The future of India’s economic growth: the natural resources and energy dimension

The continuation of widespread poverty apart, the biggest danger that India faces is the wanton destruction and degradation of all the country’s natural resources and a growing, unsustainable, dependence on the use of hydrocarbon fuels. We are losing ten percent of our GDP as a result of the damage to and degradation of our natural resources. But environmental decision-making has not yet been merged with mainstream economic decision making. In the developed countries, environmental protection followed a path defined by the Environmental Kuznets curve, involving significant increases in income and pollution levels to a point where the trend changed. A developing country like India cannot pursue the same path, and would need to set up a governance structure and policy regime that allow the turning point to take place at substantially lower levels of income. The internalization of social and environmental externalities would ensure that resources are used in a sustainable and responsible manner. In the matter of energy use, for instance, proactive policies—such as stress on renewable sources and the rationalisation of subsidies—are needed to decrease the dependence on unsustainable imports and to create the conditions under which the dispossessed and poor sections of society are able to meet their basic energy needs. Blindly aping the consumerist approach of the developed world, and neglecting the ecological footprint of lifestyles, could prove disastrous for our populous country.     

How to make India a knowledge-based society

The National Knowledge Commission set up by the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in 2005 was, perhaps, the first of its kind. One of its three objectives is to make India a knowledge-based society. Among the important areas in the country where problems need to be addressed to achieve the above objective, three—education, knowledge empowerment of Panchayats (the lowest of the three-tier local self-government system in India), and ethical commercialization of the country's creative and cultural tradition—are briefly described in the article. Some steps that need to be taken in each area are stated. For example, in regard to education, we must decommercialize school and higher education, and set up 400,000 high schools in the country where children would receive high-quality free education for 10 years—that is, up to the age of 16. As regards the Panchayats, we need to institute a system so that they are empowered through knowledge in areas of immediate interest to them as well as knowledge that would make them truly informed citizens of the country. In regard to traditional knowledge, it needs to be ensured that the keepers and practitioners of this knowledge are compensated adequately and fairly if such knowledge is commercialized.     

Dialogue and debate in a post-normal practice of science: a reflexion

Scientific activities are always embedded in the cultural matrix that gives purpose to the enterprise, and so we need to develop a rich and meaningful view of social reality. In doing so we realise that we all live different lives, but each of us can broaden our knowledge of the social world through dialogue with others. If scientific questions, which relate directly to society, were researched in a ‘dialogical' manner, ways would be sought to understand the concerned individuals, populations or stakeholders. While never rejecting concern for internal coherence and rigour, science can cope better with future uncertainties, and better solve the problems of those peoples that make up society, by extensively utilising social dialogue.     

发达国家农村社会养老保险制度及其启示

世界上许多国家,尤其是发达国家都建立了较为完善的农村社会养老保险制度,积累了丰富的经验,对我国具有重要的借鉴意义.文章概括介绍了德国、法国和日本农村社会养老保险的经验,以此为借鉴,结合我国的实际,主要从三个方面提出创新我国农村社会养老保险制度的途径.     

论公共图书馆在构建和谐社会中的作用

构建社会主义和谐社会是党和国家落实科学发展观,为国家实现全面建设小康社会决策的宏伟目标的一个系统工程,涉及到经济、政治、文化、社会和人等各个方面。作为与国家政治、经济、文化不可分割的图书馆事业,应为构建和谐社会发挥其重要作用。一、公共图书馆共享信息资源能促进和谐社会建设;二、公共图书馆能丰富各阶层民众的精神文化生活;三、公共图书馆能建立社会和谐文化体系的健康导向;四、公共图书馆是构建和谐社会中开展多种教育的途径。     

Japan-India civil nuclear energy cooperation: prospects and concerns

India is a non-party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, India argues its impeccable non-proliferation record shows the country as a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology that should be allowed to acquire the same benefits and advantages of nuclear energy cooperation under the existing global nuclear non-proliferation regime. This statement needs careful analysis of whether or not the Japan-India civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement could be successfully concluded and acceded to. This paper elaborates on the possibilities and concerns related to the matter from a politico-legal point of view, in order to materialise a mutually satisfactory and legitimate bilateral agreement. The scope of possible civil nuclear energy cooperation may be limited, probably not exceeding the level that the US has agreed with India, right now. It is, however, a necessary initial step for dramatically reconstructing our relationship, which may allow for greater cooperation in the near future.     

