Threat-Based Competition Policy

This note suggests a link between the theory of contestable markets and competition policy. We propose that in the absence of potential hit and run entrants into an industry the behaviour of a firm may be constrained by the fear of intervention by the competition authorities. Hence, in periods in which hit and run entry is believed to be a non-credible threat, the competition authorities can affect a firm's behaviour by the threat of intervention, as well as by intervention itself. Requirements for the successful use of threat-based competition policy are identified, and its potential benefits are outlined.     

Do donors cooperatively fund foreign aid?

Donor’s demand equations for alternative forms of aid are derived for three allocation processes: noncooperative Nash-Cournot, cooperative Lindahl, and bureaucratic. Based on OECD data for official development assistance for 1970–2001, we apply non-nested tests to distinguish between Nash-Cournot and Lindahl reduced-form equations for 15 major donor nations. Noncooperative Nash-Cournot behavior characterizes many donors, with a few abiding by bureaucratic behavior and none by Lindahl behavior. Joint products are present for multilateral and bilateral giving. Despite the common-pool nature of giving to multilateral organizations, countries derive donor-specific benefits and often view others’ donations as complementary to their own gifts.      

生态补偿范围及其利益相关者辨析

以生态补偿所要解决的问题本质为出发点，从实现生态服务公共物品非市场化价值、内化生态环境保护行为外部性、以及重新分配生态环境保护利益相关者的权利三方面展开论述，试界定生态补偿的外延，厘清生态补偿的范围。     

记名提单无单放货的解释论

记名提单无正本提单放货现象在国际贸易中普遍存在,成为贸易欺诈的温床之一。理论界和司法实务界对我国《海商法》中关于记名提单的规定意见不一。问题的关键在于正确运用法律解释方法。采用解释现行法的立场应当以立法者的规范目的为解释目标,不应偏重比较法的解释方法。从文义解释出发,以历史上海商法立法者的规范目的为基础,结合对《汉堡规则》第1条第7款关于提单定义的正确理解,从《海商法》第71条可以推论出,记名提单下承运人须凭正本提单交付货物,这是法律规定的承运人的交货条件,同时也是承运人的合同义务。采用体系解释标准,将我国《合同法》第133条、135条关于货物交付与单证交付的效力规定与《海商法》第71条、78条、79条相结合,可以得出在我国现行法律体系下,提单(包括记名提单)具备物权凭证属性的结论。我国的记名提单法律制度适应了我国国际贸易发展的需要,不应轻言修改。     

中央政府全额承担农村义务教育投入的经济学分析

本文在分析我国目前义务教育投入现状的基础上,主要从消费者行为理论、经济的外部性、公共产品性质和政府的经济职能等角度分析农村义务教育投入由中央政府全额承担的经济学要求。     

警务社会化路径之非政府组织初探——从公共物品理论的视角

公安机关提供法律保障、社会秩序维持和公共服务三种劳务产品,从公共物品属性及供给的角度分析看,公共服务具备准公共物品的特性,可以通过采用自愿供给,即非政府组织供给的方式。非政府组织成为警务社会化主体不仅可以推进警务社会化的进程、提高公安机关的工作效率,而且可以和谐警民关系、缓解警力不足的压力,并促进社会治安防控体系的构建。     

US-Asia Economic Relations: A Political Economy of Crisis and the Rise of New Business Actors

Reviewed here are contrasting approaches to the same locus of marginalisation: the precariat in the informal sector. In developed and underdeveloped countries alike, neo-liberal economic growth is increasingly dependent on insecure, temporary and low-paid employment. Such laissez faire capitalism demonstrates additionally that – contrary to earlier views about the capitalism/unfreedom link – bonded labour is not an obstacle to accumulation, since the free market currently thrives on an unfree workforce. Because, with the exception of Marxist theory, no opposition to this pattern of economic growth argues for transcending the capitalist system, critiques of its labour regime are unable to formulate an adequate political solution.     

The Transformation of Urban Vegetable Retail in China: Wet Markets,Supermarkets and Informal Markets in Shanghai

The state-monopolised system of vegetable retail in socialist urban China has been transformed into a market-based system run by profit-driven actors. Publicly-owned wet markets not only declined in number after the state relegated its construction to market forces, but were also thoroughly privatised, becoming venues of capital accumulation for the market operators now controlling these properties. Self-employed migrant families replaced salaried state employees in the labour force. Governments' increased control over urban public space reduced the room for informal markets, exacerbating the scarcity of vegetable retail space. Fragmentation in the production and wholesale systems restricted modern supermarkets' ability to establish streamlined supply chains and made them less competitive than wet markets. The transformation of urban vegetable retail documented here shows both the advance that capital has made in re-shaping China's agrifood system and the constraints that China's socialist institutions impose on it. Shanghai's experience also shows that the relative competitiveness of various retail formats is shaped by the state's intervention in building market infrastructure and institutions.     

The Economy of China

Evidence suggests that following liberalisation reforms in India, public sector contributions to social development projects responsible for public goods allocation and the provision of services have receded in favour of an enlarged role for private sector initiatives, particularly through public-private partnerships. As part of a “good governance” agenda, the state is embracing such partnerships, modelled on information communication technology (ICT), within a wider development strategy (ICTD) to improve goods allocation and government's image as a trustworthy agent. This has also coincided with a changing political economy that has granted greater authority to more localised units of government over economic and developmental processes. This paper examines a case study of Urban e-Seva, an ICTD public-private partnership in Hyderabad, and couches it in a larger examination of contemporary social development in India. The paper concludes that government needs to be embedded in public-private partnerships, that it must continue to be at the forefront of allocation strategies in general, and that globalisation is strongly shaped by public institutions operating at the sub-national level. Furthermore, reforms are needed to correct for globalisation and liberalisation's inabilities to foster proper social development in India.     

Small arms,big guns: a dynamic model of illicit market opportunity

Transnational illicit markets are deeply embedded within legal trade systems and thus should be affected by shifting market conditions. Applying a stochastic actor-oriented model (SAOM), this study tests whether variation in illicit market opportunity could account for changing relations within the small arms trade (2003–2008). Measures of market accessibility – changes in export activity, reporting transparency and the percent of the labour force that is armed – outperformed measures of weapon availability with the exception of involvement in armed conflict. Significant structural change in outdegree density and transitivity suggest the development of trade factions, and decreasing balance hints that leaders are emerging. With the pending de-escalation of US-led conflict in the Middle East, a flood of second-hand weaponry is about to enter the market. Continued research is required to further uncover how the legitimate trade infrastructure facilitates the illicit flow of goods.