The Political Economy of Policy Vacuums: The European Commission on Demographic Change

ABSTRACT

Supranational organisations can only confront politico-economic issues that are recognised as important. Typically, issues gain recognition either when they provide an external shock to the system, shaking political actors into action, or when they are framed as important in policy networks concerned with developing the appropriate scientific approach. Ideally political and scientific actors align in creating pressures to recognise the issue as salient and to mobilise organisational responses. Issues differ in their capacity to be driven by both political and scientific pressures, creating crisis management, technocratic, and reform agenda outcomes. Here we explore a further variation, where pressures around an issue are insufficient, creating a policy vacuum. We examine one such policy vacuum in Europe: demographic change. This issue belongs to no particular Directorate-General in the European Commission, but is subject to policy frames from DG EMPL and DG ECFIN. Without sufficient political and scientific pressures, no particular policy position is occupied and advocated despite recognition of the issue’s importance. We discuss the role of policy vacuums and the need for their identification in political economy research.     

历史记载以来黄河下游河道变化及沉积环境分析

论文对近历史记载以来黄河下游河段河道变迁历史进行总结概括并重新绘制了黄河下游河道变迁示意图。黄河下游河段按流向分为北、东、南三个方向。北流河道相对分散,形成了一系列三角洲沉积,有的已被沿岸河流带来的沉积物覆盖;东流河道在入海口处河道变迁频繁,形成了规模较大的三角洲并持续至今。南流河道在摆动起始有多股漫流,经由淮河水系扩散,至苏北一带汇成一股由苏北汇入黄海并在苏北形成了规模较大的三角洲。结合相关研究成果,分析黄河河口沉积环境发现:黄河入海泥沙堆积有极高的沉积速率,在沉积年份每年可沉积数十厘米至数米,可以快速向海淤进形成三角洲,而黄河行水期结束后,则无沉积甚至被侵蚀。研究结果表明,北至海河、南到淮河的大范围内沉积环境的塑造均与黄河有关,黄河与下游的滦河、小清河、弥河、潍河、淮河、射阳河等相互影响,共同塑造了华北平原的沉积格局。     

制度距离、投资动机与企业OFDI区位选择——中国对外直接投资“制度风险偏好”的一种解释

由于企业的对外直接投资（OFDI）存在制度适应成本，东道国与母国之间的制度距离会对企业OFDI产生负向影响。基于2003—2015年中国对140个国家和地区OFDI的分析表明：中国企业的OFDI具有明显的市场寻求动机和战略资源寻求动机，其中，市场寻求型OFDI表现出显著的互补效应，战略资源寻求型OFDI表现出一定程度的挤出效应；东道国与中国的制度距离会通过投资动机影响中国企业OFDI的区位选择，即倾向于向制度距离较小的国家和地区进行OFDI，且制度距离会弱化市场寻求型OFDI的互补效应和战略资源寻求型OFDI的挤出效应。站在企业角度来看，中国企业在进行OFDI时并不具有“制度风险偏好”，而是表现出“制度风险规避”特征：选择对其自身发展来讲制度风险较小（制度距离较小）的目标市场进行OFDI。因此，中国应深化市场经济体制改革，提升国内制度质量，加强国际经济合作，并增强企业的制度适应能力，以有效减小制度距离对企业OFDI区位选择的约束，进而优化OFDI区位分布，提高OFDI效益和质量。     

Determinants of Innovative Behaviour in the Hotel Industry: A cross-Cultural Study

The present study develops a conceptual framework that sheds light on whether institutional pressures (i.e., normative, mimetic, and coercive) and corporate support can improve innovative behavior across different societies and the moderating role of national cultural dimensions on this link. Our study validated these arguments empirically using data from the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Data were collected and analyzed from 2,618 respondents. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of full-time non-managerial employees selected, from different departments of various four- and five-star hotels across five economically and culturally different societies (UK, UAE, Germany, China, USA). Our results indicated that both institutional pressures and corporate support have positive influence on employees’ innovative behaviour. Furthermore, Hotels in cultures with high levels of individualism and low levels of uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity will indicate higher levels of innovative behaviour in response to corporate support programs. While, hotels in nations with high levels of power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity will indicate higher levels of innovative behaviour in response to normative, mimetic, and coercive pressure. These findings provide important implications for innovative behaviour by developing and validating a multilevel model empirically in the hospitality context.     

On the relationship between sectorial and institutional structural changes

Successful development processes involve not only ‘sectorial structural change’, shifts of factors between different productive sectors, but also, ‘institutional structural change’, shifts of factors from unproductive activities (predation) to productive ones. This paper analyzes the feedback process between the sectorial and the institutional structural changes in a model in which the labor share in agriculture is lower than in other sectors. Along the transition sectorial structural change emerges: employment in agriculture declines. Consequently, total labor share increases, raising the reward for working (while discouraging predation) and so, fostering institutional structural change. This, in turn, encourages capital accumulation, promoting sectorial structural change. This feedback mechanism widens differences in productivity and institutions among countries. Whereas zero-cost policies aimed to build institutions have positive effects, costly policies have uncertain effects due to complex feedback mechanisms.     

A Challenge in Our Time: Issues of Race in Supply Chain Management

This editorial addresses one of the greatest challenges of our time—racial inequality. Logistics and supply chain management (SCM) factor prominently in people’s everyday experiences, as consumers of products and logistics services as well as through participation in logistics and supply chain workforces. These everyday experiences can be quite disparate depending on one’s race. As academics, we have a responsibility to peel back the layers of how these issues of race and diversity impact and interact with supply chain phenomena. This editorial is intended to bolster conversation around these issues. We identify compelling themes that merit consideration and, perhaps, deeper investigation, including race as an individual difference variable in our research, race in SCM talent and leadership, and race and racism in SCM execution. We also call for more research that addresses racial inclusion and equal access in other aspects of SCM in light of its far-reaching influence in the realms of business and society. The time has come to address these pervasive issues affecting organizations and individuals. We also introduce the articles appearing in the current issue of the journal.     

