Evaluating the British Model of Electricity Deregulation

Abstract ** :  A key aspect of the 1990 reforms to the British electricity supply industry was the introduction of a formal system of regulation by an autonomous regulatory body. It was expected that replacement of monopolies in some areas by markets and price‐setting in monopoly areas using a simple incentive formula would mean that regulation of the industry would be 'light'. This article examines how regulation has turned out in practice. It concludes that the promise of 'light' regulation has not been fulfilled. Regulation of competitive markets is a major regulatory activity, incentive regulation has evolved into a complex and intrusive form of rate‐of‐return, while regulation of industry structure has allowed the industry to descend into a concentrated, vertically integrated structure, at odds with the aims of the reforms .     

‘Double dipping’: the combined effects of social security and civil service pensions on employee retirement

How do macro variables such as aggregate consumption, aggregate money demand, prices, and interest rates vary in response to government attempts to redistribute income across agents through selective tax-transfer policies? This question is investigated for an overlapping generations model consisting of heterogeneously endowed three-period lived agents. In the presumably most favorable case for invariance (identical log-linear utility functions), it is shown that positive interest rate macro equilibria are invariant with respect to redistributions in social security benefits if and only if all agents initially exhibit qualitatively identical liquidity preference behavior, i.e. positive money holding only in youth, only in middle-age, or never.     

Investigating the solvency of brazilian credit unions using a proportional hazard model

Abstract ** : Due to high interest rates and bank spreads, the number of credit unions in Brazil has increased over recent years. As financial institutions, these cooperatives need tools to signal impending financial problems. This paper focuses on one tool that can be used to evaluate credit union solvency: the Cox Proportional Hazards Model. A sample of 80 credit unions from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was selected to supply data. The analysis period is between December 2001 and June 2003. The results indicate that the relevant indicators for insolvency prediction are, in descending order of predictive ability, General Liquidity, Salary and Benefit Expenses, and the Loan/Equity Ratio. In general, results produced using the delineated theoretical model were in consonance with international literature .     

Why Punish? Social reciprocity and the enforcement of prosocial norms

Recently economists have become interested in why people who face social dilemmas in the experimental lab use the seemingly incredible threat of punishment to deter free riding. Three theories with evolutionary microfoundations have been developed to explain punishment. We survey these theories and use behavioral data from surveys and experiments to show that the theory called social reciprocity in which people punish norm violators indiscriminately explains punishment best.JEL Classification: C91, C92, D64, H41 Correspondence to: Jeffrey P. CarpenterWe thank Carolyn Craven, Corinna Noelke and two referees for comments, and Middlebury College for financial assistance. In addition, Carpenter acknowledges the support of the National Science Foundation (SES-CAREER 0092953).     

“连接自然与文化” ① ：西方哲学背景下 的全球议题

文化遗产保护是动态发展的概念，总结了文化景观 的3类意义：1)文化景观作为物质实体；2)文化景观作为概念 和过程；3)文化景观作为方法和工具。指出当前世界遗产及 文化景观保护中存在的自然和文化分离现象，揭示了西方哲学 的二元两分法的背景根源。介绍了IUCN和ICOMOS为融合 自然与文化而进行的“连接实践项目”和“自然文化之旅”2 个项目，推广他们在不同地理和文化背景下，为更好地连接自 然与文化遗产的治理和管理实践所作出的杰出贡献和引领作 用，主张非西方原住民社区、地方社区应该在推进“自然文化 之旅”工作中占有核心地位。     

治理理论与政府改革

运用治理理论重新审视和思考政府改革，对于拓展和开阔政府改革的理论和思路具有重要意义。它表明政府改革不能仅仅局限于政府自身的改革，而应该在政治民主化、国家与社会（国家权力与公民权利）、政府与市场等更为广阔的理论视野下思考和进行。     

闽学文化传统特质与福建企业家精神

从闽学文化传统特质对福建企业家精神生成的孕育、制约两个方面分析了福建企业家精神的文化根源。并认为，在与市场经济的冲撞相融合中，经过冲突、筛选、整合过的闽学传统文化对福建的企业家精神会产生深刻的影响，能以其博大精深的文化底蕴去完善、升华福建企业家精神，使之适合福建市场经济的发展需要。     

把握政策科学 提高政府效率

提高政府效率是我国应对加入WTO带来机遇与挑战的重要环节。政策科学是政府行政的重要理论基础，政府效率首先取决于政策的科学性，政策的有效执行是提高政府效率的关键，政策评估间接促进政府效率提高。各级政府都应加强对于政策科学的研究和掌握，更好地实现有效率的政府管理。