File Sharing,Network Architecture,and Copyright Enforcement: An Overview

This paper provides an overview of Internet file sharing networks and explores the relationship between technological, economic, and legal aspects of file sharing. I chronicle the evolution of content sharing technology since the 1990s and examine the role of network architecture in a copyright holder's choice of enforcement strategy. I also describe how users and developers of file sharing networks have responded to various enforcement tactics. The target audience of this survey consists of economists and legal scholars interested in the technology and economics of file sharing networks and the enforcement of intellectual property rights on these networks. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Where Are We Now On Cultural Economics

A survey of progress in cultural economics since its virtual birth in 1966 with the publication of Baumol and Bowen, Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma , distinguishing between 'theoretical progress' and 'empirical progress'. Following in the footsteps of Towse's recent anthology of classic papers in cultural economics, I address nine topics that between them cover the subject, namely, (1) taste and taste formation, (2) demand and supply studies, (3) the media industries, (4) the art market, (5) the economic history of the arts, (6) the labour market for artists, (7) Baumol's cost disease, (8) non‐profit arts organisations, and (9) public subsidies to the arts. I conclude that there has been some theoretical and empirical progress in the treatment of almost all these topics.     

论供应链视角下中国职业篮球联赛表演权的产权归属

通过中国职业篮球联赛供应链的构建,来分析中国职业篮球联赛表演权的具体形成及其表现形式。同时从经济学、著作权法、不完全合同理论三个角度分析中国职业篮球联赛表演权的最终产权归属。旨在对中国职业篮球联赛表演权的归属有个直观、全面的认识,并保护职业篮球运动员、教练员和职业篮球俱乐部的合法权益。     

DIGITAL MEDIA AND THE ECONOMICS OF CRIME

Digital crime is an area where the application of the economics of crime is complex. In a nutshell, the essential economic problem of digi-crime is the impact of technological progress making transactions costs of enforcement potentially too high, partly because of the low costs of copyright infringement due to technological advance, for there to be substantial amounts of deterrence from punishment.     

New Institutional Economics in the Post-Socialist Transformation Debate

The paper suggests that there is a tension between the basic tenant of New Institutional Economics (NIE) and the manner in which it has been applied in the debate on post-socialist transformation. This tension is explored in the context of four main perspectives on NIE: (i) property rights, (ii) transaction costs economics, (iii) new economic history, and (iv) evolutionary economics. There are two main arguments. The first is that the transformation phase should be seen as 'open-ended' rather than a 'closed process' where the 'pure market' is the inevitable end result. The second is that, although the NIE literature touches on most of the issues which are relevant to post-socialist transformation, the insights that it offers are still too general for policy guidance.     

Artistic Creation and Intellectual Property: A Professional Career Approach

Reaching high levels of artistic creation in a society requires institutions that facilitate the sorting of the most talented individuals of each generation and the development of their skills throughout the artistic career. The impact of long copyrights is not straightforward in this respect. This paper takes a professional career approach to analyzing how copyright regulation affects artistic creation. It does so within an overlapping‐generations model of artists. Long copyrights increase superstar market concentration and can reduce the number of young artists being able to pursue artistic careers. As a result, in the long run, excessively long copyrights can reduce artistic creation, the average talent of artists, and social welfare.     

SHIFTING BOUNDARIES IN ECONOMICS: THE INSTITUTIONAL COGNITIVE STRAND AND THE FUTURE OF INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS

This paper aims at contributing to the debate on the future of institutional economics and of the field as a whole by starting from the literature that discusses the relationship between Old‐Original Institutional Economics and New Institutional Economics. It suggests that the process of reunifying OIE and NIE (and evolutionary economics) prompted by part of the literature could be improved by the contribution of the Cognitive Institutional Economics. The paper follows a two‐stage pathway: first, it frames the debate on the relationships between NIE and the OIE and it concentrates on a subset of the literature that shows that NIE's recent developments complicate the distinction between NIE and OIE, and it explores the possibility that NIE and OIE may merge so that an amalgam of NIE, OIE and Evolutionary Economics becomes the next economic paradigm. Secondly, the paper argues that a step forward in the direction outlined by the literature has been made by CIE, which is a research stream that developed from cross‐fertilization among NIE, OIE and the Hayekian contributions to the analysis of institutions. In the concluding remarks, the possible emergence of a single institutional paradigm is discussed in the light of the literature about change in economics.     

