The Context for Political Corruption: A Cross‐National Analysis*

Objective. How do we explain variations across nations in the incidence of political corruption? Recent theoretical work locates the causes for corruption in a combination of institutional conditions: monopoly power, little accountability, and wide discretion. This focus on the form of political institutions clarifies the micro‐scale causes of political corruption, but it leaves unanswered questions about the macro‐scale causes of corruption. Methods. This article addresses these questions about the macro scale through an analysis of perceived levels of corruption across nations. Results. Our work identifies poverty, large populations, and small public sectors as contextual causes of corruption. Historically‐based differences in political cultures across broad geographical regions also affect the perceived incidence of corruption in nations. Conclusion. Further research should attempt to link micro‐ and macro‐scale causes together in a single, multi‐scalar model of corruption.     

Do economic growth and institutional quality reduce poverty and inequality in West Africa?

Over the past two decades, the West African region has experienced much faster economic growth than other parts of the world. However, despite this economic upturn, the region has continued to experience high levels of inequality and poverty, yet economic growth is considered to be one of the main drivers of poverty reduction. An interesting literature indicates that local conditions may limit the expected effects of economic growth on poverty and income inequality. In this study, we are interested in the role of institutional factors that have been largely ignored in explaining poverty reduction and inequality outcomes in this region. Thus, this study empirically examines the role of economic growth and institutional quality on inequality and poverty reduction in West Africa. Using data from the World Development Indicators (WDI), the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) and the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID), our results show that economic growth remains a necessary condition for poverty reduction and that the overall improvement in the quality of institutions contributes significantly to reducing poverty and income inequality in the long term. This contribution is made in particular through the improvement of democratic institutions, the alleviation of bureaucratic constraints, the quality of the judicial and regulatory system, the control of corruption and the quality of government stability. Furthermore, we show that improvements in the judicial system, low levels of corruption and better bureaucratic quality happen to be prerequisites for economic growth to significantly reduce income inequality. These results therefore call on policy makers in the West African region to improve their institutional framework and especially these dimensions with a view to enabling the region citizens to improve their living conditions.     

International Law as the Law of Domestic Governance: China’s Propositions and Institutional Practice

Like domestic law, international law can be used in domestic governance, where it can become an important instrument assisting China’s Party and government to rule the country and manage state affairs. Incorporating part of international law into domestic law and comprehensively advancing the rule of law in accord with the principle of national sovereignty demonstrate the openness and international vision of China’s rule of law construction. Translating these propositions into concrete institutional practice will be of vital significance for improving the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, advancing the international rule of law and promoting world peace.     

增强金融系统服务功能与解决中小企业融资难问题研究

解决中小企业融资难与扩大就业、增加税收、推动经济增长等重大政策目标的实现息息相关,金融系统提供相关服务责无旁贷。只要控制好风险,可以实现解决中小企业融资难与扩大银行信贷业务的双赢。为此应促进政府落实信贷补偿措施、促进担保体系的发育、积极扶持服务于中小企业的金融机构和加强社会征信体系的建设。     

Using government manifestos to analyse the political salience and shape of anti-corruption policies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

In an innovative use of government manifestos, this paper examines the salience and shape of anti-corruption policies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic during the period 1990–2013. Both the intensity and shape of anti-corruption efforts appear to be related less to the actual extent of corruption or external influences and more to the growing domestic electoral pressure expressed through the higher ranking of corruption on the list of public problems and to an ideological bent of governments. We also use cultural theory to examine the philosophy of anti-corruption measures. We find that the hierarchical approach clearly dominates, but there is also extensive evidence of an egalitarian approach. There are only a small number of individualist measures and there is nearly no evidence of fatalist measures. We found that the political right in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia is associated not just with an individualist and market-based approach to anti-corruption, but even more with emphasis on anti-corruption itself and empowerment, civil society and public accountability as a means of fighting corruption.     

