从松花江跨境污染事件透视企业环境责任的重要性

1972年《斯德哥尔摩宣言》的签署标志着由联合国主导的世界性环境保护运动的开始。21世纪,人们对企业的社会责任越来越重视,企业社会责任的内涵也从企业对员工的责任延伸到企业对环境、社区以及客户的责任。松花江跨境污染事件提示我们应结合国际环境保护运动的背景,从道义、国内程序法和国际法三个不同角度正确认识企业环境责任的严格性和特殊性,引导企业树立科学的发展观,积极履行环境保护的法律义务和社会责任。     

Moving to the Gulf: an empirical analysis of the patterns and drivers of migration to the GCC countries, 1960–2013

The migration system in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf is among the largest such systems in the world. This article identifies the major interacting elements of this system, which primarily includes countries in South Asia and the Middle East, and discusses its generating forces and developments over the past five and a half decades. Departing from panel data from the World Bank and the UN’s population database, which hitherto have been largely under-analysed, we investigate the dynamics of migrations in the period 1960–2013. The panel data are combined with cross-sectional outlooks of contemporary trends and are related to political and economic developments in the region. It is suggested that the patterns of migrations in the Gulf may be explained with reference to the economic, political and demographic idiosyncrasies of the system, and to the migration policies of the GCC countries. In short, the key drivers of GCC migration patterns include: (1) socio-economic realities, in particular income differentials between migrant senders and migrant receivers as well as impressive growth rates in the Gulf region; (2) historical, cultural and institutional proximity among the constituent states in the system; and (3) the particularities of the Gulf states’ liberal labour-migrant regimes, which contrast starkly with their restrictive refugee and naturalisation policies.     

Assessing Revenue Authority Performance in Developing Countries: A Synthetic Control Approach

In many developing countries, comprehensive reforms have been undertaken in tax administration during recent years and the implementation of semiautonomous revenue authorities (SARAs) constitutes one of their most visible expressions. To date, no comprehensive assessment has been undertaken to investigate how successful these SARAs have been in improving revenue collection in these countries. Therefore, this article attempts to fill this gap by assessing revenue collection trends in 20 developing countries after the SARA has been implemented. Using the synthetic control method, we show that in most countries, the implementation of a SARA did not significantly improve government revenues.     

Innovating Public Service Delivery in Transitional Countries: The Case of One Stop Shops in Kazakhstan

This article analyses the implementation of managerial ideas in Kazakhstan using the case of a combined public service delivery called “One Stop Shops”. Several public services are provided in a single building rather than different government offices in a business-like style of service delivery and in a modern physical environment. The service integration policy is an attempt of Kazakhstani government to improve the quality of public services and reduce corruption. Some positive progress in improving the accessibility of public services has been noted. However, as this article argues, the country-specific model of “alternative-access” service delivery was not able to implement in-depth changes in the work of the public sector and improve service quality. Implementation of the managerial ideas has been limited and constrained by the institutional framework and culture prevailing in the Kazakhstani bureaucracy. The main conclusion is that the governments of transitional countries need to critically analyze the pros and cons of the new policies and reflect on their cultures before making further steps to adopt Western managerial initiatives.     

Not so Fair after All? Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Satisfaction with Democracy in the Nordic Welfare States

The Nordic countries are known for their well-functioning public administrations. In indices measuring control of corruption and the quality of the rule of law, they frequently occupy top positions. However, as we demonstrate in this article, a country's top position in comparative indices does not automatically imply that citizens view the state of affairs in the same way as depicted by experts. The observation is in no way trivial: Drawing on theories of procedural fairness, we go on to show—statistically, using individual level data—that widespread public perceptions about the unfairness of civil servants may have a negative effect on the legitimacy of the political system even in so-called high-trust and “least corrupt” settings such as the Nordic ones.     

Land grabbing in post-Soviet Eurasia: the world’s largest agricultural land reserves at stake

‘Land grabbing’ in Africa by China, and other populous, high-income Asian countries such as South Korea, has received considerable attention, while land grabbing in post-Soviet Eurasia has gone largely unnoticed. However, as this article shows, foreign state and private companies are also acquiring vast areas of farmland in this region. The article first discusses the factors that make post-Soviet Eurasia such an attractive region for international investment, arguably encompassing much greater agricultural land reserves than most regions of sub-Saharan Africa or Asia. Second, in view of the use of media and web-based data in this article, the methodological limitations of researching land investments are discussed. Third, an overview is given of the processes of land accumulation and farm acquisition. Both domestic and international accumulation of land are dealt with in the domestic context of agricultural development and institutions. Furthermore, the main actors (investors) involved in land grabbing are distinguished (according to their country of origin and legal or institutional form). Fourth, the article outlines the main obstacles (and points of contention) concerning the emergence (and effectiveness/performance) of domestic, and especially international, agroholdings in the region. Some preliminary findings are presented on the possible effects of land grabbing on local populations in this region.     

东北亚国家经贸合作：新形势新发展

东北亚各国政治经济形势和对外政策已经发生并正在发生一些有利于区内经贸合作的变化我国“十五”时期对外开放将进入新阶段。尤其要加强与东北亚国家的经贸合作;俄罗斯与东北亚国家外交关系有了较大发展,并把扩大经贸合作提上了议事日程;朝鲜将实施对外开放政策和进一步与韩国实现和解;蒙古新政府将继续实施“多支点”外交政策,并首先加强与东北亚国家的经济联系;日本在与东南亚国家发展经济合作的同时将扩大与东北亚国家的经贸合作。     

社会保障的东西方比较

现代社会保障制度起源于西方 ,它的基本功能是国家从经济的角度对社会公民的生活提供安全性保护。当代西方发达国家一般都存在完善的社会保障体系。而在东亚国家经济发展和向发达国家迈进的过程中 ,现代社会保障制度发展滞后是一个普遍现象 ,其中有历史文化传统和经济发展水平等原因。东亚不会发展起西方那种多功能的社会保障制度 ,适度福利和国民自保是这个地区社会保障制度的特点。     

从国际比较的视野看中国工会的特点和发展趋势

在以资本为主导的全球化的冲击下,整个国际社会呈现出强资本、弱劳工格局,世界工会运动的整体环境和令人堪忧的形势要求用比较的方法来分析中国工会。应在对比研究中,分析把握中国工会运动的现状及其发展趋势。就当前和今后的相当一个时期看,工会的改革是怎样切实代表职工利益,履行维护职工权益的法定职责,使工会成为名符其实的工人阶级群众组织。     

东北地区与周边国家经贸合作

东北地区与周边国家经贸合作在东北三省进出口贸易合作中占有重要地位,日韩一直是东北地区外资的主要来源国,而黑龙江省在东北地区对周边国家投资中地位比较突出.但同时,也存在着东北地区与周边国家贸易合作对该地区GDP拉动作用不明显、东北三省与周边国经贸合作发展不均衡、东北地区的对外投资水平较低的问题.在东北振兴、俄罗斯东部开发战略、中日韩自由贸易区步伐有所加快的背景下,东北地区与周边国家经贸合作将得到深化.