Piercing the corporate veil system and creditors protection: Based on the investigation of debt paying ability--Empirical evidence from the 2005 Company Law amendment.

This paper uses the difference-in-differences model to research how the "piercing the corporate veil" system marked by the 2005 Company Law amendment affects the level of corporate creditor protection. The research results show that private enterprises and local state-owned enterprises are sensitive and significant to this legal amendment. In contrast, local state-owned enterprises are more sensitive and have a stronger motivation to protect the interests of creditors. The motivation of companies with weaker profitability for creditor protection lasts not only for the year of law revision but also extends to the year of implementation. With the law's implementation, the growth effect of creditor protection for local state-owned enterprises has become more significant. Further analysis shows that the main findings of this article are more significant in companies with larger debt scales, companies with a higher year-on-year growth rate of operating income, companies with controlling shareholders, and companies with higher stock market capitalization. From an empirical research view, this paper explains the economic effect and mechanism of the whole corporate personality under the complete system and adds economic evidence for how the law acts on the capital market.

Digital finance and regional green innovation: the perspective of environmental regulation.

The relationship between digital finance and regional green innovation has been partially confirmed, yet the role of environmental regulation in it remains unexplored. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of digital finance on regional green innovation and tests the moderating role of environmental regulation using Chinese city-level data from 2011 to 2019 as a research sample. The results show that digital finance can significantly promote regional green innovation by alleviating regional financing constraints and increasing regional R&D investment. Besides, digital finance has apparent regional difference effects (the contribution of digital finance to regional green innovation is greater in eastern China than in western China, and the development of digital finance in neighbouring regions has a negative transmission effect on local green innovation). Finally, environmental regulation positively moderates the relationship between digital finance and regional green innovation. This paper explores the relationship between digital finance and regional green innovation from the perspective of environmental regulation, providing empirical evidence to promote regional green innovation.

Can the dual-rating regulation improve the rating quality of Chinese corporate bonds?

We developed a dual-reputational rating shopping model to introduce public and institutional reputations. Investor's and regulator's penalty rates are described as public and institutional reputations, respectively. We achieved the available conditions of single-rating and dual-rating regulations to prevent rating inflation in this model. To examine the regulatory effects of different types of regulations on Chinese corporate bond ratings, we utilize panel ordered logit models. Theoretical analysis and empirical tests show that, when the reputation effect is low, the single-rating regulation is better at improving rating quality, and when the reputation effect is high, the dual-rating regulation induces rating agencies to provide more accurate ratings. Compared to the regulatory effects of the single-rating and the multi-rating regulations, the dual-rating regulation most effectively improves the rating quality of corporate bonds and prevents rating inflation.

The functions of securities law: An expert survey of legislative intent in Poland.

Under the conventional view, securities law is intended to protect ordinary (retail) investors. However, some scholars from the school of Law & Economics (L&E), guided by considerations of economic efficiency, claim instead that the principal function of securities law is to reduce transaction costs and risk to professionals. This paper examines those claims empirically. Our research design blends content analysis methods with expert survey techniques to arrive at numerical assessments of determinants of Polish securities law. We find that the L&E view is supported by our data very weakly, only insofar as consumer protection is not the main driver of securities law. The veracity of this claim appears to be time-dependent. We do not find sufficient support for the main components of the L&E view, i.e., that securities law is meant to reduce transaction costs and risk to professionals. However, our data does not refute the L&E hypotheses, and, therefore, we consider them to be an open question. We phrase our conclusions cautiously because of the relatively small number of experts surveyed and of statutory sources of securities law in Poland.

The effect of environmental regulations on innovation in heavy-polluting and resource-based enterprises: Quasi-natural experimental evidence from China.

Environmental protection regulations adopted by governments affect the microeconomic behavior of enterprises. The Chinese government began piloting the outgoing leading officials' accountability audit of natural resources assets (OANRA) in some regions in 2014. Based on this quasi-natural experimental setting, this paper chose heavy-polluting and resource-based enterprises in pilot regions of China from 2011 to 2016 as examples for studying the impact of the OANRA on enterprise innovation and further examines the role of government subsidies in this process. The study finds that the OANRA has no significant impact on enterprise innovation. However, with support from government subsidies, the OANRA dramatically accelerates enterprise innovation investment. The results are still seen after applying propensity matching analysis (PSM), balancing panel data and deleting special provinces. Further analysis shows that this effect is more obvious among small-scale, state-owned enterprises that are located in areas with high degrees of marketization and high bank credit constraints. This study advances the research of the OANRA's effects on the microeconomic behavior of enterprises. Moreover, the adjustment effect of government subsidies also provides great reference value to making rational use of policy to cooperate with the OANRA.

