The death blow to unlimited liability in Victorian Britain: The City of Glasgow failure

In 1878, one of Britain’s largest banks, the City of Glasgow Bank, collapsed, leaving a huge deficit between its assets and liabilities. As this bank, similar to many other contemporary British banks, had unlimited liability, its failure was accompanied by the bankruptcy of the vast majority of its stockholders. It is generally believed that the collapse of this depository institution revealed the extent to which ownership in large joint-stock banks had been diffused to investors of very modest means. It is also believed that the failure resulted in bank shareholders dumping their shares unto the market. Our evidence, garnered from ownership records, trading data, and stock prices, offers no support for these widely held beliefs.     

有限责任公司股权转让效力分析

有限责任公司股权转让的效力问题是公司法理论学习中的难点,也是法律实务中常见的争议所在。文章运用法学理论,针对实践中出现的典型情况,具体分析了股权转让合同在各种情形下的效力认定问题;针对关于股权转移标准的各种学说,文章逐一分析,并提出了自己的见解。     

论法人的有限责任

法人的有限责任是民法的重要制度。是否以有限责任作为法人的必要条件,各国存在着不同的立法例。我国现行法律以及法人独立人格的本质内涵要求我们承认法人的有限责任。我国法律应通过对普通组织型合伙和有限合伙的承认,实现对法人无法涵盖的无限公司和两合公司的功能替代;是否享有法人资格必须有法律的赋权性规定;在立法政策的指引下,运用法律拟制技术来克服法人制度可能带来的僵化,适应社会的发展。     

Auditor Liability and Business Investment*

We model a firm's investment decision, an auditor's effort‐rendering behavior, audit fees, and prices of the firms under two auditor liability rules: strict liability and negligence liability. We show that an auditor's effort level is socially optimal under strict liability, while it is not generally so under negligence liability. Furthermore, both the firm owner's expected benefit and the audit fee are higher under strict liability than under negligence liability. We define the legal error under negligence liability as the difference between the assessed audit effort (that is, the estimate of audit effort made by the court) and the actual audit effort and prove that the greater the variance of the legal error, the more incentive an auditor has to exert effort under negligence liability compared with strict liability. Finally, the number of investments being undertaken could be higher under strict liability because more firm owners are willing to hire auditors to go public.     

我国衍生型一人公司的法律规制

我国新公司法仅仅规定了原生型一人公司。但在实践中,因股权转让、继承等原因造成股东仅有一人的情形屡见不鲜。这种在公司设立时,原有符合法定人数的股东,于设立后始因继承、出资转让等原因,致股东仅剩一人的有限责任公司即为衍生型一人公司。对其规制有利于维护债权人的利益、实现股东投资自由、强化国家对公司的监管。为此,作者在考察各国立法状况的基础上,提出了规制衍生型一人公司的法律对策。     

Experimental Evidence of the Impact of Increasing Auditors' Legal Liability on Firms' New Investments*

This laboratory market study examines the potential effect of increasing auditors' liability on firms' new investments. The experimental hypotheses are derived from Shibano's 2000 model, which predicts that an increase in auditors' liability will decrease the frequency of audit failures and may decrease firms' new investments if the liability level is “excessive”. Results from three experimental market settings (with low, medium, and high liability levels) suggest two major conclusions. First, firms' new investments increase significantly when auditors' liability level increases from low to medium, and decrease significantly as the liability level increases from medium to high. This result provides support for the argument that adequate auditor liability is necessary to motivate firms to invest in new projects. Excessive liability, however, may discourage firms from making new investments. Second, the frequency of audit failure decreases insignificantly when auditors' liability increases. These two results have an important policy implication: the benefit of imposing high liability on the auditor (i.e., an insignificant decrease in audit failure) may be more than offset by its cost (i.e., a significant decrease in new investments).     

