The role of the carbon market in relation to the cryptocurrency market: Only diversification or more?

The role of the carbon market in relation to the cryptocurrency market is still unclear. Given the carbon-intensive nature of the cryptocurrency industry, whether the carbon market is able to capture the carbon footprint of the cryptocurrency market (i.e., diversification) or act as a safe haven or a hedge against it remain unexplored issues. To address this issue, this paper employs the generalized autoregressive score-dynamic conditional score-Copula (GAS–DCS–Copula) model, incorporating the asymmetric tail distribution. We identify the asymmetric tail properties of both the carbon and cryptocurrency markets with significant otherness. Further, to account the importance of China in mining the cryptocurrencies, we incorporate Chinese carbon market in our analysis to investigate the difference with the European carbon market. Finally, we provide evidence that the European carbon market provides a safe haven and a hedge against the cryptocurrency market while Chinese carbon market is not. Our findings have implications for both investors and policymakers.     

商品市场的金融化与油价泡沫

在过去几年中,商品市场发生了巨大的变化。衍生品交易量大幅度超过了实物的产量,而在衍生品市场中,金融机构已经取代了传统的商品买家和卖家,成为了市场的主动性力量。商品市场这种＂金融化＂现象改变了商品价格的形成机制。以油价为例,实证分析表明,自2003年以来油价的暴涨,其系统性的推动因素就在于石油衍生品市场金融机构过于活跃、甚至是投机性质的交易行为。     

The complexity of cooperative governance and optimization of institutional arrangements in the Greater Mekong Subregion

This study’s focus is on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). The study’s approach is to find, analyse and solve problems, and the method used is the mixed application of theoretical and empirical analysis based on rich materials and data. The study goal is to design an optimized framework of institutional arrangements through the complexity analysis of intricate causes that have hindered cooperative governance in the GMS. Concretely, we first summarize the changes in the GMS in the past 20 years to understand the development background. Second, we classify marked issues into three aspects: (1) the contradiction between livelihood development and environmental protection, (2) the imbalance between the principle of “common but different” and the guideline of maximizing national interests and (3) the conflict between the support and opposition for hydropower development in the Mekong between upstream and downstream countries. Third, based on an in-depth analysis of the complicated causes of these issues, we design four interactive solutions to optimize institutional arrangements for future cooperative governance: (1) breaking the inner connection of poverty, drugs and crime; (2) promoting the strategic shift from blood transfusions to haematopoiesis in socioeconomic development; (3) establishing mechanisms of interest sharing; and (4) building a diverse and polycentric regional coordination system. Finally, we systematically analyse the complicated relationship among the different solutions and additional challenges for the future.     

论中国特色社会主义经济的形成

中国特色社会主义经济是中国特色社会主义政治经济学的研究对象和现实依据，其形成经历了新中国的社会主义改造、中国特色计划经济和改革开放三个阶段。新中国的成立标志着中国的新民主主义革命取得了决定性胜利。新中国在全面恢复国民经济之后，随即从新民主主义经济转向社会主义经济，进行中国特色社会主义改造。中国特色计划经济虽然有一定的理论指导，但主要还是在摸索中前进。“只争朝夕”成为中国社会主义建设的一个写照。随着时间的推移，传统体制日益僵化。到中美、中苏关系的改善与缓和，中国经济发展迎来历史机遇期。党的十一届三中全会确定了改革开放方略。到2010年中国经济总量已经跃居世界第二位，随后中国经济进入新常态。这是中国经济规模发生质变上了台阶的标志。     

Land use transitions and urban-rural integrated development: Theoretical framework and China’s evidence

This paper establishes the analytical framework of the driving mechanism of land use transitions on urban-rural integrated development. The evolution rules and spatio-temporal patterns of land use transitions and urban-rural integrated development in China were quantitatively analyzed using the methods of kernel density and spatial analysis. Furthermore, the relationship between land use transitions and urban-rural integrated development was tested by the econometric models based on China’s provincial panel data from 2005 to 2016. The results show that urban-rural integrated development is a process of the reconstruction of urban-rural values. It helps to promote the free flow and equal exchange of urban-rural development elements, and achieve the convergence of returns from urban-rural development elements. The effect of land use transitions on urban-rural integrated development requires to realize the rational distribution of land incremental value in urban-rural territory. Under ideal channels, it is supposed to promote urban-rural integrated development through income effect, resource effect and urbanization effect. But urban-rural dual institution, distorted land market and obstacles to social integration may distort the positive role of land use transitions. The degree of land use transitions presented a trend of “decrease first and then increase”, and urban-rural integrated development has been improved since 2005, both of which are characterized by spatial agglomeration. Currently, land use transitions have a negative impact on urban-rural integrated development. Accordingly, some implications are formulated for policy makers to improve urban-rural integrated development form the perspective of land use transitions.     

