Caribbean electricity restructuring: an assessment

This article assesses the privatisation of the electricity sector in two Caribbean countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to determine if they have been successful and whether they have contributed benefits to the respective societies. Two general methods are applied in assessing the success of the divestments; attainment of governments' stated objectives and commonly used utility performance metrics together with social and customer focus indicators. The results indicate that the stated objectives were broadly achieved, and the privatisation and its attempts brought benefits to the consumers and the society in general. The short to medium term benefits were accrued through lower labour costs per unit of electricity, higher performance of plant and operations and business led decision‐making. Long‐term benefits are accrued through the reduction or elimination of electricity supply deficits. However, although the basic privatisations were successful, the absence of an adequate regulatory framework in one case may have reduced the quantum of benefits through failure to enforce continuous improvement in the privatised generation company, and reductions in worker rents in the public distribution company. Further, benefits were reduced by long divestment processes, accompanying strategic drift, opportunity costs from delayed sale proceeds and efficiency enhancement, and the costs to sustain interim operations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大学英语评估系统的现状及改革建议

当前的大学英语教学评估系统包括三个子系统:基础阶段结束时的四、六级英语考试;各学期期末的学业考试;社会对大学生英语综合能力的需求和评价。但是,由于许多学校和用人单位都把四、六级考试作为考核的终极标准,导致现在的大学英语教学整个只是围绕四、六级考试进行,而四、六级考试本身又存在许多问题,造成了一种恶性循环;各学期期末的学业考试失去了其本身的意义,只是一种四、六级考试的模拟;学生也缺乏适当的途径去了解社会对英语运用能力的实际需求。这三个子系统对大学英语的教学产生了严重的负面反拨效应,要想对大学英语进行改革,首先就要从评估系统着手。     

“多次违法行为”入罪之思考——以多次非法行医为视角

我国法律规定未取得医生执业资格的人非法行医,被卫生行政部门行政处罚两次以后,再次非法行医的,应当以非法行医罪追究其刑事责任。此种将多次行政处罚后再实施违法的行为纳入刑事犯罪构成要件或者说作为罪量要素的定罪模式是合理的,不违反禁止重复评价原则和刑法谦抑性原则。但为了防止刑事制裁范围的肆意扩大,应从违法主体、违法程序及违法次数上对"非法行医被二次行政处罚后再次非法行医"入罪进行一定的限制,以实现人权保障和惩罚犯罪的有机统一。     

中国大气保护公共支出的绩效评价——基于各地区环境数据的比较分析

对我国各省的大气环保支出的绩效进行评价表明,大气公共支出绩效的提高与地方环保机关的工作水平和工作效率紧密相关。在客观条件一定的情况下,地方环保部门是能够通过自身效率的提高来促进大气环境的改善。     

Performance of Public–Private Partnerships and the Influence of Contractual Arrangements

This article seeks to answer two research questions: does public-private partnerships (ppp) live up to its promises to government? How do contractual arrangements affect ppp performance? We propose a conceptual framework to evaluate ppp performance by comparing actual project outcomes to government goals in initiating the partnerships, and to explore how a set of contractual arrangements affect the ppp performance on each identified goal. The framework is applied to a comparative case analysis of highway ppp experiences in the commonwealth of virginia (us) since the 1990s. The results show that these ppp cases were successful in accessing innovative finance, but their performance was mixed on reducing construction risk and transferring revenue risk. Generally improved over time with later projects, the ppp performance was affected not only by interaction among contractual arrangements –private partner selection, financial arrangements, role division, risk allocation, and project characteristics – but also by authorizing and supportive legislation in the policy domain.     

以绩效预算制度为核心的财政预算交易成本控制研究

财政预算的本质，是社会公众与政府之间围绕预算资金使用和公共产品供给进行的委托代理交易。作为交易，财政预算存在交易成本，即财政预算的运行程序成本。制度经济学认为，交易成本过高会降低交易绩效。那么财政预算的交易成本过高也会降低预算绩效。为了控制财政预算交易成本，应当在预算法中构建一种有效的内部激励机制，保证预算执行主体的本位利益与社会公共利益挂钩，促进预算执行主体自觉地以社会公共利益最大化为目标运用财政资金，即绩效预算法律制度。     

关于加强公安高校教工基层党组织建设的思考

构建社会主义和谐社会的伟大实践为公安高校基层党组织建设提出了新的任务与要求。当前公安高等院校教工基层党组织建设仍面临许多问题,在构建和谐社会背景下,公安高等院校应当秉承学习与实践相结合、开放与创新相结合、民主与集中相结合的思路,从提高对教工基层党组织建设的认识、创新教工党员的教育形式、建立健全教工基层党组织评价机制、加强教工基层党组织领导班子建设等方面入手,加强公安高校教工基层党组织建设。     

后女性主义与性别表演：“网红”及“网红经济”分析

2016年，“网红”成为传媒和经济领域都颇引人注目的一支力量。从女性主义的角度来说，在外形方面，高度同质化的“网红”迎合了男性的色情窥视，也强化了对女性的性别刻板印象。但是“网红”体现出来的巨大经济力量却又在一定程度上挑战了现有的性别秩序。而2016年最为引人注目的 papi 酱，虽然和其他“网红”有着相似的一面，但更以其自身的特质吸引了众多的女性粉丝，体现了网络文化异质多元的一面。     

专家参与刑事司法的多元功能及其体系化

从1979年刑事诉讼法颁布至今,专家参与我国刑事司法的制度功能变得开放而多元。专家制度功能的多元化,根源于刑事司法的三重逻辑:弥合法律人与专家之间知识鸿沟的“认知逻辑”;落实公检法机关“分工负责,互相配合,互相制约”原则的“权力逻辑”;保障当事人合法权益与实现控辩平等的“权利逻辑”。从结构主义与整体主义的视角看,当前,刑事专家制度存在明显的体系化缺陷,主要表现为专家制度过度权力化、专家制度功能尚未结构化、专家制度不够规范化。改进刑事专家制度,应当采取体系化路径:首先,将多元专家参与模式调整为鉴定人与专家辅助人二元专家模式;其次,彰显专家制度的“权利逻辑”,矫正过度权力化倾向;最后,构建系统化的专家制度,为专家服务刑事司法创造制度条件。     

中国特色社会主义理论向实践转化的评估体系的构建

构建中国特色社会主义理论向实践转化的评估体系,是有针对性地推进马克思主义中国化时代化大众化的现实需要,也是保证和提升马克思主义中国化时代化大众化的实践路径与制度创新研究的客观需要。