从比较法视角考察我国产品责任归责原则

从比较法视角来看,世界范围的产品责任归责原则经历了一个由过失责任原则、担保责任原则到严格责任的发展历程。我国《产品质量法》按责任主体不同,对生产者适用严格责任,对销售者适用过错责任和严格责任相结合的综合归责原则。完善我国产品责任归责原则,应该在立法中明确规定对生产者和销售者统一适用严格责任原则、以市场份额补充产品责任的归责原则。     

一人有限责任公司在我国发展的现状及对策

一人有限责任公司在我国的合法化降低了创业门槛,激发了投资人的投资热情,促进了私营经济的发展。但是由于法律对一人有限责任公司作了较为严格的规定,一人有限责任公司在我国并没有迅速增长,它的数量占企业的比例相对较小,而且在各地发展不均衡。为了更好地发挥一人有限责任公司的优势,必须对其进行更加完善的规制和提供一个相对宽松的法律环境。     

Trading Prior to the Disclosure of Material Information: Evidence from Regulation Fair Disclosure Form 8‐Ks*

Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) Form 8‐K filings provide a venue where managers release information to the market as a whole that they designate as being material. Using this setting, we study trading patterns immediately prior to the public disclosure of material information. We offer three main results. First, using both intraday and daily trading data, we find abnormal trading volume of 21 percent (13 percent) in the hour (day) prior to the public disclosure, respectively. Second, we find that this pre‐disclosure abnormal trading volume is concentrated in firms that are smaller, have more growth opportunities, issue fewer voluntary disclosures, and have weaker external monitoring. Finally, we find that this pre‐disclosure volume is concentrated in subsamples in which the information relates to a firm's material contracts, a firm holds investor/analyst conferences, and there is insider trading activity in a firm's shares. Our results do not concentrate in a small number of firms or industries, and do not appear to be explained by the form through which managers first release the material information (e.g., Form 8‐K, press release, website posting, or social media). Our results are also robust to controlling for the firm's other filings and peer filings that occur around the disclosure. Overall, the trading patterns we document may show that, inconsistent with the spirit of Reg FD, a subset of investors trade on information managers deem material prior to its broad, public release.     

违约责任归责原则之浅探

归责原则是违约责任制度的核心，本文从两大违约归责原则对比入手，阐述了在我国实行单一归责原则的不足，并进一步指出应以严格责任为主、过错责任为辅归责原则的合理性。     

From share issue privatisation to non‐tradable share reform: a review of privatisation in China

Privatisation in China has proceeded on a gradual path over 30 years. In this paper, we present a detailed review of China's privatisation programmes from its Share Issue Privatisation (SIP) to its Non‐tradable Share (NTS) reform. The SIP was a primary offering process with state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) issuing new shares to private investors, but after their Initial Public Offering (IPO) approximately two‐thirds of the shares remained non‐tradable and were mainly held by the government. The SIP achieved only limited success because of its partial trading and partial privatisation, which led to the implementation of the NTS reform in 2005. The NTS reform aimed to dismantle the split share structure and provide opportunities for improving corporate governance and further privatisation. The review shows that the NTS reform has yielded greater success in improving firm performance and corporate governance than the SIP.     

货币政策规则非对称性及其在我国的检验

 基于最优货币政策规则的研究框架,本文从非线性总供给曲线和中央银行非对称偏好的角度来阐述货币政策规则中非对称性的理论形成,并利用GMM方法估计和检验了我国货币政策反应函数中的非对称性。研究结果表明非线性总供给曲线可以作为解释我国货币政策非对称反应的一种来源,更重要的是,中央银行对通胀缺口存在负向偏好,且这种负向的通胀偏好可以很好地解释我国“后金融危机时代”的通货膨胀偏差,但对产出缺口的非对称偏好并不显著。此外,不同通胀目标的稳健性研究表明,中央银行都存在负向的通胀偏好,而且该负向偏好随着通胀目标的降低而逐渐减弱。     