A REVIEW OF THE RECENT LITERATURE ON THE INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS ANALYSIS OF THE LONG‐RUN PERFORMANCE OF NATIONS

This paper reviews the recent (post‐2000) literature that assesses the importance of institutions as a factor determining cross‐country differences in growth rates or in the contemporary level of “prosperity.” It first sketches how institutional economics has evolved. It then examines critically the methods of analysis employed in the recent literature. The paper finds that this literature has made a major contribution to the analysis of the causes of economic growth but the relative importance of institutions as a determinant of long‐run growth and prosperity is still a wide open question.     

Culture in Neoinstitutional Economics: An Integration of Myrdal and Galbraith into the Veblen-Ayres Matrix

A bstract . Neoinstitutional economics , exemplified in this instance by the contributions of Gunnaar Myrdal and John K. Galbraith , exhibits a basic proclivity toward fragmentation. It is argued that a further advance of the Veblen-Ayres general theory of economic development will serve as the foundation to reverse such centrifugal tendencies and provide a basis for integration and synthesis. The key conceptual framework for analysis and theory resides in culture and its evolution. The core of culture is transformed through the processes of economic development fed by the dynamics of technological change. In a modified Veblen- Ayres matrix, social institutions are assumed to be integral to the organic whole of technology. Given further modifications of mainstream institutional economics contained in the "dichotomy of useful knowledge" and the "wheel of economic development," it is suggested that the cultural approaches of Myrdal and Galbraith might then be integrated into the culture-analysis of economic evolution inherent in mainstream institutional economics     

Uncertainty and Economic Sociology:

A BSTRACT . The paper discusses the role of uncertainty in economic sociology, aiming to clarify some controversial issues in the related literature. Initially, some conceptual remarks are made about the relation between economic sociology, neoclassical economics, and rational choice theory. Next, in light of the existing literature on uncertainty and economic sociology, we distinguish between complexity and different types of uncertainty. We also identify different versions of the maximization hypothesis and examine their relations to the different types of uncertainty. Then we defend a concept of fundamental uncertainty that emphasizes the role of institutions. A theory that combines fundamental uncertainty and institutions should emphasize not only the existence of behavior in accordance with institutions, but also the possibility of creative, bold, unconventional behavior, discussed next, as people may use the knowledge provided by institutions to go against the tide. Finally, we suggest that the primary distinction should be that between approaches to economic issues, not between disciplines.     

我国时尚杂志品牌竞争态势实证研究——以女性高码洋期刊市场为例

随着我国经济的发展,对于文化产品的需求也在提高,较之一般产品而言,在同质性较高的时尚杂志市场中,品牌因素显得尤为重要。从品牌学角度,运用定性和定量相结合的方法,分析与国外著名品牌进行"版权合作"时尚杂志的生存现状,研究我国时尚杂志市场中品牌间的相互作用及其竞争关系,探索时尚杂志强势品牌形成的内在规律,对于我国打造自有文化产品品牌参与全球市场竞争也具有相应的意义。     

会计准则的性质:多视角的理论评述

围绕会计准则的性质,从管理学和经济学两个视角进行诠释,试图通过会计准则性质的全新和全面释义,求解会计准则的管理意义和经济价值,并进一步为会计准则的后续研究提供新的命题与研究路径。从九个角度给出了会计准则性质的确认,研究认为:会计准则是一种经济规制(历史观)、是一组分配标准(经济后果观)、是一种平衡机制(企业定价观)、是一种决策和制衡机制(公司治理观)、是一种博弈均衡制度(博弈观)、是一种产权制度(产权观)、是一种契约装置(信息观)、是一种公共物品(公共选择观)、是一种评价利益关系的风险配置(契约观)。     

Undecidability, Computation Universality and Minimality in Economic Dynamics*

An attempt is made, in this paper, to pose questions about economic dynamics in the broad areas of microeconomics, behavioural economics and macroeconomics from the point of view of classical recursion theory. This viewpoint makes it imperative that the fundamental economic entities in question are given an algorithmic formulation. Algorithms, in turn, are intrinsically dynamic objects which, if they are nontrivial, encapsulate nonlinear dynamics in novel ways such that it is possible to ask decidability questions and obtain effective answers about the economic entities.
It is shown, formally, that rational economic behaviour is comfortably consistent with nonmaximum, disequilibrium and unstable economic dynamics in core areas of microeconomics, behavioural economics and macroeconomics.     

Accounting calculation and the shifting sphere of the economic

The paper examines some aspects of the interrelationship between accounting and economics. Noting that much of the significance of accounting stems from the coupling of relatively routine procedures with wider understandings of the functions which they can serve, the paper examines how economic discourses have provided contexts for accounting elaboration and change.