Distance still matters. The hard reality of global expansion

Companies routinely overestimate the attractiveness of foreign markets. Dazzled by the sheer size of untapped markets, they lose sight of the difficulties of pioneering new, often very different territories. The problem is rooted in the analytic tools (the most prominent being country portfolio analysis, or CPA) that managers use to judge international investments. By focusing on national wealth, consumer income, and people's propensity to consume, CPA emphasizes potential sales, ignoring the costs and risks of doing business in a new market. Most of these costs and risks result from the barriers created by distance. "Distance," however, does not refer only to geography; its other dimensions can make foreign markets considerably more or less attractive. The CAGE framework of distance presented here considers four attributes: cultural distance (religious beliefs, race, social norms, and language that are different for the target country and the country of the company considering expansion); administrative or political distance (colony-colonizer links, common currency, and trade arrangements); geographic distance (the physical distance between the two countries, the size of the target country, access to waterways and the ocean, internal topography, and transportation and communications infrastructures); and economic distance (disparities in the two countries' wealth or consumer income and variations in the cost and quality of financial and other resources). This framework can help to identify the ways in which potential markets may be distant from existing ones. The article explores how (and by how much) various types of distance can affect different types of industries and shows how dramatically an explicit consideration of distance can change a company's picture of its strategic options.     

中国制造业劳动力成本上升的正负效应分析

劳动力作为生产的重--素投入,在经济发展中起着举足轻重的作用。根据古典贸易理论,我国存在着明显的劳动力比较优势,带来了我国对外贸易依靠国内大量存在的廉价劳动力的长期繁荣发展。然而,进入21世纪以来,劳动力成本的上升日益显著,我国的人口红利正在逐渐消失。通过对我国制造业劳动力成本上升的现状及其负面效应、正面效应的分析,认为我国应从国家层面、产业层面以及企业层面来应对劳动力成本上升带来的影响。     

我国小额保险发展模式的探讨

在我国全面建设小康社会和构建社会主义和谐社会的大背景下，着力发展小额保险，提高低收入人群的风险保障水平，对于我国来说尤为迫切。本文主要介绍在我国开展小额保险可选择的三种模式，以及根据目前经济社会和保险发展的现状，我国小额保险发展模式现实的选择。     

国外公共危机预防审计的实践及借鉴

人类社会的发展不断面临各类公共危机的挑战。面对公共危机造成的重大影响,各国政府开展了公共危机管理,相应地,国家审计机关开展了贯穿于公共危机预防、反应和恢复等各个阶段的公共危机管理审计。我国目前的公共危机管理审计实践重心在于危机发生后的援助款物使用情况的审计和危机恢复阶段的重点工程项目跟踪审计,对危机预防审计缺乏认识。他山之石,可以攻玉。本文选取美国洛杉矶综合性危机预防审计、加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚地区地震预防审计和爱沙尼亚应急准备审计三个审计案例,介绍其公共危机预防审计的实践,从中总结出值得我国借鉴的经验,对我国现阶段开展公共危机预防审计提出相应的建议。     

借鉴国际经验 构筑我国中小企业发展的财政政策支持体系：财政支持非公有制经济发展的重要举措

大力发展非公有制经济是我国“十五”期间经济结构调整的重点内容之一，中小企业是非公经济的最主要形式，已在我国的经济中占有越来越重要的地位，特别是对促进经济增长、缓解就业压力、增加地方财政收入等方面发挥着不可替代的作用。但目前中小企业的进一步发展面临着融资困难、人才缺乏、负担过重等多种障碍，因此，如何促进中小企业的发展是成为我国面临的一个重要课题。西方发达国家在利用财政促进中小企业发展方面有许多可供借鉴的成功经验。本文在借鉴西方各国促进中小企业发展的财政政策基础上，结合当前我国中小企业发展中存在的实际困难，立足我国现实国情，选择适合的财政政策促进我国中小企业发展，使之成为我国的一个新的经济增长点和财源增长点。     

中国财政性教育投资的实证分析与对策研究

在现代市场经济社会里 ,几乎所有国家的政府投资在为全社会提供教育服务方面都起着主导作用。我国财政性教育投资严重不足 ,而且教育投资结构很不合理 ,因此必须改变教育投资观念 ,切实、稳定增加财政的教育投资 ,优化财政教育投资结构     

Travelling risks: How did nanotechnology become a risk in India and South Africa?

