Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy in American Capitalism

American capitalism differs from all other forms of industrial capitalism is its historical focus on both the creation of wealth (entrepreneurship) and the reconstitution of wealth (philanthropy). Philanthropy is part of the implicit social contract that continuously nurtures and revitalizes economic prosperity. Much of the new wealth created historically has been given back to the community, to build up the great social institutions that have a positive feedback on future economic growth. This entrepreneurship-philanthropy nexus has not been fully explored by either economists or the general public. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that American philanthropists – especially those who have made their own fortunes – create foundations that, in turn, contribute to greater and more widespread economic prosperity through knowledge creation. If we do not analyze philanthropy we can understand neither how economic development occurred nor what accounts for American economic dominance.     

Common Market—A step towards unification

The focus of the Conference of the Organisation of American States held in April 1967 at Punta del Este was the efforts to achieve the economic integration of South America. The most important item in the “Declaration by the American Presidents” at Punta del Este is the projected creation of a Common Market for the whole of Latin America. The Latin American Free Trade Association (ALALC) and the Central American Common Market (MCC) are to be the foundation for economic integration over a vast area. The statement put out by the Punta del Este Conference is, however, only the first step along the road towards the economic consolidation of South America. It is now up to the Latin American countries to bring true these oft-repeated protestations of Latin American solidarity. All the Latin American countries will have to co-operate purposefully to tackle the tasks ahead of them and they will need the support of the larger industrial nations, particularly the United States. Nothing less than economic collaboration between the countries of the american sub-continent, forgetting all national rivalries, would enable Simón Bolivar's dream of a strong and united Latin America to become a practicable reality. The following contribution discusses the ways and means of Latin American integration, the results achieved hitherio and the prospects for a comprehensive unification of South America—including political unification.     

Strategy Review for Central and Eastern Europe: Strategic Responses of Foreign Multinational Corporations to the Recent Economic and Financial Crisis

The economies of Central and Eastern Europe were hit particularly badly by the global financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009. This raises the question of whether the severe economic downturn had any effect on the strategic orientation of foreign multinational corporations operating in Central and Eastern Europe. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the discussion of the effects of the recent crisis on strategies of multinational corporations. The crisis brought the successful economic catching-up process of the reforming countries over the previous decade to an abrupt halt, shattering the image of Central and Eastern Europe as a growth region. Multinational firms are now in the process of reviewing their original internationalization strategies for the region. The author argues that the business model that guided the expansion into Central and Eastern Europe still remains valid.     

The National Economy Maintained a Steady and Fast Growth in 2006

In 2006, the national economy maintained steady and fast growth.The Central Party Committee and the State Council adopted a series of macro-economic control policies and measures in a timely manner to target the outstanding problems,which emerged in economic development. These policies and measures proved to be effective and helped the economic development avoid moving from speedy growth to over-heating.The economic and social development made a good start for the implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan.     

外商投资企业在华收益、经验及启示

改革开放四十多年来,我国成为了全球第二大外资流入国。外资在为我国经济社会发展做出重要贡献的同时,也获得了应得的收益,实现了营收和利润双增长。具体表现为:中国市场是外资企业营收增长的重要来源,各国企业在华营收保持持续增长,中国市场营收占据跨国公司全球重要位置;外商投资在中国获得较高收益率,诸多美欧企业在华投资收益率高于其全球平均水平。与此同时,外资企业在华经营还实现了其战略目标。实践证明,成本寻求型外资在中国获得了低要素成本,市场寻求型外资与中国市场共同成长,创新资产寻求型外资取得在华创新投入产出双增长。     

The Impact of Social Capital on the Start‐ups' Performance Growth

This paper analyzes the development of strong and weak ties of social capital between a start‐up and its main customers and its impact on the growth of the start‐up's economic and innovative task performance outcomes. Results confirm that there are different configurations of social capital able to influence the start‐up's performance growth during its life cycle, which are contingent on the selected measures of task performance outcomes. Our findings can offer some interesting reflections in the field of social capital, entrepreneurship, and performance research, raising critical strategic implications for start‐ups in terms of opportunities, resources, and governance.     

经济开放、承接技术外溢与促进中部崛起

入世后过渡期结束的过程,也是我国加大开放,融入全球化的过程.该过程为中部地区通过加速区际贸易和引入外部直接投资,发展外向型经济,接受技术外溢,实现经济跨越式发展提供了重要渠道和契机.中部地区应充分利用对外开放的技术传递作用机制,通过市场与政府的协同作用,建立可持续的自我快速发展机制,实现自身崛起.     

