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| Seminars and Talks |
Winter 2003 |
01/10/2003, Friday, 8pm 107 Littlefield Center [map]
Speaker: NI Bilian (GSB)
Topic: Rivals But Not Always: Problems and Rule Generation in the U.S. Airline Industry
Working Language: English
Abstract:
In this study, I extend previous research on rules by examining in detail the role of problems in the process of rulemaking. I focus on the formation of airline safety rules by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which considers safety problems in the airline industry and produces rules to deal with those problems. Problems and rules are categorized into two types: those associated with human factors and those associated with non-human factors. The flow of those two types of problems affects the rate of rule production in different ways for the stage of rule generation (proposal development) and the stage of rule finalization. I argue that at the stage of rule proposal development, attention is allocated to where problems reside, and the two types of problems compete for scarce attention. However, at the stage of rule finalization, the rate of rule production is impacted by the interaction between "priority" given to different types of rules and "urgency" induced by new problems. I argue that the new problems do not usually affect the proposed rules directly. Rather, they affect the sense of urgency in the agency. An increase in this sense of urgency accentuates the difference in attention between high priority (non-human) and low priority (human) proposals. As a result, any increase in the flow of problems (either human or non-human) increases the rate of finalization of rules dealing with non-human factors and decreases the rate of finalization of rules dealing with human factors.
Empirical evidence supports my general hypotheses. This study contributes to the learning literature by showing that organizational learning is constrained by organizational contexts in which learning occurs. In addition, it contributes to the literature of error studies by showing the ways in which human factor problems impact organizational decision making or action taking, and is one of the few to empirically investigate the difference between human error-related problems and other types of problems. Finally, it will further our understanding of the impact of government rules or regulations on organizational behavior.
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01/24/2003, Friday, 8pm, Rm21/59, Building 120 [map]
Speaker: ZHENG WenTong (Law/Economics)
Topic: The American Legal Systems and Legal Culture
Abstract:
It is said that the United States of America is a nation under the rule of law. In America, hardly one day goes by without headlines in the newspapers regarding lawsuits. Due to the ubiquity of law, some working knowledge of law is very necessary for everybody to survive in this society. Moreover, the law of a society reflects its fundamental values at the deepest level. It is almost impossible, therefore, to understand American culture without understanding American law.
This talk is intended as an introduction to what we need to know about American law, with an emphasis on the constitutional law. I will open the talk with a brief introduction of the American ways of conceptualizing the law. Classical legal thought and legal realism will be discussed in comparison with each other. Then I will examine the structures of federal and state judiciaries within the broader framework of federal and state governments, as well as the roles of judiciaries in guaranteeing the constitutional limits imposed on the other branches of the government. The issue of judicial review will be explored in greater details.
Then I will move on to discuss various topics on American law, including sources of law, distinctions between civil and criminal cases, basic components of law, and major characteristics of American law and its judicial process. Finally, I will discuss leading principles of American law as embodied in the federal Constitution, such as due process, equal protection, freedom of expression, separation of church and state, rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, privileges against self incrimination, double jeopardy, and rights to assistance of counsel in criminal cases, etc.
The talk will be given in a non-technical manner, and whenever appropriate, high profile cases will be used to illustrate the points in question.
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02/7/2003, Friday, 8pm, Rm21/59, Building 120 [map]
Speaker: HUANG Wen (Knight Fellow, Communications)
Topic: The Kosovo War: What Really Happened?
Abstract:
In this photo presentation, Ms. Huang will focus on the Kosovo War. THe Kosovo War should be and it used to be a remote international war happening in southern Europe, but due to the Chinese embassy bombing on May 7, 1999, the war became a very much hot one connected to Chinese people.
Being the first Chinese women photojournalist sent to an international battlefield, Ms. Huang stayed in Yugoslavia for 78 days from right before the war broke out till almost the end of it. She went across the firelines, taking more than 6000 photos during the ethnic conflicts, the war as well as the embassy bombing attack. Further more, since Ms. Huang was the Xinhua corresponding photographer in Germany, she also got the chance to go to US military air base and EU summit focusing on Kosovo Crisis. All the opportunities gave her a wider perspective to see what was going on. The photos Ms. Huang is going to show this Friday would be from her one-person photo book "TARGET", a book about Kosovo War.