CNS contra a EC 95 / CNS against EC 95

O Conselho Nacional de Saúde (CNS) reivindica revogação imediata da Emenda Constitucional 95/2016, que retirou verba do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), congelando investimentos até 2036. A necessidade se fortalece diante dos casos do Novo Coronavírus (Covid-19) no Brasil. É muito importante a mobilização em apoio ao SUS e contra a mudança constitucional que vem agravando a situação da Saúde pública no Brasil.

30 dias é muito tempo: CNS questiona prazo para informações sobre a EC95 / 30 Days is a Long Time: CNS Questions Deadline for EC95 Information

A ministra Rosa Weber, do Supremo Tribunal Federal, pediu no dia 20/03, informações ao Poder Executivo da União sobre os efeitos da Emenda Constitucional (EC) 95/2016 nas necessidades decorrentes da pandemia provocada pelo novo coronavírus. A atitude pode ser vista como uma resposta aos alertas de várias entidades, dentre elas o Conselho Nacional de Saúde (CNS), sobre os impactos da falta de financiamento adequado ao Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) neste momento. No entanto, o prazo de trinta dias estabelecido pela magistrada para uma resposta é preocupante, segundo CNS.

Analyzing the impact of trade and investment agreements on pharmaceutical policy: provisions, pathways and potential impacts.

BACKGROUND: Trade and investment agreements negotiated after the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have included increasingly elevated protection of intellectual property rights along with an expanding array of rules impacting many aspects of pharmaceutical policy. Despite the large body of literature on intellectual property and access to affordable medicines, the ways in which other provisions in trade agreements can affect pharmaceutical policy and, in turn, access to medicines have been little studied. There is a need for an analytical framework covering the full range of provisions, pathways, and potential impacts, on which to base future health and human rights impact assessment and research. A framework exploring the ways in which trade and investment agreements may affect pharmaceutical policy was developed, based on an analysis of four recently negotiated regional trade agreements. First a set of core pharmaceutical policy objectives based on international consensus was identified. A systematic comparative analysis of the publicly available legal texts of the four agreements was undertaken, and the potential impacts of the provisions in these agreements on the core pharmaceutical policy objectives were traced through an analysis of possible pathways. RESULTS: An analytical framework is presented, linking ten types of provisions in the four trade agreements to potential impacts on four core pharmaceutical policy objectives (access and affordability; safety, efficacy, and quality; rational use of medicines; and local production capacity and health security) via various pathways. CONCLUSIONS: The analytical framework highlights provisions in trade and investment agreements that need to be examined, pathways that should be explored, and potential impacts that should be taken into consideration with respect to pharmaceutical policy. This may serve as a useful checklist or template for health and human rights impact assessments and research on the implications of trade agreements for pharmaceuticals.

EC95: o que é como ela prejudica a saúde / EC 95: What's How It Harms Health

O ministro presidente do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), Dias Toffoli, declarou apoio ao Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) durante audiência contra a Emenda Constitucional 95, que congelou investimentos em políticas sociais até 2036.

"Devo minha vida e meus sonhos aos SUS" diz usuária que acessa medicamentos de alto custo no sistema público / "I owe my life and my dreams to SUS" says user who accesses high-cost medicines in the public system

No mês de abril, diversas instituições no mundo comemoram o Dia Mundial da Saúde, celebrado dia 7. A data estabelecida pela Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU), convoca todos os países a exaltarem as conquistas e encararem os desafios no desenvolvimento de políticas públicas de saúde.

Ato em defesa do SUS: reúne 5 mil pessoas contra desmonte das políticas sociais / Act in defense of the SUS: gathers 5 thousand people against the dismantling of social policies

Já que a 16ª Conferência é o resultado de mais de três mil etapas preparatórias espalhadas por todos os municípios do país. Além disso, o protesto contra retrocessos expressou pautas de diferentes organizações sociais, como sindicatos, centrais sindicais, partidos políticos, confederações e os segmentos que fazem parte dos trabalhadores(as), usuários(as) e gestores(as) da saúde. O local onde ocorreu a manifestação passa diariamente por intenso fluxo de veículos. Transitam mais de 700 mil pessoas pela região todos os dias

Seis ex-ministros da Saúde lançam manifesto contra desfinanciamento do SUS / Six former health ministers launch manifesto against SUS funding

No dia 5 de agosto, seis ex- -ministros da Saúde lançaram manifesto em defesa do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), que vem passando por um amplo processo de desfinanciamento devido à Emenda Constitucional 95/2016, que congelou investimentos em saúde por duas décadas. O manifesto veio a público durante o Ato Unificado Saúde, Democracia e Direitos Sociais, organizado pelo Conselho Nacional de Saúde (CNS), durante a 16ª Conferência Nacional de Saúde (8ª+8), em Brasília. Subscrevem-no os ex-ministros Humberto Costa, José Saraiva Felipe, José Agenor Alvarez da Silva, José Gomes Temporão, Alexandre Padilha e Arthur Chioro. A seguir, o texto na íntegra.

