Vote-seeking incentives and investment environments: The need for credit claiming and the provision of protectionism

Incentives to cultivate a personal reputation encourage legislators to generate policy outcomes for which they can claim credit. We show that these incentives make themselves felt in international agreements – a domain that might typically be considered within the purview of the executive branch. Through a cross-national analysis and brief case studies, we show that countries with electoral systems that encourage personal vote seeking are more likely to negotiate exceptions to treaties meant to liberalize their investment environments. Legislators benefit by being able to claim credit for having protected their constituents from the competition an unrestricted agreement would entail.     

Financing Constraints,Exchange Rate Risk of Host Country and Location Choice of Enterprises’ Foreign Direct Investment——An Empirical Study Based on Micro Enterprises’ Data of Zhejiang Province

Financing constraints and exchange rate risk of host country are domestic and foreign factors which will hinder the stability and sustainable development of China’s enterprises foreign direct investment, so the interaction influence of these two factors on location choice of foreign direct investment is also crucial. Based on this, in this paper we study the foreign direct investment choice of host countries’ exchange rate risk during financing constraints. Through modeling the negative influence of revenue losing and the positive influence of financing cost reducing, our model finds that foreign direct investment enterprises with higher financing constraints tend to go for host countries with higher exchange rate risk in location choice. In empirical study, we match multiple database to construct the micro level data, and use two international data sources to measure exchange rate risks of host countries. Our empirical study finds that foreign direct investment enterprises with higher financing constraints tend to choose higher exchange rate risk countries through binary choice model and sorting model. The result of bivariate binary choice model ensures the robustness of our empirical research. Based on the comprehensive theoretical and empirical research results, we find the existence of financing constrains improves the risk preference in the foreign direct investment location choice.     

Difficulties Confronted by ICSID Tribunals in Deciding International Investment Corruption Cases and Possible Solutions

The issue of corruption has attracted increasing attention in the study and practice of international investment law during recent years. After taking prudent consideration of the corruption defense invoked by the host states in some international investment arbitration cases involved with corruption, International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunals accordingly determined the final awards. However, some parts of the arbitral jurisprudence aroused strong criticism, especially with regard to the ICSID tribunals’ reasoning that arbitrators have no jurisdiction over corruption-tainted international investments. The ICSID tribunals are legitimately supposed to exercise their jurisdiction and are lawfully obliged to probe into the nature of corrupt activities. The tribunals are strongly expected to adopt a balanced approach in deciding the merits and fairly weighing the obligations, rights, and interests of both disputing parties. It is preferable to strengthen the collaborative interaction between ICSID proceedings and domestic anti-corruption enforcement mechanisms when it comes to combating corrupt international investment activities. Existing international treaties (or specific treaty provisions) on combating corruption in international business transactions and calling for international cooperation, alongside domestic anti-corruption enforcement legislation, have actually laid solid legal foundations for the establishment of such an anti-corruption coordinative mechanism between ICSID and domestic corruption regulatory authorities on the global level.     

当前我国民营企业融资困难的分析以及解决出路思考

在世界金融危机、国内经济形势相当严峻的局面下,融资困难已成为中小民营企业发展的严重问题。要切实解决民营企业融资难的问题,仅仅靠政府、银行和企业某一方面的努力都是难以奏效的,必须通过社会各方面的共同努力和特殊的政策支持,从而创造和形成良好的融资环境：要以地方政府为主导营造金融生态环境,构建完善的投融资体系;加大和增强金融机构对民营企业的信贷支持和金融服务力度;民营企业本身也要通过管理创新和制度创新,建立起规范的现代企业制度,不断降低企业经营中的主观风险。     

Partnering to beckon them home: public‐sector innovation for diaspora foreign investment promotion

This article examines a little‐studied component of public administration existing in most countries around the world and particularly important for developing countries: national investment promotion agencies (IPAs). Diasporas are an increasingly important and relatively untapped resource for development and many homeland governments view diaspora foreign investment as key to their economic development. In addition to being generally under‐resourced, many IPAs struggle to identify ways to effectively target, cultivate and facilitate diaspora homeland investment (DHI). To accomplish these goals, these public‐sector entities are beginning to identify and leverage key partnerships in the NGO sector. We describe the services IPAs offer and enumerate the challenges they face associated with DHI. Drawing on three illustrations of IPA–NGO partnerships, we develop preliminary tools for identifying and designing partnerships for the purpose of promoting DHI based on their scope, function and degree of formality. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

日本财政投融资体制改革的特点及借鉴

日本的财政投融资体制曾经对日本经济的发展产生过重要影响。但是,随着日本经济的不断发展,财政投融资的僵化体制已经越来越不适应新的经济发展形势。在这一背景下,以市场筹集资金为核心的财政投融资体制改革便展开了。此次改革有如下特点：总体规模逐步缩小;资金来源更加多样化;资金运用方向有所调整;加强信息披露引入政策成本分析机制等。从日本财政投融资体制改革中我们可以借鉴的是改革方向的市场化、信息的透明和资金的重点集中投放。     

浅议降息对储蓄转化为投资的影响

我国自改革开放以来随着国民经济的发展,居民储蓄一直高速增长,尤其是进入90年代以来更为明显,但同时国民经济中出现了消费和投资不足,庞大的储蓄不能转化为投资使我国经济隐藏着巨大的风险.针对这个情况,央行从1996年起八次降息.本文利用经济统计数据实证降息对储蓄转化投资的作用,并分析其原因提出政策建议.     

论我国刑法分则规范的完善--以总分则之关系的合理定位为切入点

以刑法总则与分则之关系的合理定位为切入点,我们不难发现:刑法分则的不少条文并不符合刑法总则"但书"的规定;刑法分则的不少条文不符合刑法总则第14条、第15条的规定;刑法分则的不少条文不符合刑法总则关于数罪并罚的规定.另外,刑法分则将预备行为、教唆行为、帮助行为纳入到分则规范之中;具体犯罪的法定刑以犯罪既遂为模式;刑法分则规定特别自首制度、累犯制度,所有这些都不符合刑法总则与分则之关系的合理定位.相应地,这些分则条文应予完善.     

ECJ倡议的内在缺陷及国际投资法体系的变革方向

从发展中国家和发达国家的角度来看,ECJ都是一种有瑕疵的建议.它的缺点对于发展中国家来说尤为严重,因为它从根本的角度忽略了发展的层面.发展中国家运用现有的双边协定比接受ECJ的多边协定更加适当.虽然现有的乌拉圭FDI体制相比于ECJ更加恰当,但是从发展的角度讲,前者有着重大缺陷,国际社会应当对此缺陷给予即时关注并采取补救措施.     

海运法律制度变革对外国投资者的影响

中国是海运大国,在世界海运事业中起着举足轻重的作用。中国海运法律制度的一系列变革,在国际海上服务、港口服务和海运辅助服务等方面对外国投资者的投资和生产经营产生了重大影响。