日本银行体系的脆弱性与其金融安全网的演变

金融安全网作为保持金融体系、尤其是银行体系安全稳健运行而建立的危机防范和管理的一系列制度安排,一直受到各国金融监管当局和相关学者的关注。日本从二战后至80年代金融业处于长期稳定状态,使许多人推崇日本当时的金融安全网。然而,正是这个安全网阻碍了市场约束发挥作用,掩盖了日本银行体系长期积累下的脆弱性。进入90年代,随着金融环境的变化,日本传统的金融安全网明显失效,其金融业进入长达十余年的不稳定时期。安全网也随之发生变革。     

Single-product versus uniform SSNIPs

It is common to apply a SSNIP test with a uniform price increase on all products in the candidate market. We show that in situations with asymmetries - for example variations in revenues - a uniform SSNIP test may suggest that the relevant market should include more products even though it could be profitable to increase the price of only one product in the candidate market. Our results are illustrated with some findings from a survey in a local grocery market.     

“自治”与“管制”之间:“矫治”的界限与基准——以“房屋限购令”为切入点

"房屋限购令"对市场的干预在权力来源、行使方式、政策考量因素等方面存在与宪政原理、行政法原则相悖之处,其权力运行形式亦游离于行政立法的控权范围,跨越了政府对市场的干预界限。作为一种重要的制度安排,政府对市场失灵的"矫治"限度在于市场基本经济规律的恪守与建立在基本权利划定基础上的权利尊重。市场财产权配置、权力与控权力的对比均衡度则应当成为政府是否越界干涉市场主体权利的两个判断基准。     

Insider dealing and market abuse: The UK’s record on enforcement

Insider dealing has been unlawful in the UK since 1980 and market abuse, of which insider dealing is just one form, since 2000. It is from this time when the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was established and the creation of these as civil offences that they could be pursued rigorously. It is the purpose of this article to examine the FSA’s record of enforcement relative to (i) its estimated level of occurrence and (ii) the US experience.     

论行政私法行为的法律性质——兼及金融危机背景下政府救市行为的分析

应对当前国际金融危机时,我国地方政府机关采取了包括政府补贴在内的政府救市措施和行为。政府补贴等行为实际上属于行政私法行为,政府机关这类行为的正确使用与否涉及到该类行为法律性质的科学界定。行政私法行为最大的特点是结合了行政和民事的双重因素,具有行政法、私法的双重性质。而混合说可以作为重要标准以识别行政私法行为的行政私法性。这种特殊性质的行为与纯粹意义上的民事行为、行政行为等相邻行为都存在重大区别。     

公安院校教育改革的几个关键问题

当前,公安院校教育改革迫切需要处理好几个关键问题,这就是公安教育的模式问题、人才培养目标问题以及公安教育的市场化问题。在教育模式上,现阶段的模式应当是兼顾学历教育和职业培训的双轨制,而未来的发展目标则是由公安院校专门负责职业培训的单轨制模式;在人才培养目标上,当前更需要的是专业化人才的培养;在公安教育的市场化问题上,适度的市场化才是符合现代警务实际需要的教育机制。     

The Centrality of Theory in Modern Day Crime Prevention: Developments,Challenges, and Opportunities

Theory matters in crime prevention. Indeed, but this is hardly the full story. Crime prevention is oftentimes viewed as atheoretical—not grounded in the etiology of crime and offending. Reasons abound for this view, and the recent interest in an evidence-based approach to policy-making has been at the forefront. This article reviews the role that theory plays in modern day crime prevention, with a special focus on the three main crime prevention strategies: developmental, community, and situational. The review identifies a number of key challenges and opportunities for making theory more central to crime prevention. It suggests that the classification system employed in situational crime prevention has allowed for a more explicit connection between sound theory and prevention techniques, and may provide important lessons for developmental and community crime prevention.     

Somali pirates: villains or victims?

The proliferation of piracy activity off the coast of Somalia has received a fair share of international attention. Its consequences have included a destabilising effect on trade, security and humanitarian aid. This has served to give reason for the deployment of multi-national forces by some of the countries affected by the scourge. While naval patrols have reduced the success rate of piracy attacks in some areas, there has been little respite in piracy incidents with the overall number of attacks and their geographic scope increasing. Piracy off the coast of Somalia has, in fact, evolved into organised syndicates with transnational networks. The problem is that various international actors have largely viewed piracy off the coast of Somalia in terms of threats to their own national interests and security. They have, thus, dealt with the issue in isolation from its wider context, which has not succeeded in ending the attacks. This article argues that to deal with the piracy problem more meaningfully, there is need for a contextual framework beyond addressing the ‘illegal’ activities. Piracy is a complex problem, with political, legal, social, economic, security and even human rights dimensions, and calls for a truly holistic approach that, especially, seeks to address the root causes on land. The article calls for a change in strategies in order to facilitate a ‘local Somali solution’ rather than an international one that is acceptable to the sensibilities of international actors. The article emphasises the need to extend the strong international cooperation demonstrated on the high seas in the fight against piracy to the fight against root causes of piracy onshore.     

Economics of State-Owned Enterprises

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) account for a substantial proportion of gross domestic product, employment, and assets in many countries. Based on a review of the theory and empirical evidence, we develop a novel five-step framework that can guide policymakers and economic advisors in making decisions about maintaining and/or creating SOEs. The framework suggests that the use of SOEs should be limited to circumstances in which a market failure exists, less invasive forms of intervention such as regulation/taxes/subsidies and private-sector contracting are ineffective or not possible, and the welfare loss of the market failure exceeds the costs, distortions, and inefficiencies of SOEs.     

Fragile States: A Donor-serving Concept? Issues with Interpretations of Fragile Statehood in Afghanistan

Abstract

The paradox of attempting to (re)construct state institutions without considering the socio-political cohesion of societies recurs throughout the world, most notably today in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. This essay tries to shed some light on the debate around the concepts of state and nation-building. Drawing on a sociological understanding of the modern nation-state, it contends that it is impossible to conceive of statebuilding as a process separate from nation-building. This essay identifies two different schools of thought in the discussion concerning the statebuilding process, each of which reflects different sociological understandings of the state. The first one, an ‘institutional approach’ closely related to the Weberian conception of the state, focuses on the importance of institutional reconstruction and postulates that statebuilding activities do not necessarily require a concomitant nation-building effort. The second, a ‘legitimacy approach’ influenced by Durkheimian sociology, recognizes the need to consolidate central state institutions, but puts more emphasis on the importance of socio-political cohesion in the process. Building on this second approach and demonstrating its relevance in contemporary statebuilding, this article concludes with a discussion of recent statebuilding attempts and the ways external actors can effectively contribute to statebuilding processes.