Bilateral aid in sub-Saharan Africa: are donor delivery tactics stimulating economic growth and development?

ABSTRACT

The literature assessing the effectiveness of bilateral foreign aid flows to sub-Saharan Africa primarily focus on one aspect of the aid delivery mechanism that is employed by donors, namely that of channeling aid to recipient central governments. These analyses do not take into account alternative donor delivery tactics of circumventing recipient governments with poor institutional quality – delivering aid to non-state (‘bypass’) actors instead. Thus, the objective of this paper is to extend the aid effectiveness literature by disaggregating bilateral aid flows into both government-to-government aid and bypass aid, and assessing their relative effect on economic growth. Utilising data compiled from multiple data sources including the OECD Credit Reporting Services and World Bank datasets, I find that whereas the effect of government-to-government aid on economic growth is conditional on institutional quality, bypass aid is unconditionally effective.     

我国对外直接投资核准制度的问题及完善

为了配合我国外资政策向“引进来”和“走出去”相结合的转变，我国对外投资法律也进行了调整，将原有的审批制改为核准制，便利了对外直接投资。然而，现有的对外投资核准制度仍然存在诸多问题，降低了法律的透明度，增加了对外投资的不确定性和成本。有必要通过制订统一的《境外投资管理法》并设立统一的审批部门，并通过法律明确认可诸如自然人等非法人实体对外投资主体的资格，从而真正实现对外投资的便利化。     

论我国外资并购审批体制的立法完善

目前,我国调整外资并购的法律体系不够完善、法律层次较低,尤其是审批法制问题很多。从外资并购审批体制方面看,多头审批、审批机关间的审批权限不清等问题严重,已经很难适应外资并购现状的需求。明确划分审批权限、建立跨部门的联合审批机构已经刻不容缓。     

从永宁公司案看公共政策作为我国法院拒绝执行外国仲裁裁决的理由

通过分析国内外有关公共政策的立法与实践,特别是我国法院拒绝承认与执行国际商会国际仲裁院仲裁庭就永宁公司案作出的裁决,从中显示在承认与执行外国仲裁裁决领域,公共政策的实质在于限制外国仲裁裁决的承认与执行。包括《纽约公约》在内的国内外立法对公共政策均未作出明确的定义,在各国有关国际商事仲裁的司法实践中,法院一般不轻易动用公共政策作为拒绝执行仲裁裁决的理由,凡是能够将拒绝承认与执行外国裁决的理由归咎于公共政策以外的其他理由时,应当援引其他理由,只有在极为特殊情况下法院才援引公共政策的条款。ICC仲裁庭就永宁公司案作出的裁决之所以被我国法院以裁决违反了我国的社会公共利益而拒绝执行,归根到底是该裁决无视我国现行法律规定,侵犯了按照我国现行法律规定专属于我国法院的司法管辖权。     

海运法律制度变革对外国投资者的影响

中国是海运大国,在世界海运事业中起着举足轻重的作用。中国海运法律制度的一系列变革,在国际海上服务、港口服务和海运辅助服务等方面对外国投资者的投资和生产经营产生了重大影响。     

司法实践中的涉外法律适用问题初探

中国加入世界贸易组织对人民法院涉外民商事审判工作提出了新要求,需要建立适应WTO规则的涉外民商事审判制度,包括:建立适合世贸组织规则的审判运行机制;落实公开审判制度,增强审判工作透明度;准确适用法律,确保案件裁判的统一性;提高法官队伍素质,实现涉外审判专业化。     

Federal Institutions and Multinational Investors: Federalism,Government Credibility,and Foreign Direct Investment

Political risk is an important factor in the decision to invest abroad. While the investment potential might be lucrative, there is always the risk that the host government will expropriate the profits and assets of the foreign investor. Political institutions, however, can serve as constraints on the actions of political actors in the host country. We argue that federal structures lower political risk. Joint-reputational accountability in overlapping political jurisdictions increases the likelihood that investment contracts will be honored. Empirical analyses of cross-sectional time-series data for 115 countries, from 1975–1995, are used to study how political institutions affect foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. After controlling for the effect of relevant economic and political variables, we find that both democratic and federal institutions help attract FDI, although the additive effect of democracy and federalism is small. This is not surprising; democratic systems already have low political risk; they do not need the additional credibility that the federal system provides to attract FDI. In contrast, we expect that federal structures significantly improve the trustworthiness of less democratic states. Empirically, we find that less democratic countries with federal political systems attract some of the highest levels of FDI.     

Aid for arms: The impact of superpower economic assistance on military spending in Sub‐Saharan Africa

This study examines the relationship between superpower economic assistance and military allocations in 25 countries of Sub‐Saharan Africa during the period 1977–1984. Using pooled time‐series regression analysis, we find that African recipients do not treat U.S. aid as fungible. Soviet economic aid, however, is found to have a positive effect on the recipient's military spending.     

中央三代领导核心对唯物史观的继承与发展

唯物史观是研究社会发展一般规律的科学。在唯物史观的指引下,中国共产党三代领导核心带领中国人民取得了革命和建设的巨大胜利,但在当时的具体情况下,三代领导核心对唯物史观的理解和运用是有差别的,并因此使中国社会的发展史深深打上了领导者个人意志的烙印。     

中国行政法学60年

中国古代有发达的行政法规范,但无现代意义的行政法,更无行政法学。现代意义上的行政法学源于一个世纪前对日本法学的继受,1949年新中国建立后,废除旧六法,行政法学一时沉寂。20世纪50年代一度改弦更张学习苏维埃法,但不久行政法学教育和研究陷于全面停顿,30年前在改革开放的背景下得以恢复并迅猛发展。行政法学自身枯荣与国家命运休戚相关,行政法学的历程折射了时代的变迁。