Production activity within the London economy

As Britain's largest city with the most extensive range of service functions, London has led most other cities within the country in its loss of production activity. Within the overall net loss, there is however some new industrial development. This development is investigated to throw light on areas of possible industrial regeneration relevant to large urban areas throughout the UK. The paper first estimates recent change in production employment in London and then investigates a sample of industrial developments in the city identified through the Land Use Change Statistics. Though a significant 244 hectares was developed for industrial use, few new production jobs are likely to have been generated. The results point to growth dominated by the small firm sector, but with an even spatial spread over all parts of the city. The implication for policy is a reinforcement of its dependence on the small firm sector to offset major structural changes in economic activity.     

The Contribution of the Urban Sector to Australian Economic Development Before 1914

This article examines the contribution of the urban sector to Australian economic development before the First World War. This contribution has often been seen in negative terms: contemporary observers generally thought that the major cities were to large and drained resources from the productive sectors of the economy, while some modern historians have portrayed cities as centres of poverty and environmental disamenity. The article evaluates these claims and presents a case for the urban sector having been a powerful stimulus to economic growth. The problems which Australian urbanization created did not stem from cities being too large, with more inhabitants than the number of well-paying jobs; rather, the general preference for low-density suburban living, and the ability of most of the population to be able to afford to live that way, meant that the cities would be expensive to build and difficult to service in a cost-effective way.     

Black economic well-being since the 1950s

Conclusion Industrial cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh that once offered manufacturing jobs as a route to economic advancement no longer provide an economic environment conducive to long-run gains in black incomes. Faced with massive losses in blue-collar manufacturing jobs in the 1970s and 1980s — as well as growing local government fiscal difficulties — these cities are changing rapidly in character. Administration and management are more and more the dynamic, expanding sector, and the resultant demands for workers have been concentrated in the white-collar fields. Highly educated blacks benefit from these trends in job availability; the less educated lose ground economically. The swing between widespread progress (as in World War II) and widespread regression in relative economic status (as in the 1930s) was the traditional cyclical fate of the overall urban black population. Today the smaller white-collar group prospers while the larger blue-collar urban black work force is undermined, except in periods of labor shortage.     

Impacts of China-US trade conflicts on the energy sector

This paper uses a multi-country input-output model to simulate the impacts of the recent China-U.S. trade war. We first examine in detail the list of products subject to additional tariffs, and then use the model to estimate the economic impacts of the trade conflict. Based on the direct and indirect impacts on the energy sector of each country, we then extend the analysis to the issue of global energy demand. Our empirical results indicate that both China and the U.S. suffer from the conflict, although the impacts on China are greater Both countries experience a reduction in energy demand and a general economic slowdown. Although certain countries may benefit from the China-U.S. trade conflict in short-run, a general negative impact on the global economic prospects can affect all. Moreover, a short-term marginal impact on the global energy market is found, but as the consequence of long-term uncertainties and indirect economic impacts, further reductions of global energy demand are expected.     

The plantation sector in Sri Lanka: Recent changes in the welfare of children and women

Although Sri Lanka has achieved high standards of mass well-being, physical quality of life indicators for the historically deprived plantation population fall well below the impressive national averages. This paper analyses the position of women and children on the plantations within the context of the global recession and national economic strategies. It highlights some of the programmes which, along with a legacy of concern for social welfare in Sri Lanka, have attempted to maintain and even improve the living conditions of plantation women and children.     

Towards accommodationist planning in South Africa's secondary centres: The case of hawker deregulation

International development agencies are devoting increased attention to the role of secondary or intermediate cities in national urban development strategies. In planning the development of intermediate‐sized centres, stress is placed on the need to support indigenous enterprise, including the informal sector. Against a background review of literature concerning the informal sector within secondary cities, this paper examines the extent to which a group of South Africa's intermediate‐sized cities are pursuing programmes supporting the informal sector. The question of policies towards hawking is investigated within the settings of East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg and Pietermaritzburg. It is concluded that accommodationist planning is being undertaken on only a limited scale in these secondary centres.     

非农就业提高农村居民幸福感了吗？

农村劳动力非农转移已经成为常态,对农村居民的福利水平产生了深远影响。文章基于体验效用假设,构建了工农要素流动下农村居民的幸福函数,并基于2018年中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)农村调研数据,实证分析了非农就业影响农村居民幸福感的效应、机制与情境。结果表明:非农就业在总体上促进了农村居民幸福感提升,但却存在一定的"伊斯特林悖论"关系,即短期非农就业能够显著促进幸福增长,但长期非农就业对幸福增长的促进作用是有限的,甚至出现停滞或反向抑制状态;其内在机制主要在于非农就业过程中农村居民的需求层次逐渐由生存需要转向尊重和自我实现需要,但长期非农就业并不能显著提升外出务工农村居民的社会地位感知;非农就业对农村居民幸福感的促进效应,在本地非农就业和跨省流动的就业情境下更为显著,在女性群体、高中层次受教育程度群体中相对更高,且伴随农村居民的年龄增长呈现边际递减规律。基于此,文章提出创造本地就业市场、关注非农劳动力的就业需求变化、加强非农就业劳动力职业技能培训等针对性政策启示。     

