Inside Lobbying on the Regulation of New Plant Breeding Techniques in the European Union: Determinants of Venue Choices

In July 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided that new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) fall within the scope of the restrictive provisions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Previously, various actors had lobbied in order to influence the European Union’s (EU’s) regulatory decision on NPBTs. This study examines the venue choices taken by Cibus, a biotech company that promoted NPBT deregulation. It shows that the firm bypassed the EU level and that it lobbied competent authorities (CAs) in certain member states to gain support for the deregulation of NPBTs. Cibus chose the CAs because their institutional “closedness” reduced the risk of the debate over the deregulation of NPBTs becoming public. However, the CA’s specific competences and their influence on EU decision making were of likewise importance. The firm lobbied CAs based in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Two factors appear to have influenced Cibus’ choices for these countries: high‐level political support for agribiotech and the high relevance of biotech sectors. In contrast, public support for GMOs turned out to have hardly any influence, and virtually no association could be observed for the agricultural application of biotechnology in the past nor for the weakness of domestic anti‐GMO lobby groups. Finally, the in‐depth study on Germany affirms that “closedness” was important for Cibus’ choices and reveals that technical information served as a venue‐internal factor that influenced the firm’s choices.     

台商对大陆投资区位选择的影响因素分析——基于偏最小二乘回归方法的最新考证

台商对大陆投资的区位选择,受地区市场规模及其增长潜力、对外开放水平、基础设施完备程度、集聚经济状况、人力资源质量与生产成本等多方面因素的影响。针对2007年台商投资的偏最小二乘回归结果表明：除效率工资和税负水平外,其余区位因素对于台商投资有正向影响;东、中、西部地区的区位因素影响力表现出一定的差异,反映在经济发展水平不同的区域,台商亦有不同的区位决策过程;在经济转型时期,大陆各省区的集聚经济与市场发育程度最受台商关注,市场规模和潜力的影响作用尚未有足够体现,而劳动力因素对于台商投资区位选择的影响较小。     

'Moves on a Chess Board': A Spatial Model of British Prime Ministers' Powers over Cabinet Formation

We use an institutional rational choice approach to help us understand how prime ministers in the UK make cabinet appointments and the implications for prime ministerial power. Assuming that prime ministers attempt to form a cabinet so as to get an overall package of policies as close as possible to their ideal, we show why the trade-offs they face are so complex, why apparently common-sense rules for making appointments might not always work well and why apparently strange choices made by prime ministers might actually be rational. Acknowledging the power prime ministers derive from their ability to appoint, we argue that the literature commonly fails to distinguish between power and luck, where lucky prime ministers get their way because they happen to agree with colleagues.     

低碳经济：我国经济社会可持续发展的战略选择

低碳经济是以低能耗、低污染、低排放为基础的经济模式,其实质是提高能源利用效率和创建清洁能源结构。发展低碳经济、开发清洁能源是实现我国经济社会可持续发展的必然选择。因此,在探索我国工业化、城市化和低碳化并行发展的模式时,要考虑我国的国情,在转变经济发展方式的前提下,提高能源利用效率,着力构建节约型的产业结构;在调整能源消费结构中,要提高优质能源比重,促进中国经济社会的可持续发展。     

我国“大部门体制”的理论内涵和改革路径

建立职能整合、机构协调的大部门体制是我国行政管理体制改革的必然要求。我国的大部门体制是在借鉴西方成功经验的基础上,各项改革不断深化的结果,它围绕政府职能的整合与重组,贯穿决策权、执行权和监督权的分立协调,有利于政府流程再造和现阶段诸多问题的解决。由于国情不同,大部制在我国的顺利推进需要选择与西方截然不同的改革路径。     

个人选择:现代社会秩序正当性的基础——评《选择的共和国:法律、权威与文化》

自现代化以来西方社会面临深刻的社会转型,伴随而至的不确定性对当今西方社会的法律、制度和秩序的正当性构成了严峻的挑战.弗里德曼以权威与自治,制度、秩序与自由权利的悖论为理论线索.以表现型个人主义价值观为理论基础,以个人选择和法律文化的基本概念为核心展开了对不确定性的消解和对选择的共和国的建构.但是他的这种建构却在事实上预设了个人与社会的分离.这表现在他的个人选择理论的建构没有考察社会场域中诸多因素的相互作用.这使他在对古典自由主义的个人主义观的批判之上建立的以表现型个人主义为基础的理论又回到了古典自由主义的起点之上,从而使自己的理论具有不可克服的内在紧张.     

The choice of electoral systems in new democracies: a case study of South Korea in 1988

Most theories about electoral system choice are based on the experiences of Western European countries, many of which shifted from majority/plurality rule to proportional representation (PR) at the turn of the twentieth century. This article aims to explain the choice of the South Korean legislative electoral system in 1988 as an example of electoral institution choices in new democracies, which may be different from those in the Western European countries. Through analysing multiple steps leading to the choice of a single-member district plurality voting system, this article suggests three potentially generalizable findings. First, in new democracies, labour parties can only induce old parties to shift to a proportional representation system if they have mobilized the working class prior to democratization. Secondly, parties in the developing world at times face unusual systems that are neither majoritarian nor fully PR. Under such unusual systems, party size would not be a reliable predictor for the party's preference over electoral institutions. Finally, when parties choose a legislative electoral institution in a presidential system, parties tend to prefer an institution that helps them in the subsequent presidential election even though the institution might harm them in the upcoming legislative election.     

在东北振兴中科学发展开放型经济的思考

在实施振兴战略的4年中,东北地区对外开放出现转机,发展速度全面加快,比重有部分回升。但这种变化具有恢复的性质。东北地区的对外开放,总体上讲仍然滞后于区域经济发展的步伐。对外开放任重道远。构筑东北对外开放的新格局,要以科学发展观为指导,遵循国际经济贸易的客观规律,从国内外的环境条件出发。一要转变发展方式,提高对外贸易水平;二要调整和优化结构,提高利用外资水平;三要发展与东北亚国家的经贸关系,提高区域合作水平;四要加强与发达地区的合作,提高对内开放水平;五要打破瓶颈制约,提高投资环境质量水平。     

走向环境治理的多元共治模式:现实挑战与路径选择

党的十九大报告针对生态文明建设提出了“构建政府、企业、社会和公众共同参与的环境治理体系”的指导思想,倡导在环境保护与环境治理领域引入共建共治共享的理念,打造基于多元主体共同参与的新型环境治理模式,为解决日益复杂化和动态化的环境治理问题提供了新思路,也为全球生态环境治理贡献了中国智慧。实践中,多元共治模式面临着环境治理权力结构安排不尽科学合理、跨部门治理主体间信息共享和协调性差、政府监管的权威性和有效性不足、企业主体性作用发挥不够以及社会力量参与的有效性和有序化偏低等诸多挑战。为此,需要从厘清多元主体职责分工、创新生态服务投入机制、优化环境治理协同机制、提升政府环境监管效能、引导社会力量有序有效参与等方面完善相应的制度安排,以推动新型环境治理体系高效运转起来。     

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正Business Lunch at Barolo For a tasty change of pace during your busy day,why not stop by and enjoy a leisurely lunch at our snazzy eatery Barolo?It’s the perfect place to meet with friends,work colleagues and business associates.Whet your midday appetite with our traditional antipasto buffet,followed by a main course of your choice from the selection of