Social Entrepreneurship in China: Driving Institutional Change

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the concern with exclusionary and unethical business practices has led to the growing popularity of social entrepreneurship, which focuses on the creation of social value, not wealth. In this article, I reflect on social entrepreneurship in China, a unique context given the strong communist party leadership and the transition to a market economy. To begin, I discuss the legal and political framework for social entrepreneurship in China, followed by an overview of the sector’s characteristics, including age, size, social issues emphasized, leader characteristics, and the role of women. Next, I provide examples of three social enterprises in China that illustrate the diverse possibilities for this sector as a force for social and institutional change. I conclude with some suggestions for strengthening China’s social enterprise ecosystem.     

扬州市生态农业发展评价及预测研究

［目的］农业是国民经济的基础产业，发展生态农业是实现农业经济稳步增长的重要途径，也是我国发展现代农业的战略选择。对生态农业的现状进行评估，以期以此为依据为今后的发展提供可行性建议。［方法］文章研究从经济效益、社会效益和生态效益3个方面构建了包含14个指标在内的扬州市生态农业发展评价指标体系，并采用熵权法和加权法综合评定2011—2016年该市生态农业发展的经济效益、社会效益和生态效益及综合效益得分，在此基础上采用GM（1， 1）灰色模型对2018—2027年扬州市生态农业的发展程度进行了预测。［结果］2011—2016年扬州市生态农业发展的社会效益呈持续增长态势， 2011—2015年经济效益呈上升趋势， 2016年经济效益明显下降。生态效益分别在2012年和2016年出现两次波动。总体来看， 2012—2015年扬州市生态农业发展的综合效益逐年递增， 2016年由于经济效益的急剧降低，导致综合效益下降。2018—2027年该市生态农业的发展水平一直保持可持续状态，且发展度在逐年递增。［结论］扬州市在今后的发展过程中应注重转变生产方式，积极调整农业生产模式，努力实现农产品的集约化生产。注重环境保护，实现化肥农药使用量零增长，达到经济效益与社会效益和生态效益协调增长。     

Bouncing Back from Extreme Weather Events: Some Preliminary Findings on Resilience Barriers Facing Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

Extreme weather events (EWEs) pose unprecedented threats to modern societies and represent a much‐debated issue strongly interlinked with current development policies. Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute a driving force of economic growth, employment and total value added, remain highly vulnerable to and ill prepared for such environmental perturbations. This study investigates barriers to SMEs’ resilience to EWEs in an attempt to shed light on enabling factors that can define effective organizational responses to non‐linear environmental stimuli. Relying on structural equation modeling and data gathered from 109 SMEs that recently experienced EWE impacts, we link the general concept of SMEs’ resilience barriers to EWEs with a series of elements to determine specific internal and external factors that contribute the most to EWE resilience. In particular, external barriers of institutional conditions and mechanisms of support and guidance as well as internal barriers of resources and managerial perceptions are found to be the most critical ones in determining resilience. The assessment offers essential research evidence for practitioners on SME management and sets forth linkages with current mechanisms for policy interventions towards an appropriate resilience agenda for SMEs. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Do constraints created by economic growth targets benefit sustainable development? Evidence from China

An economic growth target is a declaration by policy authorities of commitment to that target and the corresponding allocation of resources. The constraints created by economic growth target are an important economic management method in China, which has helped China's economy to achieve remarkable achievements. However, it has also brought about serious environmental problems, threatening China's sustainable development. Using the data about economic growth targets in the work reports of 30 Chinese provincial governments from 2006 to 2017, this paper constructs several spatial measurement methods, such as the spatial Durbin model, to examine the constraints created by economic growth target's impacts on air pollution. The main conclusions are as follows. First, a significant “U-shaped” relationship exists between the constraints created by economic growth targets and air pollution. Second, the spatial Durbin model analysis revealed that PM_2.5 across China's provinces display significant positive spatial spillover effects and spatial agglomeration characteristics. Third, the direct, indirect, and total effects of constraints created by economic growth targets on air pollution are all statistically significant and depict a “U shape.” Finally, the constraints created by economic growth targets have an apparent threshold effect on air pollution, and the inhibiting effects increase with human capital and industrial restructuring. However, with the increase in foreign direct investments, constraints created by economic growth targets may increase air pollution. The conclusions of this paper are of great significance for improving the management of local government economic growth targets and sustainable development.     

