Factors Affecting Consumers’Internet Shopping Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic:Evidence from Bangladesh

The aim of the study was to investigate the factors affecting consumers’internet shopping behavior during the coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic in Banglades...     

The Scope and Limits of a Public–Private Hybrid: Dispute Settlement under NAFTA Chapter 19

Globalisation is often depicted as having led to an increase in private authority at the expense of that of the state. It is important to correctly specify the scope that private authority has achieved and the capacity of states to push back and limit that authority. This article grounds these theoretical issues in a discussion of the hybrid, public–private dispute settlement mechanism set up in the original Canada–US Free Trade Agreement (CUSTFA), and later extended into Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It finds that privatising the enforcement process did make a difference. Trade experts on panels saw things differently to judges and in ways that were more sympathetic to exporters. This favoured Canadian and Mexican interests. However, the arrangement lacked deep roots. It was a late-stage compromise in trade negotiations. This rendered it vulnerable to a US counterattack once panels began to rule in favour of Canadian and Mexican challenges to US trade determinations. The transfer of quasi-judicial authority to a public–private hybrid proved contingent, partly on the hegemonic state's ongoing level of comfort with the arrangement, as well as on a lack of business consensus within the United States.     

COVID-19 fatalities and internal conflict: Does government economic support matter?

This study examines the association between COVID-19 mortality rates and internal conflict and investigates the possible moderating role of government economic support during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. Our main hypothesis suggests that countries with lower levels of government economic support are more likely to experience a positive correlation between higher COVID-19 mortality rates and the emergence of internal conflict. Using cross-country data from over 100 countries and controlling for various factors that may influence internal conflict, our analysis provides some support for this hypothesis. The results suggest a possible moderating role for government economic support, with the evidence indicating a weakening or elimination of the association between COVID-19 mortality rates and internal conflict when government economic support is adequate. However, the moderating effect of government economic support is not always significant, and caution is needed when interpreting the results. Our analysis also highlights the potential risks associated with low levels of government economic support during the pandemic. Specifically, we find that in countries where the government's macro-financial package in response to the pandemic is less than approximately 25% of GDP, there is a possible risk of growth in civil disorder resulting from increased COVID-19 deaths per million.     

比利时传染病防控应急体系与应急措施

2019新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情暴发给中国乃至全球公共卫生带来了重大挑战。比利时在传染病防控方面具有丰富的经验。本研究通过检索相关文献及政策资料,回顾比利时针对传染性疾病的应急管理的法律法规、组织框架、经费、应急系统,并以比利时2014年埃博拉疫情防控为例,总结比利时防控传染病政策和措施的成功经验。在此基础上,针对2019冠状病毒提出防治措施建议:设立永久性传染病风险评估工作组;利用大数据构建突发传染病主动防控云平台;定期开展针对突发传染病防控的相关演习等。