联合国《竞争法示范法》述评

《竞争法示范法》是联合国贸易与发展会议下属的政府间竞争法与竞争政策专家组研究国际竞争法的最主要的成果,它及时因应了国际竞争法的发展趋势和要求,具有高度的灵活性和前瞻性,为促进发展中国家立法、协调各国竞争立法进行了有益尝试。     

商标恶意抢注法律规制路径探究

商标恶意抢注有违诚实信用原则,应予规制。适用我国现行《商标法》规制恶意抢注在注册确权、侵权救济和法律责任承担方面存在局限性;基于《侵权责任法》保护民事权益的范围所限,商标恶意抢注并非均为民事侵权行为,适用《侵权责任法》难以对恶意抢注实施全面规制;以《反不正当竞争法》规制恶意抢注,可对其启用行政调查措施,并通过法律责任承担规定使得恶意抢注人为此承担民事责任和行政责任,但须以竞争关系的存在和构成不正当竞争行为为适用要件,因此存在边界限制。为有效规制恶意抢注,应当结合前述立法的功能定位选择多元化法律规制路径,并从明确恶意抢注商标不予注册、规定未经实际使用的注册商标不得转让、限制恶意抢注商标的请求权方面对我国商标立法以制度完善。     

Pretty faces,marginal races: Predicting election outcomes using trait assessments of British parliamentary candidates

The conventional wisdom on Western European politics leads us to believe that all the “action” lies with parties, because the unified parliamentary delegations in Western Europe draw voters' attention to parties' policies and images. Though British elections take place under a single member district plurality system, British parties, like their continental counterparts, are highly centralised and feature disciplined parliamentary delegations. Despite the strong ties between British candidates and their parties, we demonstrate that perceptions of candidates' personal attributes can be used to predict general election outcomes. Using a computer-based survey where subjects are asked to evaluate real British candidates using only rapidly determined first impressions of facial images, we successfully predict outcomes from the 2010 general election. Moreover, we find that perceptions of candidates' relative attractiveness are particularly useful for predicting outcomes in marginal constituencies.     

Issue ownership attack: how a political party can counteract a rival’s issue ownership

Abstract

A central part of representative democracy is that voters evaluate political parties based on how competently they handle issues, so-called ‘issue ownership’. Since issue ownership is a central ingredient in the vote choice, rival parties often try to influence how voters evaluate a competing party. This is an issue ownership attack. However, despite intense scholarly interest in issue ownership, the understanding of how parties shape issue ownership is very limited. Therefore a new theoretical model is tested here to understand issue ownership attack. Using several survey experiments, the analysis shows that a mainstream party can counteract another mainstream party’s issue ownership by reframing the issue and by blaming the party for its performance, but not by changing its own position on the issue. Hence, the study not only advances the understanding of issue ownership stability and change but also brings important insights on how parties influence voters.     

From Reset to Restart: The US-Russia Cyclical Relationship in the Post-Cold War Era

ABSTRACT

After a quarter of a century of oscillating relations between Washington and Moscow, Trump’s 2017 National Security Strategy named Russia as one of the main challengers to the US-led order. Power transition theory is used to explain the alternating cooperative and competitive phases during each of the first three post-Cold War US presidencies: first, initial attempts at cooperation are driven by US willingness to integrate its former rival into the liberal order; then, regression into competition follows as Washington’s influence rises in territories that Moscow considers sensitive for its national security.     

高管在职消费与产品市场竞争的公司治理效应：替代还是互补？

目前鲜有文献关注高管在职消费隐性激励机制与外部产品市场竞争监督机制之间关于公司治理效应的相互关系。基于此，文章首先将产品市场竞争引入管理层在职消费问题的理论框架中，推导发现无论是在纯寡头亦或混合寡头市场结构中，高管在职消费与产品市场竞争之间的公司治理效应均存在明显的替代性。其次，文章选择2003—2015年中国沪深两市A股上市公司的大样本数据进行实证分析，结果表明，高管在职消费与产品市场竞争均能有效提升公司绩效，并且这两种机制间的公司治理效应存在显著的替代关系。进一步研究发现，上述结论在国有企业和民营企业中均成立，但仅存在于低薪酬和小规模企业中。最后通过机理分析发现，产品市场竞争机制主要通过信息冲突效应、市场掠夺风险效应、竞争淘汰效应三个路径弱化在职消费的激励效用。文章的研究结论丰富了公司治理机制的相关研究，为进一步完善公司治理体系提供了理论和经验证据支持。     

Technological Innovation and Its Impact on Public Sector Efficiency and Performance: Aerial Imagery in Property Tax Assessment Administration

ABSTRACT

Technological innovations can help public organizations deliver higher quality public goods and services at lower average costs. While a considerable literature exploring the determinants of technology adoption and diffusion exists, much less is known on whether technology innovations improve public sector outputs. This study investigates the impact of high-resolution, oblique aerial imagery, an increasingly common technology used by local governments in the US, on the inspection efficiency and quality of property assessment administration. Aerial imagery is often argued to be a low-cost substitute to in-person inspections of property. Drawing on data from 2013 through 2017 for property assessing districts in Texas, aerial imagery use is found to improve the rate at which properties are inspected as well as improve the quality of assessments. The results further provide evidence that investments in aerial imagery are best justified on budgetary grounds rather than as a means to improve organizational performance.     

Value-Added Tax (VAT) Development and Reform History—A Study of VAT Evolution Around the World and in China

Value-added Tax (VAT), a turnover tax levied on the value appreciated in commodities production, circulation and sale, has been widely practiced by economies worldwide for its neutrality. From the international perspective, European Union VAT and New Zealand VAT stand out as characteristic models of VAT development and reform history. With changing economic development models and the growth of e-commerce businesses, VAT systems have been upgraded to meet taxation challenges brought about by the digital economy. Recently, VAT policies and measures have been introduced particularly to combat the COVID-19 impact. In China, the VAT system has been reformed constantly over the past 40 years and has been converging with international practice. China now needs to address emerging VAT issues through legislation, tax incentives, and tax-rate grades so as to meet challenges in VAT collection and management and to suit the “new normal” of economic development.     

房产税制度中建设用地使用权刍议

我国宪法规定土地归国家和集体所有,而税法规定房产税的缴纳主体为产权所有人。实践中对个人征收住宅房产税时,应考虑将住宅建设用地使用权价值予以扣除。考察英美法系和大陆法系国家经验,我国房产税试点中有两种征税模式可供选择:一是将住宅的土地使用税合并至房地产税中一并征收;二是在房地产税的计税依据中扣减住宅建设用地使用权的价值,同时对个人住宅建设用地使用权征收土地使用税。     

Issue yield,campaign communication,and electoral performance: a six-country comparative analysis

Abstract

This article develops and tests a model that explains election outcomes on the basis of party strategy. It employs a new comparative dataset linking representative mass surveys from six European countries with Twitter analysis of campaign activity. The expectation is that parties whose issue agendas exploit electoral opportunities while avoiding risks will be rewarded at the polls. These risks and opportunities are modelled using issue yield, a general framework summarising public support, electoral alignments, and party credibility. Empirically, the article traces a three-step process: (1) the configuration of electoral risks and opportunities (which is captured through public opinion surveys) guides party communication (measured with Twitter data), and to the degree that (2) parties design their campaigns strategically (identified through issue yield), this in turn (3) improves their electoral performance (measured using official statistics). The analysis explains some of the most salient election outcomes of recent years.