澜沧江中下游水能资源开发的可持续发展思考

澜沧江水能资源丰富,开发前景广阔.澜沧江中下游水能资源开发必须坚持可持续发展观:促进经济发展是核心;坚持生态资源的可持续发展是前提;坚持全面、协调的可持续发展是必要条件;坚持以人为本,达到社会的可持续发展目标.使澜沧江中下游水能资源开发实现经济效益、社会效益、生态效益的有机统一,最终达到人、社会与自然的和谐发展.     

Mainstreaming sustainable adaptation to climate change into municipal planning: An analysis from the Eastern Cape,South Africa

Municipalities are well positioned to support adaptation of vulnerable people to climate change; however, they seldom integrate climate change into their planning for social development. The building of adaptive capacity for sustainable adaptation requires that municipalities understand and mainstream climate change into their plans, and develop context-specific adaptation strategies that address existing social development issues. A desktop analysis was conducted to compare the planning landscape in six District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, focusing on Municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). A scoring system was developed for comparing the IDPs of the municipalities, based on levels of context-specific information about climate change, mainstreaming of climate change with other development concerns, and vertical integration across district and local municipalities, amongst other themes. Overall, the mainstreaming of climate change in municipal IDPs in the Eastern Cape remains weak, and requires critical attention if sustainable adaptation is to be achieved.     

经济新常态下资源型城市可持续发展研究——以鹤岗市为例

资源型城市在经济新常态发展的大背景下,面临着产业结构发展单一、资源与环境压力等众多问题。为了使资源型城市能够绿色健康的发展,对其进行经济新常态下的可持续发展研究十分必要。从经济新常态下的资源型城市发展分析出发,以鹤岗市为例,选取2007-2016年的数据,运用AHP与因子分析综合评价法进行经济新常态下鹤岗市可持续发展评价、分析并提出建议,最后提出经济新常态下鹤岗市可持续发展的具体实施路径。结果表明,实现可持续发展是经济新常态下资源型城市发展的必然选择。十年间经济新常态下鹤岗市可持续发展的总体水平呈先上升后平稳趋势,近几年经济、资源子系统具有明显阻碍作用。经济新常态下鹤岗市的可持续发展路径,要紧密结合经济新常态特征与可持续发展理念,并从鹤岗市实际条件出发,才能够保证具体实施路径的合理性。     

生态补偿对国家重点生态功能区居民可持续生计的影响——基于“精准扶贫”视角

以陕西省调研数据为研究样本,将生态补偿政策引入英国国际发展部的可持续生计能力分析框架,采用结构方程模型研究了国家重点生态功能区的生态补偿政策对居民可持续生计能力的直接影响效应和间接影响效应.结果表明:生态补偿对可持续生计能力的直接影响效应为0.182;通过物质资本、人力资本、金融资本和自然资本对可持续生计能力的间接影响效应分别为0.059、0.104、0.066、0.053,总的间接效应为0.282;生态补偿对可持续生计能力总的影响效应为0.464.因此,精准的生态补偿政策能够实现以可持续生计能力提升为主要内容的"造血式"扶贫.     

The end of growth in residential tourism destinations: steady state or sustainable development? The case of Calpe

This article discusses how the slowdown in the real estate market during the most recent economic and financial crisis has affected residential tourism destinations on the Spanish coast. The afore-mentioned crisis, which gave rise to a standstill in residential activity, coincided with the turbulences experienced in the competing destinations of Northern Africa, which brought about a record number of international tourist arrivals to Spain. The resulting situation enables us to explore the future scenario of all the Spanish destinations that, due to the depletion of available land, are reaching their maximum levels of urban growth. Examining the case of Calpe, a destination which is representative of the Spanish Mediterranean, the study analyses whether the foreseeable dynamics for the future are conceptualized in the favourable terms that characterize “sustainable development” or, on the contrary, exhibit negative implications which the classic economists refer to as the “steady state”.     

走向可持续的工业遗产景观保护—— 英国布莱纳文工业景观保护实践

对可持续发展理论、工业遗产保护可持续发展原则 进行了分析。从景观概况,运营、范围、目标、策略、经济和 评估可持续方面对英国布莱纳文工业景观保护实践的经验、教 训进行了剖析。在此基础上,结合中国的国情、国策和现实问 题,从工业遗产景观保护的理论、制度、层级、目标、模式和 主体等方面对我国可持续的工业遗产景观保护路径进行了思 考,提出了在我国建立面向可持续的,地区发展综合目标、整 体系统规划管理、多元伙伴机制耦合的工业遗产景观保护新格 局的建议。