Institutional and Economic Factors Affecting the Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards

This article investigates the environmental factors associated with countries’ decision to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Based on a sample of 110 countries, the results reveal a positive influence of external public funding (coercive isomorphic pressure), the degree of external openness (mimetic isomorphic pressure), and public sector organizations’ importance on IPSAS adoption. They show a negative effect of the availability of local GAAP on this decision, whereas education level (normative isomorphic pressure) is a nonsignificant factor.

This research contributes to the international accounting literature in the public sector. The results are relevant to standard-setters, regulators, researchers, international financial organizations, and non-adopting countries.     

追踪与研判:《南海行为准则》制定问题的研究动向

本文梳理了近年来国内外学者关于《南海行为准则》制定问题的最新研究成果,试图在一定程度上展现学界对准则问题的基本认知,以期为相关部门和国内学界开展进一步的对策研究提供有益借鉴。在行为准则制定工作久拖不决的情况下,部分学者倡议的先行尝试制定岛屿规则、专属经济区行为规则等"准则单行本"或绕开《联合国海洋法公约》而另行创制《南中国海海洋法公约》等新观点尤其值得国内重视和研究。     

论刑事诉讼中的精神疾病司法鉴定

刑事诉讼中的精神疾病司法鉴定通常在＂有鉴定必要时＂启动,精神疾病司法鉴定人出席庭审,鉴定意见在法庭上接受质证,但是法官并不完全受制于鉴定意见。我国刑事诉讼中精神疾病司法鉴定属于职权型启动,当事人的相关权利保障不足,精神疾病司法鉴定的意见难以在庭审时接受充分质证,对精神疾病司法鉴定意见的采信缺乏统一的规则。应当加强我国司法机关运用职权启动精神疾病司法鉴定的义务,鉴定人原则上应当出庭,并规范法官对精神疾病司法鉴定意见的采信。     

瑕疵仲裁协议效力的认定

瑕疵仲裁协议是当事人在争议发生之前或争议发生之后订立的仲裁意思表示明确、真实但内容存在些许缺陷的书面文件。一个仲裁协议是否瑕疵仲裁协议,取决于判定仲裁协议效力的法律。我国的仲裁立法对仲裁协议的有效要件规定的过于严苛,使许多当事人仲裁意思表示真实的仲裁协议被认定为瑕疵仲裁协议导致仲裁协议无效,当事人丧失了仲裁救济途径。我国的仲裁法亟待完善,亟待与国际社会接轨。我国应当以1985年联合国国际贸易法委员会《国际商事仲裁示范法》为蓝本制定我国的仲裁法律,使我国的仲裁法与各国法律保持一致,我国现在是贸易大国、海运大国,我国应该成为国际贸易争议仲裁中心和国际海事案件仲裁中心,这样才能与我国的贸易大国、海运大国地位相匹配。     

论国际商事仲裁中证据的可采性

在国际商事仲裁中,仲裁庭具有认定证据可采性的自由裁量权,不必严格适用各国民事诉讼中的证据可采性规则。不过就一些具体的证据可采性问题,国际上形成了一般实践。仲裁庭在认定证据的可采性时,除了考虑相关性,还可能考虑效率、仲裁费用等因素。另外,仲裁庭认定证据可采性的权力并非没有限制。我国相关仲裁实践存在一些问题,与国际一般实践相脱离,应予以纠正。     

国际标准与采用国际标准的重要性

为适应瞬息万变的国际、国内市场信息,采用国际标准和国外先进标准非常重要,文章就国际标准的概况、检索及采用国际标准的意义作了介绍,并用实例说明采用国际标准的效果。     

Determinants of Pro‐Fracking Measure Adoption by New York Southern Tier Municipalities

New York municipalities passed more than 60 measures promoting high‐volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), 2008–12. These policies and resolutions signaled to state officials that municipalities desired HVHF's promised economic benefits and were anxious for an end to the state's HVHF moratorium. They also may be evidence of municipalities proactively preparing for a drilling boom. Why did some jurisdictions adopt these measures while others did not? While scholarship suggests that policy adoption is facilitated when jurisdictions and citizens possess more resources, capacity appears to have a negative or negligible impact on pro‐HVHF action. Such action appears more likely when local actors anticipate HVHF's potential gains but have not previously experienced substantial drilling, perceive that the industry could be viable locally, and can access relevant policy examples. Some lessons from conventional adoption scholarship may not apply when policies are symbolic, advocacy may be elite‐driven, and mimicry is an important diffusion mechanism.     

LESSENING THE STING OF ASFA: THE REHABILITATION‐RELAPSE DILEMMA BROUGHT ABOUT BY DRUG ADDICTION AND TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) as a response to children waiting in foster homes for years without permanent placement. In addressing the problem of permanency, however, Congress set a strict limit on how long a child could be in foster care (15 out of the most recent 22 months) before a state must either commence a proceeding to terminate parental rights or else lose valuable federal funding. Due to health care funding schemes and quality of treatment, this requirement, in particular, negatively impacts parents currently in drug rehabilitation whose parental rights may be permanently terminated before a realistic chance to recover is permitted. Although ASFA requires that states make “reasonable efforts” to keep families united, it does not define “reasonable efforts,” leaving parental rights and family unity subject to a chaotic interpretation of this requirement from state to state. “Reasonable efforts” should be interpreted to take into account current drug addiction and recovery research and drug court programs should be used to facilitate this goal. Research has shown that focusing on adequate treatment saves states money and improves the lives of children and their families, reducing the need for reliance on termination of parental rights.     

MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL: A LAW AND ECONOMICS DEFENSE OF SAME‐SEX FOSTER CARE ADOPTIONS

This article explores the methods by which homosexual partners can adopt children from foster care, primarily via the stepparent adoption method because most jurisdictions do not recognize same‐sex marriage or civil unions. In establishing that the children in foster care constitute a market not in equilibrium, I explore the significant barriers to entry that homosexual partners must overcome in order to adopt a child, including the biased rules of intestate succession, the inability of homosexuals to secure health insurance or other governmental subsidies for their nonbiological, adopted children, and the apparent misconception that homosexual parenting negatively affects the well‐being of the child. By deconstructing the barriers to entry in the foster care market for children, children will be afforded the opportunity to maximize their utility through permanency, and homosexual parents and the general public can maximize their utility through the reallocation of assets away from the foster care market, given that more children are likely to be adopted once homosexuals are granted unfettered adoption rights. The reallocation of assets away from the foster care market increases social efficiency, which is desired by all.     

收养弃婴中的非法行为及法律规制

弃婴是当前收养子女的重要来源。我国《收养法》虽已颁行多年,但由于立法不完善、人们了解和重视程度不一以及收养执法上存在不到位不规范等各种原因,使生活实践中收养弃婴行为存在一些突出问题。需要通过进一步完善立法、加强教育和规范执法等多种途径来加以解决。