The political economy of Zimbabwean Urban informality since 2000 – A contemporary governance dilemma

ABSTRACT

The article explores the urban informality dilemma in Harare through the lens of a political economy theory. It examines the typologies of urban informality, the influence of political economy on urban informalities, and informs decision-making to address the urban informality dilemma. A qualitative approach was used where secondary data were collected through document analysis and primary data from interviews with 20 purposively selected key informants. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with 585 individuals engaged in informal activities. It emerged that urban informality in Harare takes on different forms and aside from the economic crisis, politics played a role in the emergence and proliferation of urban informality. The article provides insight into, and raises awareness with regard to key areas of concern on how power influences decision-making relating to urban informality. Therefore, the article provides a basis for policy formulation and institutional reforms for effective measures to curb urban informality.     

试论城市轨道交通信号系统的运营维护管理要点

随着我国城市轨道的发展,在轨道交通动态发展过程中更加重视环境保护。信号系统是城市轨道交通最重要的设备之一,其稳定性对于有效的交通发展和人们出行的人身安全至关重要。但目前,在城市轨道交通信号系统的运营维护管理过程中仍存在问题,若不及时解决,可能会影响轨道交通信号系统的正常运营。因此,论文重点探讨了城市轨道交通信号系统的运营维护管理策略。     

城市轨道交通运营管理专业三维立体人才培养模式构建的实证研究

论文以城市轨道交通运营管理专业为例,运用霍尔三维结构模式理论构建以知识体系、岗位技能、职业素养为坐标的三维立体人才培养模式维度体系,打破了传统仅以知识体系和岗位技能为重点的二维人才培养模式,丰富了交通类高职专业人才培养模式研究理论,为交通类相关专业在制定人才培养方案时提供参考依据。     

城投债对地区产能过剩的影响：促进还是抑制*

在构建城投债影响产能过剩的理论基础上，以我国2004-2016年地级市面板数据为样本，本文检验了城投债影响产能过剩的具体效应和相关机制。研究发现：城投债与地区产能过剩之间呈现U型关系；其中城投债对产能过剩的影响在中西部地区、南方地区、大城市和金融危机爆发后更为显著；机制检验表明，地方政府借助城投债压低工业用地价格和投资交通基础设施会加剧产能过剩，且压低工业用地价格带来的效应更为严重。因此，本文从适度控制债务规模、改善体制激励措施和完善要素定价机制等方面提出相应建议。     

Engineering the Financialization of Urban Entrpreneurialism: The JESSICA Urban Development Initiative in the European Union

Urban entrepreneurialism and neoliberal urban governance are assuming new forms under finance‐dominated accumulation. We examine and contribute to theorizing the mechanisms through which urban governance is financialized, taking as a case study JESSICA, one of the European Union's initiatives to implement an ‘urban sensitive’ policy for sustainable and integrated development. Like other initiatives promoting financialization, JESSICA deploys the logic of finance to select and fund urban social initiatives and development projects on the basis of their potential return on investment (ROI). Understanding this process requires placing questions of political economy—how urban governance is shaped by the broader political‐economic context—with questions of governmentality—how stakeholders are enrolled in and come to take for granted new governance initiatives. Following the multi‐scalar institutional infrastructure is crucial to understanding how this works. Taking a relational multi‐scalar approach, we trace how changes at the supranational scale filter down to shape urban policy selection and performance in Sofia, Bulgaria, where we document how ROI calculations conflict with social welfare priorities. Contrasts between the trajectory of financialization of urban governance in the European Union and the United States demonstrate how this is geographically variegated, shaped by the broader context/conjuncture within which such financialization is embedded.     

四川省水稻产投特征变迁及技术进步对单产的影响

[目的]了解四川水稻产投特征和技术进步对单产的影响,促进水稻可持续生产。[方法]分析了改革开放以来四川省水稻产投特征和技术特征变动,并基于索洛余值法测算了1980~2015年四川省科技进步对水稻单产的贡献情况。[结果](1)全省水稻单产水平及物质与服务费用投入均呈现波动增长趋势,人工投入逐年递减,但人工成本在生产成本中的比重较大;(2)四川省水稻品种选育、栽培管理技术、推广技术、稻作经营方式和农业政策不断变迁,更适应当前以普通家庭生产和新型经营主体共同发展的局面对技术的需求;(3)整体来看,近36年技术进步对四川省水稻单产水平提高的贡献率较低,生产经营较为粗放;(4)分时期看,2005年前,技术进步对全省水稻单产水平提高的贡献率较高,但之后尤其是近5年,技术进步并未对水稻单产水平提高产生影响,要素投入是水稻单产水平提升的主要因素。[结论]提出了加强科技研发及投入水平、"一主多元"联合推广、生产管理技术培训和丘区节本增效生产的政策建议。     

Can Poverty be Alleviated in China?

The 2000s witnessed the third poverty alleviation wave in China. Compared with its predecessors, the third wave distinguished itself by new interventions and redefined standards for the National Poor Counties. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the new program using a data set consisting of 1,411 of China's western and central counties from 2000 to 2010. It combines the propensity score matching method with the difference‐in‐differences approach, which helps to avoid selection bias and track the policy impact on variables of interest at each time point. It is found that the non‐western local governments tended to manipulate data on income and output growth to maintain the special transfer payments disbursed exclusively to the National Poor Counties. It is also shown that the program failed to improve the infrastructure and sanitary conditions in general.     

深度休闲对主观幸福感的影响研究——以苏南地区城市居民为例

深度休闲对优化苏南地区休闲产业建设,进一步提升居民休闲生活质量有重要影响。文章通过问卷调查的方式收集苏南地区城市居民深度休闲行为的数据,研究苏南地区城市居民深度休闲行为特征及深度休闲对主观幸福感的影响。结果发现:(1)苏南地区城市居民进行深度休闲活动的场所主要为户外;(2)闲暇时间不足是限制苏南地区城市居民进行深度休闲活动的主要因素;(3)苏南地区城市居民的深度休闲活动总体程度不高,愿意在深度休闲活动上投入大量时间和金钱的人更是少数;(4)苏南地区城市居民从事深度休闲活动产生的强烈认同感和坚持不懈的毅力对主观幸福感有着显著的积极影响。     

Convex duality and Orlicz spaces in expected utility maximization

In this paper, we report further progress toward a complete theory of state‐independent expected utility maximization with semimartingale price processes for arbitrary utility function. Without any technical assumptions, we establish a surprising Fenchel duality result on conjugate Orlicz spaces, offering a new economic insight into the nature of primal optima and providing a fresh perspective on the classical papers of Kramkov and Schachermayer. The analysis points to an intriguing interplay between no‐arbitrage conditions and standard convex optimization and motivates the study of the fundamental theorem of asset pricing for Orlicz tame strategies.     

Bridging the valuescape with digital technology: A mixed methods study on customers’ value creation process in the physical retail space

This mixed methods study investigated how value is created in the physical retail space and how the customer experience is influenced by digital technology. A cross-sectional survey, with both qualitative and quantitative components, was distributed across a heterogeneous sample of 832 customers. The results revealed an overarching model comprised of three interrelated clusters: customer, service provider, and digital technology. We propose that this model can be understood as a valuescape, where customers' specific goals, needs, and desires drive them to interact and co-create value with service providers in the physical retail space, with digital technology either enhancing or disrupting this value co-creation process. The results also show that the importance of aligning digital solutions with customers’ drives increases at the same pace as reliance on technology. The findings offer guidelines on how to utilize digitalization to leverage customer experiences and thus strengthen the attractiveness of physical retail spaces.