Informal Property Rights as Relational and Functional: Unravelling the Relational Contract in China's Informal Housing Market

In the face of state-led land grabs, enterprising Chinese peasants have started a revolution in the ambiguous and insecure rural tenure system by developing an extralegal property system known as the small property right (SPR). Using the SPR, peasants are able to capitalize on their property through the sale of houses built on collectively owned land. Little is known, however, about the specific process behind the development of the SPR by the peasants, or how this extralegal property system functions in terms of securing the use and transfer of property without the backing of law. This article aims to clarify the situation through the lenses of the Endogenous Nature of Institutions and Relational Contract Theory, aiming to understand the socially constructed, endogenous and relational nature of the property rights that make SPR functional. Based on an ethnographic investigation of Beijing's largest SPR housing settlement, we show how enterprising peasants develop long-term relational contracts with urban households for the provision of housing services, secured on the basis of the common interests and symbiosis of the two parties and a reputation system that serves to deter defaults. The discretionary treatment of SPR housing by local states serves as a further motivation for the village and the informal homeowners to preserve a stable property arrangement, with such a specific institutional setting being an exemplar of China's pragmatic state entrepreneurialism.     

Input use under cost-of-production crop insurance: Theory and evidence

There have been a number of previous studies that examined the effects of yield- or revenue-based crop insurance products on input use of farmers. However, no study has specifically investigated the input use impacts of a cost-of-production (COP) crop insurance policy, even though this type of crop insurance is the predominant one used in several other countries outside of the United States (such as the Philippines and China). This article aims to theoretically and empirically examine the effect of a COP crop insurance product on farmers’ chemical input use. Our theoretical model suggests that the effect of COP insurance on input use can either be positive or negative, with the resulting impact depending on the strengths of (a) the traditional moral hazard effect of insurance (i.e., an input use decreasing effect); versus (b) the marginal incentives to apply more inputs due to input levels being the main determinant for expected indemnity amounts in this type of insurance (i.e., an input use increasing effect). A survey data set from corn farmers in the Philippines is then used to empirically illustrate how a particular COP insurance product influences input use in a real-life context. In this case, we find that COP insurance increases the use of chemical inputs (e.g., fertilizers and total chemical expenditure), implying that the positive marginal incentive to apply more inputs dominates the negative moral hazard effect.     

吐温80在油脂类调味品中微生物检测的研究分析

通过对牛肉酱、红油2种即食油脂类调味品进行微生物检测,将不同比例的吐温80添加到样品前处理的稀释液中,采用浓度为107 CFU·mL-1的标准菌悬液,用常规细菌培养法检测结果。结果表明:选用比例为5%的吐温80对牛肉酱、红油的微生物指标进行检测,检测结果均在107 CFU·mL-1,与空白对照的检测结果在同一数量级上。与常规的稀释液相比,吐温80可使样品均匀分散在稀释液中,且不影响微生物的检测结果,可适用于高油脂类样品的日常微生物检测。     

Does Investor Sentiment Affect the Value Relevance of Accounting Information?

We investigate whether investor sentiment affects the relationships between accounting variables and contemporaneous stock returns. Using price-relevant accounting variables identified by Chen and Zhang (2007) and the investor sentiment index constructed by Baker and Wurgler (2006), we find that the value relevance of accounting variables is collectively lower in high sentiment periods than in low sentiment periods. More importantly, earnings yield appears to be more related to contemporaneous stock returns in high sentiment periods, while other accounting variables are more related to stock returns in low sentiment periods. The effect of investor sentiment on the value relevance of accounting information is stronger for firms that are more difficult to value and to arbitrage.     

从经适房政策解析政府在社会保障均等化中的角色定位

文章从非受益群体对于经适政策公平性的质疑角度入手,挖掘出导致社会普遍不公平感的更深层次原因,着重体现公民的情感接受,并借助经济学理论,尝试重新定义社会保障公平性原则,以社会保障均等化概念代替社会公平概念来解释经适房政策,从而推进政府角色的进一步转变。     

透过亚当斯领略黑白摄影的魅力

在漫长的黑白摄影发展的进程中,摄影大师安塞尔·亚当斯做出了卓越的贡献,尤其是"f64小组"和完善的区域曝光系统成为摄影史上的里程碑。黑、白、灰黑白摄影演绎着影调与影像的经典,即使在现代彩色摄影高度发展的今天,黑白摄影并没有失去它往日的光彩,也不会被彩色摄影所更替,它将以独特的魅力,以单纯、洗练、视觉冲击力强等审美优势继续发展,创造更多视觉财富。     

印度资本项目可兑换的经验与启示

印度自1991年以来积极推进资本项目可兑换。经过20年的实践,印度迅速融入国际金融市场,有效抵御了金融危机的冲击,资本项目可兑换取得明显成效,主要特点：一是采取渐进、审慎的方式推进资本项目可兑换;二是坚持控制的主动性和必要时恢复管制的灵活性;三是深化金融改革,为资本项目可兑换创造良好的外部条件;四是注重通过宏观调控手段,优化资本流动结构,解决资本流动中产生的问题;五是加强短期资本流动管制,防止短期资本流动对经济的冲击;六是加强房地产资本管制,防止国际投机资本引发房地产风险。     

公司法视角下债权让与通知的问题研究

让与通知是债权转让进程中的核心,它关系到整个债权转让能否顺利进行。然而我国《合同法》对于让与通知的规定却仅寥寥数语。虽然债权人基于债权的财产性可以进行任意处分,但是此时处于弱势地位的债务人的权益如何来保障呢?而且作为受让人,如何才能更好更快地实现债权?所以,文章将从债权让与通知的性质、主体、效力三个角度来深入理解让与通知的意义,从而更好实现让与通知的价值。并且针对我国现有法律的不足提出自己的构想。     

结构性改革下的支出政策探讨

传统的供给改革,大都将紧缩财政作为减轻政府和企业负担,激发市场活力的主要办法。但之于眼下的中国经济转型,很可能不完全适用。大量证据显示:中国财政支出依然处于快速上升的通道之中;政府致力于实现经济稳定增长与结构逐步优化;宏观调控方式转变与全面深化财税体制改革正同期推进。基于主流理论对中国政府支出总体作用和具体效应的分析,本研究发现,当前结构性改革下的支出政策存在四大关键环节:经济周期与结构转型的双重压力;支出刚性逐步增大、效率有待提升;承担着兜底改革成本和建立现代财政制度的任务。为此,研究认为,要实现供给侧发力,未来支出政策应有更明确的行动策略:首先,立足于逆周期调节助力结构转型;其次,以提升支出效率缓解刚性支出压力;再次,为供给侧结构性改革支付必要成本;最后,善于发掘事权与支出责任划分的体制红利。