Potential Impact of Climate Change and Armed Conflict on Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates the potential impact of climate change and armed conflict on inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The system-GMM for a panel of 35 SSA countries is employed using annual data from 1997 to 2018. The empirical results indicate that armed conflict and climate are major drivers of inequality in SSA. The direct impact of the two determinants is more than the indirect impact. Also, the impact of armed conflict is more than the climate change. The coefficients of population growth, output growth, unemployment, natural rent, exchange rate and inflation rate are significant positive predictors of inequality in the SSA. The study advocates for a multidisciplinary inclusive growth strategy that prioritises the climate change reversal, de-escalation of armed conflict, population control, reduction of the unemployment rate and increasing informal sector productivity, to promote inclusive growth and reduce inequality. However, sequencing the policy targets relative to the magnitude of their impact on inequality is extremely crucial.     

畜牧产业结构变动对我国粮食安全的影响分析

［目的］改革开放40多年来，我国畜牧产业结构不断调整和优化，其生产供给结构与消费需求结构的变动与我国粮食安全问题息息相关。［方法］文章基于改革开放40多年来畜牧产业发展历程，从供给与需求两个维度分析我国畜牧产业结构变动的特征，并进一步探究畜牧产业结构变动与我国粮食安全间的作用机理，最后运用灰色关联度分析法实证其关联影响度。［结果］我国畜牧产业结构由耗粮型为主向节粮型转变，畜产品供给结构趋于合理，但不同区域间存在较大差异； 我国居民对畜产品消费需求量增加，但城乡居民畜产品消费结构及变动存在一定差异性； 畜牧产业结构变动与粮食安全有重要联系，畜牧业发展同保障国家粮食安全并不矛盾，畜牧产业结构变动主要通过耕地、基于口粮替代的食物需求结构变化及饲料粮需求3个方面作用于粮食安全； 具体来看，粮食播种面积、耗粮型畜产品比重和耗粮型畜产品饲料转化率对粮食安全水平的关联影响较大，节粮型畜产品比重与节粮型畜产品饲料转化率对粮食安全水平的关联影响小于耗粮型畜产品的影响。［结论］不断提高不同畜产品的饲料转化率，加大非粮型饲料资源开发利用度，推广非粮饲料应用技术，加快畜牧产业转型升级，满足消费者需求和保障国家粮食安全。     

A social-media-based approach to assessing the effectiveness of equitable housing policy in mitigating education accessibility induced social inequalities in Shanghai,China

Social inequalities induced by education accessibility are widespread and concern land use policy makers globally. Yet much of existing research heavily emphasizes on uncovering the spatial patterns of housing price in relation to education resources. This paper aims to renew our understanding of this classical topic by bringing the importance of temporal and institutional dynamics to the fore. Specifically, this research presents a detailed examination of the relationship between school quality and housing rental dynamics under the intervention of equitable housing policy, with special reference to Shanghai, the most developed megacity in China, also one of the first Chinese cities granting equal rights for renters to access schools within the catchment area. Based on time-series housing rental data collected from social media, the t-test discovers that school quality has a significant impact on housing rental prices after the introduction of this new housing policy. Moreover, housing rental prices within high-quality school districts are significantly higher than those within ordinary school districts. The hedonic model and variance partitioning further confirm that school quality is capitalized into housing rental prices, and its relative contribution varies with temporal periods. More specifically, how the relative contribution of school quality changes over time is consistent with the schedule of primary school enrollment and sensitive to policy intervention. The difference in difference model foregrounds that the equitable housing policy does result in rental prices hike in high-quality school districts, i.e., a 13.5 % rental premium of housings within high-quality school districts compared with those within ordinary ones. We conclude that the equitable housing policy fails to achieve the expected goal and propose alternative suggestions for mitigating social inequalities in education accessibility. This study demonstrates a novel methodological framework for evaluating the social consequence of equitable housing policy based on social media data. It unravels how housing rental changes with school district division and the capitalization effect of school quality in housing rental prices.     

基于SFA模型的河南省粮食产量时空变化及投入要素影响

[目的]粮食问题影响着一个国家的国民经济发展和人民生产、生活,农业在整个社会生产活动中占有重要地位,河南省是全国农业大省,对河南省粮食产量进行分析具有重要的现实意义。[方法]以2005—2015年河南省各县粮食产量和投入要素为研究对象,将研究数据面板化,利用线性相关、随机前沿生产函数模型、脱钩分析等方法,运用ArcGIS 10.1、Eviews 8.0和SPSS 19.0等软件,对河南省各县粮食产量时空变化、投入要素影响程度和脱钩效应进行分析。[结果]模型运算结果表明文章选用模型效果较好,能够反映粮食产量的时空变化以及其与投入要素之间的关系,且符合河南省粮食产量实际情况。研究结果表明:(1)从时间上来看, 2005—2015年河南省粮食产量总体呈线性上升趋势;(2)从空间上来看,河南省中部、北部、东部和南部粮食产量较高,西部受地势因素影响粮食产量较低;(3)粮食产量与化肥施用折纯量、粮食播种面积、农民经营性收入、农药施用量、农业机械总动力和乡村农业人口呈正相关关系,与农村用电量呈负相关关系;(4)化肥施用折纯量、农村用电量、农药施用量存在脱钩效应,粮食播种面积、农民经营性收入、农业机械总动力不存在脱钩效应。[结论]应保持目前粮食播种面积不变,提高农业机械总动力,突出投入要素的影响,同时对河南省各县进行区域功能定位。