Analysis of off-farm work decisions among smallholder farm households in Burkina Faso

This article investigates off-farm work decisions by smallholder farm households. Using data on 1,101 households from Burkina Faso, it demonstrates that in addition to the usual household socio-demographic characteristics, remittances, access to information and beneficiary of specific training affect off-farm work decisions, as well as rainfall factors and idiosyncratic health shocks. Community characteristics such as accessibility and number of inhabitants are also key factors. While suggesting that off-farm work is less likely to be undertaken for accumulation purposes, these results have important policy implications. In particular, policy measures should consider each segment as a separate entity.     

Fluorescence of a Natural Fluorophore as a Key to Improve Fingerprint Contrast Image

The optical and morphological properties of resveratrol were investigated. This nontoxic fluorescent natural material, emitting in the visible blue light, was used as an optical marker, enabling the enhancement of the image contrast coming from relief pictures marked on challenging surfaces. By applying appropriated imaging softwares, this marker was verified to be very useful in the latent fingerprint recognition deposited on different wood surface types, mainly those with high level of roughness, where conventional forensic materials do not allow effective fingerprint image visualization.     

Red Tape,Rule Burden,and Legitimate Performance Trade-Offs: Results from a Vignette Experiment

Abstract

Goals in the public sector are complex and managers can face situations in which pursuing one legitimate goal necessitates performance trade-offs in other areas. This study tests how knowledge of legitimate performance trade-offs shapes the perception of red tape. Using a vignette experimental design and a sample of university students, between group t-tests and regression analyses suggest that, when evaluating increased rule burden, individuals that are provided with information about how objectively burdensome rules serve alternative values such as equity and effectiveness associate them with lower levels of red tape. A series of Monte Carlo simulations suggest that this effect is substantial.     

自然资源物权配置初探

对于自然资源,需要在利用与保护之间寻找到合适的平衡点,并以法律的形式将其确定下来。通过自然资源物权配置,把以对资源的用益为目的的各种物权形态,依照法律规定的条件和方式投入市场,最大限度实现国家所有权利益。同时,规范行政主管机关职责,完善行政管理的程序法律规范,将公法上的权力和私法上的权利相分离,使行政机关的宏观管理职能与自身部门利益相脱钩。     

云南四川藏族地区天然林资源保护区的林业可持续管理

本文根据联合国关于林业可持续管理的指标体系 ,对云南四川藏族地区天然林资源保护区实现林业可持续管理的目标分层进行了论述 ,在此基础上 ,分析了该区林业可持续管理的难点和制度影响 ,并立足该区藏族传统文化特点和社区林地的传统管理方式 ,提出了确立林地权属制度和社区管理体制、按照市场机制进行林业可持续管理的改进方式     

创设利益制度是社会和谐的法治基础——和谐社会利益关系问题的法学思考

利益矛盾和冲突不仅是社会转型期国家的显著特征,同时,也是形成不受以往制度约束的和谐环境的重要前提。本文以分析和谐社会利益制度的法律根源作为出发点,在此基础上从利益博弈的机理层面上探寻利益制度形成的逻辑起点和实体条件,以及政府如何在利益群体博弈过程中作出创新性的实验安排,进而为在我国社会转型过程中,形成社会和谐与经济发展的基础性力量,以及进一步提高政府执政合法性的问题提供必要的实践依据和理论支持。     

Restoring accountability in pretrial release: the Philadelphia pretrial release supervision experiments

As drug arrests and jail overcrowding added pressure to increase pretrial release in localities during the 1980s and 1990s, the need to manage a larger and higher-risk pretrial population of defendants awaiting adjudication in the community became a high priority for justice agencies. In the late 1990s Philadelphia officials sought to discover the ingredients of a successful supervision strategy through four interlinked field experiments to provide an empirical basis for a major reform of the pretrial release system. The results of the linked randomized experiments question common assumptions about “supervision,” its impact and effectiveness, about the underlying nature of the noncompliant defendant, and deterrence implications. The study emphasizes the importance of interpreting the findings in the context of implementation of the policy reform. Findings suggest that facilitative notification strategies wield little influence on defendant behavior and that deterrent aims are undermined by the system's failure to deliver consequences for defendant noncompliance during pretrial release. The most significant contribution of the article is its illustration of a major evidence-based policy reform undertaken by a major court system.     

作为一种制度权利的人权

权利是它的所有者通过法律、道德、秩序或其他形式而获得的有利地位。实证性权利既包括制度性的经验事物如国家和契约,也包括观念性的现实事物如自由和习惯。由于无论国家还是契约,自由还是习惯,都有其不能脱离先在的权利来谈论的局限,因此,权利的来源往往被追溯到具有逻辑先在性的东西那里。传统自然法理论把自然权利看作是实证权利的前提,现代人权理论则否认有脱离制度安排的抽象权利。从地位而不是从来源出发来理解人权,是现代人权概念区别于传统自然权利概念的最大特点。     

自然人书面契约取信方式研究

印章文化在我国源远流长,其中公章自古至今为实用而治,私章则经历了一个从实用到艺术的转变过程。我国古代书面契约的取信方式历经变化,但私章讫未成为公认的取信手段。西方国家在法律史上曾有盖印取信的制度,但当今通行的法定取信手段则是签名。我国现行法上的书面契约取信方式兼采签名和盖章。私章自身的内在局限及签名取信的多维优势,决定了签名取代私章的必然。自然人主体书面契约的取信方式统一于签名,是法律体系内部相协调的需要,并可以获得法律解释理论上的有力支撑。     

斯多亚哲学与自然法中的普世主义

斯多亚哲学是西方自然法理论的开端，基于其对世界精致的泛神论解释，斯多亚哲学提出了普世主义的平等观，人人皆有神性，在起源上皆为平等。斯多亚哲学的普世主义经由自然法的媒介改造了罗马法，为罗马法产生平等法权观念提供了哲学前提。