A Theory of Partial Property Rights and the Illusion of State-Owned Enterprises

China’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) enjoy many special benefits. They do not turn over profits and rents to the state, they pay much less interests than other enterprises in their use of capital, they enjoy monopolistic power in the marketplace, incomes of SOE employees, including managers, are free of policy restrictions. Because these substantial interests are not transferrable to individuals, competition exists for them. Compared with executives of private enterprise, senior managers of SOEs are 94 times more likely of being convicted of a crime. High benefits enjoyed by senior managers of SOEs come with a great risk. Once the illusion of SOEs is punctured, SOE leaders with higher education and long-term visions may become the driving force of SOE reform.

Kleene Algebra of Partial Predicates

Summary We show that the set of all partial predicates over a set D together with the disjunction, conjunction, and negation operations, defined in accordance with the truth tables of S.C. Kleene’s strong logic of indeterminacy [17], forms a Kleene algebra. A Kleene algebra is a De Morgan algebra [3] (also called quasi-Boolean algebra) which satisfies the condition x ∧¬:x ⩽ y ∨¬ :y (sometimes called the normality axiom). We use the formalization of De Morgan algebras from [8]. The term “Kleene algebra” was introduced by A. Monteiro and D. Brignole in [3]. A similar notion of a “normal i-lattice” had been previously studied by J.A. Kalman [16]. More details about the origin of this notion and its relation to other notions can be found in [24, 4, 1, 2]. It should be noted that there is a different widely known class of algebras, also called Kleene algebras [22, 6], which generalize the algebra of regular expressions, however, the term “Kleene algebra” used in this paper does not refer to them. Algebras of partial predicates naturally arise in computability theory in the study on partial recursive predicates. They were studied in connection with non-classical logics [17, 5, 18, 32, 29, 30]. A partial predicate also corresponds to the notion of a partial set [26] on a given domain, which represents a (partial) property which for any given element of this domain may hold, not hold, or neither hold nor not hold. The field of all partial sets on a given domain is an algebra with generalized operations of union, intersection, complement, and three constants (0, 1, n which is the fixed point of complement) which can be generalized to an equational class of algebras called DMF-algebras (De Morgan algebras with a single fixed point of involution) [25]. In [27] partial sets and DMF-algebras were considered as a basis for unification of set-theoretic and linguistic approaches to probability. Partial predicates over classes of mathematical models of data were used for formalizing semantics of computer programs in the composition-nominative approach to program formalization [31, 28, 33, 15], for formalizing extensions of the Floyd-Hoare logic [7, 9] which allow reasoning about properties of programs in the case of partial pre- and postconditions [23, 20, 19, 21], for formalizing dynamical models with partial behaviors in the context of the mathematical systems theory [11, 13, 14, 12, 10].

English article usage as a window on the meanings ofsame,identicalandsimilar

We propose an explanation for a traditional puzzle in English linguistics involving the use of articles with the nominal modifierssame,identicalandsimilar.Samecan only take the definite articlethe, whereasidenticalandsimilartake eithertheora. We argue that there is a fundamental difference in the manner in which a comparison is made with these modifiers.Identicalandsimilarinvolve direct comparisons between at least two entities and an assertion of either full property matching (identical), or partial property matching (similar). The comparison withsameproceeds differently: what is compared is not linguistic entities directly, but definite descriptions of these entities that can be derived through logical entailments.John and Mary live in the same houseentailsthe house that John lives in is the (same) house that Mary lives in. There must be a pragmatic equivalence between these entailed definite descriptions, ranging from full referential equivalence to a possibly quite minimal overlap in semantic and real-world properties shared by distinct referents. These differences in meaning and article co-occurrence reveal the sensitivity of syntax to semantic and pragmatic properties, without which all and only the grammatical sentences of a language cannot be predicted.

Transaction Costs and Host-Group Rivalry in Foreign Economic Policy: Evidence from Five North American Fisheries

This article shows that the timing and nature of policies hostile to foreign direct investment stem both from the transaction costs of negotiating with different host country agencies, and from changes to domestic and international coalitions. Divided agency jurisdiction is modeled as a partial property right to the use of a resource. Host industries lacking political cohesion allow foreign firms economic opportunities and a stronger political voice. Qualitative and quantitative evidence from five fisheries in the United States and Canada confirm that the costs of negotiating with a fractured government and the opportunity to form transnational coalitions lead host countries to adopt policies that will facilitate forced divestment. These policies vary in respect to their timing and format.