India and South Africa have invested in nanotechnology since the early 2000s and have identified risks to human health and the environment as an important issue for governance. This is exemplary for a wider trend in which ‘developing countries’ play an increasingly prominent role in the development, production and use of emerging technologies. This validates the claim of the world risk society thesis that countries around the world are now confronted with the risks of emerging technologies. Little is known, however, about the way developing countries deal with the potential risks of emerging technologies. Starting from the observation that the risk colonization of nanotechnology in developing countries cannot be taken for granted, this article draws upon the relational theory of risk in order to investigate how nanotechnology became understood as an object of risk in South Africa and India. The article shows that nanotechnology was constituted as an object of risk in rather different ways in India and South Africa, demonstrating that the spread of risk discourses – and the emergence of a world risk society – cannot be understood without attending to the local context. The article shows that way risk is understood and dealt with changes as risk discourses travel around the world, giving many different faces to the world risk society.     

当前人民币汇率制度选择的理论思考

任何汇率制度都只是实现经济目标的手段而不是目的,我们在各个时期选择的汇率制度应该是对我国经济发展最有利的制度。在现有的国际货币体系下,如果资本项目尚未开放,则理性的选择应该是固定汇率制度;如果资本项目已完全开放,则实行浮动汇率制是有效而保险的。对于中国这样一个资本账户部分开放的国家,现阶段重新回到真正意义上的有管理的浮动汇率制是必要的,也是可行的。     

我国事业单位改革路径探析

我国事业单位种类繁多、数量庞大,但改革滞后。社会主义市场经济体制的建立必须对现行事业单位机制进行改革。结合当前经济形势,本文将对不同时期事业单位内涵、特征进行综述,试图提出我国事业单位改革的目标和路径。     

城市化进程中我国民族地区社会保障现状及其改善

随着城市化进程的不断加快，我国现行社会保障体系中存在的问题更加凸显了出来，这些问题主要包括：覆盖面窄、立法滞后、集资渠道窄、资金缺口大且管理不规范等。本文通过对少数民族地区，特别是西北少数民族地区社会保障现状的描述及存在问题的剖析，探讨了在我国城市化进程加快的背景下，改善我国少数民族地区社会保障问题的途径。     

美国国防科技工业金融支持路径及对我国的启示

国防科技工业高技术、高投入、高风险以及回收期长的特征决定了其发展必须依赖金融组织的支持。通过对美国国防科技工业金融支持方面的政策经验研究,发掘出值得借鉴的理论创新和实践途径,从而可以为构建我国国防科技工业金融支持体系提供有益的启示。     

机械工业对经济发展的贡献、存在的问题及对策

机械工业是国民经济发展的基础,是我国经济增长的主要牵引力。机械工业不但自身具有吸纳就业的能力,而且它的发展也带动提升了其他产业吸纳就业的能力。我国机械工业经过50多年的发展,取得了令人瞩目的成就,但是其市场竞争力和自主创新能力还比较落后,存在着生产能力低下、总体水平落后等一些问题。要振兴机械工业,必须走可持续发展道路,提高机械工业企业的自主创新能力,增强其市场竞争力。     

印度电子商务税收政策及其影响

电子商务的迅速发展给传统税收体制及税收管理模式带来了巨大的挑战,各国都从保护本国利益的角度出发,提出各自的电子商务征税方案。在这种国际背景下,印度政府于1999年发布了电子商务税收政策,并在实践中取得了良好的效果。本文评价了印度政府实施电子商务税收政策的背景、理论依据、政策主张和实施效果。借鉴其成功经验,并对我国电子商务税收政策的制定提出了相关政策建议。     

Assessing the impact of export processing zones on economic growth in Ghana

The study examines the impact of free zones exports and investments on economic growth in Ghana. A vector error correction model (VECM) was employed to ascertain the impact of the Free Zones Programme on economic growth in Ghana on a quarterly time series data spanning 1998–2015. The results show that both free zones exports and free zones investments have significant negative relationship with economic growth. Trade openness also has a significant negative relationship with economic growth but insignificant positive relationship with investment and export. The study concludes that the Free Zones Programme has not served its purpose of promoting economic growth in Ghana. It is universally known that the concept of free zones is actually a second best option and as such is not meant be a lasting policy for promoting economic growth. For this reason, given the negative effect the programme has had on economic growth, the Government of Ghana should scrap it and possibly look at opening up the whole country, especially in terms of infrastructure and other incentives for all firms, so that economic activity can freely take place in every corner of the country to realise balanced and more sustainable growth of the economy.