Marketization as political technology: unintended consequences of climate finance in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Climate finance involves the transfer of money from advanced economies into developing countries in order to contribute to carbon mitigation or climate adaptation efforts while simultaneously advancing poverty alleviation and sustainable development objectives. Dominant carbon mitigation efforts resemble what Michel Callon calls ‘civilizing markets’, a deliberate harnessing of formal markets to achieve social goals by engaging with multiple political constituencies in market design. This paper looks at carbon marketization in the Democratic Republic of Congo and finds that, despite inclusive planning, climate finance experts produce unintended consequences by assigning social and environmental goals separate strategies within a national portfolio of climate finance interventions. Resulting from the challenges of finding commensurate criteria for measuring market impacts in both social and environmental domains, this programmatic segregation obscures the interconnections between poverty, forest use and climate change in the Congo. Findings suggest a need to reconcile the design of environmental-focused markets with the difficult-to-measure embedded social benefits of informal natural resource economies.     

An empirical assessment of local autonomy and special district finance in the US

In this article, we interpret local autonomy as a dimensional concept that includes local government importance, local government discretion, and local government capacity. Using longitudinal data from 1962 to 2012 covering all 50 states in the US, we examine how different dimensions of local autonomy affect the expenditure levels and debt levels of special districts. We find that the levels of debt and spending in special districts are lower when local governments have greater revenue diversification. However, fiscal decentralisation in the dimension of local government importance promotes the growth of special district finance. Moreover, our findings on local government discretion suggest that imposing too many fiscal constraints can affect the fiscal independence and capacities of local general-purpose governments. These constraints may also lead to the more extensive use of the fiscal power of special districts that are not subject to fiscal limits.     

Union voucher at the sickbed of French unionism? The CFDT union confederation and the AXA experiment, 1981–1993

In the 1980s, to address financial difficulties, the CFDT (a French reformist union) proposed an original solution – the union voucher – aimed at broadening its membership base and generating new resources. It affords unions with funding from a company, which annually distributes vouchers to employees, who can remit the voucher (or not) to unions of their choice. This mechanism is based both on company financing and the individual choices of employees. In the early 1990s, the insurance company AXA experimented with and then adopted this solution. This article traces the history of the union voucher and assesses the union’s experience.     

Empowered borrowers? tracking the World Bank’s Program-for-Results

The World Bank has developed a new lending instrument, called Program-for-Results (P4R). This instrument is notable because it emphasises borrower programmes and contexts, ostensibly shifting from universally applied Washington Consensus models. Why did the Bank develop P4R? First, theoretical grounds for a new Bank policy are outlined. Second, the context, formalisation and usage of P4R are analysed. Third, P4R’s possible futures are described, along with their implications for development lending theory and practice. Despite its embryonic status, scholars and practitioners will be able to learn about power in development lending by following the fate of P4R.     

论金融诈骗罪的非法占有目的

金融诈骗罪不仅破坏国家金融管理秩序 ,而且侵犯财产所有权。“非法占有目的”是所有金融诈骗罪必备的主观要件 ,而不是选择要件。对于金融诈骗罪这种目的犯而言 ,非法占有目的的有无 ,直接决定行为人是否构成犯罪以及构成何种犯罪。准确把握非法占有目的的涵义并适用司法推定理论才能够正确认定非法占有目的 ,从而有助于金融诈骗罪的认定和惩处     

The growth effects of sport franchises,stadia, and arenas

This paper investigates the relationship between professional sports franchises and venues and real per capita personal income in 37 standard metropolitan statistical areas in the United States over the period 1969 to 1994. Our empirical framework accounts for the entry and departure of professional football, basketball, and baseball franchises; the construction of arenas and stadia; and other sports related factors over this time period. In contrast to other existing studies, we find evidence that some professional sports franchises reduce the level of per capita personal income in metropolitan areas and have no effect on the growth in per capita income, casting doubt on the ability of a new sports franchise or facility to spur economic growth. We also find evidence that results obtained from estimating reduced‐form relationships, a common practice in the literature, are not robust to alternative reduced‐form specifications. © 1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Institutional Reform and Social Changes in Northeast China During the Late Qing: A Case Study of Appeal Trials

Institutional reform and social changes in northeast China during the late Qing period are usually attributed to the Qing dynasty changing its policy on immigration to northeast China. However, institutional reform because of debt appeals between civilian creditors and the Mongolian princes is often overlooked. Using administrative cases from Fengtian Governor Archives and Kirin Prefecture Archives, this study identifies how the governor officers of northeast China changed Mongolian land rights and official finance institutions through appeal judgments in the late Qing dynasty. Appeals were related to Mongolian land rights reform and promoted the financial institutional reform in northeast China. This study concludes by arguing that the judgments affected the profits of the litigants and changed the local society.     

台湾地区农村民间金融监管的分析及启示

农村民间金融是对正规金融供给不足的一种补充,我国农村地区资金供给严重不足,农村民间金融得到了较快发展.但是由于农村民间金融游离于正规金融体系监管之外,容易增加金融风险,我们必须充分调动民间资本的积极性,使之在服务于农村经济发展的前提下将其纳入法律的规制范围中.通过考察台湾地区农村民间金融监管的现状,与大陆农村民间金融法律监管进行对比与分析,从而为我国大陆的农村民间金融监管提供一定的经验与借鉴.     

互联网金融平台纳入金融市场基础设施监管的法律思考

互联网金融已经成为我国金融体系的重要组成部分,互联网金融平台的立法与监管变得愈加重要.在不断强化对互联网金融微观合规监管、竞争监管和消费者保护的同时,需要逐步加强对互联网金融的宏观审慎监管,这需要在法律上解决一个关键问题,即互联网金融平台是否纳入以及如何纳入金融市场基础设施监管.这一问题关系到互联网金融的发展、系统性金...     

Intergovernmental transfers and fiscal equalization across the north-eastern states of India: Evidence from panel data

While numerous studies have tried to analyze the impact of intergovernmental transfers in fostering fiscal equalization in India, there need to be more studies in the context of north-eastern (NE) states. Situating in a geographically isolated and economically backward region, the states of NE India depend heavily on central fiscal transfers to meet expenditures and to promote various economic activities in the region. One of the essential objectives of these transfers is to achieve fiscal equity. Hence, the study attempts to analyze the fiscal equalizing nature of the intergovernmental transfers across NE India during 1991–2019. The coefficient of variation (CV) analysis results indicates that although fiscal transfers reduced the magnitude of disparity in the own-source revenue across the NE states, a significant amount of disparity still exists in the resource base across these states. The regression analysis findings suggest that the transfers across these states need to be more fiscal equalizing. The per capita gross state domestic product emerges as a positive and significant in predicting per capita transfers, and hence it questions the progressivity of central transfers. When assigning the interstate share of transfers, more weight should be placed on fiscal equalizing factors such as per capita income. The Finance Commission of India should emphasize fiscal equalizing criteria when allocating weights and recommending transfers to the NE States. Additionally, states with low incomes should be recognized in plan schemes.