论缓停建工程中优先权的冲突与顺位确定

由于缓停建工程所涉及的法律权利的复合性与多重性,债权人在实现自己的债权时势必会与他人的民事权利产生冲突,须确立一定的规则来协调各种权利冲突,使处于优位的特定债权人的利益得到保障。在确立解决优先权之间冲突原则的基础上,尚须对各项权利安排合理的顺位,以为法院处理此类问题提供一条切实可行的思路。     

共享资源治理制度转型中个体认知状态的实证研究

基于对认知行为与制度演化的认识,在偏好分层理论框架下,本文针对“既非家庭私有又非社会公有的被一定范围内私人共享”的共享资源治理制度转型,通过对南京市两次截面数据(2003年878个、2005年865个样本)的统计分析,考察了共享资源治理制度转型中个体认知状态:面临转型期复合场景信号作用,个体外层偏好关系和认知状态发生冲突———趋于支配共享资源决策权利、同时回避与之对应、对等的供给责任。对两次截面数据所做的方差分析显示,存在认知冲突的个体比例未发生显著变化,但各变量特征变化表明,新场景下治理关系的认知状态调整将有利于共享资源治理转型。     

Testing the conflict-performance assumption in business-to-business relationships

There is little empirical research published testing the interdependency between conflict in business-to-business relationships and commercial performance. The “conflict-performance assumption”—all other factors being equal, relationships where conflict is low will outperform relationships where conflict levels are higher—remains central in the marketing channels' literature despite insufficient and contradictory empirical evidence. There are several explanations for the lack of a clear relationship between conflict and performance. Rosenbloom [J. Mark. 37 (1973) 26] theorises that the relationship between conflict and channel performance follows an inverted U-shaped curve, where conflict is most productive at moderate levels and least productive at very low or high levels. Others have argued for a simpler, linear relationship between conflict and performance, usually negative in nature. Various theories about the conflict-performance relationship are empirically tested in a large marketing channel, using a number of dyadic and monadic measures of conflict (latent, perceived, and affective) and two objective measures of performance (effectiveness and efficiency). A linear model (performance declining as conflict increases) is adequate to explain the relationship between dyadic measures of both perceived and affective conflict and channel effectiveness. A threshold model is found to be superior to a linear model in explaining the relationship between dyadic measures of perceived and affective conflict and efficiency. Conflict increases slowly as efficiency falls until a threshold is reached when conflict escalates. Practical implications include that companies need to consider whether performance criteria affecting efficiency are as important to their business partners as those affecting effectiveness. If they are not, then business partners should be rewarded for meeting any such criteria that are more important to the one side of a relationship dyad than to the other.     

Insider Ownership and Firm Value: Evidence from Real Estate Investment Trusts

Real estate investment trust (REIT) provides a unique laboratory to study the relation between insider ownership and firm value. One, a REIT has to satisfy special regulations which weaken alternative mechanisms to control agency problems. Empirically, I find a significant and robust nonlinear relation between Tobin's Q and REIT insider ownership that is consistent with the trade-off between the incentive alignment and the entrenchment effect of insider ownership. Two, many REITs are Umbrella Partnership REITs (UPREITs) which have dual ownership structure. They have both common shares and Operating Partnership Units (OP units). Property owners can contribute their properties to the UPREIT in exchange for OP units. Their capital gains taxes remain deferred as long as they hold onto their OP units and the UPREIT does not sell the properties they contributed. OP units owners are locked in with the firm and have incentive to monitor firm management, but their interests diverge from the common shareholders because their tax bases are much lower. Consistent with the trade-off between positive monitoring effect of OP units and tax-induced agency costs, I find that UPREIT's firm value increases with the fraction of OP units, but the effect is significantly weaker for the UPREITs where insiders hold OP units.     

Conflict and the ethnic structure of the marketplace: Evidence from Israel

How and why does ethnic conflict affect the ethnic structure of the marketplace? To answer these questions, this paper merges a unique administrative dataset covering the universe of transactions in the Israeli market for used cars during 1998–2010 with data on the intensity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The analysis shows that violence reduces the number of transactions between Arab sellers and Jewish buyers while increasing the number of transactions between Arab sellers and Arab buyers; violence has no effect on the number of transactions involving Jewish sellers. I relate these findings to the economic literature studying the sources of discrimination.     

Economic consequences of war: Evidence from Sri Lanka

We propose a theoretical and econometric framework to evaluate the impact of war on economic growth of a developing country with an open economy. The theoretical framework encompasses both the neoclassical and endogenous growth models. We test this framework using Sri Lankan data. The war had significant and negative effects both in the short and long-run (annual average of 9% of GDP). High returns from investment in physical capital did not translate in sizable positive externalities. Only short-run significant effects of openness on growth are found. Inconsistent politically driven policies towards openness are the likely reason.     

In the wake of conflict: the long-term effect on child nutrition in Uganda

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency from 1986 to 2006 is one of the longest conflicts in Uganda. This paper examines the effect of the LRA insurgency on child nutrition using the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. The distance from each village to the border of South Sudan is used as an instrument for identifying the intensity of the conflict. We find that each conflict event in a village lowers weight-for-age z-scores and weight-for-height z-scores for children born after the conflict. We further investigate a possible heterogeneous conflict effect on child nutrition in terms of gender, region, and maternal education. Low household wealth, limited access to healthcare, and poor maternal nutrition appear to be channels through which the conflict inhibits the growth and development of children 5 years after the end of the conflict.     

Development of a conflict management model as a tool for improved project outcomes in community based tourism

Community based tourism (CBT) offers many opportunities, however, conflict frequently occurs while developing CBT in communities around the world. Despite conflict limiting the potential of CBT, conflict management in CBT has not previously been systematically studied. To investigate conflict and conflict management during CBT, a linear model of conflict management was developed and subsequently tested through a three phase qualitative process: analysis of CBT literature, online international survey of 29 CBT stakeholders, and in-depth interviews of 23 CBT stakeholders. Results endorse the proposed linear model of ‘conflict themes’: an ‘instance’ of conflict, followed by a ‘response’, which results in an ‘impact’. The rich data highlights the complexity involved, which was incorporated into the expanded model with three additional scenarios: ‘new conflict develops’, ‘interrelated conflict themes’, and ‘simultaneous conflict themes’. The complete Conflict Management Model provides stakeholders with a tool to address conflict, thereby improving the outcomes of CBT.     

HUMANITARIAN CRISES AND ADOLESCENT WELL-BEING: KNOWLEDGE,GAPS, AND PROSPECTS

Adolescence constitutes the second and final window of human growth and a period of specific vulnerabilities, such as early pregnancy, early marriage, HIV infection, suicide, violence, alcohol, and drugs. Only a limited body of research investigates the effects of humanitarian crises on the human capital and well-being of adolescents. The evidence focuses on the short-term effects of conflict and, to a lesser extent, natural disasters on education, physical health, and nutrition, but not on mental health. Most analyses examine the situations of individuals exposed in utero and young childhood, but rarely during adolescence. Typically missing are robust empirical identification strategies and estimates on heterogeneous effects across age or gender. The lack of quality data and challenges in defining adolescence, establishing causality, or ensuring ethical research explain the knowledge gaps. Possible ways to expand the evidence base include mixing georeferenced data on individual location with georeferenced data on crises, sharpening quasi-experimental analytical techniques, and reconsidering the current timing of demographic data collection, now spanning 4- or 5-year intervals. The failure to make such adjustments will end by ignoring specific vulnerabilities among adolescents and render sustainable progress in well-being globally, narrowing inequalities, and guaranteeing human rights to all more difficult to achieve.