加强反腐败体制机制创新和制度保障的新思路

反对腐败,建设廉洁政治,关系党和国家的生死存亡。一年多来,党中央实施一系列反腐新举措,体现出新一届中央领导集体加强反腐败体制机制创新和制度保障的新思路：在党章制度框架下改革党的纪律检查体制,推动党的纪律检查工作双重领导体制具体化、程序化、制度化;明确党委和纪委在党风廉政建设中的责任定位,落实党风廉政建设责任制;修订和完善选人用人制度,把从严治吏、从严管理干部的要求具体化、细节化,解决选人用人方面的腐败问题;抓好组织管理和组织纪律的执行,严格遵守组织制度,为加强党风廉政建设和反腐败凝聚组织力量;运用法治思维和法治方式推进廉洁政治建设,健全反腐倡廉法规制度体系：健全和完善巡视制度等。     

International Rule of Law and Rule of Law Construction in China

The rule of law has international as well as domestic attributes, so it can be divided into two levels: the domestic rule of law and the international rule of law. Using the thinking behind the international rule of law to build the rule of law in China is both necessary and inevitable. China should put into practice the idea of the international rule of law at the institutional and the governance levels, and should at the same time participate in the UN’s rule of law activities and in international rule-making, thereby extending its rule of law discourse power and influence in the international sphere.     

转型期地方政府信用资源流失的制度分析

信用资源不断流失、信用能力不断下降是转型期地方政府面临的一个严峻挑战。它极大地损害了政府的权威 ,提高了政府运作成本 ,并使政府的政治合法性基础受到侵蚀。从公共管理的制度层分析政府信用资源流失的主要根源 ,并探讨如何通过优化公共管理的政治制度架构 ,改革公共政策制订实施的相关制度 ,建立政府信用责任机制和制约机制 ,不失为一种提升地方政府信用能力的对策思路。     

Revisiting History: The Creation of Provinces and the Politics of Social Policy in a Democratic South Africa

The pre‐democracy negotiations between the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Party (NP) established nine provincial forms of government to replace the four provinces of the apartheid era. The nine provinces contrasted with the historical goal of the ANC to create a ‘democratic, non‐racial and unitary South Africa’. The NP wanted nine new provinces to prevent centralized state power under an ANC government and saw possibilities for winning electoral power in the Western Cape. The ANC conceded following political pressure from the Inkatha Freedom Party, which threatened civil war, and a policy shift after examining the German federal governance system. The article analyzes the history, politics, process and outcomes of the establishment of the nine provinces for social policy delivery in South Africa. It explores the contention that the nine provinces re‐fragmented service delivery (although not on a statutory racial basis) and created a system of fiscal decentralization with serious implications for social policy: weakening bureaucratic capacity, institutional capability and political accountability. The provincial governance mechanisms and fiscal institutions created a particular ‘path dependency’ which, 18 years after democratic, rule still impacts negatively on service delivery and more equitable policy outcomes. This is in part due to the undermining of provincial governance mechanisms and fiscal institutions by a significant minority of corrupt and incompetent provincial civil servants. The corruption of these provincial governance mechanisms and fiscal institutions erodes the egalitarian values aimed at creating a non‐racial, non‐sexist, democratic and unitary South Africa which historically underpinned the policy agenda of the ANC. It also has weakened social citizenship on a geographical and ultimately racial basis given the continuing co‐incidence of race and place in a democratic South Africa.     

Events,Politics and Patterns of Policy‐Making: Impact of Major Incidents on Health Sector Regulatory Reforms in the UK and Japan

This article examines the major malpractice incidents in the late 1990s through early 2000s in the UK and Japan, comparing how these incidents opened up pathways for a new type of hospital regulation in each case. Applying John Kingdon's three‐stream model of agenda‐setting and policy change, the article argues that governance arrangements as well as the policy instruments that a government has at its disposal determine how an event could be translated into a political agenda by throwing light on the problems within the public domain. The long‐term effect of such adverse events is therefore determined by how open the relevant institutional arrangements are, and is enhanced if actors constantly scrutinize the system by proactively setting the agenda. A higher level of political accountability in the UK led to British politicians taking a greater role in promoting patient‐led reforms than Japanese counterparts. However, a political system with clear accountability is more conscious of its own involvement and any potential blame it might receive for policy failures. Therefore, the political class could become more engaged in continuous reforms and the delegation of tasks rather than a constant search for remedial actions. The article sheds light on the interactive aspects of the particular triggering events discussed through the decade of regulatory developments in the two health‐care systems.     

