Diplomatic Wisdom

正Though unfamiliar to most Westerners,the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are highly acclaimed diplomatic tenets in China and many other developing countries.The principles—mutual respect for sover-eignty and territorial integrity,mutual non-aggression,non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,equality and mutual benefit,and peaceful coexistence—were reaffirmed     

利益捆绑与中国—东盟关系发展

中国-东盟关系在"黄金十年"里取得了巨大成就,但在向"钻石十年"迈进之时我们发现,依靠双边经济合作的双赢利益捆绑的双边关系在新的国际关系条件下出现政经分离的倾向。为深化中国-东盟关系、打造成功的"钻石十年",中国政府提出了一系列深化双边合作的倡议,从政治、经济两方面入手,试图化解政治互信不足的约束。但考虑到东盟采取的与大国保持等距离外交的战略,以及中国-东盟现存一些问题的化解难度,预计在未来一个时期中国一东盟关系还将主要依靠经济合作的利益捆绑。     

Regulatory policy outputs and impacts: Exploring a complex relationship

In this article, we pursue the objective of empirically testing the extent to which changes in environmental policy outputs can explain changes in environmental impacts. Previously, systematic testing of this relationship was hampered by the lack of a compelling measurement of changes in regulatory policy outputs. To remedy this, we present a novel approach to the measurement of events of regulatory output change. We illustrate our concept by employing data on changes in clean air regulations in 24 advanced democracies from 1976 to 2003. In a next step, we explore the extent to which changes in clean air regulations can account for changes in air pollutant emissions. The empirical analysis suggests that changes in clean air regulations cannot be unconditionally associated with changing intensities of air pollutant emission. We deem these results to have far‐reaching implications for the study of regulatory policy change.     

The triumph of regulatory politics: Benefit–cost analysis and political salience

While benefit–cost analysis (BCA) is now a permanent part of the regulatory process in the United States, and many other countries around the world as well as the European Union have adopted it or are moving toward it, there have been few empirical attempts to assess either whether its use improves regulations or how BCA interacts with the political environment. We use a unique US database of the costs and benefits of 109 economically significant regulations issued between 2000 and 2009 to examine whether the amount of information provided in the BCA or political factors surrounding the regulation better correlate with the net benefits of the regulation. We find that there is little correlation between the information provided by the analysis and the net benefits. However, we find that regulations that receive few public comments and are not issued at the end of an administration, have the highest net benefits. These are the regulations that are the least politically salient. This interaction between the political environment and the economic performance of a regulation has been under‐examined and deserves further study.     

Behavioral Heterogeneity in Adolescent Friendship Networks

Criminologists’ understanding of peer influences has been greatly advanced by social network methods; however, relatively scant attention has been paid to improving measurement. In particular, research has continued to measure peer influence by averaging the level of delinquency within a peer network, thereby neglecting the role of behavioral heterogeneity. The present study seeks to advance theory and research into peer influences on delinquency by explicitly modeling behavioral heterogeneity in peer networks measured as the variance. Drawing on social learning and opportunity theories, we argue that behavioral heterogeneity should attenuate the effect of average peer delinquency on individual offending. Models using social network data from the Add Health were estimated predicting involvement in two delinquent substance-use acts (cigarette smoking and getting drunk) as a function of peer influences. The results are consistent with our hypothesis, indicating that behavioral heterogeneity matters. Findings suggest that future research employing network models could incorporate peer behavioral heterogeneity to get a more accurate portrait of the processes of peer influence.     

高等教育经济效益刍议

知识经济时代,高等教育在社会经济活动中的作用愈来愈重要,高等教育的经济效益也日渐凸显。本文从教育经济学的角度阐述了高等教育经济效益的特点、影响因素及高校改革对提高办学效益的促进作用。     

信托受益权法律问题论析

信托受益权是一种特殊的民事权利。受益权自信托生效之日或文件的规定而生效。实践中,“生效之日”还应区分具体情况根据有关规定来确定。对受益权的放弃,即便在信托行为中有关于禁止放弃受益权的规定,这一规定也属无效,信托受益人自始至终都享有该权利。信托受益权原则上可依法自由转让和继承,但是要注意受信托文件中限制性规定及相关规定。     

Violence and Mental Illness: A New Analytic Approach

Empirical studies of violence and mental illness have used many different methods. Current state-of-the-art methods gather information from both subject and collateral interviews as well as official records. Typically these sources are treated as additive. Any report of a violent incident from any source is treated as true and all reported incidents are added to generate estimates of frequency. This paper presents a new statistical technique that uses the level of agreement between the sources of data to adjust those estimates. The evidence suggests that, although the additive technique for using multiple sources correctly estimates how many people are involved, it substantially underestimates the number of incidents. The new technique substantially reduces both false negatives and false positives.     

Grantmaking in a Disorderly World: The Limits of Rationalism

This article reflects on the real world relevance of rational approaches to grantmaking. The characteristics and environment of foundation work are outlined, then both traditional and newer funding practices are analysed. Unpacking implicit assumptions of a rational approach, eight costs to foundations and their grantees are identified. The final sections of the paper consider what grantmaking for a complex and disorderly world might encompass. In conclusion, while rational approaches to grantmaking provide a comfortable aura of certainty, funders need to adapt to a little discomfort.