An Economic Analysis of the American and the Continental Rule for Allocating Legal Costs

A well-known conclusion from the standard model of litigation is that a transition from the American to the Continental rule for the allocation of legal costs will lead to an increase in the number of trials. The standard model, however, neglects the fact that the rule for allocating legal costs may also influence whether or not a potential injurer engages in a harmful activity. When this choice is endogenized, the conclusion derived from the standard model does not appear to be generally valid. A transition from the American to the Continental rule may lead to a decrease in the number of trials. Furthermore, the transition may result in an improvement in efficiency.     

论影响力交易罪

影响力交易罪 ,是《联合国反腐败公约》规定的一类新型犯罪。影响力交易罪的内涵 ,可以从交易的影响力、交易的主体、交易物和交易行为四个方面进行解读。在外延上 ,影响力交易罪与我国刑法中的受贿、行贿等罪有一定重合。我国刑法应当移植影响力交易罪的概念。     

面子文化下的权力再生产——基于社会互动与资本交易的理论视角

在中国，“面子”是一种典型的文化产物，也是人际互动中重要的社会资本。面子资本参与权力再生产的过程类似于资本交易，其本质是将行政权力异化为权力资本，并将公共利益异化为特殊利益，其结果损害了社会的公平、公正和政府的合法性。从文化传统本源审视，这一现象与国人对儒家道德主张的形式化理解、以及我国传统人伦社会的特征紧密联系。要阻遏其造成的破坏作用，需建立和完善权力监督与制约机制、利益协调与表达机制．明确公务员的权利和义务。     

Taxes,Tradable Rights and Transaction Costs

With respect to market-based policy approaches, it is a widely held view that corrective taxation entails substantial, though far fewer transaction costs than tradable permit systems. This conclusion only holds if set-up costs are singled out. This paper explores all relevant market, managerial and political transaction costs associated with environmental taxes and tradable emission rights. It is argued that the prevalence of transaction costs is largely dependent on the design of the policy instrument, respectively the tax base or the trading regime chosen. Comparative analysis further shows that a cap-and-trade program of emission permits distributed for free, traded on a brokered market and monitored upstream is not only more effective, but also likely to entail fewer transaction costs than environmental taxes. Any attempt, in turn, to save the huge information, enforcement and compliance costs incurred by corrective taxation impairs its efficacy by severing the link between the environmental externality and the tax base.JEL Classification: K32, K34     

Open Access Arts Festivals and Artists: Who Benefits?

Abstract

Arts festivals are of interest to researchers, but the research focus is usually on the festival's economic or social impact. This approach does not usually reflect the engagement and experience of the artists involved. There has been controversy recently around the experiences of participating artists in open access arts festivals. Open access arts festivals are significant players in the festival landscape. They enable anyone to participate in a festival, if they pay a registration fee. This research, using a case study methodology, examines an open access festival from different perspectives with a focus on the experience of the participating artists.     

交易费用理论的发展——兼评威廉姆森《资本主义经济制度》

交易费用的思想源于科斯,经过威廉姆森在《资本主义经济制度》中构筑了较为完整的交易费用理论体系。但是,通过对交易费用理论的重新梳理,我们不难发现其存在的逻辑悖论,对这一问题更深地研究将有利于增强其对现实社会中经济组织和经济现象的解释力。