Unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies

This research examines whether investments in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), robotics, etc., are more likely to lead to improved performance if they are supported by improvements in the manufacturing infrastructure of the company. This question is evaluated using data gathered from 202 manufacturing plants chosen from industries generally considered to have relatively high investments in technology.Multiple item scales are developed and adapted from sources in the literature to measure investments in technology, infrastructure, and the performance of the plant. Evidence supporting the reliability and validity of these scales is provided. Hierarchical regression is used to analyze the relationship between technology, infrastructure, and performance. The results suggest that there is an important interaction between the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and investments in infrastructure. Firms that invest in both AMTs and infrastructure perform better than firms which only invest in one or the other. Separate analyses on sub-samples of firms with the highest and lowest investments in AMTs show that infrastructural investments have a stronger relationship with performance in the high investment group. Thus, the data indicate that infrastructural investments provide a key to unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies.     

Economic Growth and Structural Changes in Employment and Investments in China, 1985–94

This paper uses a shift-share method to quantify the components of economic growth and structural changes in employment and investments at both the national and regional levels. The results indicate that rapid economic growth has been characterized by significant shifts in employment and investments between industries in China. Such structural changes have a distinct regional pattern which has important policy implications regarding spatial disparities in economic growth and income. The results shed some important light on the understanding of Deng's development thought that is formalized in this paper as a multi-tier and multi-stage development strategy for a large developing economy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

通信基础设施、边界效应与区域创新能力——基于滇桂两省区地级市的实证研究

基于滇桂两省区2008—2017年地级市的面板数据,文章构建多元线性回归模型,实证研究通信基础设施和边界效应对区域创新能力的影响。研究结果发现:在未考虑通信基础设施情况下,省际边界地理区位对区域创新能力影响并不明显,国家边界地理区位对区域的创新能力产生了负向作用;引入通信基础设施与边界效应的交互项后,通信基础设施对区域创新能力的作用为正向显著,省际边界地理区位和通信基础设施的交互作用对区域创新能力的影响仍不显著,国家边界地理区位和通信基础设施的交互作用促进了区域创新能力的提升。因此,滇桂两省区需充分依托“一带一路”设施联通项目,加强区域通信基础设施建设,发挥边境地区的连接作用,提升本区域的创新能力。     

基础设施投资的空间溢出效应分析——以沪昆线沿线城市为例

以沪昆铁路沿线区域及城市经济发展为分析对象,实证分析了我国基础设施投资的空间溢出效应。认为沪昆线的基础设施投资既产生了提高沿线区域及城市的运输能力、扩大沿线贸易量、调整沿线产业结构、促进沿线经济增长的空间正溢出效应,也产生了加剧沿线地区及城市要素的非均衡流动、非均衡经济增长的空间负溢出效应。     

Intra-provincial inequalities and economic growth in China

This paper approaches the problem of inequalities in China. It is specifically focused on analyzing the effects of intra-provincial disparities on the development of the 28 mainland provinces in China. Intra-provincial inequalities, as measured by the Theil index, seem positively related to growth, albeit the results are only convincing for the coastal provinces. A case-by-case analysis, however, suggests highly diversified patterns, including linear or an inverted U-shape for the fastest growing coastal provinces and virtually no relationship for the majority of regions. The results corroborate some questions raised earlier about actual policy-making standards in China.     

区域环保投资与经济可持续发展研究——基于我国区域面板数据比较分析

低碳环保下,环保投资对区域经济可持续发展影响存在差异。本文采用面板数据研究我国东中西部环保投资与经济可持续发展关系。研究结果表明,城市环境基础设施建设投资(CSHJ)是当前环保投资的关键,其在东中西部对经济增长影响度远大于工业污染源治理投资(GYWR)及新建项目"三同时"环保投资(XJXM);但是环保投资政策受到区域差异化影响而不同,在东部加强城市环境基础设施建设投资(CSHJ)和工业污染源治理投资(GYWR),其效果要好于中部,中部好于西部;在西部,要加强新建项目"三同时"环保投资(XJXM),其效果要好于中部,中部好于东部。因此,政府应实施区域差异化投资战略。     

中国经济发展省际差距成因的双层挖掘分析

循着要素规模、质量和效率三位一体的逻辑,从两个层次挖掘区域之间经济差距形成及其变迁的驱动因素,引入可导性对数方差分解法的基本原理,构造了区域间经济差距形成及其变迁的驱动因素贡献的双层分解模型,并利用中国31个省份2005-2012年数据进行实证分析。结果表明,省际经济差距形成和绝对差距扩大的首要推动力是全要素生产率差距,人均资本差距也起到了较大的贡献作用;在全要素生产率差距贡献中,综合效率差距提供了主导性的正向支持,高级人力资本占比差距也具有较大的推动作用,而设备性资本占比差距起到显著的抑制作用。     

Dynamic efficiency of primary education in Brazil: Socioeconomic and infrastructure influence on school performance

Brazilian educational indicators have shown virtually no improvement since 2000, according to national and international evaluations. However, there are large disparities among schools, even in the poorest regions. This work evaluates efficiency of primary education in Brazilian schools using a dynamic DEA model, taking into account school differences in the socioeconomic levels of its students. Dynamic modelling is made possible by the inclusion of an infrastructure index as a carry-over between periods. Results are based on three model specifications that differ on their treatment of the socioeconomic variable. Efficiency distributions of these models are not statistically equal, but the general conclusions are convergent. They show almost no evolution on school efficiency between 2007 and 2015, but indicate possible efficiency improvements by investments in school infrastructure.     