无为之见：中国式管理艺术之源

中国式管理问题，是近年来学术界研究的热点。笔者把中国式管理的策略艺术归纳为有道之识、无为之见、人本之思、和合之计、变易之术、中庸之道、人文化成和统筹兼顾等八个方面。如果将“有道之识”视为中国式管理艺术之纲，而“无为之见”则为中国式管理艺术之源。本文着重探讨了“有道”与“无为”，无为而治与顺其自然，有为之行与因势利导，无为无不为等之间的辩证关系，以及对中国现代管理的指导、借鉴意义。     

Long-term research and development incentives in a dynamic Cournot duopoly

This paper constructs an ex-ante asymmetric R&D Cournot differential game with knowledge spillovers. It shows that in the long-run equilibrium firms have incentives to innovate as long as the knowledge externalities are bidirectional. We also carry out a series of numerical simulations of the differential game to illustrate our results.     

Land use changes to cash crop plantations: crop types,multilevel determinants and policy implications

Cash crop plantation has recently become an expanding global phenomenon. Characterizing the dynamics of cash crop plantations and the corresponding determinants should provide critical references for land use policy. Using aerial photos and geographic information system, this paper investigated the trends of four types of cash crops (tea, fruit, mulberry and nursery) and their relations to other land use changes within Hangzhou region in subtropical China. Results showed that the total cash crop cultivated surface increased by 541.3 ha from 2004 to 2014. Most of the new tea and fruit plantations were established in places previously used as forest and woodland. Mulberry and nursery mainly expanded by replacing paddy, woodland and forest. By combining household survey, geospatial techniques and multilevel regression, multilevel determinants of cash cropping probability and cash crop expansion were quantified. At the parcel level, tea and fruit plantations inclined to occur on hilly land with gentle slope. Mulberry and nursery plantations were likely to be observed in flat areas with low elevation. Parcels covered by high quality soils and with convenient communications experienced greater cash cropping probability. At the household level, households constituted of female and old-aged labor or with low agricultural labor intensity demonstrated high probability of tea and mulberry plantations. Conversely, households constituted of middle-aged labor or with high agricultural labor intensity tended to grow more fruit and nursery. Besides, wealthier households were prone to establish fruit and nursery plantations but were reluctant to involve in tea and mulberry cropping. At the village level, population density was a significant determinant of cash cropping probability, but was an insignificant determinant of cash crop expansion. Greater occurrence of cash cropping was observed in villages with higher proportion of migrant labor and leasing land. Distance to county road and distance to provincial road were identified as negative determinants. Policy was evidenced to be of significant influence on cash cropping probability and cash crop expansion. We argue that a balance should be achieved between cash cropping promotion and natural resources protection in formulating the local land use policy.     

Modelling attitudes to nature,tourism and sustainable development in national parks: A survey of visitors in China and the UK

This research undertook a visitor survey in two protected areas in different cultural contexts, namely China and the UK, to explore whether the value a person attaches to the environment influences their attitude towards sustainable tourism development in national parks. Structural equation models were developed with data from 597 and 368 questionnaires collected in Jiuzhaigou National Scenic Area, China and the New Forest National Park, UK respectively. The results suggested that anthropocentric or ecocentric values significantly influence people's attitudes to tourism and sustainable development. The same structured causal relationship was found in both samples, between people's attitudes towards the natural environment, conservation and tourism in a national park context.     

Money–output Granger causal dynamics in China

This paper attempts to investigate the time-varying causal dynamics between China's money and output by using a Markov switching causality approach. Unlike the pre-specified break points and rolling-window methods, the Markov switching causality approach can capture the time-varying causality patterns endogenously. Our empirical results show that there are bidirectional time-varying Granger causalities between China's money and output. On the one hand, the money supply Granger-causes output when the economy is overheated or during recession, whilst it has no significant effect on output when the economy grows moderately; the short term interest rate only has temporary effect on output, suggesting the ineffectiveness of the interest rate based monetary policy. On the other hand, output only affects the money supply in short periods, whilst the feedback of output on the short term interest rate has distinct regime switching features, which implies that the nonlinear Taylor rule targeting on the short term interest rate is more appropriate than the McCallum rule in describing China's monetary policy reaction function.