Employees who do not know their labour contract term and the implications for working conditions: Evidence from Japanese and Spanish microdata

In this paper, we analyse the relationship between employees who do not know the length of their labour contract (hereafter, DNK employees) and working conditions. In developed countries, labour standards regulations generally require employers to provide a labour contract with a clearly defined duration to protect the fundamental rights of workers. However, the data reveal that in the developed countries on which we focus, Japan and Spain, non-negligible proportions of employees, 8% and 11%, respectively, do not know the duration of their labour contracts. Utilizing 2012 data from the Employment Status Survey for Japan and the Economically Active Population Survey for Spain, we find that whether workers are ignorant of their contract term commonly depends on their human capital level. Women, single people, younger and older workers and less-educated workers are more likely not to know their labour contract duration. Compared with other employees, DNK employees are more dissatisfied with their current job, more likely to search for other jobs and less likely to seek more work in their current jobs. We find that DNK employees suffer from a wage penalty for non-standard status and have less access to job training, as occurs in Japan, and that specific attributes, such as immigrant status, tend to be closely related to DNK status, as occurs in Spain. Overall, DNK employment is related to poor working conditions, which indicates the importance of educating workers about labour laws to maintain the welfare of disadvantaged workers.     

Toponymy as Commodity: Exploring the Economic Dimensions of Urban Place Names

In recent years the study of urban toponymy (place names) has been revitalized by the emergence of a ‘critical toponymies' approach. This focuses on the cultural politics of place naming and the decisions involved in attributing names to the urban landscape. However, in contemporary cities place names have an economic role in addition to their political role. In particular, there have been recent calls for more attention to the commodification of place‐naming rights and practices. This article seeks to respond to these calls by addressing the issue of urban place names as commodities. It begins by examining the naming of sports stadia by corporate sponsors. It then considers a range of ways in which private‐sector interests are increasingly influencing the naming of the urban landscape, from buildings and neighbourhoods to individual streets. Even the material signage that identifies street names can be appropriated within branding and promotional strategies. Moreover, urban place names are increasingly incorporated into a range of commercially produced spatial datasets collated by private companies. The article ends by proposing a number of directions for future research into the economic role of urban place names and the commodification of toponymy more broadly.     

内蒙古集体林权制度改革后农户收入变化影响因素分析

从农户角度出发,研究内蒙古集体林权制度改革后农户收入变化。根据实地调查获得的相关数据,运用Probit模型进行实证分析,分析各主要影响因素对农户收入变化的作用方向和影响程度。根据Probit模型的回归结果发现:林地块数、家庭人均年纯收入、是否有林权证、是否有林下种植和林下养殖、是否有木材采伐等影响因素对集体林权制度改革后农户收入变化的作用效果较为显著。在此基础上,提出林业相关部门要全面落实林权证发放工作、全面落实林改配套改革的实施、鼓励农户积极发展林下经济、加大最新林业政策的宣传力度、加强林业基础设施的建设等建议。     

Collective action in China’s recent collective forestry property rights reform

China’s recent collective forestry property rights reform (CFPRR) is regarded as the third Land Reform and has been implemented to accelerate China’s rural restructuring. In departing from previous top-down policy changes, the CFPRR has focused on local collective practices and actions. It indicates a shift in China’s rural governance, away from direct intervention towards support for local collective actions. Based on a case study of Hongtian Village, the origin of the CFPRR, this article analyses the process of insinuating collective action and the impact that this has had in creating a new cultural understanding and acceptance of collective forestry property rights. In contrast to the relative insecurity of tenure that can accompany many reforms of the governance of common pool resources, the paper suggests that the success of the ‘Hongtian model’ mainly lies in high levels of process engagement by local people and effective interaction between villagers and the government. While not addressing all the issues associated with the inefficiency of the previous collective approach to forestry, the paper suggests that there are many transferable lessons to be learnt from the CFPRR, both within and beyond China.     