Disparities in Chinese economic development: approaches on different levels of aggregation

Based on a new and recent set of data on economic development in the Chinese prefectures, the paper investigates the impact of different levels of spatial aggregation on the assessment of regional disparities in China. We analyze the structure of inequalities in the light of a component analysis of the general measure of entropy, which is applied on inter-regional disparities with reference to different levels of aggregation as well as the rural/urban segmentation. We reach the conclusion that lower levels of data aggregation are to be recommended for policy purposes, that nationally homogenous discrimination still impacts favorably on urban areas, and that in many rural areas, there is a clear growth trend with diminishing regional disparities.     

基于PC A的江西省区域物流能力评价研究

区域物流能力是区域物流系统为社会提供支撑和服务的能力,其能力的高低会直接影响到区域经济的发展。根据江西省2002～2011年的相关数据,运用主成分分析法（PCA）对江西省近10年的区域物流能力进行了评价和实证研究,分析结果表明,江西省10年来的区域物流能力逐年提高,但也存在着基础设施落后、人才缺失等问题。最后,针对其存在的问题提出了吸收物流先进技术、积极培养物流经营及管理人才和完善物流业基础设施建设等对策与建议。     

Explaining Total Factor Productivity at Firm Level in Italy: Does Location Matter?

Abstract

This study analyses how firms' internal variables and regional factors affect total factor productivity (TFP) of Italian manufacturing firms. Due to the hierarchical structure of our data, we employ a multilevel model that allows for a clear distinction between firm and region-specific effects. Results refer to 2004–2006 and show, as expected, the importance of firm-specific determinants of TFP. At the same time, they indicate that location matters in the sense that the context where firms operate plays a crucial role in determining the level of TFP. In more detail, we find that the regional endowment of infrastructure, the efficiency of local administration and the investments in R&D exert a positive effect on firms' performance.     

Special Issue

The role of informal venture capital in entrepreneurial process and economic development is increasingly recognized by scholars and policy-makers around the world. Much of the attention that this form of financing has received during the last couple of decades is due to its potential to bridge the regional equity gap. This study is concerned with regional distribution of informal venture capital and factors explaining the allocation of informal investments, and it is based on a large random sample of informal venture capital investors in Sweden. The key findings are that the informal venture capital market in Sweden shows a considerable concentration in metropolitan areas and university cities. Further, investments conducted in these places are allocated in proportion to the new business formation rate and concentration of technology-based firms, while the only factor that provides some explanation for the location of informal investments in the peripheral regions is the proportion of the regional population that is considering starting their own business. Finally, there is a small but significant reallocation of informal venture capital from peripheral regions to metropolitan areas and university cities, which shows that the informal venture capital market in Sweden contributes rather to sustaining the regional equity gap than to bridging it.     

攀枝花城市基础设施水平评价研究

攀枝花作为典型的转型期资源型城市,经济快速发展的进程中,资源开发与城市规划建设矛盾突出。本文通过统计综合分析,从时间发展上,对攀枝花2002-2011年的城市基础设施水平发展趋势进行分析,并对攀枝花城市基础设施水平与固定资产投资额做相关性分析;采用聚类分析法分析攀枝花的城市基础设施水平在全省的分类情况;从空间分布上,对攀枝花2011年各区县的基础设施水平进行分析。结果表明攀枝花基础设施水平总体呈稳步上升趋势,基础设施水平稳定,但2009年后开始下降,区县水平差异较大;建议适当加大基础设施建设力度,同时加强道路设施建设,加大县城投资比例。     

Provisioning health care infrastructure in communities: Empirical evidences from West Bengal,India

We developed a framework to reinvigorate communities in terms of public health care infrastructure provisioning for outpatient needs within the neighborhoods. The health care seeking episode is often influenced by the physical and health care infrastructure availability within the neighborhood, need of the health care seeker as well as personal, household, occupational, and latent perception of the users. This empirical study has been developed for two different groups in West Bengal India, firstly based on location and secondly based on the choice of the health care seeker. In case of resident based approach, we focused on the revisit decision of the rural inhabitants who sometime tend to travel to the regional facilities in urban areas. Facility based approach analyzed the people who were at the regional facilities for health care services. We devised scenarios ascertaining improvisation in service delivery, emergency facility and mobility ease at local public facilities might reduce regional tours and instigate higher utilization of the neighborhood health care facility. We develop integrated choice and latent variable models to incorporate latent perception in choice of scenario for instigating revisit decision. Results showed choice of development scenarios have association with the household structure, social network, locational and infrastructural impedance. This framework lead to two distinct outcomes: (1) method to identify programs, those are essential to by initiate_revisit_to the health care facility (2) perception based assessment of the current mobility and health care infrastructure of the region, which could be instrumental in developing the overall health care infrastructural planning policy as a whole.     

