More on measuring budget-related rent-seeking: A comment

We wish to thank the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress, Jerusalem, for supporting our work on this topic.     

Rent-seeking for pure public goods

In this paper we present a formal analysis of rent-seeking for public goods by two or more groups with different numbers of individuals. We begin by considering equally wealthy groups under risk neutrality, a case which constitutes our basic model. Several surprising and interesting results emerge from the analysis of this basic case. The problem is then extended to deal with (a) groups with different wealth levels, and (b) risk aversion. This last extension brings about a further crop of interesting and useful results.     

Economic crises and the nationalisation of politics

The literature on party system nationalisation has yet to provide a better understanding of the impact of short‐term factors upon the nationalisation of politics. This article helps to fill this literature gap by analysing the effect of economic conditions on party system nationalisation. The argument is that economic crises will decrease levels of nationalisation by amplifying territorial variation in preferences for redistribution, limiting political parties’ capacity to coordinate divergent interests across districts and triggering the emergence of new political forces. Data on 47 countries for the 1960–2011 period confirm this hypothesis and show that lower economic growth during the years prior to the election is associated with a decrease in levels of party system nationalisation in the next election. The result is robust to variation in the specification of the econometric model and to the use of different measures of nationalisation. Results also show that federal institutions increase the impact of economic conditions on the nationalisation of politics, whereas any moderating effect of electoral system proportionality on the economy is not found.     

Some Implications of Corporate Taxation for Rent-Seeking Activity

In this paper we show that corporate taxes are likely to have considerable implications for rent-seeking activity. We find that corporate taxation tends to significantly reduce rent-seeking, and that it favors rent-seeking by established firms and discriminates against new and zero profit firms. Indeed, we show that corporate tax regulations may completely block rent-seeking by new corporations, and that rent-seeking competitions may be characterized by an equilibrium that features a small number of profitable and well established firms. Tax regulations may therefore impart an oligopolistic tendency to rent-seeking markets. Moreover, our results may have significant implications for the effects of corporate taxes on patent races, tournaments, and other first-past-the-post competitions.     

the new woman and ‘the dusky strand’: the place of feminism and women's literature in early Jamaican nationalism

This essay analyzes the prominent role played by first wave feminism and by women writers between 1898-1903 as the Jamaica Times articulated a broad-based, middle class nationalism and launched a campaign to establish a Jamaican national literature. Largely overlooked, this archival material is significant because it suggests a subtle yet significant modification of anglophone Caribbean feminist, literary and nationalist historiography: first wave feminism was not introduced to Jamaica exclusively through black nationalist organizations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but rather, it emerged in a broader phenomenon of respectable, middle class nationalism, encompassing the overlapping projects of Jamaican nationalism and Pan Africanism. Thus, it becomes clear that first wave feminism, including white women writers, played a key but brief role in the formation of the middle class nationalism that would later dominate Jamaica's transition to independence. During the first five years of publication of the Jamaica Times, women wrote a significant proportion of the short stories published. However, they became marginalized as black folk culture became the defining symbol of national authenticity. The marginalization of middle class women writers reflects a broader pattern. In adopting first wave feminism from Britain and the United States, Jamaican nationalists reproduced colonial race and class dynamics that established an unbridgeable divide between middle class women, who served as ‘ladies bountiful,’ and the usually darker-skinned compatriots to whom they ministered. This class division continued to limit feminist activism in Jamaica throughout the first and second waves.     

印度历史教科书中的中国形象

历史教科书是建构民族成员历史记忆乃至民族认同的重要媒介之一。在印度民族认同建构中,历史教科书如何认识中国这一历史悠久的邻国和定位中印关系,无疑具有重要意义。通过研究印度中央和六个邦现行的高小(6~8年级)、初中(9~10年级)阶段历史教科书,可将印度历史教科书中的中国形象按印度史的分期大致分为近代前、近代、独立后三个时期。近代前,中国是印度在世界范围内的主要贸易伙伴、友好邻国、物质文明大国,而在精神文明领域,中印是"学生-精神导师"关系。其中,西藏被塑造为印度文化圈的成员,而非中国的一部分。步入近代后,中印同样在帝国主义殖民浪潮冲击下,经历了衰弱和被剥削的文明古国,印度的教科书将中国视为"难兄难弟"。独立后,中国仍然被书写为国际格局中重要的一极,但中印之间围绕边界、涉核、涉巴等问题,形成了一定程度的对立,中国也开始在教科书中被视为对手和威胁。此外,印度的世俗民族主义、印度教民族主义和地方视角也导致了教科书中中国形象的差异性建构。     

日粮核苷酸对机体炎症抗炎症平衡体系的影响

为探讨日粮核苷酸对小鼠炎症/抗炎症平衡体系的作用,用CpG DNA和脂多糖(LPS)刺激小鼠构建炎症反应模型,观察分别饲喂无核苷酸(NF)日粮和核苷酸(NT)日粮小鼠的炎性细胞因子IL-1、IFN-γ、抗炎性细胞因子IL-10水平和小肠髓过氧化物酶(MPO)活性变化。结果显示,在刺激后第4 h时,NT组小鼠的IL-1(P<0.05)、IFN-γ(P<0.01)和小肠MPO(P<0.01)明显低于NF组,IL-10(P>0.05)高于NF组;刺激后第18 h时,NT与NF组的IL-1(P<0.01)、IFN-γ(P<0.01)I、L-10(P>0.05)和MPO(P<0.01)均较刺激后第4 h有所降低,NT组的IL-1(P>0.05)、IFN-γ(P<0.05)和小肠MPO(P<0.05)仍低于NF组,IL-10(P>0.05)仍高于NF组。表明,日粮核苷酸对CpG DNA或LPS所诱导的炎症反应有明显的抑制作用,有助于维持机体炎症/抗炎症平衡,保护机体免受炎症损伤。     

毛泽东的创新与毛泽东思想

毛泽东是创新的光辉典范。没有毛泽东的创新,就不可能有毛泽东思想。毛泽东的创新主要表现在黑暗和落后的旧中国如何闯出一条革命和建设的新路。反对教条主义和坚持马克思主义的革命原理,是毛泽东创新坚持的两个基本点。     

新农村建设背景下的农村地区传统知识保护

新农村建设为农村地区的传统知识保护工作明确了指导思想,加强农村地区传统知识保护和利用,需要完善法制建设,发挥基层组织作用,鼓励科学合作研究,提高农民素质水平和保护意识,探索传统知识商业化运作模式。