Consumer rights of the elderly as vulnerable consumers in South Africa: some comparative aspects of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008

Although consumer protection is not a new concept in South African law, the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) now provides for a much more comprehensive and encompassing mechanism to protect consumers. Consumers are protected, not only in the provision of goods and services, the conclusion of contracts but also in the promotion and marketing thereof. The CPA further provides special protection to a particular type of consumer which is the vulnerable consumer and includes elderly consumers. Importantly, and for the first time in the history of South African law, the consumer is provided with eight core fundamental consumer rights. As this contribution is an attempt to provide an interdisciplinary analysis from a legal perspective, identification of what is considered to be an ‘elderly' consumer, needs to be assessed by referring to relevant empirical studies from both an international as well as South African perspective. The focus of this study is on the protection of the elderly as a category of vulnerable consumers in terms of the CPA. The investigation will attempt to show that the elderly is protected in terms of all eight of the fundamental consumer rights within the CPA. Special reference will be made to two fundamental rights of the consumer in terms of the CPA. First, the elderly consumer's right to equality in the consumer market (Part A of the CPA) which provides additional protection as the CPA also refers to the Constitutional right to equality. Second, the elderly consumer's the right to fair and responsible marketing (Part E of the CPA) which in terms of the research is compared with the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Certain problems regarding elderly consumers are identified and the importance of consumer rights as well as the implementation of the correct consumer policy is argued.     

金融消费权益保护制度建设的国际比较研究

本文从世界银行与国际金融消费权益保护组织就全球金融消费权益保护与教育发展情况进行的联合调查出发,对114个国家金融消费权益保护法律框架与制度安排、金融机构行为与监管、金融消费纠纷解决机制、金融消费者教育等情况进行了梳理。研究发现,金融消费权益保护成为各国金融监管改革的重点领域之一;金融消费权益保护的规范性不断增强,法制建设进一步完善;金融消费权益保护部门的独立性不断提高;监管工具和手段日益完善。     

The quest for expansive intellectual property rights and the failure to disclose known relevant prior art

Expansive patent portfolios may be used by firms to fence off technological space for commercialization, impede the commercialization efforts of competitors, and enhance bargaining power in cross‐licensing negotiations. Low quality patents with claims that overlap those of other patents contribute to these portfolios and patent strategies. By failing to disclose known relevant prior art during the patenting process, inventors and their firms may be granted low quality patents with intellectual property claims which would not otherwise have been granted. We find that the failure of inventors to disclose known relevant prior art increases as they gain experience with the patenting process. Such failure is also greater among inventors employed by relatively small, poorly performing firms that rely on outsourced legal counsel during the application process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deals not done: Sources of failure in the market for ideas

Using novel survey data on technology licensing, we report the first empirical evidence linking the three main sources of failure emphasized in the market design literature (lack of market thickness, congestion, lack of market safety) to deal outcomes. We disaggregate the licensing process into three stages and find that, although lack of market thickness and deal failure are correlated in the first stage, they are not in the latter stages, underscoring the bilateral monopoly conditions under which negotiations over intellectual property often occur. In contrast, market safety is only salient in the final stage. Several commonly referenced bargaining frictions (congestion) are salient, particularly in the second stage. Also, universities and firms differ in the stage during which they are most likely to experience deal failure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

国际贸易成本、制度环境与 FDI 区位分布--来自120个城市的经验证据

本文使用世界银行的城市数据定量比较了国际贸易成本与产权保护水平、契约执行效率和政府干预程度等制度环境对FDI区位分布的影响。研究发现,外企高度依赖国际市场,国际贸易成本显著影响了FDI区位分布;融资的便利和母国政府的支持,推行纵向一体化导致其产业链有闭合趋势等因素,使外企对当地制度环境并不敏感。本文分析表明有必要进行全国性运输改革,以提升中西部内陆地区对FDI的吸引力。