Are There Negative Returns to Aid?

The World Bank report Assessing Aid assumes that an inflow of aid, above a certain level, starts to have negative effects. In this analysis we empirically test this assumption. We find evidence for negative returns to aid at high levels of aid inflows. However, the results are sensitive to both the countries included in the sample and model specification. Moreover, the turning-point above which aid starts to have a negative effect on growth seems to be much higher than assumed in the background calculations for Assessing Aid.     

Investigators and Prosecutors or, Desperately Seeking Scotland: Re-formulation of the 'Philips Principle'

Prosecution in England and Wales, traditionally private, was captured by the 'new police', creating an 'English tradition' unlike those of the rest of the United Kingdom. To overcome consequent problems, the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure recommended the 'Philips principle', whereby investigator and prosecutor were separate, but co-ordinate, on which basis the Crown Prosecution Service was set up. However, the principle was in fact compromised by the 'English tradition', most obviously by permitting continued police prosecution. Moreover, the Serious Fraud Office, set up shortly thereafter, contradicted the principle. Yet, HM Customs and Excise addressed its serious problems by applying the principle. The CPS itself encountered difficulties flowing from the compromises. Reports (Runciman, Narey, Glidewell) recommended various devices, straining the principle, until the Auld Report recognised that reformulation was necessary, along the lines adopted elsewhere in the United Kingdom, that is, by recognising that there should be investigator subordination to prosecutor.     

Institutionalising a National Approach to Performance Reporting: Lessons from Two Decades of Experience with the Report on Government Services

The Report on Government Services (RoGS) to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) is considered an exemplar of benchmarking in a federal system. Published annually since 1997, RoGS provides performance reporting in the form of cross jurisdictional benchmarking on an unprecedented scale and scope. This paper argues ROGS has institutionalised a national approach to performance measurement and reporting that is now at the centre of the COAG reform agenda. The paper examines the processes and institutional structures that explain how RoGS has transformed performance reporting for social infrastructure services. The final section provides a preliminary assessment of the impact of RoGS.     

十七大报告与党的建设的新探索

十七大报告在党的建设方面提出了许多新的理论和举措,特别是在思想建设、组织建设、作风建设三个方面表现的十分明显。重视加强制度建设也是十七大报告的一大特色。把这些方针认真落实和贯彻,无疑有利于促进党的建设。     

云南省思茅市毒品犯罪问题调查报告——云南边疆民族地区毒品犯罪问题研究课题

作为中国———东盟自由贸易区的桥头堡思茅市,长期以来遭受境外毒品的侵害,是一个毒品问题比较严重的地区之一。其一,毒品犯罪问题主要表现为走私、运输、买卖毒品、非法种植毒品原植物,贩卖易制毒化学品,其中最突出和最严重的就是贩毒(海洛因、鸦片为最多)。其二,主要特点为:贩毒手段相对简单;每次贩毒数量少、频率高;熟人熟地熟情况;文化素质较低,因贫穷而贩毒,一般情况下不离开本地;受雇于老板只赚取“运费”,以贩养吸直接参与贩毒,等等。其三,治理对策;针对本地实际禁毒工作要常抓不懈;重视经济发展,帮助当地群众脱贫致富;动员全社会力量,加大“四禁”并举工作力度。     

伟大的理论 科学的指南

坚持理论创新,是解放思想的必然体现,是始终保持党的先进性的必然要求,必将推动新的实践不断发展。     

论会计师事务所不实财务报告的民事责任——兼评上海大智慧公司与曹建荣等证券虚假陈述责任纠纷案

会计师事务所执业过错的认定标准为“职业谨慎”,法律上的“重大性”认定依据主要是信息对决策的影响力和信息对股价的影响力。法院在民事赔偿案件中应该独立对“重大性”进行实质审查。损害因果关系的认定应肯定公司经营风险、行业风险和投资风险等作为阻碍损害因果关系的因素。在计算系统风险时,原则上宜优先选取板块指数为参考数据,计算方式采用分别认定市场风险的相对比值法。责任方式采取有限制条件的连带责任,对第三人的具体赔偿范围由法院综合考量各方因素裁定。     

论量刑信息的调查

确保量刑信息得到全面、准确的调查,是量刑程序改革所要解决的一项重大课题。中国迄今没有引进"量刑前报告"的可能性,也难以将少年司法中的"社会调查报告"推广到"成年人案件"的量刑程序之中。在量刑建议制度的推行中,一直存在着"重量刑结果、轻量刑信息"的问题,而律师在从事量刑辩护过程中也对量刑信息的搜集不予重视,也缺乏相应的制度保障。被害方对量刑程序的参与不仅具有必要性,而且也可以向法庭提供新的量刑信息。为实现量刑裁决的公正性,为了使法官在量刑上的自由裁量权受到有效的规范和制约,法院有必要对量刑信息的调查确立更为合理的程序。     

Eliminating Poverty? ‘Financial Inclusion’, Access to Land,and Gender Equality in International Development

The UK White Paper on International Development published in 2009 explicitly links access to financial services with poverty reduction. In doing so, it echoes the policies the World Bank set out in its 2008 Policy Research Report on Finance. This paper offers a detailed analysis of these development policies and connects the current plans for the expansion of financial sectors in the developing world with policies that promote the acquisition of formal land title. The paper argues that as asset‐backed lending expands, commercial banks will come to play an increasingly important role in third world economies. In light of this, it reviews important first‐hand accounts of the difficulties of drafting legislation to protect women's access to land in the face of opposition from commercial lenders, using Tanzania and Uganda as illustrative examples. The paper assesses the implications of expanding access to credit for gender equality and concludes that it is difficult to reconcile the promotion of financial inclusion with the aim of international development to end poverty.     

幸福测量探析与经济发展方式的转向——斯蒂格利茨委员会报告“经济与社会”共建理念的解读

经济增长的目标是发展,而幸福则是经济发展的终极目标。"民生、尊严与幸福"议题在2011年两会得以彰显,在对幸福测量研究综述之上,笔者提出了自己的幸福测量观,并经由对呼吁幸福社会建设"斯蒂格利茨-森-菲图西委员会报告"的解读去体察个中所内含的经济发展方式的转向,即在新转型时代,除了"生产性产出"的经济绩效之外,更要注重立足于为民众谋幸福的社会进步。