Hedge Funds, the Deutsche Börse Affair and Predatory Anglo-American Capitalism

Boardroom trouble at Deutsche Börse, the company that operates Germany's main stock market, has recently provoked an important debate about competing capitalist models. Werner Seifert, Deutsche Börse's ousted Chief Executive, was eager to portray himself as the innocent victim of aggressive Anglo-American investors who had bought into his company but failed to understand its traditional operating ethos. In this, he was ably supported by key figures within the ruling Social Democratic Party, who, in order to shore up the party's core support, had increasingly come to blame overseas hedge funds for the development of German corporate governance models which prioritised profits over jobs. I review the SPD's structural reading of the Deutsche Börse affair, whilst comparing it to an alternative interest-based reading. The latter allows me to focus more closely on the issue which, more than any other, led to Seifert's downfall: his refusal to bow to the expressed interests of his own shareholders by pressing ahead, against their wishes, with a hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange. Seifert's eventual removal foreclosed the possibility of an integrated London-Frankfurt stock market and, somewhat ironically given the SPD's response to the affair, as a consequence it also prevented the entry of London's highly capitalised institutional investors into the German market for corporate control. The actions of Deutsche Börse's overseas shareholders might still be seen as evidence of a predatory Anglo-American capitalism. However, their successful removal of Werner Seifert may well have been responsible for temporarily keeping other financial predators at bay.     

Risk management for targeting customs controls in developing countries: a risky venture for revenue performance?

Customs authorities in developing countries are often reluctant to forget systematic inspections for fear of risking revenue loss. Such physical inspections however, impede rather than facilitate trade. Control selectivity is therefore a key issue in customs administration reform. This paper shows how a sophisticated risk management method can facilitate trade by automatically and rationally selecting transactions, with the end result of actually enhancing revenue performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

党务公开：发展党内民主的理论和制度创新

党的十六届四中全会《决定》首次明确提出逐步推进党务公开,这是党的执政理念的新突破和提高党的执政能力的新举措。党务公开是发展党内民主的内在要求,贯穿于党内民主建设的各个方面和环节。推进党务公开,进一步扩大了党员和群众对党内事务的知情权、参与权、选择权和监督权,成为新时期发展党内民主的理论和制度创新。     

Transatlantic Institutions: Can Partnership be Engineered?

The transatlantic alliance is widely viewed as being in a state of decline. Conflict over the war in Iraq highlighted a growing divergence between the Bush administration and European Union governments in their attitudes towards multilateralism. The rift severely tested institutions created to manage bilateral EU–US relations in the aftermath of the cold war. This article examines how well this institutional architecture has held up. It scrutinises the limitations of networked governance in transatlantic relations and acknowledges the quandary of trying to manufacture partnership using imperfect institutions. The Brussels–Washington channel is only one among many through which transatlantic relations flow, but we argue that it continues to gain in importance. Despite the limits of institutional engineering, we conclude that the US and the EU remain each other's most important ally.     

民用爆炸物品安全管理方法思考

目前涉及民用爆炸物品的各种案件和事故频繁发生,严重危害了公共安全和生产安全,给国家和人民群众生命财产带来重大损失,涉爆问题成为当前影响社会稳定的重大问题。近年来我国政府对民用爆炸物品的管理愈来愈重视,出台了新的规范,加大了监管力度,但即便如此,涉及民用爆炸物品的事件还是屡屡发生。这其中的原因是多方面的,既有管理机制的,也有认识方面的。     

对我国食品召回制度有关问题的立法建议

食品召回制度是消除缺陷食品危害风险的制度。实施食品召回制度的目的是要及时收回缺陷食品,避免进入流通领域的缺陷食品损害消费者人身安全的事件发生或扩大,维护消费者利益。采用比较法的方法,通过比较美国、加拿大、澳大利亚及我国上海缺陷食品召回的有关规定,就建立我国食品召回制度所涉及的主要问题提出立法建议。     

科技企业融资模式及风险融资制度刍议

通过对我国科技企业在融资领域发展中面临的现实问题,分析科技企业风险投资模式,提出科技企业的融资模式应当与证券市场相结合的改革措施,通过对我国证券市场二板市场的完善,建立一个以科技企业为核心的融资平台的制度创新模式,提出我国证券市场二板市场应当以科技企业的发展为核心,应当与风险投资制度相结合,在二板的基础上实现科技企业融资模式市场化,通过提高法人治理结构促进企业发展,协调投资者、政府、科技企业与第三人之间的关系。     

我国公司治理模式的选择——以股东中心主义为目标

对实践中的英美公司治理模式和德日公司治理模式进行详尽的对比,指出它们的理论基础分别是股东中心主义和利益相关者利益平衡主义,有其各自的经济、文化背景;对照我国新兴加转型的社会现实,主张我国公司治理应以股东中心主义为理论基础,并以此对新公司法的创新与不足进行评议。     

浅析公民参与和公共管理的实现

公民参与是公民试图影响公共政策和公共生活的一切活动。它是现代公共管理不可或缺的重要环节,是促使公共部门实现其公共责任和良好治理的一个重要手段。广泛的公民参与是国家民主政治建设的重要内容,也是公共政策制定的基石。因此,要采取一些积极的措施,为公民参与扫清障碍,拓宽公民参与的途径。     

大型群众性活动重大安全事故罪主体疑难问题探讨

《刑法修正案（六）》第3条关于“直接负责的主管人员和其他直接责任人员”这一规范内容的立法原意与文义理解存在一定程度的偏差。在短期内,可由最高司法机关颁布相应的司法解释对本罪中的范围作适当的扩大解释,将“雇主和主要负责人（法定代表人）”等主体解释在内。从长远来看,则应对立法作相应的修改完善。在单位前任直接负责的主管人员举办大型群众性活动的过程中违反安全管理规定但重大伤亡事故或者其他严重后果却发生在其后任直接负责的主管人员任内的情况下,仍可追究单位中“其他直接责任人员”犯本罪的刑事责任。