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.     

Regreso al futuro. Continuidad del diálogo sobre el trabajo y la tecnología en la OIT

La preocupación por el desempleo tecnológico no es nueva. Los debates que tuvieron lugar en el decenio de 1960 sobre la automatización reflejaban tanto optimismo como preocupación por la potencial destrucción de empleo causada por la tecnología. Al estudiar los archivos de la OIT, y en particular la información recopilada por su ṢOficina de Automatizaciónṣ, se observa que muchas propuestas actuales se debatieron durante aquel periodo, aunque nunca se tradujeron en políticas de reglamentación. La autora reabre este antiguo debate, como un buen punto de partida para abordar los problemas actuales en consonancia con el mundo del trabajo que aspiramos a construir.     

审计质量、产权性质对上市公司投资效率的影响研究

审计质量作为第三方会计师事务所为公司提供的服务,可以独立于公司之外对上市公司投资活动进行监督。根据产权理论,产权性质不同的经济组织从事的经济活动不同,审计质量对不同产权性质的上市公司投资效率的影响也不相同。本文以2014—2018年沪深两市上市公司作为样本,实证检验了审计质量、产权性质与公司投资效率间的关系。研究发现,审计质量与上市公司投资过度显著负相关,与投资不足负相关但作用并不明显;在国有上市公司中审计质量对投资过度行为的抑制作用更明显,在非国有上市公司中审计质量可以在一定程度上防止投资不足行为的发生但作用并不显著。研究结论有利于启示各不同产权性质公司的利益相关方,客观认识审计师的作用功能及其局限性,有针对性、有效率地利用好审计服务,改善公司投资效率。     

Auditors' Responses to Workload Imbalance and the Impact on Audit Quality*

Using detailed data for fieldwork hours and audit hours by rank from audit engagements in Korea, we examine whether audits conducted under workload imbalance, proxied by busy‐season audits, impair audit quality, and how auditors adjust staff assignments for busy‐season audits. We generally find that busy‐season audits are associated with lower audit quality, and that audit firms reduce the involvement of senior auditors during busy‐season audits. In addition, the greater the involvement of senior auditors and junior auditors, the lesser the deterioration in audit quality. Finally, although there is no increase in interim audits in response to workload imbalance during busy seasons, increasing interim audits can mitigate the negative impact of busy‐season audits on audit quality. Our results are relevant to auditors and regulators, who have expressed concerns about the adverse effects of workload imbalance on audit quality.     

O comportamento dos custos das empresas brasileiras listadas na BM&FBOVESPA entre 1994 e 2011 com ênfase nos sticky costs

By an accurate survey, this study aims to analyze how costs behave brazilian companies listed on the BM&FBOVESPA between years of 1994 and 2011. In order to do this, diverse economic and financial information available in the form of reports was gathered, but which has not yet gone through any statistical analysis, for a longitudinal analysis that includes a period of 18 years. The results are presented in two axes, in which the first one indicates costs behavioral tendencies and the second one analyzes their symmetry. The results showed that the Cost of Goods Sold (CPV, for Portuguese) presents a strong declining trend; Expenses Sales are directly related to the area (essential goods or monopoly, for example); Administrative Expenses have a slight declining trend. In relation to sticky costs, when performing an overview with the companies studied, the theory proposed by Anderson, Banker and Janakiraman (2003) is partially applied, since, for varying levels of revenue up to 10% the asymmetry is confirmed.     

When do MNCs fail to learn from prior failure experience?

Do multinational corporations (MNCs) learn from their prior failures in international joint ventures (IJVs)? When does decision makers’ cognitive inability hinder MNCs from learning through their prior failure experiences? In the context of IJV survival in subsequent IJV entries, this study compares predictions made from two distinct theoretical perspectives, both of which belong to the behavioural school in strategy literature. According to the performance feedback perspective, MNCs may effectively learn from their prior failure experiences gained in familiar decision‐making contexts. On the other hand, according to the cognitive bias perspective, MNCs may not be able to effectively learn from their prior failure experiences if they inaccurately interpret the causes of their prior failures. The results provide partial support for the notion that MNC decision makers may not be able to effectively learn from their prior failures because of their cognitive biases. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

所有权性质、女性高管参与及企业R&D投入——来自科技型中小企业的经验证据

基于高层梯队理论，利用深圳证券交易所2008-2014年上市企业的数据，探讨了女性高管参与对企业R&D投入的影响，以及所有权性质的调节作用。研究结果显示：女性高管参与对企业R&D投入二者之间呈现出显著的负相关关系；民营企业的所有权性质将显著调节女性高管参与对R&D投入的抑制效应。     

马克思、恩格斯的人权批判的双重维度及其启示

马克思主义通过对西方近代人权观的法哲学批判,指出了人权的历史性;通过对资产阶级人权实质的政治经济学分析,揭示了人权的具体性。人权是普遍性与特殊性、应然性与实然性、社会性与个体性的统一。     

中国传统造园模式的解读与启示

在城市进入大规模的拆迁与重整的今天，人类对“家园”的认知尤为重要。“什么环境空间组合才是我们需要的家园，什么样的空间形式才是适合我们居住的呢？”无疑，这是个值得深思和探究的课题。从传统造园的三个基本形式来展开分析解读，并试图找出一条属于全人类的、未来的、生态的、和谐的城市“家园”的发展之路。     

货币信用属性演化的历史与逻辑

通过讨论主要货币起源与演化理论的矛盾与不足,从货币取得人们信任的角度,尝试整合了货币起源与演化的事实与逻辑,由此可以认为货币的本质是信用,(商品、金属)货币和纸币一样都是信用货币,货币演化是货币内涵的威权因素和物的因素相互竞争的结果;且货币制度的核心是信用。维持人们对货币的信心与币值稳定应当是任何货币调控的出发点和归宿。