浅析印尼对外商投资的法律规制

印度尼西亚与贸易有关的法律主要包括《海关法》、《政府投资条例》以及新修订的《投资法》等。印尼的投资环境受到传统观念、政局的稳定性、军警社会化以及公职人员腐败等因素的影响。在目前印尼社会背景下,我国应把握好其政治转型过程中对我国政策的变化,关注对华人政策的变化以及充分利用好国际贸易规则与国内法律,加强重点领域的贸易,以促进中印（尼）之间的贸易与投资。     

中国地方政府廉政建设测评体系的指标研究

随着地方政府在经济和社会发展中角色的深化,地方政府的腐败治理工作也需要探索新的思路。本文通过对海内外反腐倡廉的指标体系的比较分析,建立一个新的理论框架,并据此发展出一套切合我国地方政府实际情况的廉政建设评估指标体系。本研究认为,应该以“投入—效果”的绩效评估方法为原则,测量地方政府治理腐败的努力及成效。针对当前中国的实际,应主要通过主观感知测量方法,针对政府行为中存在的关于制度实施的价值权威性分配的认知与判断进行测量。本套指标体系注意到指标的可测性与资料的可取得性。建立这样的指标体系可以提高我国地方政府廉政建设的有效性和针对性,是腐败治理预警机制的必要组成部分。     

二十一世纪中国经济周期平稳化现象研究(英文)

本文的目的在于回答两个问题：第一，21世纪中国经济周期平稳化的原因何在？第二，21世纪中国经济波动的来源何在？利用统计分析和构造的多方程结构宏观经济模型，我们发现第一个问题的答案几乎完全在于国内因素，包括国内需求冲击的稳定和信贷市场中的自稳定机制；就第二个问题而言，21世纪中国经济波动的最大来源在于国外需求冲击和国内需求冲击——前者对GDP的波动影响较大，而后者则更多地影响CPI。本文的另一个发现是，传统的盯住货币供应量的货币政策对稳定GDP和CPI几乎没有效果。本文的政策建议之一是，在全球危机的背景下，稳定总需求的国内经济刺激政策依然很重要。本文的另一个建议是，为了摆脱全球化的负面影响，我们需要更加依靠城市化而非工业化，并在国内调整各个区域的经济角色。     

行政主体义务设定的失衡及价值选择

行政主体义务设定是指行政主体在行政执法的过程中为相对一方当事人确定禁止规则或强加负担的行为 ,它是行政权的延伸。与其它类型的行政权行使一样 ,义务设定必须符合法定条件 ,同时又要符合行政合理原则 ,这也是行政法治、依法行政的要求。然而 ,行政法治实践中行政主体义务设定的失衡现象非常普遍 ,如对程序负责不对实体负责的失衡 ,以经济利益为重而以社会利益为轻的失衡等。因此 ,必须探讨义务设定中的合理价值选择 ,即有利于建立法律秩序、有利于实现公民权、有利于行政管理过程有效实现、充分体现行政伦理准则等四个方面的价值选择。     

A price worth paying? Accountability,red tape and the regulation of affordable housing

Although it is not a pressing social problem in the same way as, for example, poverty, child abuse, or climate change, red tape causes frustrations for many working in public and private sector organisations, perhaps even more than for the ordinary citizen dealing with large government agencies. This paper will explore some dimensions of this contentious issue. It will consider the positive view of regulation advanced by regulation theorists, and some qualitative researchers associated with this tradition. Drawing on a qualitative research study concerning the regulation of affordable housing in Australia, it examines the nature of administrative burdens. It is suggested that three factors lead to the perception of red tape: whether regulation is seen as making a difference to services beyond accountability; whether the measures used are meaningful; and the resources available for compliance. Qualitative researchers can help those in government seeking to reduce administrative burdens by supplying realistic accounts that address the views and experiences of those subject to regulation.     

Universal basic income: A feasible alternative to move people out of poverty in Mexico?

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of social policy to alleviate poverty in Mexico; where poverty is persistent, social programs are numerous and complex to monitor. Our analysis uses MEXMOD tax-benefit microsimulation. We simulate four scenarios that grant direct money transfers to individuals in multidimensional poverty, elderly people, families with children under 15 years old, and a universal basic income. The more generous and broader the coverage is, the costlier the policies. The first-best policy is the universal basic income, which can eradicate extreme poverty at the cost of 10.61 % of the gross domestic product. The least effective policy transfers only to older people.     

