The politics of HIV/AIDS in South Africa: government action and public response

A decade ago it seemed likely that African governments would be destabilised by the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This article tests some of the presumptions in such forecasting with an examination of the South African case. It begins with an assessment of the effects on the public health system of the South African government’s efforts to cope with the illness. Efforts to implement universal treatment of people who are HIV-positive appear to have strengthened government, while the costs have been affordable. The efforts have extended the embrace of the public health system and prompted the engagement of civil society in policy formation and implementation. Survey evidence suggests that the government has gained public approval and that its health service delivery has become more socially accountable. Civil protest to engender political reforms in the treatment of AIDS patients has enhanced the role of constitutional checks on executive authority.     

Food and finance: the financial transformation of agro-food supply chains

This article draws upon existing literature to document and describe the rise of finance in food provisioning. It queries the role of financialization in the contemporary food crisis and analyzes its impacts upon the distribution of power and wealth within and along the generalized agro-food supply chain. A systematic treatment of key nodes in the supply chain reveals four key insights: (1) the line between finance and food provisioning has become increasingly blurred in recent decades, with financial actors taking a growing interest in food and agriculture and agro-food enterprises becoming increasingly involved in financial activities; (2) financialization has reinforced the position of food retailers as the dominant actors within the agro-food system, though they are largely subject to the dictates of finance capital and face renewed competition from financialized commodity traders; (3) financialization has intensified the exploitation of food workers, increasing their workload while pushing down their real wages and heightening the precarity of their positions, and (4) small-scale farmers have been especially hard hit by financialization, as their livelihoods have become even more uncertain due to increasing volatility in agricultural markets, they have become weaker vis-à-vis other actors in the agro-food supply chain, and they face growing competition for their farmland. The paper concludes by identifying themes for future research and asking readers to reimagine the role of finance in food provisioning.     

英语教育的劳动市场回报及英语教育政策调整 —— 基于 2016年问卷调查数据

中国的英语教育近年来受到越来越多的重视。无论是国家还是个人都投入了大量资源用于英语教育,如此巨额的投入所带来的劳动市场回报值得关注。英语教育的劳动市场回报可以分为人力资本投入回报和信号作用回报。研究发现,英语在实际工作中使用越多,工资收入越高,是为英语教育作为人力资本投入回报的证据。但在工作中很少用到英语的人,通过英语四六级考试对其工资也有显著影响,反映了英语教育具有信号作用的功能。调查显示,英语教育的信号作用是英语教育劳动市场回报的主要方面。因此,中国的英语教育有过度教育从而导致资源配置低效率之嫌,建议及时调整国家的英语教育政策。     

“对赌协议”的裁判路径及政策选择——基于PE/VC与公司对赌场景的分析

PE/VC与目标公司对赌的司法裁判要点从合同效力转入合同可履行性后,需要面对两个层次的追问:一是以什么样的实体标准来判断履行障碍,二是由谁来判断是否存在履行障碍。华工案和“九民纪要”仅处理了第一个层次的问题,且主要以资本维持原则作为实体判断标准。然而,我国现行公司法资本维持原则过于粗疏,且缺乏“大分配”概念和底线规制的思路,导致“对赌协议”下的回购只能通过减资的途径,徒增成本。域外以清偿能力标准替代资本维持原则,体现了另一种以债权人利益为导向限制公司资产单向流出至股东的规制思路,但其商业逻辑上的合理性却无法掩盖更大的操作成本。就第二层次的判断主体而言,以美国特拉华州为代表,法官的商业判断逐渐让位于公司董事会的商业判断,却进一步凸显了公司、不同类别股东、债权人之间利益冲突的复杂状态。立法层面的价值判断与政策选择将最终决定司法裁判的走向,未来我国公司法的修订需要回应商业实践的诉求,同时PE/VC投资者也需要直面投资失败的风险承担。     

Talent alone does not suffice: erotic capital,media visibility and global popularity among professional male and female tennis players

Following Catherine Hakim’s notion of the increasing significance of ‘erotic capital’ in contemporary society, this paper addresses the effects of erotic capital in the realm of professional sports. Erotic capital may be closely related to popularity and thus represents a key marketing asset, in particular for female athletes facing a predominantly male audience. These ideas are examined here through analysing the media visibility of top tennis players in the German print media, as well as their global popularity (measured by search engine queries). The results provide further evidence of gender discrimination in sport since they show that the popularity of female athletes depends on their physical attractiveness whereas such a relationship does not exist for male athletes. Given gender-discriminatory consumer and print media preferences, female athletes face strong incentives to adapt to a sexualized sports culture that reinforces hegemonic masculinity.     

法律行为框架中的股东表决权制度

表决权虽名为权利,但在资本多数决的股东大会决议机制下却分化为意思表达权和形成权两种性质各异的权利,而其原因在于股东大会决议行为的特殊法律行为属性和特殊法律效力,在于股东表决的不同性质——意思通知和单方法律行为,并由此导致对一系列关乎股东表决权制度的重新评价和审视,如表决权排除、类别股东表决、异议股东股份购买请求权以及资本多数决的决议机制等。     

农村人力资本投资的影响因素分析

农村人力资本投资不但受到经济发展水平与风险因素的影响,还会受到政府投资政策与投资体制的影响。总得来看,由于政府财力有限以及在投资过程中的城市化倾向、农民收入增长缓慢和人力资本流动造成的风险使得农村人力资本投资水平比较低。     

高校高层次人才引进工作的问题与对策研究——以东华大学为例

人才是第一资源,是创新的源泉。引进高层次人才和建设高水平的学科团队始终是高校人才强校的战略要求。但在日趋激烈的人才争夺的现实中,各高校的高层次人才引进工作始终存在着诸多问题,以东华大学为例试分析问题存在的原因,并提出相应政策建议。     

我国收入分配失衡的原因及其调节——以《资本论》关于资本运动的逻辑和方法为视角

《资本论》所揭示的价值规律、生产力发展规律等市场经济运行的一般规律,对今天我们建设中国特色社会主义仍然适用.《资本论》中关于资本运动的逻辑及其所揭示的社会经济发展的一般规律,对于合理调节我国目前收入分配失衡问题具有重要的指导意义.     

Die Tugend des Staatsmanns. Eine pragmatische Dimension in Kants politischer Philosophie

Der vorliegende Artikel sucht die Dimension konkreter Politik in Kants Philosophie und fragt anhand des Verhältnisses von Staatsoberhaupt und Untertan danach, wann eine Republik mehr ist als nur ein Wort auf einem Blatt Papier. Hierzu wird das Verhältnis zwischen Kants Ethik und seiner Pädagogik heranzuziehen sein. Weder kann die Lösung allein durch die Individualethik erbracht werden, noch befriedigt allein eine geschichtsphilosophische Hoffnung. Denn dadurch wird das Selbstdenken als zentrale Forderung der Aufklärung konterkarriert. Die realhistorischen Ereignisse in Frankreich und ihre systematische Erläuterung durch Kant weisen auf dasselbe Problem hin, wenn er die Abschaffung der Adelselite befürwortet. Die Institution des Adels genügt nämlich ebenfalls nicht dem Kriterium der Menschenrechte. Daraus ergibt sich für die Republikanisierung, damit sie für den Untertan nachvollziehbar wird, die Bildung eines politischen Bewusstseins. Hierzu antizipiert Kant dasjenige, was heute unter dem Begriff des Sozialkapitals diskutiert wird.