In Extremis: a Self‐defeating Element in the ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ Strategy

The main policy reaction to the terrorist attacks of 7/7 and 21/7 of 2005 has been the development of the £6 million ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ (PVE) initiative which aims, as part of the government's broader counter‐terrorism strategy (CONTEST), to tackle support for, and the promotion of, violent Islamist ideologies within British society. One crucial component of this strategy is providing support for Muslim groups and individuals to tackle radicalisation and extremism directly at the local level. Funding and charitable status for mosques, Muslim community and youth groups and initiatives, ‘forums against extremism’, anti‐extremism ‘road shows’, and the training of imams are included as part of this strategy. This article argues that this aspect of PVE is not only ill‐advised, but potentially deeply counter‐productive. It takes issue with two reasons that inform the PVE strategy: first, that what motivates individuals to join extremist groups are the religious ideas themselves; second, that government intervention or involvement is an effective method for rendering the moderate antidote attractive. Arguably, neither of these assumptions is warranted in the face of contrary evidence. Consequently, this arm of PVE is, at best, barking up the wrong tree; at worst, fuelling extremism.     

计件工资问题与集体协商技术性对策

计件工资的秘密在于资方以保证一定的利润和保证能雇到一定的工人为前提,工人并不知道计件工资的秘密,反而把计件工资看作为真正体现"按劳分配"、"不劳不得,多劳多得"的工资制度。由此,产生制度性地规避最低工资、规避加班加点工资、规避特殊情况下支付工资等问题。解决计件工资规避劳动法规的关键并不在于加强政府监管,而在于确立工人的"话语权",即进行有效的,有针对性的集体谈判。因此,应设计工会进行计件工资行业或企业工资集体协商的操作性技术要点。     

Forced Civil Society? Associational Life,Philanthropy, and the Indianapolis Turnerverein in the 1920s

This study uses the case of a German American association in the 1920s as a historical case study to gain a better understanding of the integration of an immigrant group in American society. Philanthropy, membership recruitment tactics, and associational mission are used as analytical categories in the analysis of German Americans’ processes of assimilation against the background of the aftermath of the First World War and Prohibition. Philanthropy and associational membership provide a vantage point for studying dynamics of identity, assimilation, and integration. The study argues that the difficulty of transitioning from a membership of German origin to a membership of second-generation immigrants played a major role in the progressive membership decline of this organization. This study points to challenges of an ethnic-based membership association in maintaining its relevance within an immigrant community in the face major political, social, and economic transformations, while attempting to renew its membership.     

试析我国劳动合同法的劳动者维权功能

我国劳动合同法具有明显的维护劳动者合法权益的功能,主要体现在立法目的、权利和义务分配、法律责任分配,以及监督检查等诸多方面,劳动合同法是我国广大劳动者维权的重要依据和有力武器。     

工会在劳动合同法中的权利及作用

工会权利和工会作用在劳动合同法中被放在突出的位置上。劳动合同法力图通过工会权利的运用和工会作用的发挥使劳动者与用人单位的劳动合同关系达到权利与义务的平衡,维护劳动者的合法权益。从法理上说,工会在劳动合同法中的权利其性质特征是对劳动者的代理权,体现为三项重要权利;工会在劳动合同法中的作用表现在五个基本方面;工会权利和作用的实现要创造工会自身和外部的条件。     

Empirical examination of public debt sustainability in African economies: A panel data analysis

This study intends to investigate public debt sustainability across 29 Sub-Sahara African (SSA) economies, employing various econometric specifications, for the sampled years 1996–2020. The study employs Bohn's (Are stationarity and cointegration restrictions really necessary for the intertemporal budget constraint? Journal of monetary Economics, 54(7), pp.1837–1847.) framework of sustainability as the baseline model to assess public debt sustainability across the sampled Sub-Sahara African economies. As additional tests of public debt sustainability in order to support the baseline findings, the study also employs panel unit root and timeseries unit tests. The baseline findings from the OLS, panel quantile and instrumental panel quantile regressions show that public debt is sustainable across the panel of SSA economies. The positive and statistically significant response of primary balance under the Bohn's framework of sustainability manifest that the intertemporal budget constraint is not violated in the sampled economies. The consistency in the estimates under the OLS, panel quantile and instrumental panel quantile regressions also show that the estimates are robust throughout the estimation process. Also, utilizing the panel unit root test for public debt sustainability, the findings show that public debt is stationary over the sampled years which implies that intertemporal budget constraint holds and that public debt is sustainable across the sampled SSA economies. However, the timeseries analysis indicate that although majority of the SSA economies have sustainable public debt ratios, four countries namely Uganda, Sudan, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire have unsustainable public debt ratios. The study has important policy implications in terms of prudent public debt management and fiscal management for the sampled SSA economies.     

单位应是抗税罪的主体——建议修改《刑法》第211条

刑法否定单位在抗税罪上的主体资格,导致刑法对单位抗税行为难以适用.否定单位在抗税罪上的主体资格,是出于恪守"单位不会实施暴力、威胁行为"的刑法理论.但是,刑法在走私罪、强迫交易罪等上并未坚持这一刑法理论.因之,单位不能成为抗税罪的主体的理由并不成立,刑法第211条亟需修改.     

The formation of an international environmental agreement as a two-stage exclusive cartel formation game with transferable utilities

We construct a two-stage exclusive cartel formation game with utility transfers to model the formation process of an international environmental agreement. Our results show that in the first stage of low degree of consensus, engaging in utility transfers by asymmetric countries will accomplish little. In contrast, in the second stage of higher degree of consensus, it is more likely for asymmetric countries to engage in monetary transfers to form the grand coalition, particularly if a small stable coalition has already been formed in the first stage. This article therefore provides a theoretical perspective to explain why it is more likely for some developed countries to initiate an IEA formation process by forming a small stable coalition first before engaging in monetary transfers to form the grand coalition with all the other countries. Such a perspective is consistent with the historical development of the Montreal Protocol and may also explain the difficulty for asymmetric countries to form the grand coalition at the beginning of the IEA formation process of the Kyoto Protocol.

行政机关事业单位“小金库”的形成和治理——基于舞弊三角理论分析

从内部审计工作的角度看,私设"小金库"是一种会计信息舞弊行为。依据舞弊三角理论分析,行政机关事业单位"小金库"的形成有其压力、动机、借口(自我合理化)等三个因素。因此,我们必须采取措施,缓解单位设立"小金库"的压力需求,使"小金库"设立者不需为;减少设立"小金库"的机会,使"小金库"设立者不能为或不敢为;消除设立"小金库"借口,使"小金库"设立者不愿为。     

关于工资集体协商中用人单位协商义务的规范

对于用人单位拒绝工资集体协商的行为,意图通过规范性法律文件予以约束和惩罚,实际价值不大,也有违于法律基本原理和原则。工会应当从完善自身权利入手,不断提升维权能力;国家应当依法确认工会和劳动者罢工的权利,拓宽强化工会及劳动者的维权途径和手段,发挥工资集体协商的应有价值,促进集体劳动关系和谐稳定。