Market analysis and transportation procurement for food aid in Ethiopia

Empirical research characterizing transportation markets in developing countries is scarce. By analyzing contracts between the World Food Programme and private carriers, we identify the determinants of transportation tariffs in Ethiopia and quantify their relative importance. The econometric models devised from our unique dataset provide insights for shippers to improve procurement processes, for carriers to develop competitive business models and for government authorities to define effective investments and policies. Results indicate that the number of carriers on a given lane significantly reduces transportation tariffs and that policies stimulating competition may be as important as road infrastructure investments in Ethiopia's development strategy.     

FDI Location and Special Economic Zones in the Philippines

This paper analyzes the location behavior of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the Philippines from 1987–1998 and points out the role special economic zones (SEZs) and infrastructure play in this location decision. The effects of real income, wages, skills, SEZs, highways and ports on the probability that a manufacturing FDI firm chooses a region are estimated using a negative binomial count model. Results yield expected signs and significant coefficients for all variables except for skills. Regressions were also run for 1987–1992 and 1993–1998 sub-periods to examine structural changes. The stark shift of investments from Metro Manila into other regions during the latter period shows some possible spillover effects of the SEZs as well as infrastructure development carried out in the previous transitional sub-period. Significant marginal effects are highest for paved highways and ports, which strongly indicate that improvement of these two regional factors increase the probability of FDI location.     

从“招商引资”到“内培外引”促昆明和谐发展

招商引资,改善了昆明的基础设施,优化了昆明的环境。通过招商引资,昆明在城市形象提升、资金吸纳、产业结构调整、促进就业等方面都取得了长足进展。昆明彰显出建设面向西南开放重要桥头堡的优势。然而,在招商引资过程中也出现了"招来女婿赶走儿"的现象,因此,昆明着力改进招商引资模式,实行"内培外引"模式促进本土企业"二次创业";促进昆明经济和谐发展。     

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA: INTERREGIONAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

Significant economic disparities among China's Eastern, Central, and Western regions pose unequivocal challenges to social equality and political stability in the country. A major impediment to economic development, especially in the poor, remote Western region, is the shortage of a transportation infrastructure. The Chinese government has committed to substantial investment for improving the accessibility of this vast, land-locked region as a mechanism for promoting its development. The paper examines the impacts of the intended transportation infrastructure build-up on the Western region's comparative advantage and its interregional trade. The World Trade Model is extended to represent this investment and applied to determine interregional trade in China based on region-specific technologies, factor endowments and prices, and consumption patterns as well as the capacities and costs of carrying goods among regions using the interregional transportation infrastructure in place in the base year of 1997 and that planned for 2010 and 2020. The model is implemented for three regions, 27 sectors, and seven factors. The results indicate that the planned infrastructure build-up will be cost-effective, will increase benefits especially for the Western region, and that it can conserve energy overall at given levels of demand but substitute oil for coal. Based on these and other model results, some recommendations are offered about strategies for regional development in China.     

民营资本在基础设施项目领域的投融资浅析

民营资本在沿海地区投资基础设施项目主动性和投资规模在不断增长,但其项目投资模式和投资料效益分析较少,导致民营资本投资出现喜忧参半的局面。为确保其正确投资方式及效益,文中对民营资本投资基础设施投资模式进行分析、并对财务指标的分类进行比较,并提出相关建议,期望有助其投资行为的良性发展。     

中国农村基础设施发展水平、区域差异及分布动态演进

研究目标:测度中国农村基础设施发展水平,并探析其区域差异及分布动态演进。研究方法:运用熵权法、Dagum基尼系数、Kernel密度估计、Moran’s I指数和Markov链考察中国农村基础设施的区域差异与动态演进。研究发现:中国农村基础设施发展水平整体上不断提高,地区间差异是造成区域差异的主要来源。各个区域表现出不同程度的极化现象,全国及东部地区绝对差异扩大,东西部地区绝对差异缩小。东中西部各省份呈现出“高-高”“低-低”集聚的趋势,低水平地区逐渐向邻近高水平地区转移。研究创新:揭示出中国农村基础设施的发展水平、分布动态差异及动态演进趋势。研究价值:加深对中国农村基础设施发展格局的认知,为推进乡村振兴战略和实现共同富裕目标提供参考。