Speaker Bio:
Ms. HUANG Wen is Deputy Director and Supervising Editor, Photo Department, Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, China. She is currently a Knight Fellow in the Department of Communication at Stanford, specializing in mass communication and mass media studies (Lyle and Corrine Nelson International Journalism Fellow).
Ms. Huang was born in Beijing, China, and has a B.A. in Journalism from Renmin University of China. She has worked for Xinhua News Agency as a photographer and photo editor since 1989. She had been appointed as Xinhua News Agency photojournalist to Bonn and Berlin, Germany, and was the first Chinese female photojournalist sent to the international battlefield, covering the Kosovo crisis, Yugoslav war and the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999. Ms. Huang is also curator, text writer and guest anchor on "World of Moments," a television program about photography that is a joint venture between Xinhua and CCTV.
For more information about Ms. Huang and her work, please visit the following webpages:
http://www.dragonsource.com/hudong/biaoba/biaoba.asp
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/issues/2002/12/Profile_HuangWen
http://www.chinavoc.com/life/people/changew.asp
http://www.photoeast.com/syxw/sxxw/2001913154704.htm
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02/28/2003, Friday, 8pm, Rm21/59, Building 120 [map]
Speaker: SHEN KunRong (Chair and Professor, Dept. of Economics, School of Business, Nanjing University; Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Economics, Stanford University)
Speaker Bio:
沈坤荣，男，1963年8月生于江苏省吴江市。 经济学博士，中国社科院经济学博士后，曾在荷兰TILBURG大学进修。现任南京大学商学院经济系主任、教授，美国STANFORD大学经济学系访问学者。
主要研究领域：宏观经济理论与政策、经济增长理论。近年来著有《中国经济增长论》（人民出版社，2001年）等专著，在《中国社会科学》、《经济研究》等刊物上发表学术论文20余篇。近年来荣获首届中国博士后大会优秀论文一等奖；江苏省人文社科优秀成果一等奖，江苏青年科学家奖等。 [Curriculum Vitae]
Topic: 中国的经济转型与经济增长 -- 以苏南地区乡镇企业改制(私有化)为案例的一个分析
Economic Transition and Growth in China -- A case study on the institution transition (privatization) of Township and Village Enterprises in Southern Jiangsu province
Presentation Outline: [Chinese Version (pdf)]
I. Southern Jiangsu Province: a miniature of China economic transition
II. Background of the institution transition of town and Village Enterprises
in Southern Jiangsu Province (1995-1997, after 1997)
External Pressure
The pressure coming from the booming of Zhujiang Triangle Areas
The pressure coming from the rapid development of Zhejiang Province
The pressure coming from the development and opening of Shanghai
Internal Pressure
The loss of collective assets
The loss of human capital
The low management efficiency (deterioration of the incentive mechanism)
Other economic and political factors
III. The institution transition process of town and village enterprises
Who should evaluate the enterprises' assets?
Who should design the mechanism of negotiation?
The enforcement and operation of the project
IV. Economic analysis of the validity as well as the achievement of institution transition
Basic assumptions
The patent transitional property
The emphasis of further development
V. Conclusion and related issues
Why, at the very beginning of the reform, did the Southern Jiangsu Province
choose privatization?
The social problems after the institution transition of the town and Village
Enterprises in Southern Jiangsu Province
Further reflections and the prospect
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3/7/2003, Friday, 8pm, Rm21/59, Building 120 [map]
Speaker: RU, Jiang (PhD Candidate, Civil & Environmental Engineering)
Topic: Environmental NGOs in China: Definition, Classification, and Identification
Abstract:
One difficulty in studying NGOs in China is that there are neither standard definitions nor common understandings of
what constitutes an NGO. Indeed, in the official government terminology, the term non-governmental organization is not
even used in China. By exploring fundamental characteristics of NGOs, I developed a working definition of NGOs for my
study of environmental NGOs. After that, I relied on central government's NGO regulations to create a working taxonomy
of environmental NGOs in China. Based on the definition and the taxonomy system, I identified a population of
environmental NGOs based in Beijing.
Outline:
1. Definition of NGO
Available definitions
NGO characterisitics
Definition
NGO in China: GONGOs and real NGOs
2. Classificiation of NGOs
NGO Regulations
Classification by registration status
Classification by geographic scope of activities
Classification by membership/activities
Taxonomy of Environmental NGOs
3. Identification of Environmental NGOs
International Environmental NGOs
Naitonal Environmental NGOs
Beijing Municipal Environmental NGOs
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