Crucial relationship between the privatized sector and the generic private sector in post-communist privatization: Determinants of economic performance

This article looks at the issue — largely neglected in the transition literature — of the relative weights of the privatized sector and the generic private sector (of de novo private firms) in the emerging private sector of post-communist economies in transition. The present writer posits that the relative weight of each in the aggregate share of a private sector (generally expanding over time as transition progresses) strongly influences economic performance, both during correctional recession and during recovery and expansion period. Another, interrelated issue considered here is the interaction between the evolving institutional framework and the expansion of the generic private sector, that is the most dynamic one in the transition economy. It is true that the interaction between institutions and performance has been a staple of a very large number of books, articles, and papers.However, this article concentrates on one component of a private sector only, that is the generic private sector. But at the same time it looks beyond the ‘Holy Trinity’ of transition (stabilization, liberalization, and privatization) towards a wider institutional framework of political liberty, law and order. The foregoing wider framework, and the emerging general trust, matters as much — if not more — for the present writer as the standard transition program.It is the relative dynamics of both components of the private sector, affected by both standard transition programs and the above-mentioned wider institutional framework, that is of primary importance for the economic performance in post-communist transition. In the last part of the article I will try also to answer, tentatively, the question under which circumstances the wider institutional framework may emerge in the transition process.     

公立医疗机构民营化改革的模式及其比较

公立医疗机构民营化改革是新自由主义思潮波及并影响医疗卫生领域的重要表现,是当代全球公共部门治道变革的有机组成。尽管全球金融危机的爆发引起了人们对新自由主义思潮的全面反思,但是公共部门民营化改革的取向不会因此发生重大的转变。从国内公立医疗机构民营化改革的实践来看,托管经营模式、股份合作制模式和产权整体转让模式是较为典型的三种模式,这三种模式不论是在改革的进路、力度、目标,还是在绩效、阻力与风险等方面均存在着较为显著的差异。文章借助于浙江公立医疗机构民营化改革的实证材料,对上述三种模式进行了多维度的比较分析,以期更好地解读公立医疗机构民营化改革的不同模式及其适用性。     

Bridging the Ideological Divide: Trust and Support for Social Security Privatization

Using a pair of national surveys, this article analyzes the individual-level sources of public support for Social Security privatization. Given the inherent risks associated with privatization, we argue that the political trust heuristic affords untapped theoretical leverage in explaining public attitudes toward privatization. We find that, among certain individuals, political trust plays an instrumental role in structuring privatization preferences. Political trust increases support for privatization, but only among liberals. This heterogeneity in trust’s impact is best explained, we argue, by the unbalanced ideological costs imposed by the potential privatization of Social Security. Among liberals, embracing privatization requires the sacrifice of core values, thereby making political trust a potent consideration. Political trust is inconsequential among conservatives because supporting privatization requires no comparable sacrifice for them.

Challenging Privatization: A Conceptual and Theoretical Argument

This is the second of a three-part polemic against the destruction of state owned enterprises in China (the first, “Against Privatization: A Historical and Empirical Argument”, is published in JCPS 13:1, 2008). It critically examines the ideology of privatization and argues for alternative guidelines of reform. The central contention is that a healthy market economy does not require domination of private property; rather it relies on apposite political-legal-ideological power and regulatory-monitoring regimes of accumulation and distribution socially legitimated within a given public culture. Rejecting the fallacies of ownership determinism and precision requirement on property rights for morality and efficiency, this essay clarifies distinction between the notion of exclusive properties and the vision of their socialized utility and management. Justifications for reforming state and private sectors alike in accordance with a unifying commons of social defense and feasibilities of innovative reform measures and policy proposals in that direction, will be elaborated in a third essay titled “Overcoming Privatization: A Strategic and Institutional Argument”.

论政府公共服务民营化的政治基础

我国学界对民营化中政府的积极作用缺乏应有的认识,在实践上也存在一定的偏差。民营化不仅是经济过程,更是政治过程,政府应当正确地发挥其作用,给民营化以积极影响。     

以私法形式完成行政任务——以福利民营化为考察对象

20世纪80年代之后,民营化的现象与趋势在福利行政领域日渐出现,一些行政任务开始藉由私法方式得以实现。在此背景下,福利领域出现了公法与私法相互交织和混合的状态,而仅仅依靠传统的行政法学理论似乎已不能应对由此产生的诸多问题,这也对传统的公法与私法划分提出了一定的挑战。而福利民营化之后,公法学的适用空间以及政府可能退出和再介入的界限也需加以关注和考量。     

PRIVATIZATION OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

Florida is a state in flux in terms of its child protective services organization. The Department of Children and Families has suffered numerous failures in protecting children in its care. Publicity surrounding these defects have led to major overhauls in the agency itself, as well as a concerted effort to move forward toward privatization of virtually all services currently administered by the department. Many of the initial attempts at privatization have already failed; others have had to be revamped to allow for unforseen problems. It is appallingly true that Florida, like any other state with serious issues in child protective services, has an absolute obligation to search for the "miracle cure" for its ailments. But only serious attention to the mistakes of the past and the will to correct them will allow Florida to finally put its children first in its citizens' hearts and minds, where they belong.     

西方警务私有化与我国警务社会化之比较研究

社会管理创新是当前中央对政府各职能部门提出的新要求,警务社会化改革是创新社会管理的一个重要领域。对比西方警务私有化与我国警务社会化的差异,探研西方警务私有化对我国警务社会化的启示,充分借鉴国外先进经验,依据我国国情,不断探索我国警务社会化的科学途径。     

欧美行政法的热点问题与发展趋势

通过追踪美国联邦与欧洲联盟行政法的热点问题,本文探讨了欧美行政法的发展趋势及其对中国的意义。在全球化时代,当代行政法早已超越了传统的红灯论和绿灯论之间的狭隘对立,正在走向融合乃至趋同。如何根据国情构建适合自身需要的行政法体系、制度和过程,仍然是21世纪中国行政法学的当务之急。     

英国公用事业的民营化改革及其经验教训

英国公用事业的民营化改革具有深刻的经济、政治原因,英国采取了多种民营化形式,并取得了一定的成效;英国民营化后建立了由政府管制立法、执法和社会监督组成的管制框架;英国民营化改革的经验教训是多方面的,其中包括:法律制度是公用事业民营化改革的准则,政企分离是公用事业民营化改革的关键,竞争是提高公用事业经济效率的根本途径,有效竞争是制定公用事业管制政策的目标导向,政府应按照经济原理制定公用事业的管制价格。