美国区域合作的财税规则及其经验启示

随着区域经济一体化的发展和公共事务的增长,美国作为区域合作先发国家,已经形成较为成熟的财税规则,包括多元化财政融资、区域合作财税优惠、合作组织财政职能、财税收益分配补偿、财税争议纠纷处理等规则。我国可吸取美国的有益经验,逐步扩大地方税权,加强财税规则顶层设计;加大国家财政支持,构建多元化融资模式;搭建区域合作组织平台,负责资金运营与维护;实施区域合作税收优惠,进一步优化合作环境;合理平衡区际财税利益,构筑多元纠纷裁决机制。     

An Affirmative Defense to Sexual Harassment by Managers and Supervisors: Analyzing Employer Liability and Protecting Employee Rights in the United States

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious worldwide employment problem. In the United States, courts have taken an increasingly expansive view of both employers' obligations and employees' rights in dealing with the issue. Landmark decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court addressing harassment by supervisors have sought to provide further guidance to employers in order to prevent harassment and refine their obligations. Yet despite the Court's efforts, harassment claims brought on by supervisor conduct continue to be a matter of great concern. This article offers a brief overview of U.S. sexual harassment law including its affirmative defense and provides a decision protocol for employers operating in the U.S. to follow in determining whether or not an affirmative defense can be confidently asserted. Finally management practices that respond to legal principles of an affirmative defense to prevent liability and protect employee rights are presented and discussed.     

Broadband and local growth

I find a positive relationship between broadband expansion and local economic growth. This relationship is stronger in industries that rely more on information technology and in areas with lower population densities. Instrumenting for broadband expansion with slope of terrain leans in the direction of a causal relationship, though not definitively.The economic benefits of broadband expansion for local residents appear to be limited. Broadband expansion is associated with population growth as well as employment growth, and both the average wage and the employment rate—the share of working-age adults that is employed—are unaffected by broadband expansion. Furthermore, expanding broadband availability does not change the prevalence of telecommuting or other home-based work. Like other place-based policies, expanding broadband availability could raise property values and the local tax base, but without more direct benefits for residents in the form of higher wages or improved access to jobs.The analysis relies on the uneven diffusion of broadband throughout the United States, allowing comparisons between areas with greater and less growth in broadband availability. I combine broadband data from the Federal Communications Commission, employment data from the National Establishment Time-Series database, and other economic data from the US Census and BLS to examine broadband availability and economic activity in the US between 1999 and 2006.     

生态效率视角下建筑废弃物减排与利用的法律规制

生态效率是基于环境、经济系统相互关系的测评工具,同时兼顾了经济效益和环境效益.伴随着我国快速城市化的进程,建筑废弃物的大量产生和低效利用带来了严重的环境资源问题,背离了生态效率原则的要求.与美国、德国、日本等发达国家相比较,我国在依法规制建筑废弃物减排与利用方面还存在立法理念落后、专项立法欠缺、监管体制不合理、具体制度...     

Liquefied Natural Gas: Redefining Nature,Restructuring Geopolitics,Returning to the Periphery?

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry began as a means of making use of natural gas resources in socially remote regions and of natural gas associated with oil production. Natural gas was transformed from a waste product into LNG that could be moved thousands of miles to market, redefining “waste” as a valuable raw material. As the newest large-scale LNG exporter, the United States entered the LNG industry based on another redefinition of nature: the extraction of natural gas previously economically and technologically inaccessible in shale formations. Hydraulic fracturing and new drilling technologies have created reserves of natural gas that are driving down prices with excess production and provoking a search for new markets via LNG exports. Liquefied natural gas is reshaping economies, communities, industries, and ecosystems in the United States and in other parts of the world. This article analyzes the role of the LNG industry with a particular focus on the economic and geopolitical consequences for the United States. The United States is returning to its historical role of energy exporter. Some view the return to this role as an economic and geopolitical boon that will enhance the U.S. economy and the nation’s global standing. A contrasting interpretation sees the United States sliding into the extractive periphery, serving the energy demands of a growing China, much like the United States once did for Europe and especially Great Britain. This view condemns what it views as the exploitation of U.S. natural resources to meet China’s energy needs while leaving large areas of the United States with depleted resources, damaged ecosystems, and disrupted communities.     

