RESPONSIBILITY AND CAPABILITY

This paper explores the issue of responsibility and links it to the concept of capability. The paper begins by looking at what it means to be responsible and connects this to the now common distinction in public policy between blame and task. It is argued that responsibility should be internalised rather than externalised and placed in the hands of the state. This can be done through the extension of property rights and so the paper offers a brief justification for the link between responsibility and property rights. The final part of the paper considers the ideas of capability and competence and uses these to argue for the placing of personal responsibility at the heart of public policy.     

国际合作教育项目教学体系高效运行的保障

我国的国际合作教育开始于20世纪90年代。经过20余年的发展,国际合作教育已经成为我国高等教育的有益补充和新的发展方向。教学体系如何高效运行也越来越受到广泛关注。文中从国际合作教育教学体系运行的构成分析入手,对国际合作教育教学体系高效运行的保障机制进行了探讨。     

关于个人住房抵押贷款风险及防范策略的研究

我国个人住房抵押贷款虽然有了很大发展，但仍面临着各种风险。防范个人住房抵押贷款风险应该采取的策略主要有：进行房地产景气状况分析；实行用户资信评审制度；建立抵押贷款的保险和担保机制；实行住房抵押贷款证券化。     

唐诗中的经济学——《卖炭翁》另解

文学作品来源于生活现实,不同时期的文学作品从各个不同的侧面记录了当时的社会经济面貌,唐诗作为中国古典文学的瑰宝,是中国古代经济不可忽略的研究对象。以白居易的名篇《卖炭翁》为例,可分析以长安为代表的唐代分工与交换的发展状况、货币制度、财产权和契约制度,并可根据基本的经济规律,推断出古代人民勤劳简朴,却难得温饱的经济学原因。     

我国中小企业信用担保体系存在的问题与对策

融资难一直是制约中小企业发展的瓶颈。解决的关键是建立中小企业信用担保体系。我国目前中小企业信用担保体系处在初级阶段,功能十分有限。在进一步规范、做强、做大信用担保机构的基础上,尽快建立体系完善、功能强大的中小企业信用担保体系,提供更多的融资支持,提升中小企业竞争力和发展活力,带动国民经济发展,已成为当务之急。     

Teams, Firms and the Evolution of Profit Seeking Behavior

Even as advances in information theory over the last quarter century have cast increasing doubt on the proposition that firms successfully maximize profits, the objective of profit maximization continues to be an axiomatic feature of the neoclassical theory of the firm. This paper attempts to improve our understanding firms by treating the objective function as an open question. Specifically, an ontogenetic thought experiment is undertaken to address the question of what differentiates production teams from firms by asking why team members would sell their control rights to a principal, thereby transforming the team into a firm. What results is an account of the emergence of the objective of profit seeking. Profit seeking emerges endogenously as a more fit alternative than the objective of value maximization, which is less capable of coping with uncertainty through purposive adaptation.     

金融危机对中小企业融资问题的影响与对策

文章分析了金融危机下中小企业融资难的现状及其问题产生的原因,并针对这些原因,探询解决中小企业融资难问题的有效对策。     

On-duty and Off-duty: Employee Right to Privacy and Employer’s Right to Control in the Private Sector

The changing legal landscape of the right of the employer to control and monitor employee behavior is examined. Two distinct areas are defined: behavioral monitoring and behavioral restrictions. Relevant statutory laws and the developing common law are discussed. We also examine potential employee reactions to such policies by evaluating the reactions of graduate students to six employer policies including weight restrictions, grooming requirements, use of GPS locators, drug testing, ban on off-duty smoking, and email and internet monitoring. Students responded to these policies by determining the reasonable interest of the employer in the behaviors being monitored or controlled and the manner in which policies were implemented. Their comments suggest that employees may accept some level of monitoring or behavioral restrictions if the employer can make a convincing social account of the need for a policy. Additionally, the policy must be clearly communicated and properly implemented. However, restrictions on off-duty behavior were typically poorly received with the exception of illegal drug use.     

Is the Threat of Foreign Aid Withdrawal an Effective Deterrent to Political Oppression? Evidence from 53 African Countries

This article complements existing literature on the aid-institutions nexus by focusing on political rights, aid volatilities, and the post-Berlin Wall period. Our findings show that, while foreign aid does not have a significant effect on political rights, foreign aid volatilities do mitigate democracy in recipient countries. Such volatilities could be used by populist parties to promote a neocolonial agenda, instill nationalistic sentiments, and consolidate their grip on power. This is especially true when donors are asking for standards that the majority of the population in control does not want and political leaders are unwilling to implement them. Our empirical evidence is based on 53 African countries for the period from 1996 to 2010. As a main policy implication, creating uncertainties in foreign aid for political rights enhancement in African countries may achieve the opposite results. We also discuss other implications, including the need for an “After-Washington” Consensus.     

John R. Commons and Government as Employer of Last Resort: Three Paths to a Progressive Right to Work

Abstract:

Today in the United States, a number of congressional Democrats endorse proposals that would establish a job guarantee for all Americans seeking work. Arguments for such a policy can be traced back at least to the work of John R. Commons, one of the first institutional economists. This article demonstrates that there are actually three arguments in Commons’s scholarship that provide a case for government to hire the unemployed by serving as employer of last resort. These arguments, each highlighted at a different point in Commons’s career, can be viewed in turn as legal, financial, and historical paths to public provision of work for the jobless—government employment that Commons considered part of “the right to work.” The article traces each path, highlighting insight that remains relevant and calling for greater attention to Common’s writings as a way to reclaim the right to work as a progressive cause.