Reimbursement schemes for hospitals, malpractice liability, and intrinsic motivation

We develop a simple multi-task principal-agent model to analyze the interplay between optimal reimbursement schemes for hospitals and liability rules (basic model). We then extend our model and assume that the hospital is intrinsically motivated to exert positive effort for quality and cost reduction. This effort, however, is biased towards quality. Moreover, the intrinsic motivation may be crowded out by monetary incentives. In such a setting, we find that a pure prospective payment system (PPS) that has become widespread in recent years can only be optimal in the unlikely case where malpractice liability holds hospitals fully responsible for expected harm. For other cases, we confirm the prejudice that PPS may lead to inefficiently low quality. Then, the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) system is superior if the intrinsic motivation is high and relatively little biased towards quality, whereas mixed systems should be chosen otherwise. Our model sheds light on why countries like the USA with a tough liability system haven been less reluctant to switch from FFS to PPS than Germany, for instance.     

On the joint use of licensing and liability

Licensing is a widely used technique applied to impose regulations. Firms inducing harm must hold a license issued by a regulatory agency on a case-by-case basis. A firm may also be subject to liability. This paper studies the implications on social welfare of combining licensing with strict liability. Contributions include the study of a joint use and related administrative costs. The latter include costs pertaining to litigation and the issuing and enforcing of licenses. It is established when a joint use is motivated. Regulatory compliance should protect from liability in order to decrease litigation and enforcement costs and associated distortions.     

Unauthorised access to wireless local area networks: The limitations of the present Australian laws

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) have enjoyed a rapid increase in usage in recent years. WLANs serve to connect users to the Internet by means of radio or infrared frequencies. The rise in WLAN usage has however served to highlight some of the inadequacies of the present laws governing unauthorised access to WLANs. At present, the legislation serves to make unauthorised access, modification or impairment of electronic communications illegal. It is clear that the provisions prohibit the hacking of computer systems and denial of service attacks. However, it is unclear whether the legislation extends to additional forms of unauthorised access such as wardriving (using software to identify and map freely available WLAN) and joyriding (accessing a network with no further damage to the connection). The liability of Internet Service Providers and those engaged in unauthorised access in public places also remains unclear. Finally, the relationship of the offence of unauthorised access to the tort of trespass and the laws of copyright remain untested. The objective of this paper is to consider the measures necessary to increase the effectiveness of WLAN laws. The paper will begin by considering the nature of WLAN technology and the policy discourse to date. This will be followed by an examination of the present Australian law and an identification of areas of uncertainty. Finally, the paper will consider the measures required to enhance the certainty and effectiveness of the laws governing unauthorised access to WLAN.     

主客观相统一原则与严格责任——以奸淫幼女型强奸罪为视角

主客观相统一原则是中国刑法上的一个基本原则,严格责任原则是英美刑法中的基本原则。二者在中国刑法上的地位随着2003年最高人民法院一个备受争议的司法解释而被推到风头浪尖。奸淫幼女型强奸罪是否应该遵守主客观相统一原则,严格责任是否应该引入中国刑法,成了学术界的热点问题。     

整治假冒伪劣产品的法律对策--论产品责任法的完善

文章在国内产品责任法研究的基础上,根据法理学、民法学的基本理论,运用比较分析等方法,结合实际中案例研究,整理分析产品责任法的归责原则,并试图提出从立法和司法两个方面完善我国产品责任法律的意见及建议.     

医学会从事医疗损害鉴定之合法性研究

本文回顾了我国医疗纠纷鉴定体制发展历程,分析了医学会鉴定与司法鉴定的优缺点。在此基础上,认为在现阶段,医学会参与医疗损害鉴定具有一定的、但并不充分的法律依据,具有相对的合法性,医学会应属准法定鉴定部门。可以通过最高人民法院制定司法解释或卫生部制定规章的方式使其尽快转正。尽管如此,医学会作出的鉴定结论并不具有必然的证明力,其鉴定程序和鉴定书形式等亦应符合法律规定,而鉴定人署名并出庭接受质证是其鉴定结论被法院采信的前提条件。     

过错侵权责任的发生基础

权利仅能作为过错侵权责任的保护对象,而不能作为责任的发生基础。过错侵权责任的出发点在于所有权人自负其责,故其发生基础通过评价性的归责而体现出来。归责最初是一个统一的概念,但在德国法中,它却通过违法性和有责性之区分而被进行了概念建构。这种建构产生了诸多困难之处,因此更好的方式是将归责重新作为一个统一概念,并将义务违反作为过错责任发生基础和归责的核心,《侵权责任法》第6条第1款的解释也应体现此种发生基础。     

中德履责之诉适当性研究进路之比较

学界与实务界就履责之诉的适当性长期未能形成根本性共识。我国的履责之诉适当性的研究是从界定行为类型入手,而这一研究进路是导致我国关于履责之诉适当性争议不休的根源。从履责之诉的适当性的研究进路入手,分析德国关于履责之诉适当性的研究思路,借鉴德国的诉讼目标模式,将是解决争议的新思路。     

Regulating balance sheet audit: A game theoretical analysis

Summary  The decision situation implicit to balance sheet audit is modelled as a game theoretical model and examined for its behavioural implications. Possible types of decisions are identified as Nash equilibria. The basic game model is characterized by an equilibrium in mixed strategies. Its properties are discussed in detail with respect to alternative scenarios of statutory audit. The regulatory propositions of separation between audit and consulting, on the one hand, and the rotation of auditors, on the other, are analyzed in the context of the game. It turns out that these measures may have contradictory effects on the quality of the balance sheet audit and it depends on the specification of regulatory details and the reaction of the agents whether the one or the other effect dominates in the end. Another proposition to enhance the audit performance is the extension of the liability of statutory auditors. Prerequisites for the success of this measure are that either no professional liability insurance exists or that, if otherwise, deductibles are calculated as a fixed percentage of the loss. The examples refer to German legal rules, however, similar legal rules are valid for most of the developed market economies.     

Rethinking the notion of hosting in the aftermath of Delfi: Shifting from liability to responsibility?

Liability of Internet intermediaries for a third-party content is a complex topic, especially with regards to the storage of illegal or harmful postings offered by portals. The E-Commerce Directive offered a liberal framework for handling such cases, provided that a hosting service provider has not played an active role in content management. Being passive turned out to be the key precondition for immunity under safe harbour provisions. Yet, after the Delfi ruling the legal landscape has changed radically. Although the judgment of the Strasbourg tribunal has been dismissed in some jurisdictions as an error or one-off case, the truth is that it took into account acquis communautaire and imposed liability on the news portal, which followed the guidelines of Google France and eBay rulings. Given the lack of predictability of the current legal framework, the aim of this contribution is to offer a deep-dive into the notion of hosting from a technical perspective in order to better understand why Articles 14–15 of the E-Commerce Directive may require a re-examination. It is also submitted that portals and other online service providers relying on a broad construction of safe harbours should be entitled to Good Samaritan protection akin to section 230 of the American Communications Decency Act in order not to hold them liable for being active in fighting hate speech and other forms of illegal and harmful conduct.