A Contingency Approach to the Employment Relationship: Form, Function, and Effectiveness Implications

In the United States, the at-will doctrine purports to give employers the right to terminate employees with or without notice or good cause. However, numerous exceptions have made protection afforded by the doctrine illusory, and wrongful termination litigation often results. Other countries such as Canada and New Zealand legally prohibit at-will employment, and require reasonable notice or justification when terminating employees. On the basis of comparison of nonunion employment in those countries with that typical in the United States, we examine alternative approaches to employment relationships (independent contractor, employee rights, and at-will), and offer suggestions for choosing among them strategically based on environmental contingencies, work characteristics, and outcomes valued by a given firm. Although the choice may be limited by law in some jurisdictions, we offer a more systematic approach for U.S. firms wishing to deal with the consequences of terminations proactively as part of their overall strategic planning process.     

Privatization Versus Groundwater Central Management

A group of free market natural resource economists argue that the current system of limited property rights for groundwater users should be replaced by a new system of freely transferable property rights This, they contend, would provide the more efficient allocation of groundwater resources and help alleviate the water scarcity problem in the United States Their case for privatization is critically appraised Groundwater hydrology , common property, contamination , and other third party effects are examined to determine the set of circumstances under which privatization would work best The following alternatives to the full privatization plan are also examined central management, legal reform , and "French style" privatized management of water systems     

Institutionalizing environmental performance in US industry: Is it happening and what if it does not?

A historical review of the ways business organizations in the United States have responded to demands that they improve their environmental performance reveals two clear outcomes: firms that effectively institutionalize improved environmental performance can garner significant strategic advantages for their efforts, and firms that do not often suffer severe legal consequences. Thus, institutionalization is a pivotal organizational process which determines whether a firm's environmental performance results in improved operating efficiency and market opportunities or in increased legal and regulatory hassles. In this paper, we use a survey and case-law review to investigate the degree to which improved environmental performance is being institutionalized in US firms and to determine what the potential legal consequences are for firms that fail to achieve such institutionalization. Our findings suggest that firms in US industry have made considerable efforts to institutionalize improved environmental performance, but they still have a long way to go. Unfortunately, our findings also suggest that failing to effectively institutionalize environmental performance has the potential for dire consequences, such as jail terms for strategic managers for environmental violations by subordinates. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The role of disgust sensitivity in volunteer recruitment and retention

In the United States, many volunteers contribute unpaid labor to nonprofit organizations. This labor includes direct volunteer service (working in close physical proximity to individuals who receive assistance, such as homeless and elderly individuals) and indirect volunteer service (administrative or fundraising tasks that do not require direct engagement with the target population). This paper extends the marketing theory of product contagion, in which proximity to disgust‐inducing stimuli devalues consumer products, to preferences for direct versus indirect volunteer activities. A study conducted among U.S.‐based adults found that higher sensitivity to disgust led to a greater preference for indirect volunteer service opportunities over direct volunteer opportunities. This result—which did not differ by gender—was mediated by the likelihood that indirect (vs. direct) volunteering was perceived as representative of volunteer work. Disgust sensitivity did not predict the total amount of volunteer work performed. Implications for recruitment and retention of volunteers are discussed.     

Who is an Employer in the Triangular Employment Relationship? Sorting Through the Definitional Confusion

Employers in the United States are increasingly utilizing staffing firms, employee leasing firms, temporary employment agencies and other third parties to help manage contingent labor in their organizations. The use of such triangular relationships creates complexities in the rights and responsibilities of each party, partially due to the variation in how U.S. employment law defines employers and employees across statutes. We analyze the various definitions of employee and employer across key U.S. employment statutes (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964, ADA, FMLA, FLSA), tests used by the courts in their decision making, and IRS regulations and evaluate the impact of these definitions on the use of contingent employees in triangular relationships. We review existing case law relevant to discrimination and non-discrimination statutes and identify key areas of risk and responsibility for both the individuals employed as contingent workers and firms that use contingent labor. Finally, we offer recommendations for strategically managing contingent labor in the current legal context.     

DESTROYING A COUNTRY IN ORDER TO SAVE IT: THE FOLLY OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST MYANMAR

The government of the United States has imposed economic sanctions on the Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, due to the ruling junta's lack of respect for democracy and human rights. This paper proposes that those sanctions, while well intended, are ineffective, unethical and harmful to the people to whom they are intended to help.     

论商标领域的平行进口

商标领域的平行进口是国际贸易中普遍存在且争议很大的一个问题。其中有关商标权的权利用尽问题,国际公约没有对其进行规定。我国可借鉴美国和欧盟的作法,根据本国的经济利益和政治考虑制定对自己比较有利的平行进口规则,以保护我国的产业发展。     

Thatcherism delayed? The Irish crisis and the paradox of social partnership

This article reviews the state of Irish industrial relations in light of the current economic crisis. It argues that social partnership, paradoxically, was rooted in the continuation of a tradition of permissive voluntarism with minimal employment rights with both direct and indirect implications for the current Irish economic crisis. As such, Irish industrial relations cannot be understood in isolation from a broader analysis of the rise and fall of social structures of capitalist accumulation. The discussion considers the prognosis for social partnership post‐economic crisis.     