Community economic development: Some critical issues

Community development is an issue of continuing interest not only because of the need for more successful economic development within our cities, but because the survival of a significant portion of African-American poor is at stake. Community development planning seeks to improve all aspects of community life, including health, education, crime prevention, employment and training, business development, family stability, and housing. Community economic development must arise from our black churches, historically black colleges and universities, African-American officials, business leaders, teachers, and health and welfare professionals. In the real world, where group welfare functions are interdependent, only two possible long-term outcomes are both just and stable: win-win or lose-lose. Consequently, there is a need for significant Pareto improvements in all social programs. There are roles for both race-specific and race-neutral policies because long-term Pareto improvements can result both from programs such as targeted minority employment and training as well as color-blind policies that encourage legislators to forgo the coffers of the gun lobby and control the sale and use of guns. The paper will focus on the historical logic of public policy as reflected in housing policy, financing mechanisms under community development corporations, and the issue of an urban underclass. By reestablishing its commitment to the inner cities, the government can redress the onerous impact of two and a half decades of social and economic neglect and private investment re-trenchment.     

Is the US quantitative easing more effective than China's? A second thought

We study the balance sheet of the People's Bank of China and the Federal Reserve Bank in a historical context and analyze whether the recent round of global expansionary monetary policy has been effective in achieving its desired economic effects. In particular, we focus on the roles played by excess reserves, monetary aggregates and financing to the real economy and highlight the tension between a liquid financial sector and an illiquid real sector. We show that, while both China and the US have followed reserve-driven growth strategies, the compositions and relative sizes of these quantities are quite different. In relative terms, excess reserves and lackluster corporate lending constitute a big problem for the US, whereas for China the pertinent question is how to further mobilize funds tied up in the real estate and stock market. We provide some thoughts on possible solutions to the current policy dilemma at the end.     

Prestige project developments: Economic renaissance or economic myth? A case study of Birmingham

This article examines the City of Birmingham's attempt to generate economic activity through the construction of “prestige projects” and the refurbishment of its Central Business District in the 1980s. Birmingham City Council's claims to have generated thousands of jobs and £2 billion of private sector investment from its prestige developments are examined and the distributional impacts of the “claimed” job creation totals are also detailed. The article concludes that the global investment and employment figures claimed have been exaggerated and many of the jobs directly generated have contributed to the growth of the secondary labour market in Birmingham.     

The Hukou system's constraints on migrant workers' job mobility in Chinese cities

Most studies on discrimination against migrants in Chinese cities focus on wage differentials. This paper endeavours to develop an alternative way of explaining the institutional discrimination against migrants by studying workers' job mobility rates in three cities: Beijing, WuXi and Zhuhai. Migrants are commonly perceived to have high occupational mobility; however, Cox proportional hazards regressions in this paper show a different picture. Institutional discrimination reduces the number of jobs available to the migrants, increases their job search costs and the cost of losing jobs. Even though migrants take jobs unacceptable to local residents, the effects of this institutional discrimination still constrain migrants in changing jobs. The regressions show that temporary migrants have longer job durations and shorter unemployment durations than local people or permanent migrants. Moreover, migrants start to change jobs more often only after they have stayed in the city for some time and have accumulated enough assets to be able to survive when unemployed.     

企业社会责任、经济政策不确定性与融资约束——基于社会责任“累积-保险”效应的研究视角

综合运用2009-2017年A股上市公司数据,通过长、短期社会责任的影响对比,考察了在面对经济政策不确定性的冲击时,企业社会责任对融资约束的影响效应,并论证了不同政策不确定程度下的效应表现机理。结果表明：企业社会责任具备"累积效应",长期社会责任的融资约束缓解作用强于短期社会责任;企业社会责任也具备"保险效应",会显著削弱经济政策不确定性加剧融资约束的程度。进一步研究发现,高经济政策不确定性下："累积效应"仍然存在,且会因长期社会责任"保险效应"加强而得到强化。不同产权性质下：国有企业的融资约束受政策不确定性影响较小,且"双效应"更稳定;而非国有企业的社会责任对融资约束的缓解作用更强,但受经济政策冲击更大。研究揭示了企业社会责任对融资约束的积极效应,呼吁企业应积极履行社会责任并值得长期坚持。     

