The Expenses Scandal and the Politics of Electoral Reform

The scandal over MPs' expenses that erupted in 2009 was followed by a surge in discussion of electoral reform. A range of reforms to Westminster's existing electoral system are now high on the political agenda. This article examines the extent and the nature of the scandal's impact on the electoral reform debate and draws out comparative implications for the sorts of conditions that can force politicians to accept electoral reforms that they do not want. It finds that the expenses scandal significantly changed debate about some electoral reform topics, but not about others. It proposes three factors likely to increase the impact of scandal in sparking reform: that the scandal is seen as harming ordinary people in their daily lives; that reforms can readily be understood as likely to mitigate the sources of scandal; and that those reforms do not seriously harm politicians' own perceived interests.     

Leaders, voters and activists in the elections in Great Britain 2005 and 2010

Discussion of the relationship between parties and the electorate is often based on the notion of partisan constituencies, that parties adopt policy positions that correspond to the average position of the party supporters. In contrast, the Downsian “spatial model” assumes that parties are purely opportunistic and maneuver to gain as many votes as possible. A third, more empirical model, based on the early work of Stokes, assumes that voter choice is based on the evaluation of each of the party leader’s competence or ability to deliver policy success. Such an evaluation can be provided by individual voter overall assessment in terms of the leaders’ character traits.This paper attempts to relate these three classes of models by examining the elections in Great Britain in 2005 and 2010. Using the British Election Study, we construct spatial models of these elections in Great Britain as well as in the three regions of England, Scotland and Wales. The models incorporate the electoral perceptions of character traits. We compare the equilibrium vote maximizing positions with the partisan positions, estimated by taking the mean of each of the parties voters’ preferred positions. We define an equilibrium to be a stable attractor if the vote share at the equilibrium exceeds the share at the partisan position by a significant proportion (determined by the implicit error of the stochastic model). We infer that none of the equilibria are stable attractors, and suggest that the partisan positions are also preferred by the party activists, the key supporters of each party.     

府际关系与政府创新扩散：一个文献综述

本文对有关府际关系及其对政府创新扩散的影响的相关文献进行了初步综述,并探讨了这些文献对中国的启示。本文从垂直和水平两个方向分析了府际关系,并进一步将垂直关系分为自上而下和自下而上两个方面,将水平关系划分成竞争和学习两个维度,进而从上述四个方面对已有研究文献进行综述,发现了目前研究的主要特征及问题,并指出了未来研究方向。最后,文章探讨了中国政治体制的特点及其同这些文献的关系,并对中国政府创新扩散的实践与研究前景进行了总结。     

外贸豁免制度的贸易保护功能研究

随着各国贸易保护战略的推进,反垄断法作为政府进行经济调控的工具,与贸易保护政策间的互动关系日益紧密。对外贸易反垄断豁免正是各国为满足贸易需求而普遍适用的竞争政策,它对于促进一国对外贸易发展、提高国际竞争力、保护国内产业利益具有特别的功能和效果,但其适用也受到限制。根据发达国家的有关立法和实践,我国《反垄断法》下的外贸豁免制度尚需完善,惟有如此方能确保其必要的贸易保护功能得以有效发挥。     

Three statutory regimes at impasse： ＂Reverse payments＂ in ＂pay-for-delay＂ settlement agreements between brand-name and generic drug companies

Antitrust authorities in both the United States and Europe have expressed deep concern over settlements of antitrust cases in the pharmaceutical sector, settlements involving ＂reverse payments＂ from plaintiffs to defendants, large sums paid by branded pharmaceutical companies to generic competitors in exchange for promises to stay offthe market. Such ＂pay-for-delay＂ settlements have proliferated in the United States since Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals have found them unproblematic despite the Federal Trade Commission＇s persistently strong position that they violate the antitrust laws. These cases arise at the intersection of three statutory regimes seeking to promote innovation, three clusters of doctrine and policy that have interacted only to reach impasse： the Patent Act, the 1984 amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and finally the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Antitrust is a late comer to the fierce competition over patented drugs, competition that permeates the approval process in the Food ＆ Drug Administration [FDA], competition that is restrained by these pay-for-delay settlement agreements. To set the stage, we begin with the Patent Act and its relationship to the FDA approval process. The story of pay-for-delay settlements then proceeds to the settlement agreements and their antitrust implications. We conclude that the best solution in these antitrust cases would be adoption of the FTC＇s approach of presumptive illegality. Together with an amendment proposed to fix the food and drug act, the presumptive illegality of pay-for-delay settlements under the antitrust laws would make the market for pharmaceuticals more price competitive, open weak patents to serious challenge, and as a result save consumers billions of dollars annually without taking from branded drug companies legitimately earned incentives to engage in research and development.     

