Private regulatory capture via harmonization: An analysis of global retailer regulatory intermediaries

Studies using the Regulatory–Intermediary–Target (RIT) framework have examined a variety of forms of regulatory capture, including how targets capture intermediaries (T?I) and how intermediaries capture regulators (I?R). Little attention has been paid to why and how regulators themselves might engage in capture. Yet such a scenario is likely in transnational governance settings characterized by regulatory competition and conflict, as well as power differentials between different types of private regulators (non‐governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and business associations). This paper elucidates why and how a private regulator might capture another private regulator via a regulatory intermediary: R1?I?R2. Drawing on interview and archival data, I examine three industry‐driven regulatory intermediaries created to harmonize private labor codes of conduct and ethical audit processes. These are founded and governed by a small group of retail trade associations and global retailers who also fulfill the role of private regulators (R1). My analysis reveals that the creation of these intermediaries is driven by global retailers’ reliance on standardization, low transaction costs, and regulatory harmonization across all aspects of their operations. It further reveals how the harmonization platforms are designed to leverage global retailers’ market power and evolve from regulatory intermediaries into de facto regulators that supplant existing private regulators (R2), and thereby capture transnational governance of consumer product supply chains. The article concludes by discussing contributions, implications, and avenues for future research.     

Crucial Factors in Implementing Radical Policy Change: A Comparative Longitudinal Study of Nordic Central Agency Relocation Programs

Abstract

Why do public policies succeed or fail? The aim of this article is to contribute to answering this enduring research question in policy research through a comparative study of the variable efforts by Nordic governments to relocate their central agencies from the capital regions over a period of several decades. This was a radical redistributive policy program premised on a policy instrument – coercion – which was very alien to political systems characterized as consensual democracies. Hence, it is no surprise that only two out of seven relocation programs of any substance were successful. The really intriguing research question here is how any relocation program was achievable at all in a policy context where this was very unlikely. A broadly based multi-theoretical analytical framework linking interest groups, institutions, human agency in the form of policy entrepreneurship/design and situational factors is employed to solve this research puzzle. Findings from this study offer important contributions to the following research fields: comparative public policy, radical policy change and most specifically the so-called third generation of public policy implementation research.     

Regulatory capitalism and its discontents: Bilateral interdependence and the adaptability of regulatory styles

The expansion of global trade has produced new challenges for the effective governance of product safety. We argue that many of these challenges arise at the bilateral level from the interaction of more or less adaptable national regulatory styles. When regulatory styles are unadaptable they produce gaps in risk management, slow and contested resolutions to crises, and limited regulatory cooperation. To examine these claims empirically, we study bilateral food safety regulation in four major exporter–importer dyads: China–Japan; Canada–United States (US), China–European Union (EU), and the US–Japan. The China–Japan dyad is the most adaptable, combining China's “export segmentation” regulatory style with Japan's strongly “risk‐averse, interventionist” style. The Canada–US dyad operates effectively, bringing together Canada's “global market–conforming” regulatory style with the US strategy of “sovereign regulator.” The China–EU dyad is less adaptable because the EU's “harmonization” regulatory style makes it difficult for the EU to adapt to the weaknesses of the Chinese food safety system. Finally, the US's sovereign regulator style clashes with Japan's interventionist style, making them the least adaptable of the four dyads. The paper concludes with a discussion of the broader relevance of our findings for the development of regulatory capitalism.     

Pathways to urban citizenship for low-income migrants in São Paulo

Recent waves of migrants are establishing an increasingly visible presence in the urban landscape of São Paulo, both in its centre and its peripheries. Though a city with a rich history of immigration and diversity, the arrival of migrants in recent decades has not been accompanied by specific municipal policies for the migrant population, an absence which affects in particular, low-income migrants. Urban social movements for migration take on the role of attempting to govern migration in the city by providing everyday support to migrants as well as mobilising them as a political group to demand changes on both national and municipal scales; yet these movements have limitations. The paper thus also highlights the agency of migrants in accessing their rights through empowering micro-level social networks and through individual negotiations with legal possibilities. Drawing on examples of institutional, activist and migrant practices in addressing questions of inclusion and exclusion in the city, the paper will trace the multiple and still fragmented ways of articulating rights and developing a sense of urban citizenship as newer waves of migrants join the urban landscape of São Paulo.     