中原经济区各地经济发展差异研究

区域经济发展差异是区域经济学研究的核心问题之一。本文以中原经济区核心地带为例,通过考察地区生产总值、产业结构、城镇化水平、涉外能力以及经济社会发展指数,综合比较分析表明2005年后中原经济区核心地带区域经济差异呈现整体缩小态势,但经济增长的拉动力主要靠基础设施和实物资本等有形资本投入,经济可持续发展能力和居民收入差距仍在持续。因此,中原经济区应统筹协调、借力发展,提升"虹吸"辐射能力;大力培育和发展战略新兴产业,加快区域产业整合与升级;推进新型城镇化,扩大对外水平,构建共同市场。     

区域经济科学发展指针体系研究及实证分析

胡锦涛总书记在党的十七大报告中指出要实施科学发展观战略,就是要以人为本,实现经济、社会和环境的协调可持续发展。本文在充分考虑经济增长与社会发展、环境资源的有效利用之间相互制约关系的基础上,提出区域经济科学发展的综合评价模型,为区域发展提供一种有效的评价方法。     

政府规模影响因素实证研究述评

政府规模一直是学术界和现实社会长期关注的焦点问题。在经济全球化的今天,一个国家的政府应该行使哪些职能及如何行使职能,政府规模应该控制在什么样的水平才能更加高质、高效地为公众服务,这是中国亟待解决的问题,也是一个世界性的难题。去年召开的十八届三中全会决议也再次强调要完善社会主义市场经济体制改革,其核心是处理好政府和市场的关系。本文试图从经济增长、政府财政能力、人口和开放等角度来对国内外重点文献进行梳理,以期从理论和学术角度对我国政府规模研究及实践提供一些借鉴。     

Capital Freedom,Financial Development and Provincial Economic Growth in China

For more than three decades, China has managed to combine rapid economic growth with a strictly regulated financial sector. The discrepancy between economic and financial development has raised the question of whether China might be an exception to the so‐called finance–growth nexus. This study examines the relationship between finance and growth at the provincial level in China using a new set of measures of capital freedom and financial development. The results indicate that capital freedom and financial development are associated with both higher income and growth rates. In particular, we find that the marketisation of financial institutions and strengthening of legal and government institutions have a particularly strong impact on income and growth in low‐income provinces.     

Economic Democracy, Social Dialogue, and Ethical Analysis: Theory and Practice

The purpose of this article is to present in a summarized form a new approach to the ethical analysis of economic policies and to illustrate its importance with a reference to recent experiences of social dialogue in Costa Rica.A general view of the Latin American scenario is presented, with the belief that some of the main problems there observed call for a type of analysis like the one here proposed. In the second place, a brief characterization of this new ethical analysis is included.Democracy suffers from the existence of asymmetries in social and economic relationships, insofar as the success of political democracy cannot be neither understood nor built up independently from economic democracy. The strengthening of democratic processes in Latin America requires a better understanding and consolidation of the relationship between political democracy and economic democracy. On the other hand, present orientation of globalization makes of the international environment an obstacle to realize democracy at a national level. Hence, two focus of interest arise for the ethical analysis of economics at the macroeconomic level: the study of the ethical conditions of participation for each country in the globalization process, and the realization of an economic democracy within each particular country.After identifying both lines of reflection, this article summarizes the theoretical basis of a proposal for the ethical analysis of economic policy making. This approach attempts to answer the challenges of economic democratization. Centered on the ethical dimension of these processes, and from the point of view of a dialogical ethics, stress is given to those aspects of the process which will guarantee the ethical character of the consequences. This is a methodological approach which tries to discover the ethical values feasible within the economic policies and, at the same time, to go in greater depth in the construction of democratic practices. Rooted in the Latin American regional reality, this academic reflection is just in its beginning and must be considered as complementary to the business ethics analysis already developed in Latin America and Spain.A reference to recent experiences of social dialogue in Costa Rica gives the theoretical presentation a support for the acceptance of its realization in practice.     

Brazil and Mexico—Partners in sowing a free trade area of the Americas

The second half of 2000 brought renewed interest to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). This hemispheric economic integration initiative presents numerous opportunities and challenges for each of the 34 countries involved in unifying markets across the Americas. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Mercosur, the region's two largest trading blocs, play a vital role in any attempt to integrate Latin American markets. Integration under Mercosur has strengthened the position of member countries—especially Brazil, which is a choice location for foreign direct investment and has realized a significant growth in extra‐Mercosur trade. The newly elected Mexican president, Vicente Fox, has demonstrated a strong desire to bring Mexico to the forefront of hemispheric trade negotiations and brings a new dynamic to integration of Latin American markets and to the FTAA initiative. This article elaborates on the role of the two largest Latin American economies and the United States in the creation and solidification of a hemispheric trading bloc in the Americas. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Growth determinants in entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study of Spanish technology-based university spin-offs