关于我市开展劳动竞赛的调研报告

目前我市劳动竞赛呈现的主要特点是:普遍重视了找准劳动竞赛的切入点;与企事业单位中心工作的融入不断深化;竞赛体制进一步得到健全与完善。今后应注重推动劳动竞赛向系统化、专业化、精细化方向发展,进一步突出竞赛过程的科学管理,并将其与全面提高职工整体素质作紧密的结合。     

乘劳动竞赛东风 铸优质精品工程

城建集团在"五比一创"劳动竞赛中,将劳动竞赛作为工会融入企业经济工作的重要渠道。通过强化全员参与,提升了职工的综合素质;通过强化过程管理,形成规范的责任机制;通过强化目标落实,提高了工程建设目标的实效性。在高标准、高质量、高水平地完成工程建设中,发挥了工会组织的作用,铸造企业的优质精品工程。     

著作权内在利益平衡机制与反垄断法的介入——美国录音制品数字表演权制度的启示

反垄断与保护知识产权均仅是实现其共同目标的手段,其本身并非最终制度目的。就著作权法律制度而言,这体现在其应当建立完善的内在利益平衡机制,从"护权——限权"两个角度对著作权既加以保护、又防止其滥用。在这方面,美国的DPRSR制度堪称典范,我国与之对应的信息网络传播权制度却有待完善。著作权内在利益平衡机制一旦失灵,根据其失灵的情形,可能产生不同的损害。其中对于可能产生竞争损害的,在必要条件下,反垄执法机构应当及时介入,保护市场竞争和消费者利益不受著作权滥用行为的损害,保障反垄断和保护知识产权共同目标的实现。     

Observing FDI spillover transmission channels: evidence from firms in Uganda

Abstract

We observe and analyse three intra-industry foreign direct investment (FDI) spillover transmission channels using unique firm-level data collected from on-site interviews and observations regarding domestic and foreign firms operating in Uganda in 2015. Our main results are: (1) the spillover effects mainly depend on the channel(s) by which they occur (the competition channel is most important while spillover benefits through the worker mobility and the imitation channels are less prevalent) and (2) both positive and negative spillover effects occur within the same channel and, moreover, effects differ by channel for the same case. These are novel and challenging findings that have not yet been recognised in theoretical and empirical research on FDI spillovers. Our results suggest that long-term pecuniary spillover effects are predominantly stimulated via the competition channel and show that only limited short-term and long-term technological spillover effects occur through the imitation and the movement of workers channels. These channels are not only less prevalent, but also appear to be constrained by competition-determined spillovers. We are confident that these directions for future research will have a high pay-off because, as shown by this exploratory fieldwork, a more complete picture of the spillover effects is reached when the channels are considered simultaneously.     

Electoral Reform – Cui Bono? Attitudes of Romanian MPs to the Electoral System Change

Drawing on an original parliamentary survey, an analysis is undertaken of what motivates MPs elected in a closed proportional representation (PR) setting to consider changing this electoral system. Moves in this direction are quite rare and for this reason a case study of Romanian parliamentarians is proposed. Bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques are used to assess the impact of both power maximisation incentives and values. The main findings indicate that MPs were willing to replace the closed-list PR with a single member district alternative only when they perceived clear benefits for them (that is, re-election) or their party (that is, a positive impact, either at intra-party level or within the party system). These self-interested motivations are prioritised over nomination-related reasons and the possibility of a constituency-centred focus of representation.