Developmental Rent Management Analysis: Learning,Upgrading, and Innovation

In this article, I construct an original analytical framework, called the developmental rent management analysis (DRMA), for the analysis of rents and rent management. This framework is based on the premise that successful rent management depends on political and institutional arrangements to produce incentives and pressures for technical upgrading and innovation. This is because, while rents are created for a variety of purposes, rent outcomes — whether growth-enhancing or growth-reducing — depend on a set of political, institutional, and market conditions that take place formally and informally. Therefore, the key objective of the DRMA framework is to understand how a country’s politics, institutions, and industries are configured to incentivize and compel industrial upgrading. Thus, DRMA enables a broader and more complex understanding of the various factors at play in the process of development. I provide an illustrative application of the DRMA framework using the Vietnamese experience of adopting third-generation technology in the telecommunications industry.     

吉林省农业生态旅游功能分区研究  谢 璐

随着我国城镇化进程的不断加快,生活在喧嚣都市的人们越来越向往恬静的田园风光,农业生态旅游业作为一种新型农业生产经营形式与旅游活动项目应运而生,并且越来越受到相关学者与政府的重视.文章以吉林省农业生态旅游为研究对象,分析了农业生态旅游的发展现状,指出其发展存在生态环境破坏、 基础设施落后、 管理水平较低、 产业链条较短等问题;综合考虑吉林省地形地貌特征、 气候特征、民俗风情等因素,考虑不同区域农业经济、 社会、 生态及文化的相似性与差异性,对其进行地理空间分区,大致分为东部长白山农业生态旅游功能区、 中部松辽平原农业生态旅游功能区、 西部松嫩平原农业生态旅游功能区,同时探究了各功能区的差异性特征;针对各功能区不同特征提出"政府调控-市场调节"相互配合、"农业-旅游业"相互耦合、"经济-社会-生态"相互协调、"以点带面"互联互动、"省内-省外"互学互助等发展建议,以期为当地农业生态旅游的发展提供借鉴,为促进吉林省农业生态旅游业的可持续发展提供参考.     

European farmers and participatory rural appraisal: A systematic literature review on experiences to optimize rural development

Farmers are those who daily supervise and manage rural areas, but still their collaborations with those institutions entitled to decide the transformation of these territories are not managed properly. The experiences of participatory processes with the involvement of farmers are analyzed in many agricultural studies. A systematic review has allowed us to analyse experiences related to 35 participation paths aimed at rural regions’ development. The analysis has been made on the basis of 14 variables describing the path followed and its purpose, the agricultural holding involved and the areas surveyed.The work has the objectives to identify some strengths and weaknesses in the involvement of farmers in decision-making and the strengths and weaknesses of the processes themselves. The review has shown that too often in participatory processes farmers are considered only as a source of information to be used by researchers rather than as active participants in the choices for the protection, management and transformation of the rural territory. An effective participatory rural appraisal requires greater empowerment of farmers. In general, compared to the methods and tools used, farmers are wary of paths that are too complex and prefer the use of low-tech tools. This result can be attributed to the farmers’ demand of direct contact with the researchers to build trust and also to the average age of European farmers, which is pretty high.In participation contexts, it is not possible to establish standardized methods and tools, because each process should be tailored for the community that expresses it. Nevertheless, the work has highlighted the need to establish some minimum principles to avoid considering unsuccessful some participation paths which, in reality, have been only scarcely participated. In the work, these principles have been presented through the development of key questions, to which those who design the path for an effective engagement of agricultural stakeholder must respond: representativeness, empowerment, empirical knowledge, relationships, group type, numerosity and involvement stage.     

How did investor‐state dispute settlement get a bad rap? Blame it on NAFTA,of course

In the short history of the US bilateral investment treaty (BIT) programme, there have been no instances of dispute settlement cases initiated against the United States by firms from BIT countries. The NAFTA experience changed that. Where other studies have only hinted at the reasons for NAFTA controversies, this paper makes clear three causal factors: (i) changing patterns and intensity of FDI, (ii) the application of those rules to developed countries amid those changing FDI patterns and (iii) ambiguities in ISDS rules themselves. The paper explores these and traces the ways in which lessons of the NAFTA have been instrumental in changing the pursuit of investment protection agreements. BITs used to be uncontroversial, but the NAFTA focused attention on reforms to ISDS that maintain the utility of BITs in the governance of FDI, without creating a legal structure for simply challenging the state.     

The Rise of Ethnicity under China's Market Reforms

This article investigates the dynamic relationship between economic development and the identification of ethnic minorities and argues that identification of China's ethnic minorities manifests itself at various levels. At the national level, the introduction of market mechanisms and economic growth initiatives have been concentrated predominantly in the coastal areas and metropolises, and are thus increasingly distant from ethnic minorities, a disproportionate majority of which reside in the western parts of the country. This growing regional disparity has placed ethnic regions and populations in a distinctly unfavourable position in terms of economic engagement and development. Regional development in the ethnic‐minority homelands has been characterized by the representation and reinvention of ethnic cultural traditions and the production of cultural economies. Unequal economic growth has resulted in a massive migration of ethnic minorities to the cities. Simultaneously, urban development has reinforced ethnic identity, particularly through urban labour‐market development. Urban and regional development has, in turn, led to the production, activation and magnification of ethnic identity at individual and group levels.     

中小保险企业发展瓶颈探析

中国保险市场的高速发展,使新兴的中小保险企业如雨后春笋般遍布全国的大街小巷。但新兴的中小保险企业正面临着诸多发展瓶颈。本文探索了中小保险企业陷入困境的根源,为中小保险企业寻找科学发展之路奠定了理论基础。指出按现代企业经营机制走专业化科学发展之路是中小保险企业的必由之路。     

煤炭企业“主动安全型”员工培育研究

阐述了＂主动安全型员工＂培育的作用及内涵,并系统分析了煤炭企业员工安全意识及保安能力上的不足,提出了从＂意识强化、技能升级、行为管控、文化熏陶＂等4种关键环节上培育主动安全型员工的方法。     

国际金融危机下广东经济现状与发展趋势评析

广东的经济总量多年领先全国，遭遇国际金融危机后的广东经济呈现出若干特点，包括第三产业、民营经济、区域协调、科技进步等因素都展示了广东对危机的抵抗力，其发展趋势的后劲也可以预期。先行一步的广东对我国区域经济发展理念和规律的认识具有启示作用。     

Charleston's newfound “entertainment zone”: should we be concerned?

This CIT Research Letter addresses issues related to the night-time economy and the rapid proliferation of bars along a section of a tourism oriented city's main street. Merely 10 years ago, locals did not frequent the area, it was of no interest to tourists, and it was regarded as a neighbourhood where one would not want to walk, especially at night. However, with the area's transformation to the nightlife centre of the city, issues have arisen that are of concern to city government officials. This paper considers these concerns.