A EC95/2016 precisa ser declarada inconstitucional / EC95/2016 needs to be declared unconstitutional

A terceira e última mesa de debate da 16ª Conferência Nacional de Saúde (8ª+8) produziu uma intensa discussão sobre os efeitos do desfinanciamento do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) na vida da população brasileira, no dia (05/08). O momento também foi marcado pelo compromisso público assumido pelo governo federal com os resultados do evento, sobretudo os encaminhamentos da plenária deliberativa realizada no dia 7 de agosto, último dia de conferência.

USMCA (NAFTA 2.0): tightening the constraints on the right to regulate for public health.

BACKGROUND: In late 2018 the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed a new trade agreement (most commonly referred to by its US-centric acronym, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA) to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The new agreement is the first major trade treaty negotiated under the shadow of the Trump Administration's unilateral imposition of tariffs to pressure other countries to accept provisions more favourable to protectionist US economic interests. Although not yet ratified, the agreement is widely seen as indicative of how the US will engage in future international trade negotiations. METHODS: Drawing from methods used in earlier health impact assessments of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, we undertook a detailed analysis of USMCA chapters that have direct or indirect implications for health. We began with an initial reading of the entire agreement, followed by multiple line-by-line readings of key chapters. Secondary sources and inter-rater (comparative) analyses by the four authors were used to ensure rigour in our assessments. RESULTS: The USMCA expands intellectual property rights and regulatory constraints that will lead to increased drug costs, particularly in Canada and Mexico. It opens up markets in both Canada and Mexico for US food exports without reducing the subsidies the US provides to its own producers, and introduces a number of new regulatory reforms that weaken public health oversight of food safety. It reduces regulatory policy space through new provisions on 'technical barriers to trade' and requirements for greater regulatory coherence and harmonization across the three countries. It puts some limitations on contentious investor-state dispute provisions between the US and Mexico, provisions often used to challenge or chill health and environmental measures, and eliminates them completely in disputes between the US and Canada; but it allows for new 'legacy claims' for 3 years after the agreement enters into force. Its labour and environmental chapters contain a few improvements but overall do little to ensure either workers' rights or environmental protection. CONCLUSION: Rather than enhancing public health protection the USMCA places new, extended, and enforceable obligations on public regulators that increase the power (voice) of corporate (investor) interests during the development of new regulations. It is not a health-enhancing template for future trade agreements that governments should emulate.

O CNS continuará funcionando plenamente / CNS will continue working fully

O novo presidente do Conselho Nacional de Saúde, Fernando Pigatto, assume a função em um momento ímpar da história: após décadas de expansão, o Sistema Único de Saúde enfrenta o sua mais dura batalha ­ continuar oferecendo serviços de qualidade para a população brasileira, a despeito do congelamento dos investimentos em saúde determinado pela Emenda Constituição 95 de 2016. A receita para vencer a adversidade, ele conhece bem. Com uma militância iniciada ainda na pré-adolescência, sabe que não há caminho possível fora do diálogo, mesmo com aqueles que, à primeira vista, mantêm posições contrárias a tudo que sempre defendeu.

Mobilização da juventude hoje, garantia do SUS amanhã: Conferência de Juventude aborda danos causados pela EC95 e contrarreforma trabalhista / Youth mobilization today, SUS guarantee tomorrow: Youth Conference addresses damage caused by EC95 and labor counter-reform

Diante dos cortes de investimentos no SUS e nas políticas de educação e sociais por conta da Emenda Constitucional 95/2016, a 1ª Conferência Nacional Livre de Juventude e Saúde (CNLJS) debateu, em meados de novembro, os agravos à população causados pela recente mudança constitucional. A contrarreforma trabalhista, que afeta diretamente a população jovem, também esteve entre os temas.

Environmental Regulation, Two-Way Foreign Direct Investment, and Green Innovation Efficiency in China's Manufacturing Industry.

This paper adopts 2009 to 2015 panel data from 27 manufacturing industries in China. A Super-SBM model is used to measure the green innovation efficiency (GIE) of China's manufacturing industry. A panel data model is then built to systematically examine the impact of environmental regulation (ER) and two-way foreign direct investment (FDI) on the GIE of China's manufacturing industry under a unified analysis framework. The results are as follows: (1) the overall level of the green innovation efficiency in China's manufacturing is low, and there is still great potential for improvement. Considering industry heterogeneity, the green innovation efficiency of patent-intensive manufacturing is significantly higher than that of non-patent-intensive manufacturing; (2) in terms of the whole manufacturing industry, ER and the interaction between ER and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) have significantly negative effects on GIE, OFDI has significantly positive effects on GIE. (3) when considering industry heterogeneity, for patent-intensive manufacturing, ER and the interaction between ER and inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) have significantly negative effects on GIE, while IFDI has significantly positive effect on GIE. For non-patent-intensive manufacturing, ER and the interaction between ER and OFDI have significantly negative effects on GIE, while IFDI and the interaction between ER and IFDI have significantly positive effects on GIE.