The study explores whether the university origin of a technology-based firm conditions its growth in terms of both sales and employment. The small firm size of a significant percentage of technology-based university spin-offs (T-USOs) puts into question the policies geared towards promoting university entrepreneurship. A sample of 340 Spanish technology-based firms (219 T-USOs and 121 T-non-USOs) was constructed by using the non-parametric technique of propensity score matching and the data refer to the period 2001–2010. Applying panel data methodology, we find that the T-USOs outperform the T-non-USOs. Therefore, the need for support of university-based entrepreneurship by governments and by the universities is justified, because in this way, they are promoting economic growth and social development. By launching T-USOs, universities not only contribute to the economic growth but also to the internationalisation of the economy, as T-USOs show a more international orientation. In addition, the results lead us to emphasise the need to customise university policies aimed at promoting the growth of T-USOs. Given that the study is focused on a ‘moderate innovator’ country, the conclusions and proposals of this paper may be extrapolated to other countries with similar innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems, namely the Mediterranean and Latin American countries.     

常州小微企业生存困境及解困的路径探析

小微企业在增加就业岗位、促进经济增长、推动科技创新和维护社会和谐等方面具有不可替代的作用,是实现中国梦和强国梦的有力支撑,对国民经济和社会发展具有重要的战略意义。但受国内外复杂多变的经济形势影响,加之自身发展存在的弱点和微式,小微企业面临生存困境,如何在当今的形势下,居危解危,化危为机,创新求变,成为社会共同关切的课题。本文以江苏常州小微企业为例,在收集资料和调研的基础上,根据自己的思考,探讨适合常州小微企业走出困境,实现可持续发展的路径。     

Regional development of German foreign trade in the 1990s

With a double-digit growth rate, Germany's export sector was again very successful last year. While the industrialised countries continue to be Germany's main trading partners, growth in the past few years has been stimulated by trade with the booming regions of Southeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe as well as with Central and South America. The current crisis in Southeast Asia has led to an abrupt slowdown in the region's economic development. What will be the consequences for global trade in general and for German foreign trade in particular?     

浅谈房地产业对我国社会经济的影响

最近几年,房地产业经历了几番起伏,它对于我国GDP的增长,发挥了巨大的促进作用,这一点是毋庸置疑的.与此同时,是否应该继续维持房地产业在我国社会经济中的重要地位,成为了大家关注的焦点.本文将以我国房地产业的现状为出发点,结合房地产在我国社会经济发展中的重要性,简要谈谈房地产业对我国社会经济的影响.     

Soziale Marktwirtschaft – das Fundament für Wachstum und Gerechtigkeit

Among all G20 countries, Germany has the lowest level of inequality in terms of disposable income. Germany’s tax and transfer system – which has a strong and effective redistributive impact compared with other countries – plays a key role in this connection. Over the past ten years, positive growth and employment trends have significantly improved opportunities for economic participation and have put a stop to previous trends towards greater income inequality. In order to safeguard efficient growth and redistributive policies in the future, it is essential for Germany to maintain sufficient incentives for investment, innovation and employment. Political reform strategies to ensure equality of opportunity should aim to achieve a more broad-based accumulation of private wealth and to strengthen labour force participation. The promotion of lifelong education and training, and the economic and social application of the knowledge created in this process, will play a decisive role in achieving these objectives.     

Social Capital or Ethnic Enclave Location? A Multilevel Explanation of Immigrant Business Growth

The rapid increase in migration into host countries and the growth of immigrant‐owned business enterprises has revitalized research on ethnic business. Does micro (individual)‐level social capital, or meso (group)‐level location within the ethnic enclave lead to immigrant business growth? Or do you need both? We analyze quantitative data collected from 110 Chinese restaurants in Australia, a major host country. At the micro level we find that coethnic (same ethnic group) networks are critical to the growth of an immigrant entrepreneur's business, particularly in the early years. But non‐coethnic (different ethnic group) social capital only has a positive impact on business growth for immigrant businesses outside the ethnic enclave. Our findings are relevant, not only to host‐country policymakers, but also for future immigrant business owners and ethnic community leaders trying to better understand how to promote healthy communities and sustainable economic growth. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Economic and social turbulence in Greece: the product markets are a no-brainer,the labour market is not

Since the 1990s the Greek economy has posed a unique international paradox, combining relatively strong growth rates with a very weak performance on many other fronts ranging from poor labour and product market institutions and low competitiveness to poor environmental protection and high levels of corruption. The recent economic and social turbulence in Greece is a result of this paradox. What is the explanation for this situation? What reforms are necessary to change it?