Lived citizenship as the locus of political agency in participatory policy

Participatory policies seeking to foster active citizenship continue to be dominated by a territorial imagination. Yet, the world where people identify and perform as citizens is spatially multifarious. This article engages with the tension between territorially grounded perceptions and relational modes of practicing political agency. Studying empirically the Finnish child and youth policies, we address jointly the participatory obligations that municipalities strive to fulfill, and the spatial attachments that children and young people establish in their lived worlds. To this end, we introduce the concept of lived citizenship as an interface where the territorially-bound public administration and the plurality of spatial attachments characteristic to transnational living may meet. We conclude by proposing a re-grounding of lived citizenship in both topological and topographical terms as an improvement in theoretical understanding of mundane political agency and as a step towards more proficient participatory policies.     

海上货物运输法中“承运人的代理人”之真实身份考察

英美法中,“代理人”一词可在广狭两种意义上使用,广义包括受雇入和独立合同人,狭义仅指受雇人。《海牙一维斯比规则》的概括免责条款与非合同索赔条款中的“承运人的代理人”同名不同义,前者采广义,后者采狭义,造成差别待遇问题。《汉堡规则》两个条款中的“承运人的代理人”同名同义,均为广义,消除了差别待遇,具有积极理论和实践意义。《鹿特丹规则》未用“承运人的代理人”一语,似将其作了分身处理,但有一定隐患。《中华人民共和国海商法》第四章的“承运人的代理人”本应采广义,但限于国内法对代理人应从事法律行为的固有理解,不能把某些履行辅助入包括进来,仍存差别待遇问题。建议用“使用人”替换《中华人民共和国海商法》第四章“承运人的代理人”中的“代理人”,或者,直接将“承运人的受雇人或者代理人”改为“承运人的使用人”。     

由一则案例评析表见代理的适用

表见代理制度的建立,必须以善意为基础,是以牺牲本人的利益为代价而维护交易安全。表见代理是无权代理的例外,是一种特殊的有权代理。表见代理不能够轻率地被认定成立,否则,将会破坏交易安全。表见代理的成立不以本人有过失为要件。适用表见代理制度,关键是确定相对人相信行为人有代理权之理由是否成立、理由是否充分。法官如何判断相对人有理由,应当综合考虑当事人订立合同的目的、合同基础、交易对价、交易规则和交易习惯、相对人的审查义务等多种因素予以分析认定。必须要衡量相对人订立合同时的主观状态,有没有过失,是不是善意。     

论元认知策略与大学英语自主学习能力培养

元认知是“关于认知的认知”,元认知策略是学生对学习过程进行有效管理和监控的一种学习策略.受传统教学模式的影响,大学生英语学习具有自主学习能力不强,学习方法欠缺的特点.在英语教学中充分运用元认知策略,培养学生的元认知意识,协助学生制订学习计划,提高自我监控和评估能力,帮助学生有效管理自己的学习行为,是提高学生自主学习能力...     

信用评级机构的法律定位及其国际监管改革研究

信用评级机构是金融市场日益专业化过程中不可或缺的一员,通过其专业化的评价体系,对解决投资者和证券发行人之间的信息不对称问题发挥了很大的作用。但是,随着评级机构日益深入地参与到金融证券化的过程中,不可避免的利益冲突使其中立性、客观性等在一定程度上有所缺失。次贷危机发生后,对信用评级机构加强监管的呼声日益高涨,各国金融监管机构开始对信用评级机构进行全面的严格的监管,但是,由于评级业本身的自然垄断属性以及评级业务的专业性,使其定位上存在模糊之处。在分析信用评级机构存在的缺陷基础之上,对其法律定位进行探讨,并预测国际监管改革与合作的发展趋势是十分必要的。     

中国信用评级机构独立性探索——以上海国际金融中心建设为背景

信用评级机构是上海国际金融中心建设的一块重要内容,但是目前信用评级机构独立性不强是最主要的问题。原因来自三个方面：信用评级机构的形成和发展受制于行政力量,发行人付费的模式存在不合理之处以及信用评级市场受控于美资。针对上述原因,在构建信用评级机构独立性框架时,建议中央政府以上海为试点。整合国内信用评级市场、改变监管模式、组建自律机构、遏制外国资本对中国市场的渗透,同时完善以中国人民银行为主体的信用数据库。设立入门考试等制度。