法系渊源、政治与现代股票市场

许多现代经济学著作认为,法系渊源决定着一国证券市场的实力和公司所有权结构,发达国家更是如此。然而,本文认为法系渊源并不是证券市场的基础。现代政治学为不同的所有权结构和发达国家证券市场发展状况的差异提供了另一种解释。20世纪残酷的事实——许多重要国家被完全摧毁,而其先前的许多制度也遭到破坏,很好地预示了战后现代证券市场的实力,并与发达国家在战后政治及政策上的差异有着密切关系。在20世纪,几乎每个核心的大陆法系国家都遭受到军事侵略和占领,这种整体动荡甚至摧毁了强大的制度,然而核心的普通法系国家并未在这种灾难中垮掉。世界上最发达的各个国家中占主导地位的利益和意识形态以及这些国家的基本经济任务在20世纪后半期各不相同,这使得一些发达国家乐于发展证券市场,而另一些发达国家则对其保持冷淡或敌对。这些政治经济学思想比法系渊源观念能更好地解释西方发达国家证券市场不同的实力。     

Narrative analysis for the policy analyst: A case study of the 1980–1982 medfly controversy in California

Narrative policy analysis provides a way of analyzing those highly uncertain and complex policy issues whose truth-value cannot be ascertained and about which the only thing practicing policy analysts know are the stories policymakers use in articulating these issues. One extremely well-documented controversy, the 1980-82 California Medfly Crisis, illustrates how a comparison and analysis of the structure of the dominant stories in that controversy reduces some of its underlying uncertainty. By focusing on the differential risk perceptions reflected in the stories, narrative policy analysis identifies an important area in which conventional policy analysis could have contributed to the controversy's resolution.     

Strategic agricultural trade policy interdependence and the exchange rate: A game theoretic analysis

Strategic Agricultural Trade Policy Interdependence is modeled using a game theoretic framework. The model distinguishes between the European Community, the United States and a politically passive rest-of-the-world. Particular emphasis is placed on the effect of the exchange rate on the equilibrium outcome of this game. Without compensatory payments to those with the highest political influence, the results suggest that only modest reform is possible. With compensation, liberalization occurs but free trade is not obtained. Simulations also indicate that the U.S. gains incentive to reduce protection given a depreciation of the dollar, while incentive to liberalize trade policies decreases as the dollar appreciates. Research was supported by Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station project 14065 “Economic Integration and Disintegration in Europe: Implications for U.S. Agriculture.”     

PCR-based identification of postmortem microbial contaminants--a preliminary study.

Investigation of postmortem blood can reveal the presence of significant ethanol levels. However, in some instances it cannot easily be determined if the source of ethanol is from ingestion or from postmortem endogenous fermentation by contaminating microbes. Described here is a robust polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for detecting the presence of common ethanol producing microbial contaminants in human blood. A set of DNA primers were designed for use in PCR to amplify and detect the genomic DNA from humans and three test microorganisms Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, and Candida albicans. A rapid and reproducible protocol was developed for isolating genomic DNA from mixed human blood-microorganism samples that yields a suitable template for PCR. The organism-specific primer pairs can detect the presence of the target microorganisms in human blood at concentrations as low as 10 colony forming units/mL. The PCR products readily can be detected after agarose gel electrophoresis. This method provides an additional means of rapidly identifying microbial contaminants in postmortem blood samples.     

A salt on the land: A narrative analysis of the controversy over irrigation-related salinity and toxicity in California's San Joaquin Valley

A narrative network analysis of the seeming paralysis of efforts to deal with the problem of toxic elements in agricultural drainage in California's San Joaquin Valley shows irrigation agencies to be caught in a dilemma. Despite pressures to reduce uncertainty about treatment methods, reducing this uncertainty risks increased political polarization over agricultural subsidies. As a result, policy-makers are reluctant to move in any action-forcing direction, and continue to order further studies. We sketch out those areas of contention that must be addressed if real progress is to be made, demonstrating that the issues are primarily organizational and political rather than technical. We also discuss our experience in presenting these findings, along with our recommendations for structural separation of drainage functions from present irrigation agencies, to the relevant policy audience.