THE FUTURE OF THE SEABED

Increased commodity prices and improved technology have combined to increase the incentives to exploit natural resources located under the seas. However, an international seabed regime under the auspices of the United Nations presents dangers for free markets, sovereignty and security. Alternative institutional arrangements based on privatisation would produce better outcomes.     

Commercialisation and airport performance: The case of Ireland's DAA

Airport performance has been the subject of an increasing volume of empirical research in recent years. This paper bridges a gap in the existing literature through an in-depth case study analysis of the process of commercialisation in the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Ireland's state-owned airport company, and the corresponding impact on performance over the 1994–2014 period. We use a model of commercialisation to examine changes in the DAA's internal and external environments that show evidence of a more commercial focus. The DAA's economic performance is then analysed using total factor productivity (TFP) and labour productivity indicators, as well as basic financial indicators. Our analysis highlights the significant internal and external changes experienced by the DAA over the past two decades that have driven a continuous process of commercialisation. While TFP growth was positive or stable in half of the years that we examined, the overall level of TFP declined over our timeframe of analysis. Much of this decline was due to two considerable programmes of investment in long-lived infrastructure assets where a return in the short-term would not be expected.     

ERM框架下的税务机关内部风险管理初探

税务机关风险管理理念是近年来各地税务机关都在研究探讨的新的税收管理模式,而结合税收工作实际、关注实现途径的,则研究甚少。本文拟借鉴国际权威的风险管理ERM框架,结合内部控制和税务机关工作实际,对税务机关内部风险管理的实现途径进行研究,从具体途径上着手,保证税收的安全、稳定,提高税收工作效率,降低税收征管成本。     

'Coase vs Hayek': Economic Organization and the Knowledge Economy

Many writers argue that economic organization is undergoing major transformation in the emerging knowledge economy; authority relations are withering; legal and ownership-based definitions of the boundaries of firms are becoming irrelevant and there are increasingly few constraints on the set of feasible combinations of coordination mechanisms. The present paper critically deals with these claims, beginning from the basic idea that they may be analysed as turning on the implications for the Coasian firm of the Hayekian notion that the distributed knowledge is a strong constraint on the use of planned coordination. It argues that there are efficiency reasons for the existence of authority under Hayekian distributed knowledge; that the increasing importance of knowledge in production does not render legal and ownership-based notions of the boundaries of the firm irrelevant; and that coordination mechanisms will also cluster in certain, predictable combinations in the emerging knowledge economy. Thus, Coasian firm organization is consistent with Hayekian knowledge conditions.     

The effects of mafia infiltration on public procurement performance

We examine the effects of Mafia infiltration on public procurement performance, based on a sample of 68,063 public work contracts (PWC) awarded by Italian municipalities over the period 2012–2017, of which 687 are identified as Mafia-infiltrated, either because of being awarded by municipal councils subsequently dissolved due to Mafia infiltration, or because of being won by Mafia-owned firms.Our results reveal that Mafia infiltration is positively associated with number of submitted bids, awarding rebates and execution cost overruns, whereas it is negatively associated with delivery delays for PWC. The effect of Mafia infiltration on execution cost overruns and the probability of their occurrence is weaker for larger PWC, and the elections of the new municipal councils, after the dissolution of the previous ones, do not significantly influence the performance of PWC.Our findings suggest the presence of collusive schemes among bidding firms within the Mafia network and provide new insights for the implementation of more sound policies to tackle practices associated with Mafia infiltration in public procurement.     

认知凝聚力、家族承诺感与组织创造力

近年来,家族企业的创新创业问题愈发受到学术界的关注,然而,家族特征对企业创新的影响没有得到应有的重视。文章从家庭内部特征入手,着重考察家族特征、家族涉入企业方式与组织创造力之间的递进关系,并关注代际关系对于家族特征与家族涉入企业方式之间的调节作用。研究发现：（1）家族认知凝聚力能够促进家族承诺感的提升;（2）家族承诺感的增加有助于企业培育组织创造力;（3）家族承诺感在家族认知凝聚力与组织创造力的关系中起中介作用;（4）代际关注能够增强认知凝聚力对家族承诺感的促进作用;而代际权威则无显著调节作用。上述研究结论拓展了家族企业领域的研究视角,指出家庭内部特征是家族企业问题的重要切入点,同时也对东方情境下家族企业传承与发展实践具有借鉴意义。     

家事诉讼程序立法问题研究

家事诉讼程序是用来审理和解决婚姻关系纠纷、收养关系纠纷等身份关系案件的诉讼程序。在我国,包括实体法和程序法在内的所有现行民事法律,都认为身份关系诉讼有其特殊性,并针对其特殊性做了一些规定,但其规定不但分散,还不科学,使得家事诉讼程序在理论上不统一,在司法实践中也难以操作。因此,我国应当制定专门的家事诉讼程序,对家事诉讼程序的立法模式、适用对象等作出具体规定。这样不仅能够完善我国的民事诉讼制度体系,而且能最大限度地保护当事人的合法权益。     

Wishful thinking or effective threat? Tightening bank resolution regimes and bank risk-taking

We propose a framework for testing the effects of changes in bank resolution regimes on bank behavior. By exploiting the differential relevance of recent changes in U.S. bank resolution (i.e., the introduction of the Orderly Liquidation Authority, OLA) for different types of banks, we are able to simulate a quasi-natural experiment using a difference-in-difference framework. We find that banks that are more affected by the introduction of the OLA (1) significantly decrease their overall risk-taking and (2) shift their loan origination toward lower risk, indicating the general effectiveness of the regime change. This effect, however, does (3) not hold for the largest and most systemically important banks. Hence, the introduction of the OLA in the U.S. alone does not appear to have solved the too-big-to-fail problem and might need to be complemented with other measures to limit financial institutions’ risk-taking.     

A journey towards a safe harbour: The rhetorical process of the International Integrated Reporting Council

This paper investigates the rhetoric deployed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to legitimise itself and Integrated Reporting (<IR>) and establish its ideology. We draw on Aristotle's rhetorical appeals – ethos, logos, and pathos – and the rhetorical theory of diffusion to conduct a rhetorical analysis of the IIRC's initial documents. Our findings demonstrate how the IIRC's rhetorical strategies serve to: authorise and moralise the IIRC's actions through ethos and pathos; contrast certain social interests and privilege a capitalist ideology through logos; and establish and maintain the IIRC's authority in a way that reflects the interests of the financial community and investors, again, through ethos. We demonstrate how the IIRC has strategically used rhetoric to gain support and develop its authority by contrasting and resisting competing ideological pressures. We also show how a capitalist ideology emerged from this struggle as the shaping force behind <IR> at the cost of marginalising wider social interests. Examining the IIRC's rhetorical process contributes to understanding the ideological struggle surrounding <IR> and enriches our empirical understanding of the ideological turn of rhetorical strategies. Our study contributes to theory and practice by advancing knowledge on the rhetorical strategies that shape and establish dominant ideologies in accounting practice.     

The multiple accountabilities of the European Banking Authority

The paper investigates the features, and relative strengths of the various accountability structures which exist around the European Banking Authority (EBA), studying how its hybrid nature makes for a set of complex and overlapping relationships. Drawing on interviews with EBA staff and industry practitioners, the paper exposes the tensions between these various channels of accountability, and comments on how they undermine the agency’s efficacy. It concludes with some suggestions for reforms to this arrangement, with the aim of improving the agency’s ability to operate.