behaviour can be affected by the threat and/or imposition of punishment. It sees the results of the government's intervention in terms of deterrence (state's repressive action leads to a reduction in terrorism violence), and backlash (state's repressive action leads to defiance and retaliation, and to an upsurge of terrorism violence). This article applies this model to a case study of the government's responses to Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA). It uses a variation of survival analysis technique—Series Hazard—to assess the impact of six major initiatives on the risk of new ETA attacks in the period from 1977 to 2010. Mostly, the results provide support for both backlash interpretations, although important questions regarding interpretation are raised.     

大鼠骨骼肌损伤后不同时间中性粒细胞及巨噬细胞比率的变化

目的观察大鼠骨骼肌损伤后不同时间点中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞比率的变化情况,探讨其在损伤时间推断上的应用价值。方法健康SD大鼠随机分为伤后6h、12h、1d、3d、7d、10d、14d及正常对照组,建立大鼠骨骼肌损伤动物模型,取损伤区肌肉组织制作切片,应用免疫组织化学染色和图像分析法,观察并计数伤后不同时间点中性粒细胞及巨噬细胞数量和占总细胞数量的比率。结果伤后6~12h,损伤区内可见大量中性粒细胞浸润,其比率达到高峰;伤后1d,损伤区内主要以巨噬细胞浸润为主,其比率达到高峰,中性粒细胞比率则开始下降;伤后3~14d,两种细胞比率均逐渐下降。伤后12h所有样本中性粒细胞的比率均大于75%,而其他各组比率均低于75%;伤后1d所有样本巨噬细胞比率均大于50%,而其他各组比率则明显低于50%。结论大鼠骨骼肌损伤区中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞比率在伤后6h至伤后14d呈现规律性变化。中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞比率分别大于75%、50%时,可分别提示损伤时间为12h、1d。     

论江泽民依法治国和以德治国思想

江泽民同志继承和发展了毛泽东、邓小平加强社会主义民主和法制建设的治国思想,提出了在建设有中国特色的社会主义,发展社会主义市场经济的过程中,要坚持不懈地加强社会主义法制建设,依法治国,同时也要坚持不懈地加强社会主义道德建设,以德治国。这是江泽民同志对毛泽东、邓小平法制思想的新发展,是对马克思主义国家学说的丰富和贡献。     

Investigating the determinants of pretrial settlement rates: contingent versus non-contingent lawyers’ fees

In this article, we explore the possibility that the percentage of litigations settled outside of court is affected by the degree of contingency of lawyers’ fees. In our view, a litigation is a game where not only the plaintiff and the defendant, but also their lawyers are independent players. The main consequence of this assumption is that the authority to settle is allocated endogenously to either the clients or their lawyers, depending on the value of the relevant parameters. In this game theoretical setup, (1) we compare the incentives to settle provided by contingent and non-contingent lawyers’ fees, and (2) we state the conditions under which settlement is more likely to happen.      

蓝牙技术在智能家居网络中的应用

蓝牙（Bluetooth）作为一种近距离无线通信技术的标准，是由爱立信、IBM、英特尔、诺基亚、东芝等5家公司于1998年5月联合制定的。其主要在于实现最高数据传输速率为1Mbps（有效传输速率为721kbps），最大传输距离为10m的无线通信，通过增大发送电平可以将距离延长至100m。从蓝牙技术的出现到现在，得到了几乎全球所有涉足通信技术的著笔厂商的全面支持。其提供的低成本、低功耗的无线接入方式，被认为是近年来无线数据通信的领域中的重大进展之一。本文就是将其应用于家居设备的控制上，有重要的现实意义。[编者按]     

陈毅发表一篇特殊演讲始末

陈毅“对文化大革命”是不理解的。他是老帅中态度比较明朗的一个,也是较早对“文化大革命”中种种极“左”做法进行抵制和斗争的一个。陈毅“在文化大革命”中曾发表过一篇态度十分鲜明、观点十分尖锐的演讲,集中反映了他当时的政治观点和对“文化大革命”的看法,展现了他高尚     

达尔富尔重建之路有多远

三步一岗、五步一哨,用这样的描述形容苏丹北达尔富尔州首府法希尔的主要街道,可以说名符其实。2007年7月23日,我们在这里看到,到处是荷枪实弹的士兵与警察。进入市区的路口都有军用皮卡车驻守。车后面都高高地架着一挺重机枪,拖着一长串子弹。车上站着的四五个士兵都拿着枪,望着不同的方向。在进城的那个路口,因为州长家和州办公场所就在那里,因此成了防守的重中之重。十字路口的4个方向都停着军用皮卡车,4个方向的街道两边也都站满了警察与士兵。这就是我们第一次实地看到的达尔富尔,一个强力维持下的和平的达尔富尔。亲历沙尘暴达尔富尔…