The disembedded digital economy: Social protection for new economy employment in China

This research focuses upon employment in the new economy, exploring labour protection and social protection in the digital age in China. Through an empirical survey conducted in three Chinese cities, social insurance and the labour rights of employees in the digital economic sector, such as gig employment, e-commerce, and various other forms of online employment, have been examined in-depth. This study reveals new regulatory loopholes in the digital labour market, which have substantially eroded the basis of social policy arrangements in China, “softening” participation in social insurance branches and compliance with labour regulations remarkably. Drawing upon the theoretical concepts of Polanyi on embeddedness and disembeddedness, we argue that the digital employment sector in China has been increasingly disembedded from social institutions and social control. The new configuration in the digital field of social policy requires novel conceptual models and institutional settings to cope with increasing social risks in virtual spaces.     

Issues in applying recent CPMP ‘Points to Consider’ and FDA guidance documents with biostatistical implications

The International Conference on Harmonisation guideline ‘Statistical Principles for Clinical Trials’ was adopted by the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) in March 1998, and consequently is operational in Europe. Since then more detailed guidance on selected topics has been issued by the CPMP in the form of ‘Points to Consider’ documents. The intent of these was to give guidance particularly to non‐statistical reviewers within regulatory authorities, although of course they also provide a good source of information for pharmaceutical industry statisticians. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration has recently issued a draft guideline on data monitoring committees. In November 2002 a one‐day discussion forum was held in London by Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry (PSI). The aim of the meeting was to discuss how statisticians were responding to some of the issues covered in these new guidelines, and to document consensus views where they existed. The forum was attended by industry, academic and regulatory statisticians. This paper outlines the questions raised, resulting discussions and consensus views reached. It is clear from the guidelines and discussions at the workshop that the statistical analysis strategy must be planned during the design phase of a clinical trial and carefully documented. Once the study is complete the analysis strategy should be thoughtfully executed and the findings reported. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论中国证券市场监管低效的制度性因素

分析了作为政府强制性的制度安排,中国证券市场在发展过程中产生的市场不规范问题,认为证券市场监管制度的低效运行是问题产生的主要原因。而监管困境的背后则是制度的缺陷,主要表现为两个方面:一是监管当局政策目标与监管目标的冲突;二是以个人和企业信用为核心的信用管理体系的缺失。     

Migration decision-making and migration industry in the Indonesia–Malaysia corridor

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the involvement of migration industry (MI) in the migration system of Indonesia and Malaysia. The two countries share an extensive border and have much in common in culture and history but they are very different in geographical size, population and economic development, the latter being a main cause for labour migration from Indonesia to Malaysia. The changing context of government policies generates new niches for migration services taken up by formal and informal intermediaries, thereby confronting migrants with a varied migration-decision field and thresholds during their migration process. Much of the migration is legal, but a large part of it also takes place outside the control of the national governments. While taking mental processes in migration decision-making as starting point, we analyse how the MI, by way of fostering, facilitating and controlling geographic mobility and localised employment, connects to the production and negotiating of three migration decision thresholds faced by migrants.     

Shadow Insurance

Life insurers use reinsurance to move liabilities from regulated and rated companies that sell policies to shadow reinsurers, which are less regulated and unrated off‐balance‐sheet entities within the same insurance group. U.S. life insurance and annuity liabilities ceded to shadow reinsurers grew from $11 billion in 2002 to $364 billion in 2012. Life insurers using shadow insurance, which capture half of the market share, ceded 25 cents of every dollar insured to shadow reinsurers in 2012, up from 2 cents in 2002. By relaxing capital requirements, shadow insurance could reduce the marginal cost of issuing policies and thereby improve retail market efficiency. However, shadow insurance could also reduce risk‐based capital and increase expected loss for the industry. We model and quantify these effects based on publicly available data and plausible assumptions.     

中国及TTIP国家贸易便利化水平测评

准确测度中国与TTIP主要成员国之间的贸易便利化差异,便于深刻把握TIP催生的国际贸易便利化新趋势,应对全球贸易规则变迁的挑战.文章首先构建了贸易便利化测评指标体系,采用《全球竞争力报告》《腐败指数》以及《世界竞争力年鉴》的相关数据,对2008-2014年TTIP主要成员国及中国的贸易便利化水平进行了对比测评.研究发现,虽然中国的贸易便利化水平整体上升了,但与TTIP发达成员国的差距依然较大,在口岸效率、海关环境、规制环境和电子商务方面均低于其平均水平.为此,中国应进一步简化海关程序和手续,改善海关环境,提升政策制定的透明度,加大对电子商务中的新信息技术的应用力度,防范TTIP区域内贸易转移效应对我国的影响.     

数字化发展、制度环境与政府舆情治理质量

基于2016—2020年我国31个省级行政区的面板数据,考察数字化发展、制度环境与政府舆情治理质量之间的关系。研究发现,数字化发展对政府舆情治理质量具有改善效应;相比制度环境较差的省份,数字化发展对舆情治理质量的改善效应在制度环境较好的省份更为显著。异质性检验表明,数字化发展对政府舆情治理质量的改善效应在数字化水平高的省份、制度环境较好但数字化水平低的省份显著,在制度环境较好的省份、制度环境较差的东部省份显著。研究结论为借助数字化发展改善政府舆情治理质量提供了理论依据。     

Retrospective Paternal and Maternal Parenting Styles,Regulatory Self-Efficacy and Adolescent Risk Taking

This study aims to calculate a scaled risk-taking behavior index and to test a model in which maternal and paternal parenting styles affect risk-taking behavior with a mediation of adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy. Participants were 816 adolescents (44% males) responding to a self-report questionnaire about their risk-taking behavior, regulatory self-efficacy, and retrospective memories of paternal and maternal parenting styles. Results suggested an item rating in the index showing that behaviors considered less risky referred to alcohol use and the unplanned first sexual intercourse, whereas behaviors considered more risky referred to the lack of use of contraceptives and the age of the first sexual intercourse. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of authoritative and authoritarian styles on risk-taking behavior. These styles shaped the adolescents’ regulatory self-efficacy, which in turn predicted adolescent risk-taking behavior. Results underline the complex interplay of relationships between parents and their children.     

The logic of strategic ignorance

Ignorance and knowledge are often thought of as opposite phenomena. Knowledge is seen as a source of power, and ignorance as a barrier to consolidating authority in political and corporate arenas. This article disputes this, exploring the ways that ignorance serves as a productive asset, helping individuals and institutions to command resources, deny liability in the aftermath of crises, and to assert expertise in the face of unpredictable outcomes. Through a focus on the Food and Drug Administration's licensing of Ketek, an antibiotic drug manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis and linked to liver failure, I suggest that in drug regulation, different actors, from physicians to regulators to manufacturers, often battle over who can attest to the least knowledge of the efficacy and safety of different drugs - a finding that raises new insights about the value of ignorance as an organizational resource.     

关于证券监管理念的法理分析

金融是“现代经济的核心”,证券市场是现代金融的重心。对证券进行监管是防范证券市场风险乃至整个金融市场风险的重要措施。监管理念是证券监管成败的关键,是证券市场发展的基石。文章从法学的角度,对监管理念进行深入的探讨,包括为什么要监管、如何监管、监管的适度、监管的方式等问题;梳理基本理论,比较国际标准;并且,希望为实现证券监管体系的有效运作,减少证券市场的风险,促进我国证券市场的进一步发展提供一些建议和参考。