Reference is made to two case examples. The mutual interrelationship between accounting and economics is emphasized in the paper with particular consideration being given to the ways in which accounting calculations facilitate the construction of spheres of economic activity.     

The prospect of decent work,decent industrial relations and decent social relations in China: towards a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach

Abstract

Decent Work is a key initiative launched by the International Labour Organization in 1999. The initiative is to promote decent and productive employment with decent conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. In reviewing academic literature on decent work, existing studies have been conducted primarily from a legal and political economic perspective. It is also largely situated outside any national industrial relations framework, both theoretically and practically. Decent work is an advocacy initiative of ILO, but the promotion of universal values embodied in the notion (e.g. equality, fairness, justice and dignity) needs to be tailored to specific societal contexts. Drawing on existing academic literature, this review article examines ideological, institutional and cultural distances between decent work and the reality of employment in China. It argues that achieving decent work requires an ideological transition of ‘traditional’ Chinese work ethics and a cultural transition from collectivism and altruism towards individualism and an emphasis on individual rights. This study also examines and highlights regulatory enforcement deficits and the inadequate role of the trade union in facilitating the advancement of decent work at various levels. Finally, the article argues that the study of decent work should be mainstreamed as an integral part of decent industrial relations and ultimately, decent social relations. It calls for a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach to examining the historical, political, economic, ideological and cultural context of specific countries in fulfilling the ‘Decent Work’ agenda.     

IDENTITY ECONOMICS: SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Within the economic literature, studies in identity economics, peer effects, and skill development have all suggested that social influences have an important role in determining choices. In this review, I draw on lessons learned from the identity economics literature to examine implications from the peer effects and skill development literature. I focus on the role of social identity in generating social group effects from peers and what role identity may have in shaping the development of skills from broader environments, parents and peers during childhood and adolescence.     

The economics of the Books of Moses

The Books of Moses contained economic precepts that made a twofold impact in the history of economic thought. First, Mosaic precepts shaped Israel's transition from a nomadic to a sedentary economy. This transition as such had parallels in many other societies, but Israel's case was unique in that Moses grounded economic precepts on theology. Second, Moses shaped conceptions of economics by Jews and by non‐Jews, in two ways: first, he laid a path for theologically derived economics that continued in Christianity and in Islam; second, he cast terms of reference for the right to own property that were dominant in Western economic thinking until the Enlightenment.     

宋庄原创艺术集聚区发展方略

宋庄原创艺术集聚区是具有重要国际影响的中国文化创意产业集聚区.影响集聚区生存和发展的主要因素是地缘规划的协调性、租金价格的稳定性、原创环境的适宜性、艺术市场的规范性和文化经济政策的宽容程度.集聚区的规划和建设,须遵循拾掇、整合、更新和节约原则,尊重文化多样性,保护文化原生态,正确处理"五个关系".宋庄原创艺术集聚区的产生是一个市场自组织的过程,文化经济政策的制定应坚持有限理性原则.要引导适度优先发展文化创意产业,提高动员、吸引和留住艺术家的能力,健全和完善集聚区公共服务平台,使宋庄成为中国文化经济特区.     

PROTECTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS AND GROWTH AS POLITICAL EQUILIBRIA

Abstract This paper presents a survey of the literature on property rights and economic growth. Different theoretical mechanisms that relate property rights to economic development are discussed. Lack of protection of property rights can result in slow economic growth through different channels: expropriation of private wealth, corruption of civil servants, excessive taxation and barriers to adoption of new technologies. The origins of property rights are also considered. Different theories are illustrated but more attention is paid to the ‘social conflict view’ and its success and limitations. The second part of the paper illustrates relevant empirical works on property rights and growth.     

Money and its Economic and Social Functions: Simmel and European Monetary Integration

A bstract This essay tries to put Georg Simmels The Philosophy of Money into the context of current monetary discussions in economics. Part I looks at the contribution of Georg Simmel in context and offers remarks about the changing structure of economics as a discipline composed of many different subdisciplines. It is argued that Simmel is able to transcend subdisciplinary borders, to great benefit for today's scholar. Part III explains Heinsohn and Steiger's recent contribution to monetary economics in terms of transactions and property rights; although the contribution has been made more in the context of post-Keynesian economics, this is the only way to comprehend and integrate it into the mainstream of scholarly discourse. This examination shows that Simmels approach, transgressing interdisciplinary borders, has merits even today. Part IV looks at the perplexing phenomenon of European monetary integration with a similar interdisciplinary perspective in mind. In this case, it is not monetary economics but constitutional political economy which is the unifying concept to explain the peculiar features of European monetary integration.