Self-interest,distributive justice,and the income distribution: A theoretical fragment based on St. Anselm's postulate

The Mertonian starting idea for this paper is St. Anselm's idea that the will has two inclinations: an affection for what is to the person's own advantage and an affection for justice. We show that in decision-making situations, where the individual must choose a course of action from among a set of alternatives, the individual, subject to the two inclinations and thus guided by the twin considerations of own good and the common good as he/she forms the preference orderings for the alternatives, is in one of three states: (i) the state of Harmony, defined by perfect coincidence of the orderings induced by the two criteria; (ii) the state of Conflict, defined by perfect reversal of the orderings; and (iii) the state of Ambiguity, defined by ordering-pairs which are neither identical nor exactly opposite. The most general result states that if the number of alternatives is two, then the individual is in either Harmony or Conflict; if, however, the number of alternatives exceeds two, then Ambiguity is also a possible outcome. We then apply the framework to the case of choosing an income distribution, letting the own-good and common-good criteria dictate orderings based on personal outcomes (such as own income or own income rank) and social outcomes (such as mean income or income inequality), respectively, and examining the relation between the two orderings in five families of probability distributions. In the special case where own good is an increasing function of own income and the common good is a decreasing function of income inequality, our results show that each society has a group in Harmony (the poorest group) and one additional group, either in Conflict or in Ambiguity. Finally, we speculate about the behavioral and social implications of the three states and their configurations in the population.     

Shareholder Primacy and the Distribution of Wealth

In recent years a growing consensus has emerged in favour of the shareholder-oriented model of the corporation. Increasingly, this model is justified not on the basis of shareholder ownership rights but on efficiency grounds: whoever the immediate and direct beneficiaries of shareholder-orientation, it is argued, it ultimately indirectly benefits everyone by ensuring the maximization of aggregate social wealth. The prevalence of this view has caused the distributional dimensions of corporate governance to be neglected. This paper examines the distribution of share ownership and financial wealth in the US and the UK. Although share ownership has become more widely spread, it argues, it remains very heavily concentrated with the result that shareholder primacy is in reality the primacy of a small privileged elite. After an exploration of the contradictions of working class shareholding and the impact of greater shareholder-orientation on the distribution of wealth, the paper concludes by re-evaluating Hansmann and Kraakman's 'end of corporate history' thesis, arguing that recent developments represent a triumph not for efficiency but for the growing power of the shareholder class.     

Changing patterns of income among blacks and whites before and after executive order 11246

Some suggest that affirmative action has contributed to the widening gap between better-off and worse-off blacks. Analyses of census data challenge the claim.     

论改革代价的公平分配

发生在中国改革进程中的代价分配不公,引发了社会种种不良反应,累积成今日无法回避的社会矛盾,破坏了社会的和谐与稳定.在中国当下的语境中,改革代价的公平分配一方面应坚持机会均等的原则,以促进效率的增长;同时又应对那些为改革付出代价的社会群体做出补偿,以实现"矫正的正义".这两个方面须统筹兼顾,均衡发展,为此,就需要国家和政府通过政治、经济等方面的制度创新,建立一种公正、合理的改革代价分配机制,有效地协调由更深刻的利益格局调整所引发的社会各阶层之间的利益矛盾.     

Fatal intoxication with tianeptine (Stablon)

Tianeptine (Stablon^®), although structurally similar to tricyclic antidepressants, acts by enhancing the reuptake of serotonin. A fatal case is presented involving a 26-year-old man, found lying in bed with a “mushroom of foam” around his mouth. Empty blister packs of Stablon^® and a suicide note were found next to the body. A liquid–liquid extraction procedure with n-hexane: ethyl acetate and n-hexane: 2-propanol, followed by LC-DAD-MS analysis, using positive mode electrospray ionization was performed. The detection limit was 0.001 μg/mL. The toxicological results revealed the following tianeptine concentrations in the post-mortem samples: blood 5.1 μg/mL; urine 2.0 μg/mL; liver 23 μg/g; stomach contents 22 mg. Femoral blood analyses also revealed an ethanol concentration of 0.53 g/L. The present method was also developed and validated for the other post-mortem specimens, since no previous published data had confirmed the post-mortem distribution of tianeptine. The absence of other suitable direct causes of death (macroscopic or histological) and the positive results achieved with the toxicological analysis led the pathologist to rule that death was due to an intoxication caused by the suicidal ingestion of tianeptine in combination with alcohol.     

与时俱进深化收入分配制度改革

改革开放以来,我国的收入分配制度发生了根本性的变革。本文在分析收入分配领域存在的突出问题的基础上,提出以十六大精神为指导,从六个方面深化收入分配制度的改革。     

解说中国收入分配调节的五大难题

新体制建立过程中需要特别关注收入分配制度的完善,防止居民收入分配差距过大。但目前,税制缺陷、社保资金不足等是困扰我国收入分配调节的五大难题。     

论WTO与公安行政审批制度的改革

计划经济体制下行政审批 ,成为构建新体制的主要障碍之一。为与WTO的规则接轨 ,应针对WTO对公安行政审批的影响、研究问题与危害、进行公安行政审批的改革。     

我国个人所得税税制改革亟待完善

个人所得税在调节收入差距、缓解分配不公过程中已暴露出许多矛盾和问题,随着经济体制改革的不断深入,个人所得税税制亟待修改、完善。     

关于医源性感染案件因果关系的认定与证明责任的分配

对于感染类医疗侵权纠纷,其因果关系应按“充分可能”为标准,如果医疗行为存在着足以导致患者感染的可能,就应认定医疗行为与感染后果之间存在因果关系,除非有不同的情形存在。关于证明责任分配,只要患方证明存在患者受感染和因感染而发生损害的后果,以及患者接受医方实施了可能引起感染的医疗行为,就应初步确立医方的责任。医方要排除自己的责任,则需要证明患者的感染以及因感染而发生的损害后果不是自己的医疗行为所导致;或者医方的医疗行为是严格遵循避免感染的医疗法律法规以及医疗规程,已经尽到了必要的阻止感染的注意义务,也就是说医方对患者的受感染以及因感染而发生损害的后果不存在主观过错。