The Multifaceted Balance of the Concept of Staatswissenschaften in the Tradition of the Historical School

The article critcizes recent contributions which argue that the historical school was neither German, nor historical, nor a school. Instead, the historical school has a pronounced multifaceted basis which is mostly ignored in the recent literature. Some of these multifaceted dimensions are briefly highlighted. Finally, the practical relevance of the approach is discussed by referring to some recent economic policy issues.     

Institutions and Economic Performance: The Use and Abuse of Culture in New Institutional Economics

Important research programs within New Institutional Economics advance culturalist arguments to explain failures of economic development. Focusing on the work of Douglass C. North and Avner Greif, this article argues that such arguments rely on an essentialist conception of culture that is both historically inaccurate and analytically misleading. Greif’s work in particular rests on a selective use of empirical data that ultimately distorts the deductive models that are at the core of his work. As a result, both scholars use culture to account for outcomes that are more adequately explained as the product of social conflict and political struggles—struggles in which culture plays a far more contingent and destabilizing role than the one they attribute to it. What is needed, I argue, is to link arguments about the persistence of inefficient institutions with a sociologically informed conception of culture as an ensemble of resources that enhance rather than constrain the scope of individual agency. To come to terms with the effects of culture on institutional formation and change it is necessary to replace the essentialism articulated by North and Greif with a strategic-instrumentalist view in which culture is compatible with a wide spectrum of economic behaviors, individual actions, and thus institutional trajectories.

Lessons of Russian in Afghanistan

The experience of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan (1979–1989) is considered through the prism of institutional transfers. Afghanistan has a long history of attempts to implement Muslim, Soviet and Anglo-Saxon institutional designs. Most of them have failed. This failure can be attributed to the lack of ‘elective affinity’ between traditional and new institutions imported from more developed countries. It is argued that a careful examination of the degree of elective affinity must precede any attempt of institutional transfers. An analysis of Ph.D. dissertations defended by Afghan students at Soviet and Russian universities complements logical arguments and references to historical facts.

现代经济学的方法论特征

注重研究方法的科学性和自洽性;突出模型分析和数学方法及数理逻辑的应用,并把对经济现象和经济活动的研究过程纳入一个可控制的系统中,这不仅增强了理论本身的可靠性,同时又使之获得了广阔的发展空间.     

信息经济学视角下的商标制度

为克服信息不对称对交易的负面影响,人们采取了信息、信誉与法律三种应对机制。无论何种机制,其作用的充分发挥都有赖于法律制度的有效保障。在信息经济学语境下,商标的功能就在于标示和区分商品出处,在降低信息成本的同时,激励企业保证商品质量,但激励不等于义务,企业并不因为使用商标而承担额外的品质保证义务。而商标法则通过规定商标确权条件、制止混淆和淡化,确保市场上商标的相互区分,为信息与信誉机制的建立和运行提供法律保障。尽管如此,离开相关法律的协同作用,商标法也难以有效运行。这就决定了只有合理划分商标法与相关法律的调整对象与适用边界,才能完善我国商标法乃至整个市场法制。     

家政哲学的学术解析

当代中国家政学的研究,是对传统儒家家庭思想中的思维原则及方法的认识与反思,是对传统儒家家庭思想向现代家庭思想转变中出现的问题之哲学层面的认识与反思。     

关于犯罪经济学理性选择理论的一些探讨

犯罪经济学是一门新兴而潜力无限的犯罪学学科,其中的理性选择理论对于犯罪原因的解释虽不适用于任何犯罪行为,但对这一理论的研究还有更多值得去深入思考和探索的地方,而且也需要这样做。     

消费理论的行为化趋向

最近 2 0多年里 ,行为理论在消费理论方面的研究取得了重要进展 ,而主流消费理论也正朝着以行为分析为基础的方向发展 ,二者的相互融合将构成未来宏观消费理论发展的突出特征     

我国扩大内需的政策选择和效果评价

我国目前不具备实行凯恩斯理论的制度基础和政策条件 ,克服当前内需不足困难的关键是结合中国的经济实际 ,把短期手段和长期发展目标结合起来 ,把增加有效需求与增加有效供给结合起来 ,把宏观经济政策的调整和综合配套改革结合起来 ,这样才能有效解决当前国民经济运行面临的矛盾和中长期发展的问题。     

侵权行为法的经济学分析

在归责原则和损害赔偿两个问题上 ,现代侵权行为法及其相关的理论都存在着明显的缺陷。这些缺陷的产生 ,是侵权行为法过分推崇公平价值观的必然结果。对此 ,法律经济学另辟蹊径 ,从效益极大化角度入手 ,提出了不少颇有见地的对策。尽管法律经济学的研究结论未必是“公平”的 ,因而容易引起人们的争论 ,但它毕竟为我们提供了一种崭新的思路。