Evaluating the causal economic impacts of transport investments: evidence from the Madrid–Barcelona high speed rail corridor

This paper evaluates economic impacts arising from the introduction of high-speed rail (HSR) between Madrid and Barcelona. Using difference-in-differences estimation we estimate an average treatment effect for provinces with stops on the HSR line of 2.4% for economic output, 3.3% for numbers of firms, and 1.1% for labour productivity. We complement our DID results with a synthetic control analysis for Lleida and Tarragona, two provinces that we argue were assigned HSR stations largely due to their incidental location. We find that both the number of firms and labour productivity are substantially higher in these provinces than in their synthetic counterparts.     

Tail asymptotic of discounted aggregate claims with compound dependence under risky investment

This paper considers the tail asymptotic of discounted aggregate claims with compound dependence under risky investment. The price of risky investment is modeled by a geometric Lévy process, while claims are modeled by a one-sided linear process whose innovations further obeying a so-called upper tail asymptotic independence. When the innovations are heavy tailed, we derive some uniform asymptotic formulas. The results show that the linear dependence has significant impact on the tail asymptotic of discounted aggregate claims but the upper tail asymptotic independence is negligible.     

Is there a global super-bourgeoisie?

In recent decades, accelerating processes of globalization and an increase in economic inequality in most of the world's countries have raised the question of the emergence of a new bourgeoisie integrated at the global level, sometimes described as a global super-bourgeoisie. This group would be distinguished by its unequaled level of wealth and global interconnectedness, its transnational ubiquity and concentration in the planet's major global cities, its specific culture, consumption habits, sites of sociability and shared references, and even by class consciousness and capacity to act collectively. This article successively discusses how the social sciences have examined these various dimensions of the question and begun to provide systematic empirical answers.     

知识产权“十二五”发展规划实施的关键难题与机遇研究

知识产权＂十二五＂发展规划具有多重属性与复杂性、制定组织结构多元化、地区发展不平衡及其与环境匹配较难等特点,较薄弱的知识产权基础因素与国际发展动态影响下,使得我国知识产权＂十二五＂发展规划实施挑战与机遇并存。     

Gendered Leadership: The Effects of Female Development Agency Leaders on Foreign Aid Spending

This article examines the effects of gender on the leadership of bilateral development aid agencies, particularly their official development assistance (ODA) allocations toward gender‐related programming. Drawing on earlier research on gendered leadership, the article tests the hypothesis that female director generals (DGs) and ministers responsible for aid agencies will allocate more ODA than their male counterparts toward gender programming. This existing literature on gendered leadership is divided: some scholars argue that women and men have distinct leadership styles on account of their gender, while others argue that the only distinguishing factor is the institutional context in which they lead. Drawing on data collected on aid flows and agency leadership within the major Western aid donors of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) over the period from 1995 through 2009, we use pooled time series analysis to examine the effects of gendered leadership on aid allocation. Our analysis reveals a tendency for female DGs and ministers to focus ODA on gender‐mainstreaming programs, while male DGs focus ODA on gender‐focused programs. We argue that these divergent priorities reflect the women's desire to reform gendered power structures within their respective aid agencies, and the men's desire to maintain existing gender power structures from which they benefit.     

Family Background and the Process of Ability Formation*

This paper takes a sociometric approach to the process of skills formation in children as they mature into adults. Honda suggests that meaningful communication with family as a child is the determining factor that raises those abilities (ability β ¹ ) that fall outside of scholastic aptitude – motivation, personal relations skills, personality, and emotions. Along with considering the results of Honda's thesis, I have constructed an operating hypothetic model that includes two additional factors: the financial state of the family during childhood, and the transition of the communication target from within the family to a target outside the family. The data for this investigation were then verified. From the results, the direct effect of the observed family communication, when isolated from other influencing variables in the formation of abilities β, is not as decisive a factor as Honda emphasized. It was clear that the financial status of the family played a role, as did the indirect results of the intermediary shift from communication within the family to outside the family (the process of children becoming socially independent). The results of this analysis show that we should not necessarily be looking for the decisive factors of abilities β within the family; if anything, it reflects the existence of a formative route for abilities β that capitalizes on the resources outside the family. Based on the above, the results also show the potential for the introduction of social intervention to address the disparity and inequality in skills formation, and the possible anticipation of more rationality in the overblown discourse surrounding the role of the family in facilitating educational ability.     

论艾伦·伍德对资本主义民主的批判

艾伦·伍德基于历史唯物主义对经济和政治的连续性的分析,以民主为切入点,借鉴古雅典经济民主和政治民主相统一的洞见,揭示了资本主义民主的虚假性。伍德的观点既有助于我们认识资本主义民主的本质,也有助于我们从经济民主和政治民主相统一的维度重新思考社会主义民主,建构社会主义民主制度。     

苏格兰独立问题的历史与未来

苏格兰自1707年并入英联合王国后,要求独立的呼声始终未断,2007年苏格兰民族党成为执政党后,独立呼声愈演愈烈。"苏格兰的未来将由苏格兰人民来决定",2014年9月18日苏格兰进行独立公投。从历史沿革、政治权势博弈两个方面入手可把握苏格兰独立问题的整体脉络。将英国政治制度中的务实传统与当前多重利益因素综合考虑,可诠释苏格兰独立问题的产生原因、英国政府同意公投的实用主义倾向。     

意识形态之争探赜

伴随着阶级和国家的产生,关于意识形态的争论从来没有停止过。意识形态之争的表象是话语权、信奉者和影响力、感召力的争夺;意识形态之争的根基源于意识形态的科学性、传播方式和经济基础;意识形态之争的实质归于阶级和国家利益的维护。当前,认清意识形态争论的表象、阐明意识形态争论的根基、揭示意识形态争论的本质对于我国主流意识形态的建设具有重要意义。     

地下钱庄行为的定性与防控——刑法与经济法互动的视角

地下钱庄并非规范的法律概念，我国对地下钱庄法律价值的判断是基于其组织的非正规性而非其行为的违法性，对地下钱庄行为更多地是借助刑法规制和执法严惩而非制度规范和监管指引。以刑法与经济法互动为视角，对地下钱庄所从事的三类主要业务进行具体分析，对相关法律法规予以细致梳理和客观评价，并结合我国金融生态环境和地下钱庄行为特点提出相应的立法建议和防控对策。提出在治理地下钱庄的过程中应当做到经济法规制在前、刑法惩治在后，监管在前、执法在后，宽严相济、疏堵结合。