论现代公共法律服务多元化规范体系建构

公共法律服务体系建设现代化的核心问题是满足人民群众追求美好生活日益增长的法律服务需求,为实现共同富裕发展目标提供全方位的法治保障。现代公共法律服务体系建设的地方立法例中,均集中体现出对公共法律服务基本概念和调整范围的反思与分歧,为此亟待厘清公共法律服务应然规范构造理论,这是未来形成公共法律服务全国统一立法的法学理论基础。公共法律服务专门立法在整个公共法律服务规范体系中具有纲领性地位,公共法律服务体系建设改革实践不仅具备基本服务与非基本服务二元结构架构特征,而且越来越多地呈现出多元和多维架构的本质特征。现有二元规范构造理论已经不能全面解释和解构现有的公共法律服务体系建设实践发展的全样本和多维度、多元化样态,只有建构多元化的现代公共法律服务规范体系才能根本解决现有公共法律服务地方立法例实践及理论研究中出现的关于基本概念、规范类型、规范属性、调整方式、权利属性等诸多基本争议,从而确定公共法律服务的权利义务主体、事项范围、模式与程序、标准与评价指标、监督管理等主要体系建构的基本规范要素,进而归纳整合公共法律服务立法规范构造的本质特征,为将来形成区域协同一体化立法或全国统一立法提供立法规范要素的基本构造理论支撑。     

我们需要什么样的生态环境问责制度?——兼议生态环境损害赔偿中地方政府的两难困境

我国的生态环境问责制度是一项以党内法规和生态环境政策为规范基础,并以《环保督察规定》、环保督察制度和问责依据为主体构成的制度。在实践中,它也拥有着基层性、广泛性和严厉性三大特点。这样的属性和特点使得生态环境问责制度一方面对督促地方党委和政府履行生态环境保护职责,解决重大生态环境问题上大有裨益。但另一方面,也给地方政府带来了较大的政治压力,并继而影响到了生态环境损害赔偿制度的实施。在这种压力的影响下,如何引导地方政府积极提起生态环境损害赔偿诉讼就成为了亟待解决的问题。为此,我们首先需要构建生态环保领域干部容错机制,并实现生态环境问责制度法制化的改造,最后完成生态环境问责机制多元化的转变,以此赋予生态环境问责制度新的功能和使命。     

扫黑除恶的刑事法治原则及技术对策

扫黑除恶专项斗争是贯彻、落实习近平总书记重要指示精神,维护社会治安、保障公民安全、稳固基层政权的重要决策,是国家和社会治理的必然选择。在黑恶势力逐步从硬暴力转向软暴力、帮派转向公司、黑色产业转向白色产业以及寻"伞"到变"伞"的转型背景下,基于传统的组织犯罪理论,黑恶势力将给我国公民安全、经济发展、政治环境以及政权稳定带来连锁性威胁。当前,扫黑除恶需要坚守法治思维,维护现代法治基本原则,在此前提下创设新型法律制度,应对黑恶势力的变化。     

Local Governments’ Responses to Revenue Changes: The Effects of Unreserved General Fund Balances

ABSTRACT

Volatile revenues affect the quality and consistency of municipal service provision. This article investigates how cities use unreserved general fund balances to mitigate annual expenditure fluctuations when confronted with volatile revenues. Based on the analysis of a panel dataset of over two thousand American cities from 2003 to 2011, the fixed-effects regression results suggest that unreserved general fund balances reduce municipal expenditure fluctuations on a year-to-year basis. The expenditure-smoothing effects were more pronounced when municipal governments experienced large revenue changes. Results are robust when excluding large cities, using different cutting-points to define ‘moderate’ or ‘large’ revenue changes, and in recession and non-recession years. This article contributes to the local expenditure stabilization literature by recognizing the unreserved general fund balances’ expenditure-smoothing effects during ‘non-rainy days.’ It adds empirical evidence to the organizational theory that financial slack works as a crucial buffer against external changes and provides managerial discretion to local administrators.     

The Imbalance between Public Expectations and Resource Provision in Developing Countries: Can Inter-Assemblies Cooperation Reduce the Gap?