The Constitutionality of a Federal Net Wealth Tax

A bstract . Consideration of a Federal Net Wealth Tax would help settle the question of the scope and limits of the taxing powers of the United States Government. The confusion attending this, which has prevented the federal government from taxing land and kept state taxation of land too low to bean efficient allocator of this resource , can be clarified. The Constitution's Article I, Section VIII, gave the federal government power to levy taxes, duties, imports and excises, as "indirect" taxes, requiring only that the duties, imposts and excises be "uniform throughout the United States." The 16th Amendment authorized a "direct" tax on "incomes, from whatever source derived." The intent of the Founding Fathers—almost all large landholders—was to prevent the new federal government from using land as a tax base. But the distinction between the types of taxes lacks economic meaning. By making the base of a new tax the net wealth of taxpayers. Congress could obtain a Supreme Court test to end the confusion. If the Court, following precedent, required that land be excluded from the tax base, this would assure land as a tax base to the states and permit them to tax it in a way to end speculative withholding of tracts and sites and to bring about orderly development according to current need.     

中美网络消费者消费行为分析

经济全球化和信息网络化给中美两国带来了机遇与挑战。如何积极抓住机遇和应对挑战成为两国电子商务企业面临的新课题。研究发现,专门针对两国网络消费者的消费行为的对比研究显得不足;在消费观念等五个方面中美网络消费者差异较大。文中选取了八个宏、微观影响因素进行比较分析,结果表明,在文化、法律、收入和教育方面中美两国差异较大,在心理等其他方面差异不是很显著,甚至趋同。对中美两国网络消费者消费行为差异和影响因素进行分析,对我国电子商务企业积极实施"走出去"战略,开拓美国网络消费市场,扩大外需,无疑具有重要的现实意义。     

美国经济所面临的挑战（英文）

美国经济在全球经济中占有非常重要的地位,因此美国经济的未来走势直接关系到全球经济的发展.本文分析美国在经济发展中所具有的优势地位以及在未来经济发展中所要面对的挑战与风险。美国未来经济面临着巨额的经常项目逆差、财政收支赤字、能源价格高涨以及房地产泡沫破灭的威胁,使美国必须采取措施进行调整。这将导致本世纪初美国未来经济发展速度减慢。     

The Continuing Controversy over Right-to-Work Laws in the Early Twenty-First Century

This article provides a brief introduction to the ongoing controversy concerning right-to-work (RTW) legislation in the United States. The paper proceeds with the outlining of the major ideological arguments in favor of and in opposition to RTW laws before presenting the taste, free rider and bargaining power hypotheses which has motivated research concerning the economic effects of RTW laws. After reporting the findings of some of the basic empirical research designed to test these hypotheses as well as other recent studies, the article concludes that RTW laws have, at a minimum, moderately reduced the scope of unionization as well as the number of union members over the long-run. This indicates that the presence or absence of RTW legislation is not merely a symbolic fight as some have maintained but is something that has real consequences for the trade union movement’s future in the United States in the early 21^st century.     

美国城市土地管理及对北京的借鉴

认为美国的城市土地管理具有良好的法律基础.注重将土地资源利用与资源节约、提升城市生活水平与控制城市规模相结合;介绍了美国城市土地管理的三大手段:行政分区、市场机制与规划.     

Constitutional Confusion: Slavery,Abortion, and Substantive Constitutional Analysis

A comparison of two U.S. Supreme Court cases about fundamental rights, one on slavery, the other on abortion, sheds light on constitutional law and the principles undergirding liberal constitutional democracy. The Dred Scott case in 1857 denied constitutional rights to enslaved Africans and their descendants living in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 created a constitutional right to abortion that denied constitutional personhood to human beings prior to birth. Both cases involved applications of what legal scholars call “substantive due process”—that is, a substantive interpretation of the constitutional requirement that governments provide persons with “due process of law” that moves beyond procedural formalism. Although many constitutional scholars deny the legitimacy of substantive due process as a legal doctrine, this article proposes that the judicial system cannot ultimately avoid substantive moral questions in constitutional interpretation. In both cases examined here, the crucial question was about who counts as part of the people whom the Constitution protects, and that question could not be answered in purely formal terms. Both Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade erred not by engaging substantive moral questions but rather by denying, in different ways, the natural rights of human persons.