江苏省滨海旅游竞合研究

发展滨海旅游业,有利于促进沿海地区经济发展和结构调整,提高沿海地区居民生活质量,带动沿海地区社会文化全面发展。本文应用TOPSIS评价方法研究了江苏省滨海旅游城市的竞争能力,并应用比较的方法分析了江苏省滨海城市存在的不足,在此基础上提出了相应的措施。     

On the Economic Contribution of Specialized Higher Education Institutions to the Development of Monofunctional Cities

This article deals with the social, cultural, and economic contributions of universities to the life of small cities in which they are located. Using a questionnaire, we estimated the direct and indirect contributions of students from two universities of the Public Universities System in the state of Oaxaca (Mexico)—SUNEO (Sistema de Universidades Estatales de Oaxaca): the Technological University of the Mixteca (UTM—La Universidad Tecnológica de la Mixteca) and the University of the Costa Region (UNCOS—la Universidad de la Costa) in the life of two cities, Huajuapan de Leon and Pinotepa Nacional, in which these universities are located. The results obtained make it possible to recommend the use of methodologies for developing a strategy for creating a system of universities in monofunctional cities in Russia. The cases of the establishment of universities in small and medium-sized cities of Russia, as well as the factors that contribute to and impede such diversification of the economy of monofunctional cities in the current conditions of applying digital technologies in education are considered.     

Devolution and Economic Governance in the UK: Uneven Geographies, Uneven Capacities?

Recent academic debates have suggested that the capacity of any given territory to embed increasingly global processes of economic development partly rests on sub-national social, cultural and institutional forms and supports. In this context, devolution has the potential to alter the institutional architecture of the UK state and this paper interrogates the various ways in which the devolved bodies in the four territories--England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales--have begun to remake their institutional architectures of economic development. The paper also draws out some initial implications of these changes for the emerging uneven geographies and uneven capacities of economic development with the UK, post-devolution. The paper concludes by linking these observations to academic debates on the 'new regionalism'.     

Economic Status and Social Attitudes of Migrant Workers in China

Migrant workers, meaning those who used to be farmers but have left rural areas and found jobs in cities as a result of economic reform and rapid development in China, have made a significant contribution to the burgeoning labor market and played an important role in speeding up the transition from a planned to a market economy. This present paper considers the economic status and social attitudes of migrant workers. It is based on the analysis of a large‐scale survey in 2006, which was conducted using questionnaires and covered 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions throughout the country. It was found that the income status of migrant workers depends heavily on the education and technical skills that they have developed, rather than on identity‐based discrimination. Surprisingly, it was also found that those on less income and of lower economic and social status show more positive attitudes to society than those who are affluent and considered of higher social status. It is concluded that the decisive factor in attitude and behavior of migrant workers is historic rather than economic.     

推进大连与首尔文化产业合作的研究

新经济时代,文化产业作为一种"朝阳产业"迅猛发展。在区域经济一体化背景下,推进大连与首尔在动漫、影视剧、游戏等领域的合作,将有利于大连城市文化内涵的提升和经济发展方式的快速健康转型。同时,共同开发潜力巨大的文化资源和市场空间,也有利于两市进一步扩大经济合作领域,实现东北亚经济圈城市间的合作共赢。     

Integration, embeddedness and local economic development. The case of the clothing industry in Coventry

This paper examines the ways in which a new sector is linked to a local economy, and the implications for local economic development. The focus is on the clothing industry in Coventry which survey evidence suggests operates independently and in isolation. A major reason is that the sector is only weakly embedded in a social sense. Clothing manufacturers have a low social profile and contribute little to the institutionalised business life of the city. The consequences of low integration are examined, as are the steps necessary to anchor the sector within the local area.     

Economic structure and development in an emergent Asian economy: evidence from a social accounting matrix for vietnam

Vietnam started a wide-ranging process of economic reform in 1986 and is presently opening up its economy to regional and global economic forces. As a result, Vietnam faces significant challenges in the area of economic policy analysis in spite of a remarkable growth performance in recent years. This paper reviews insights emerging from a detailed social accounting matrix (SAM), compiled for the year 2000. The SAM reflects Vietnam’s heavy reliance on primary sector activities, but we also find that agricultural potential could be expanded significantly. In other sectors, the critical importance of sustained commitments to human capital development is apparent. In this context, the international donor community can support the ongoing transformation process through concerted training and capacity building initiatives that have proven successful elsewhere in the region.     

基于层次分析法的华北五省市城镇化水平评价

城镇化是一个国家或地区经济社会发展的综合表现,是衡量一个国家或地区社会组织程度和管理水平的重要标识。首先选取了华北地区中五个省市城镇化指标体系的指标,并通过层次分析法构建起一套评价五省市城镇化的指标体系,进而运用该指标体系对五省市的城镇化水平进行了评价,最后得出华北五省市城镇化水平分为三个层次水平的结论。