行政的“疆域”与行政法的功能

行政的范围 ,既取决于不同时代 ,不同社会经济条件下 ,人们对“公共物品”的需求 ,同时也取决于人们对政府权力的成本—效益的认识。在传统社会 ,人们对“公共物品”的需求量较小 ,政府管的事自然不多 ;在现代社会 ,人们对“公共物品”的需求量大增 ,政府的职能和行政的范围是不是就应该和必然无限地扩张呢 ?行政国家、全能政府在为人们部分解决了现代社会发生的许多复杂问题 (如“市场失灵”问题 )以后 ,又导致了大量的更为复杂的问题 (如政府腐败、社会腐败问题 )。于是 ,“有限政府” ,政府权力向社会 (“第三部门”)转化的方案提出来了。政府权力转化为社会公权力后 ,行使社会公权力的行为还属不属“行政”的范畴 ,应否受行政法的规范和控制 ?行政法的功能是什么 ?管理论、控权论、平衡论对之有不同的看法。现代行政法在纠正传统行政法片面强调管理或片面强调控权的偏向后 ,正逐步形成以规范和控制行政权为手段 ,以服务行政相对人和保护行政相对人合法权益为目的的法律规范体系     

Threshold effects of liquidity risk and credit risk on bank stability in the MENA region

This paper studies the relationships between both liquidity and credit risks on bank stability for a panel data set of 75 conventional banks belonging to 11 countries of the MENA region observed during the period 1999–2017. By performing a Panel Smooth Threshold Regression (PSTR) model developed by Gonzalez et al. (2005), estimation results show that the relationships between bank stability-credit risk and bank stability-liquidity risk are non-linear and characterized by the presence of two optimal thresholds which are equal to 13.16% for credit risk and 19.03% for liquidity risk. Contrary to their positive effects below these optimal thresholds, credit risk and liquidity risk become detrimental to bank stability in high regime.To ensure their stability, banks are encouraged to revise the primacy given to credit activity and diversify their activities to improve profitability. They are also recommended to strengthen their own funds and opt for appropriate restructuring to ease their small size. As for the States of the selected countries, they have to deeply reform their financial systems and develop the legal framework relating to new techniques of external management of banking risks including securitization and defeasance. Likewise, these states are fortified to ensure political stability, which is a key factor for banking and financial stability.     

制度失范:一个土地冲突解释的新视角

因征地引发的社会冲突已成为当前社会治理的重要难题.关于土地冲突的缘起,既有的研究可以分为土地财政、 拆迁行为模式、 土地执法管理与生存道义等角度.在与已有解释展开对话的基础上,提出"制度失范"概念,认为土地制度在"规则""权力"和"治理"三个层面的"失范"构成了土地冲突的结构性根源.在规则层面,土地制度日渐消解其作为一种公共规则的公共性构建;在权力层面,地方政府在土地征收过程中的权力失当成为土地冲突的直接诱因;在治理层面,基层乡村治理机制无法及时回应农民对土地权利实现与政治参与的强烈诉求.     

Women’s political empowerment: Influence of women in legislative versus executive branches in the fight against corruption

This research adds to the literature on gender and corruption, with the main contributions lying in the comparison of the relative influence of women in the legislative versus the executive branches of the government on cross-country corruption. Placing the empirical analysis within the context of the determinants of corruption, results, using data over a large sample of nations covering the years 2018–2020, show that it is women in the legislative branch (via membership in parliaments) that exert a downward pressure on corruption. On the other hand, women in the executive branch (captured via female heads of state and female cabinet ministers) did not exert a statistically significant influence on corruption. Such insignificance also held when an overall index of women’s political empowerment was used and with respect to the longevity of women’s suffrage in a nation. Interestingly, nations with quotas for women’s political participation experienced greater corruption. Our quantile regression results uniquely show the sensitivity of the prevalence of corruption to the factors driving it. These findings provide additional insights into the role of women in government - women across the board in government will not necessarily lead to a “cleaner” government, and that, the institution of quotas to bolster women’s participation in the political process is not advisable, at least when corruption reduction is a goal.