ABSTRACT

Local authorities have long sought for solutions to the numerous service delivery challenges arising out of increasing demands from the general public coupled with budgetary constraints. One such solution is inter-organisational cooperation which has been found as an alternative cost-effective way of providing services to the general public. Drawing on resource-dependency theory, this paper explores the possibilities and challenges of cooperation among Assemblies in Ghana by adopting a qualitative approach. The findings reveal that inter-district cooperation is still at its development stages in Ghana despite the respondents’ recognition that it has the potential to address most of the problems faced by District Assemblies in Ghana.     

Economies of scale and Brazilian local government expenditure: evidence from the State of Paraná

ABSTRACT

Controversy surrounds local government reform, particularly efforts directed at reducing the number of local authorities to secure economies of scale. We examine whether economies of scale exist in local government outlays by analysing the expenditure of 398 municipalities for the Brazilian state of Paraná using a 16-year panel dataset covering the period 2002–2017. We find evidence that municipal expenditure is characterised by substantial scale economies. However, given the strong correlation between population size and population density, it is important to ascertain whether the influence of population size on municipal expenditure is due to variations in population density or not. When local government areas are divided into sub-groups based on population density, evidence of scale economies remains with the majority of councils operating below optimal size. Municipal consolidations may thus lead to lower per capita expenditure.     

地方金融稳定发展组织模式的选择及其操作系统的构建——基于规则系统理论的扩展分析框架

地方金融稳定发展组织框架的构建是影响本轮中国金融监管改革成败的关键环节,牵涉到中央与地方关系和省政府金融办、"一行两局"之间关系的调整和职责定位,是地方金融管理改革的核心问题。本文基于规则系统理论,提出和运用"规则系统-组织结构-操作系统"扩展框架,回顾中国金融监管体制演进,遵循顶层设计与基层创新相结合原则,对地方金融稳定发展组织模式进行选择和设计,提出重组监管资源和构建规则操作系统等政策建议。     

An empirical analysis of municipal efficiency and local resident satisfaction by council type in Victorian local government

Although a voluminous empirical literature has examined local government efficiency, much less attention has focused on municipal effectiveness and almost no effort has been directed at the relationship between efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper, we seek to add to the latter nascent literature by investigating the relationship between operational efficiency and local resident satisfaction for three different municipal categories (metropolitan, regional, and rural councils) in the Victorian local government system over the period 2014–2015 to 2017–2018 using data envelopment analysis and an advanced regression model. We find that although a strong relationship exists between efficiency and satisfaction for metropolitan and regional councils, the same is not true of rural councils.     

Decentralizing Governance within the European Union’s Framework: Evidence from Greece

ABSTRACT

The administrative reform launched in 2010 (“Kallikratis” programme) in Greece stands out as a major decentralization initiative. Notably, amalgamations at the local level were set at the forefront of the reform. This paper aims at shedding light on the issue of decentralizing governance by examining the implications of the “Kallikratis” reform programme on local authorities in terms of their domestic financial mobilization. Drawing empirical evidence from their implementation in European structural programmes, it is argued that the decentralization effort had an asymmetrical impact on local institutions, favouring principally the small-sized local authorities vis-à-vis the bigger in population local bodies.     

《劳动合同法》地方指导意见评述——关于劳动争议当事人和劳动关系的认定

各地法院和仲裁机构在《劳动合同法》实施后尤其是在全球性金融危机期间出台了各自的司法意见,对《劳动合同法》的相关条文进行了细化和补充,弥补了《劳动合同法》的不足和立法盲点。但是,也存在相当一些有悖于法理和立法法的解释误区,带来了各地司法不统一的混乱。如何认定劳动争议当事人和劳动关系是其中的重要部分,包括不具备合法经营资格及借用营业执照或挂靠的用人单位的用工关系、个人承包经营形成的用工关系、下岗、内退职工与新用人单位建立的关系、招用已达到法定退休年龄的人员所形成的关系以及未签订书面合同的劳动关系适用《劳动合同法》的问题等。因此,应当对地方性司法指导文件进行全面清理,吸收借鉴其合理之处,阐释其存在的误区,并在此基础上完善《劳动合同法》。