加害给付法律责任探析

加害给付法律责任是违约责任中的一种特殊形式。我国司法实践中通常将责任竞合理论作为加害给付法律责任承担方式的依据。本文从加害给付法律责任的理论着手,对责任竞合与责任聚合评析后,以加害给付侵害的不同利益为基础,探析其责任的承担方式,最后对我国加害给付法律责任制度提出了改善建议。     

Microcredit games with noisy signals: Contagion and free-riding

The advent of microcredit financing has remarkably improved access to credit for the poor in many developing countries. Although several microcredit programs have adopted the joint liability scheme, economic theory suggests that joint liability could increase strategic default through contagion and free-riding. This paper aims at studying the extent of free-riding and contagion in joint liability lending. By using data from experimental repayment games conducted in Vietnam, with noisy signals that resemble actual microcredit programs, we found that subjects were motivated to free-ride under the joint liability scheme. While most empirical research in this area has focused on the problem of contagion, our findings point to the significance of investigating free-riding behavior under joint liability schemes. Analyses reveal that the free-riding tendency may be led by the irresponsiveness of repayment and shouldering behavior to the partner’s seemingly strategic default in the previous round.     

Individual investors and social ownership structures in the UK before the 1930s: Joint holdings and trustee investment

After the introduction of limited liability, a growing number of individuals in Britain from a widening social spectrum, including the less affluent, began to own stocks and shares. Drawing upon a unique and large dataset of 35 848 investors between 1870 and 1935, this study analyses joint holdings which have been a neglected aspect of investor behaviour. Our findings reveal that joint holdings were quite common and that about one in five UK investors were involved in a joint investment. Men were more likely to be joint holders than women for reasons related to institutions of social ownership such as trusts and executorships.     

论国有企业改革与发展问题

要解决我国企业改革和发展的深层问题,必须坚定不移地建立现代企业制度。现代企业制度最本质的特征是有限责任。要建立现代企业制度,就必须进一步解决有限责任问题,主要包括:切实保障企业法人财产权不受侵犯;推进股权多元化、分散化、法人化;在加速社会保障体系建设的同时,加大力度抓好减员增效。     

交强险制度对推行食品安全责任强制保险的启示

《中华人民共和国食品安全法(修订草案送审稿)》新增规定,国家建立食品安全责任强制保险制度。作为全国第一个施行强制保险的责任险-交强险,可以对食品安全责任保险制度的实施提供很好的经验。本文从法律制度支撑、与执法部门有效合作、业务管理经验、科学合理的险种设计等四个方面分析了交强险制度对推行食品安全责任险的启示。     

有限责任公司异议股东退股权制度探略

《公司法》赋予有限责任公司异议股东退股权,这有利于保护中小股东的利益。然而,由于立法谨慎和实践经验不足,该规定存在一定的缺陷。在借鉴国外相关立法规定的基础上,提出完善有限责任公司异议股东退股权制度的建议,以期真正实现该制度对中小股东利益的保障宗旨。     

论我国产品质量责任的完善

产品质量关系到人们生命财产安全、产品出口、经济发展、国家形象,目前我国的产品质量状况远不能适应形势发展和市场变化的需要,究其主要原因是由于我国的产品质量责任太轻、范围太窄、内容不明确。完善产品质量责任应从扩大产品质量责任主体的范围、规定惩罚性赔偿条款和召回制度、设置问责机制等方面入手。     

对合同法严格责任原则的质疑

合同法立法原只想将传统的或暗或明的过错责任原则改为明定的过错推定责任原则。然而有此学眼见更为新潮、已为英美民法及一些国际公约渐用的严格责任原则，便建议追潮，终为新法吸纳。对此，本提出质疑，认为暗定严格责任原则是一种矫枉过正的无赖的法技术和法选择，不利知法、守法和司法，严格责任原则不为大陆法系大多国家目前立法所采信，暗定亦不是英美民法及公约之所为。建议将违约责任明确定为之错推定责任原则，以合现情，以符法之明确性的本质要求。