Combinatorial Voting

We study elections that simultaneously decide multiple issues, where voters have independent private values over bundles of issues. The innovation is in considering nonseparable preferences, where issues may be complements or substitutes. Voters face a political exposure problem: the optimal vote for a particular issue will depend on the resolution of the other issues. Moreover, the probabilities that the other issues will pass should be conditioned on being pivotal. We prove that equilibrium exists when distributions over values have full support or when issues are complements. We then study large elections with two issues. There exists a nonempty open set of distributions where the probability of either issue passing fails to converge to either 1 or 0 for all limit equilibria. Thus, the outcomes of large elections are not generically predictable with independent private values, despite the fact that there is no aggregate uncertainty regarding fundamentals. While the Condorcet winner is not necessarily the outcome of a multi‐issue election, we provide sufficient conditions that guarantee the implementation of the Condorcet winner.     

“What's the Matter With Kansas?” A Sociological Answer

Thomas Frank's book poses a question: Why do working people in Kansas vote for Republican candidates when supporting them is antithetical to their economic interests? This article analyzes the statistical evidence for such alleged deviant voting and finds support for his thesis that the working class does vote Republican. Also supported is his principal causal suggestion for this hypothesized “backlash,” the decline in average county population. But both variables lack a supporting theory. A “structural ecological” explanation for both facts is introduced that claims that the fear that whites experience as the white population shrinks causes the backlash reaction and the Republican vote that Frank describes. Statistical tests support the alternative explanation and illustrate the difference between Frank's ethnography‐based arguments and the approach that most sociologists use.     

论协商民主是中国特色民主政治的重要形式

民主政治是当代世界政治发展的潮流,而民主政治实现的形式可以不同.协商民主是同表决民主并列的一种重要的民主形式.社会主义中国具有更高级的协商民主发展水平.进一步发展社会主义协商民主,不能背离当代中国的基本政治形态.     

对累积投票制的强制性规定有效吗?

2002年发布的《上市公司治理准则》要求控股股东持股比例超过30％的上市公司选举董事时应当采用累积投票制,并将这一制度写入公司章程.这条强制性规定是否有效地发挥了治理掏空的作用？基于2001年前上市的966家在章程中写入了累积投票制的公司样本,运用2002年-2010年的面板数据对这些公司在章程中写入累积投票制前后掏空的差异进行了检验.实证结果表明上市公司在章程中写入了累积投票制后,掏空程度显著下降.但这一治理效应在控股股东持股比例低于30％的样本中最强,而在控股股东持股比例超过50％的样本中显著减弱.非国有上市公司中累积投票制的治理效应强于国有上市公司.直接制约掏空的改革措施出台后,累积投票制的治理效应减弱.从研究结果来看,《上市公司治理准则》中以持股比例30％为分界点进行的强制性规定并未达到预期效果.随着直接制约掏空的改革措施出台,累积投票制的强制性规定已不适用于当前的制度背景.     

An Experimental Study of Collective Deliberation

We study the effects of deliberation on collective decisions. In a series of experiments, we vary groups' preference distributions (between common and conflicting interests) and the institutions by which decisions are reached (simple majority, two‐thirds majority, and unanimity). Without deliberation, different institutions generate significantly different outcomes, tracking the theoretical comparative statics. Deliberation, however, significantly diminishes institutional differences and uniformly improves efficiency. Furthermore, communication protocols exhibit an array of stable attributes: messages are public, consistently reveal private information, provide a good predictor for ultimate group choices, and follow particular (endogenous) sequencing.     

对我国累积投票制度的反思——兼评《公司法》第106条之规定

新《公司法》第106条增加了累积投票制的规定,本文立足于该制度之立法宗旨和运作原理的基础上,通过对我国股权结构的特殊性、股东投票权行使过程中的经济抉择以及我国上市公司的具体实践效果的分析,指出累积投票制在维护中小股东权益、实现股东平等方面的内在缺陷及实际运行中的不足。     

论我国上市公司表决权征集制度的完善

表决权征集制度是上市公司股权分散化、流动化的必然产物。本文立足实务,同时借鉴国外表决权征集制度的立法经验,从介绍我国上市公司表决权征集制度的立法现状着手,对我国表决权征集制度存在的问题进行了分析,并提出了相应的对策和建议。     

Strengthening ethnic identity consciousness and the role of tactical voting in multi-racial Malaysia

Malaysia is often touted as an exemplar of a peaceful multiracial country, with the tensions in inter-ethnic relations engendered by the 13 May 1969 race riots overcome. However, three decades of steady economic growth coupled with the New Economic Policy have helped to strengthen consciousness of ethnic identity and social polarisation in society. This paper discusses how tactical voting in the mixed constituencies has helped the National Front to secure its two-thirds majority in parliament and maintain inter-ethnic calm.     

Customer-based discrimination against major league baseball players: Additional evidence from All-star ballots

This paper extends the analysis of [Hanssen, A., Andersen, T., 1999. Has discrimination lessened over time? A test using baseball's All-star vote. Economic Inquiry 37, 326–352] using All-star votes from 1990 through 2000 to investigate customer-based discrimination in Major League Baseball (MLB). The previous findings of no evidence of customer-based racial discrimination against minority players are confirmed. However, the evidence suggests that after controlling for player and team characteristics, Blacks and Latinos were actually preferred by MLB All-star voters during the 1990s. Initial evidence suggests that over the sample period the bias for Blacks came from voters in the South and Midwest, the bias for Latinos came from voters in the Midwest and West, while there was residual bias for White players in the South.     

表决权代理征集制度研究

表决权代理征集制度是一项重要的公司治理法律制度。它就像一柄双刃剑,既可以成为保护公司和股东利益、优化公司治理结构的有力手段,又可能沦为投机人士争夺公司控制权、损害公司和股东利益的工具。我国目前尚未建立统一完备的表决代理权制度,但近年来我国上市公司治理实践中已经出现了运用这一制度的真实案例,由于缺乏法律规制,其行为颇不规范。因此,笔者针对存在的问题,借鉴先进国家和地区立法经验,从征集主体、征集行为、征集过程中的信息披露、表决权征集之民事责任四个维度,对完善我国表决权代理征集制度进行相关研究。