Sailing Towards the Brave New World of Zero Transaction Costs

The Coase Theorem is in essence an if-A-then-B statement. Previous discussions of the Theorem have mostly focused on the then-B part and examined that, given the condition of A, whether B is true or not. The present study attempts to analyze the Theorem from a different angle. In particular, we push the if-A assumption, i.e., the zero transaction costs assumption, to its logical limit, and then explore the implications. We argue that the price mechanism, which is implicitly employed as the foundational basis of the Coase Theorem, is the result of positive transaction costs. Consequently, if transaction costs are zero, then money and prices as commonly understood would not exist, and the value of production would become a vague concept without any operational content. As such, the world of zero transaction costs may be even more peculiar than Coase might have thought!     

第三人诉讼形态中的诉讼费用分配问题初探

于2007年4月1日开始实施的《诉讼费用交纳办法》对司法系统与民间社会均产生了深刻影响。但是,需要指出的是,我国现阶段的诉讼费用制度还不够完善,关于参加之诉的第三人与本诉当事人之间就如何分配诉讼费用的问题面临“无章可循”的司法适用障碍。本文通过对诉讼费用的法经济学思考以及第三人诉讼制度法理的综合考量,对完善我国第三人诉讼形态下的诉讼费用分配制度提出可行性建议。     

日本以信息公开诉讼反腐败的经验及其法治意义

日本于1980年代中期，开始出现了一种新型行政诉讼案件，即交际费、食粮费信息公开诉讼，其历时久，影响大，不仅制止公款消费效果明显，而且推进了行政程序法、信息公开法等重要法律的制定，为实现日本行政法制由近代法治到现代法治的升级换代作出了特殊贡献，对发展我国的信息公开与反腐倡廉制度具有借鉴意义。     

Is a problem shared a problem halved? Shared services and municipal efficiency

It has long been argued that shared services represent an efficacious means of securing efficiencies for municipalities. Indeed, pressures from fiscal austerity, taxation limitations, and the specter of forced amalgamations have resulted in an increasing uptake of shared service arrangements. However, the extant evidence is rather inconclusive and is largely restricted to analyzing the nett efficiency outcomes for the specific service shared. We broaden this evidential base by examining the association between shared service production and the efficiency of entire municipalities. Our analysis, employing a 5‐year panel of data, suggests that shared services are associated with a statistically significant reduction in overall municipal efficiency. We conclude by explicating on the public policy implications arising from our prima facie surprising results.     

Cheap talk,costly talk,crazy talk: patterns in North Korea’s English language propaganda*

This article examines the patterns in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (North Korea’s) use of hostile rhetoric in its internationally-directed messaging. The article first places North Korea’s belligerent rhetoric in the context of that country’s capacity to threaten the US and its Northeast Asian allies; indeed many analysts worry that Pyongyang’s rhetoric represents a conflict escalation risk or even a casus belli. Following this, the article discusses the common explanations – irrationality/incompetence, lack of audience costs, inter alia – for why the North Korean regime employs such hostile rhetoric, and finds these explanations wrong or misleading. The main analysis section describes the results of a study of 10 years of English-language propaganda published by the KCNA (North Korea’s state news agency). A multiple regression model is used to test the relationship between North Korea’s hostile rhetoric and a set of independent variables. The statistical tests indicate a mixed correlation of North Korean rhetoric to the independent variables. One major finding is that there is no correlation between hostile North Korean rhetoric and the country’s kinetic provocations. The conclusion discusses the role that North Korea’s rhetoric plays within the country’s larger adversarial relationship to the US, South Korea, and Japan.     

替代交易与继续履行请求权

实施替代交易的减损义务与继续履行请求权无法兼容。减损义务的正当性在于债权人负有帮助他人的道德义务,以及避免整体社会财富的浪费。维护债务人的个人自主性,肯定其改变心意的价值,以及违约救济应当遵循比例原则,也可以为排除继续履行请求权提供正当性。肯定债权人的继续履行请求权,从而其不负实施替代交易的减损义务,将导致债权人实施投机行为、间接损失扩大、强加给债务人以不被需要的给付、赋予债权人过重的谈判筹码等不合理的结果。否定继续履行请求权并不会产生鼓励违约、无法提供充分救济、规则模糊等问题。因此,当债权人能够实施替代交易时,损害赔偿就可以为其提供充分救济,债权人无继续履行请求权,提存规则应当相应作限缩解释。     

交易成本与区域经济合作

交易成本对国家间的经济合作具有重要影响。区域经济合作的实质是区域内不同主体之间的权利交换,即交易。合作制度是对交易条件的相关规定。合作制度的选择,也就是现有条件下的交易成本最小化选择。区域的具体特点不同,相互之间所需的交易条件不一样,合作制度也不一样。     

以绩效预算制度为核心的财政预算交易成本控制研究

财政预算的本质,是社会公众与政府之间围绕预算资金使用和公共产品供给进行的委托代理交易。作为交易,财政预算存在交易成本,即财政预算的运行程序成本。制度经济学认为,交易成本过高会降低交易绩效。那么财政预算的交易成本过高也会降低预算绩效。为了控制财政预算交易成本,应当在预算法中构建一种有效的内部激励机制,保证预算执行主体的本位利益与社会公共利益挂钩,促进预算执行主体自觉地以社会公共利益最大化为目标运用财政资金,即绩效预算法律制度。     

交易成本视角下的女县长当选困境

促进更多女县长诞生的制度安排在实践操作中遇到了失败,其中原因之一在于女性当选的交易成本,如选举前的宣传和动员成本、决策中的信息成本、制度执行过程中的执行和监督成本以及其他随机成本等大大多于男性,从而增加了其当选的困难。因此,要想促进更多女性当选,就必须让强制性制度变迁和诱致性制度变迁相结合、增加配套制度的供给、建立整体政府来降低交易成本。     

浅谈节约型政府的构建

建立节约型政府是建立节约型社会的关键。建立节约型政府不能仅仅靠降低行政成本,更高层次的节约在于提高行政绩效。行政成本和行政绩效两者兼顾,才能保证行政成本支出合理、高效,最终让公众满意。