The composition of interest: The judaic prohibition

An interest charge is made up of an award for waiting known as the real rate of interest, a premium for risk and compensation for transaction costs. Where inflation exists the lender seeks further compensation. In order to understand the composition and evolution of different versions of the usury prohibition it is necessary to ask which components of an interest charge are prohibited by each version. The Judaic prohibition has two aspects which are of particular interest to business historians and students of usury. First, the general rule is that a reward for waiting is prohibited. This focuses on the time-based part of interest charge. Second, interest is prohibited because it amounts to placing a stumbling block before the blind. This focuses on the typical gullibility of the borrower confronted by a more expert, better funded lender. Economics confirms and enriches our understanding of these important aspects of the prohibition. They achieve this by increasing our understanding of two facts: first, that the borrower is a gullible individual subject to irrational and inconsistent behaviour; and, second, that this behaviour relates to the waiting aspect of interest which is proscribed in the prohibition. How far these insights apply to other civilisations' prohibition, particularly those which derive from the Judaic prohibition, merits further study; so also do the ethical lessons of the Mosaic rules for a globalised society based on capitalism.     

Whistle-Blowing for Profit: An Ethical Analysis of the Federal False Claims Act

This paper focuses on the 1986 Amendments to the False Claims Act of 1863, which offers whistle-blowers financial rewards for disclosing fraud committed against the U.S. government. This law provides an opportunity to examine underlying assumptions about the morality of whistle-blowing and to consider the merits of increased reliance on whistle-blowing to protect the public interest. The law seems open to a number of moral objections, most notably that it exerts a morally corrupting influence on whistle-blowers. We answer these objections and argue that the law is not objectionable on these grounds. Since there are no compelling moral objections to the law, it is appropriate and acceptable to judge the law in terms of its economic costs and benefits. We assess the most salient of these and conclude that the benefits outweigh the costs. We suggest that a mechanism similar to the Act should be considered for protecting stockholders’ interests in the private sector. We conclude by making several proposals for improving the existing legislation. The authors' names are listed in alphabetical order. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Society for Business Ethics August 2004.     

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Business Ethics and Youths in Asia

A model of corporate ethics and social responsibility (CESR) was developed and empirically tested among Chinese business undergraduates in Hong Kong and Singapore. As predicted, it was found that CESR beliefs were negatively related to Machiavellianism and two Confucian concepts, guanxi (interpersonal connections) and mianzi (face). CESR beliefs were also lower among Hong Kong than Singaporean youths. The negative effects of guanxi, mianzi, and Machiavellianism were more pronounced for the Hong Kong than Singapore sample. Implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research suggested.     

人力资本与大学生就业——基于2010年对北京18所高校毕业生的调查

综合素质作为人力资本的核心体现,总体上不能提高就业概率,就业意愿和就业行为有助于展示人力资本价值,可提高就业率。与2008年相比,2010年综合素质和就业行为对大学生就业的作用减弱,就业意愿的作用增强,在一定程度上支持了读书无用论的观点,这会打击人力资本投资的热情,导致弃考、弃学现象,并最终影响国民素质的提高和经济的可持续发展。因此,要高度重视大学生就业问题。首先,要完善大学生就业机制,促进高素质人才顺利就业。打破体制性分割,建立全国统一的劳动力市场体系,提高社会保障的统筹层次,并加强就业服务与指导,减少交易成本,促进双方匹配。其次,要加强市场监管,规范信息发布、面试、录用等环节,确保透明、公开、公平,让拥有真才实学的优秀大学生脱颖而出。再次,要从创业教育、创业指导、创业资金等方面扶持更多的大学生创业,开辟一条增量型就业之路。     

农民参与土地制度变迁的模式与路径

采用制度经济学和公共选择理论的方法分析中国土地制度变迁中的农民行为后发现,农民对土地制度变迁有自己的应对办法。农民可以通过直接参与和间接参与两种模式影响土地制度的变迁。直接参与的具体路径包括:革命、契约和政治参与;间接参与的具体路径包括:通过选择制度供给者间接参与和通过反馈策略间接参与。中国的事例证明这些参与行为是存在或可能的。这就启示我们,在我国当前的土地制度创新中要考虑到农民的这些参与行为,以促使创新有效地进行。     

农户对宅基地流转福利的认同研究以湖北省为例

[目的]文章基于可行能力理论构建农户对宅基地流转福利的认同的理论模型,利用湖北省武汉、仙桃、恩施宅基地流转农户的实地调研数据,运用模糊综合评价法定量评价农户对宅基地流转福利的认同度,从农户主观价值认知视角评估宅基地流转对农户福利的影响效应。[方法]模糊综合评价法。[结果](1)总体上,农户认同宅基地流转福利,当前宅基地流转政策改善了农户福利。(2)宅基地流转对农户福利效应存在差异,宅基地流转显著改善了家庭经济、居住条件和心理感受福利,其次为社区环境和社会保障福利,改善农户发展机遇福利效应最低,且农户不认同宅基地流转后发展机遇福利。(3)宅基地流转改善农户福利效应存在禀赋差异,因经济发展水平、区位优势以及宅基地流转方式不同,农户对宅基地流转福利的认同存在差异。[结论]当前进一步深化宅基地流转政策改革对于提高农户福利,实施乡村振兴具有重要意义。农户对宅基地流转政策改革期望值较高,为进一步深化宅基地流转政策奠定了基础。     

宪政视野下宪法对国家干预市场经济权的规范

从宪政视野来看,国家干预市场经济权必须有宪法依据,并受到宪法的规范。外国宪法通常从权力的来源与权力行使方式、原则、义务和责任等对国家干预市场经济权进行规范。我国宪法在国家干预市场经济权的规范方面还存在一些问题,应完善宪法规则,以强化对国家干预市场经济权规范和促进经济法律制度完善。     

财政科技投入力度与企业创新产出：作用机制与异质性

财政科技投入不仅可以直接为企业的技术创新提供资金支持,而且可以通过政策导向营造良好的技术创新环境,改善企业的创新条件,并提高企业的创新意愿,从而促进企业创新投入和产出增长。以沪深A股上市公司为样本的分析发现：企业所在城市财政科技支出占财政总支出的比重提高显著促进了企业专利申请总量和发明专利申请量的增长,表明政府加大财政科技投入力度具有显著的企业创新产出促进效应;政府加大财政科技投入力度能够显著缓解企业的融资约束、提高企业的研发强度,即可以通过改善创新条件和提高创新意愿来促进企业创新产出增长;相对来讲,政府加大财政科技投入力度对非国有企业、吸收能力较强企业、高新技术行业企业、竞争性行业企业、制造业企业、资本密集和技术密集行业企业、科学技术支出规模较小地区企业的创新产出增长具有更强的促进作用。应进一步加大财政支持科技创新的力度,实施差异化的科技创新支持政策,持续改善创新环境,以更好地激发企业创新活力。     

企业知识联盟收益分享的“囚徒困境”与对策

企业知识联盟成功率不高的原因很多,其中之一是收益分享的困境问题,但很少有学者对此进行深入探讨.笔者运用博弈论,综合考虑了影响企业知识联盟收益分享的相关因素,分析了收益分享的“囚徒困境”,并提出了解决对策,包括求出了能达到联盟收益分享帕累托最优的收益分享系数与贴现因子、慎重选择联盟伙伴等.