Audit Firm Attributes and Auditor Litigation Risk

This study examines the association between auditors' litigation risk and audit firm attributes. Using professional liability insurance premiums as a proxy for auditors' litigation risk, we present evidence that the risk is lower in audit firms having: (1) separate non-audit and audit divisions; (2) a higher proportion of partners; and (3) a higher annual growth in number of CPAs employed. Additionally, we find that the risk is higher in audit firms having: (1) operating losses; and (2) high revenue growth. Our results are consistent with the idea that audit firms' financial condition and organizational structure affect their independence/ expertise, and, in turn, their litigation risk. Our results are broadly supportive of the PCAOB's (2015) and US Department of Treasury's (2008) views that investors, audit committees, management, and other regulators could benefit from having access to financial and organizational information about audit firms.     

Precision and Manipulation of Non-financial Information: The Curious Case of Environmental Liability

This paper develops a model showing how the environmental liability regime and the precision of the disclosed environmental performance indicator affect managers’ incentives (1) to reduce actual pollution and (2) to manipulate the reported pollution. I assume a company with a separation of ownership and control which can be held liable for environmental damages and distinguish between a negligence regime and strict liability. The results suggest that if there is no manipulation but only a lack of precision of the disclosed environmental performance indicator, a negligence rule induces lower actual pollution levels than strict liability even though a negligence rule is considered to be more lenient. If managers are able to manipulate the disclosed environmental performance indicator, they will do so and actual pollution levels will generally increase. While manipulation makes it easier for shareholders to escape liability under a negligence regime, shareholders suffer from manipulation under strict liability due to higher actual pollution and higher expected damage compensation payments. Therefore, the manipulation level is higher under a negligence regime. My analysis contributes to the environmental performance and disclosure literature by showing that the liability regime is an important determinant affecting environmental reporting and actual pollution decisions.     

外来者劣势与海外并购企业的生产率提升

海外并购已成为新兴经济体企业对外投资和实现国际化扩张的重要战略选择。外来者劣势是中国企业海外并购活动面临着的诸多困难之一。“外来者”身份会对企业并购后的整合与生产率提升这一关键问题产生负面影响,化解负面影响需作深入的细化研究。选取2008-2015年中国上市企业共计197起海外并购事件,以制度距离、文化距离以及地理距离分别作为外来者劣势中合法性缺失和信息不对称的替代变量,分析外来者劣势对海外并购企业生产率提升的作用机制。结果显示,合法性缺失导致的外来者劣势对海外并购企业的生产率提升有显著负影响,但信息不对称对生产率的影响并不显著。调节效应检验结果表明,国内投资能显著弱化制度距离和文化距离引致的外来者劣势对海外并购企业生产率的负影响,国际化经验和出口能克服制度距离带来的合法性问题,但对文化距离带来的合法性缺失的弱化效果并不明显。     

关于合同责任系统的探讨

合同过程分为成立、生效、履行和履行完毕四个阶段。与此相对应 ,合同责任分别有三种样态 :先合同责任 ,即合同生效前之订立阶段的缔约过失责任和成立后至生效前的效力过失责任 ;合同中责任 ,即合同生效后至履行完毕前之违约责任 ;合同履行完毕后之后合同责任。这三种合同责任样态以诚实信用原则为理论基础。共同构建合同责任系统。     

驰名商标权人责任承担的法经济学思考

驰名商标的保护源于《保护工业产权巴黎公约》,之后各国对驰名商标进行专门保护,《与贸易有关的知识产权协议》更是为驰名商标提供了全面、广泛的保护,并要求各国法律对驰名商标提供特殊保护。很显然,按照权利与义务对等的法律原则,享受特殊保护的驰名商标权利人,是否应当承担较普通商标权人更多的义务。     

侵权行为的经济分析

经济分析法学是西方法学界和经济学界发展最快的领域之一,运用经济学的方法对法律问题加以阐释,效率与均衡被认定为法律制度的核心理念。特别是在侵权领域引入经济学理论,对侵权行为的责任承担、损害赔偿的事后研究转向了事先分析。因此,从预防成本与预防收益之间的关系对侵权行为的归责原则进行效率分析,并借助“亨德公式”对两种不同的损害赔偿进行经济界定,权衡由侵权行为引起的社会成本差异,当预防的成本小于预防的预期收益,侵权人的预防是必要的、有效率的。如未采取有效的预防措施,侵权人的行为就是无效的,就要受到法律的惩罚。     

期权模型在财产保险偿付能力研究中的应用

期权模型已广泛应用于金融保险业。本文将期权定价模型运用于财产保险的偿付能力分析。在保险被视为公司的负债且保险的需求函数与偿付能力不足风险成反比的假设下,可通过选择偿付能力不足风险的水平来实现保险人的利润最大化。     

Can Agents Be Better Off with Pay Caps?

A popular way to discipline the managers of companies or banks that got into trouble during the recent financial crisis has been to impose caps on managers' pay. Using a small extension of the standard principal–agent model, we argue that pay caps might serve the opposite purpose, because the agent might be better off with a pay cap. Specifically, we show that, given a fixed effort level to be implemented, the agent's expected utility can be decreasing in an upper bound for the agent's reward. The effect of pay caps on the general structure of optimal incentive contracts is also characterized. While an improvement of contracting information always helps the principal, it might increase or decrease the marginal cost of imposing pay caps.     

Microcredit games with noisy signals: Contagion and free-riding

The advent of microcredit financing has remarkably improved access to credit for the poor in many developing countries. Although several microcredit programs have adopted the joint liability scheme, economic theory suggests that joint liability could increase strategic default through contagion and free-riding. This paper aims at studying the extent of free-riding and contagion in joint liability lending. By using data from experimental repayment games conducted in Vietnam, with noisy signals that resemble actual microcredit programs, we found that subjects were motivated to free-ride under the joint liability scheme. While most empirical research in this area has focused on the problem of contagion, our findings point to the significance of investigating free-riding behavior under joint liability schemes. Analyses reveal that the free-riding tendency may be led by the irresponsiveness of repayment and shouldering behavior to the partner’s seemingly strategic default in the previous round.     

论我国实行强制性环境责任保险制度的可行性——以环境责任保险制度的发展演进为视角

近年来,我国经济的高速发展带来了大量的社会问题,日益严重的环境污染问题就是其中之一。为了治理环境污染,提高污染企业的环境保护意识,我国于20世纪90年代初开始试行环境责任保险,经历了从任意性责任保险到强制性责任保险的发展历程,发展思路和模式也逐渐清晰,当前已经具备构建强制性环境责任保险制度的基本条件。实行强制性环境责任保险与企业社会责任理念相契合,投保环境责任保险是企业承担社会责任的方式之一。近年来我国政府相继出台了一系列推进强制性环境责任保险制度发展的规定,为制度构建奠定了政策基础。2014年4月24日新修订的《环境保护法》第52条明确规定国家鼓励投保环境强制责任保险,为制度构建提供了法律依据。我国在船舶油污损害强制责任保险和交强险方面的立法和实践可以为制度构建提供参考,同时在保险模式选择上可以借鉴西方国家成熟的环境责任保险制度。