International Organizations and Government Killing: Does Naming and Shaming Save Lives?

Do international organizations affect government killing? Extant work has studied international organizations' effects on a set of human rights, but has not examined the abilities of specific actors to protect specific rights. I analyze naming and shaming by three types of international organizations (human rights nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], the news media, and the United Nations), focusing on their impacts on a single type of abuse: one-sided government killing. I present a principal-agent theory in which the government develops a preference for killing, and then delegates the murderous task to a set of individual perpetrators. The theory reveals new ways for international organizations to make killing costly, and statistical analyses support my expectations: By calling attention to abusive states, human rights NGOs and the United Nations can reduce both the likelihood and severity of state-sponsored murder. I also find that international organizations are better equipped to prevent killing from the beginning than to limit mounting body counts once it has begun.     

宽严相济刑事政策定位及实现的路径选择

在司法领域,政策只能通过法律形式体现,法官的活动只应服从法律,而宽严相济刑事政策具有行政政策的特征,因此这一政策应当是立法政策,不应直接作为具体政策指导司法实践。将宽严相济作为司法政策存在一些弊端,因其不具有执行的标准,且政策的灵活性容易造成为执行政策而执行政策,难以避免权力的干扰。由于政策主体同样存在利益,因此应当有制度的约束,宽严相济刑事政策的样态应当是制度和法律。制度创新的路径选择有自上而下的强制性变迁和自下而上诱致性变迁。宽严相济刑事政策是自上而下制定的,其实施更应注重自下而上的实践探索。     

Explaining differences in EMAS participation rates across Europe: the importance of institutions,incomplete information and path dependence

What factors shape environmental policies across Europe? In order to answer this question most economists would probably adopt a Public Choice approach. This approach has convincingly explained some aspects of environmental policies that exist in a similar fashion across Europe. But why do many environmental policies differ across European countries? This article argues that in order to understand differences in environmental policies in Europe North’s analysis of institutional change focusing on formal and informal institutions, incomplete information and path dependence is useful. North’s approach is applied to explain differences in a particular field of European environmental policy: The implementation of the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. The starting point of the analysis is the observation that participation of companies in EMAS markedly differs between countries. It is shown that these differences can be explained with differences in formal and informal institutions in the three Member States, incomplete information of relevant actors, and path dependence.     

劳动力市场与劳动关系中的政府规制研究

如何更好地发挥政府的作用以维护劳动力市场与劳动关系的稳定和谐,对社会和经济发展具有重要意义。本研究基于制度经济学的观点,分析政府对劳动力市场与劳动关系中公平和效率的规制问题。本研究认为:政府规制是劳动力市场自由、高效运行的保障;劳动力市场失灵是企业存在和劳动关系产生的前提;政府规制可以提高劳动力市场和劳动关系中的效率,并解决其存在的公平问题。为进一步提升政府的规制效率,本研究建议:建立统一劳动力市场,消除市场分割;完善集体协商制度,促进工资形成机制;建立适应中国灵活性用工的劳动法规政策。     

城市居民的循环型消费行为：实证检验与政策借鉴

我们通过问卷调查,对城市居民的循环型消费行为(包括循环型购买行为和循环型使用行为)进行实证检验。我们的研究旨在解决两个问题：一是检验城市居民循环型消费行为的总体状况;二是分析循环型消费行为的主要影响因素。最后,我们对政府制定公共政策,引导居民转向循环型消费行为提出了若干政策借鉴。     

政府诚信的新制度经济学分析

政府诚信指政府在履行职责的过程中,以诚实守信作为规范和约束自身行为的道德准则。既有的政府诚信研究主要基于行政伦理的分析,而通过外部性、交易费用、制度等新制度经济学的核心概念和理论对政府诚信以新的透视,有利于深化对政府诚信的认识,有利于提出矫治政府诚信缺失的对策。     

转型期中国行政审批制度变迁的制度环境分析

转型期中国行政审批制度变迁也不是简单的行政体系内部制度变革,而是在一定的外部制度环境的约束和要求下进行的,并且对其身处的制度环境起反作用。转型期中国行政审批制度变迁处于特定的经济、政治和法律、社会环境之中,这些环境因素构成转型期中国行政审批制度变迁的外在约束条件。由计划经济体制向市场经济体制转型、经济全球化的国际大背景及我国加入WTO的现实情势、信息技术的发展和普及、政治和法律环境的变化、社会主义意识形态的发展等方面制度环境的变化,构成了转型期我国行政审批制度变迁的外部动力。     

党的制度建设科学化与从严治党

制度建设科学化是从严治党的内在要求。针对中国共产党目前制度建设中存在的制度体系不衔接不配套、不具操作性、缺乏强有力的监控系统等方面的问题,落实从严治党的方针就要建立一套完整科学的制度体系,加强制度执行过程中的监督和控制并培养强化科学化的制度意识。     

How much power do oppositions have? Comparing the opportunity structures of parliamentary oppositions in 21 democracies

A political system cannot be imagined without opposition. Despite this crucial position in politics, political science has largely neglected to study oppositions. Attempting to fill this gap, this article analyses the institutional opportunities of parliamentary oppositions. It offers a parsimonious framework by distinguishing two dimensions of opposition influence: some institutions enable oppositions to control governments, while others offer opportunities to present alternatives. A comparison of oppositions’ opportunities in 21 democracies shows that countries fall into four groups along these dimensions: in majoritarian democracies, weak control mechanisms are countered by excellent opportunities to publicise alternatives. Consociational democracies are characterised by strong control mechanisms, but provide only weak opportunities to present alternatives. Moreover, in Southern Europe, control mechanisms and opportunities to present alternatives are weak, while both are pronounced in Nordic Europe. The results are summarised in three indices that can easily be applied in future research examining oppositions and their power.     

Democracy, Sea Power and Institutional Change: An Economic Analysis of the Athenian Naval Law

The present essay attempts to test the validity of the theory of institutional change based on the concept of property rights, in the remote historical setting of Classical Athens. The Naval Law introduced by Themistocles in 483-2 BC, established the institution of trierarchy to produce warships to face the Persian invaders. This reform led to the first attempt to define the costs and benefits of public goods in the field of national defense. Thus, institutional change in Ancient Athens, through an efficient arrangement of property rights and duties, had long-term consequences on economic performance, creating a new growth path and ensuring economic prosperity and social justice for more than 150 years.