URBAN HISTORY AND THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN CITIES

Urban growth is a major theme in economic development and a policy imperative for developed countries that seek to create sustainable cities. We argue that the past weighs heavily on the ability of societies to sustainably manage urban environments. The policy implications of urban history are revealed in comparisons of cities across times and between places. The special issue presents some of the best recent work on the economic and social history of Australian cities. We aim to encourage historians to incorporate urban variables into studies of historical processes and to persuade policymakers to consider historical trends in their analysis.     

FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND THE ROLE OF JOINT VENTURES

Foreign investment in developing countries and in economies in transition may be discouraged by fluctuations in the value of local currencies, particularly when risk sharing markets, such as currency future markets are missing. International joint ventures can be regarded as an institution for risk sharing. We demonstrate that a properly designed joint venture between the foreign firm and a local partner makes foreign investment more likely. Furthermore, foreign investment may be increased by a joint venture.     

文学的前途

当下我们进入了一个特殊的时代——网络时代。载体繁杂,声色犬马,各种力量对文学挤压的强度空前,所以我们一些好的文学书出版很难,即便出来了印数也很少,影响力微乎其微。不久以前还完全不是这个样子,     

FINANCE AND GROWTH: NEW EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF INSURANCE

This paper provides new evidence that sheds light on the impact of insurance sector development on output growth, capital accumulation and productivity improvement, using data from 51 countries (developed and developing) during 1981‐2005. The dynamic panel data analysis results demonstrate that insurance sector development affects growth predominantly through productivity improvement in developed countries, while in developing countries it promotes capital accumulation.     

THE ROLE OF THE HIGH COURT IN FEDERAL ARBITRATION DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION: PRESERVING A FUTURE FOR ‘REASON AND MORAL SUASION’?

Between 1929 and 1933 the Australian federal system of conciliation and arbitration came under economic and political strain. This article reveals that arbitration proved to be an adaptable industrial relations framework for dealing with economic depression. While the monetary entitlements of workers were reduced, the legal instrumentality that conferred the wage cuts, the Arbitration Court, itself defied abolition and evolved to be a protective body. There was a subtle and previously unremarked interaction in the regulatory functions of the High Court, the Arbitration Court, and the Commonwealth Parliament characterised by the purposeful abstention of the High Court and Scullin Government and the activism of the Arbitration Court.     

阅读的未来

在当下这样一个全民上网的时代,读书和上网是否可以有交集？人们见证着阅读和出版进入转型期,更多人在思考一个问题：阅读的未来是什么？     

INDONESIAN POLITICS IN 2007: THE PRESIDENCY,LOCAL ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY

This article begins by reviewing the politics of the presidency, including the relationship between the president, the political parties and the House of Representatives (DPR). Referring to survey data, it analyses the dynamics of public support for President Yudhoyono, and takes a preliminary look at the 2009 presidential election. It also discusses the manoeuvring between Indonesia's two largest parties, Golkar and PDI-P, in the context of recent debates in the DPR concerning a package of draft political laws.

Indonesia is undergoing continual reform with regard to local, as well as national, politics. The introduction of direct elections for heads of government at the local level is a major political development that may help accelerate democratic consolidation. Based on an examination of local election results, this article concludes that the advent of direct elections has fuelled the formation of unprecedented cross-ideological political alliances. It appears that the ideological polarisation of national politics is often no longer reflected in provincial and local politics.     

FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY AND THE FISCAL REACTION FUNCTION FOR SOUTH AFRICA: ASSESSMENT OF THE PAST AND FUTURE POLICY APPLICATIONS

How does the South African government react to changes in its debt position? In investigating this question, this paper estimates fiscal reaction functions using various methods (ordinary least squares, threshold autoregressive, state‐space modelling and vector error‐correction model). This paper finds that since 1946, the South African government has run sustainable fiscal policy by reducing the primary deficit or increasing the surplus in response to rising debt. Looking ahead, this paper considers the use of fiscal reaction functions to forecast the debt/gross domestic product (GDP) ratio and gauging the likelihood of achieving policy goals with the aid of probabilistic simulations and fan charts.     

沈阳经济区为东北许一个未来

《方案》多次修改起草历时一年多 去年4月6日,国家发改委正式批准设立沈阳经济区为国家新型工业化综合配套改革试验区。几乎与此同时,辽宁马上着手总体方案的起草和制定工作。     

鲁巴携手新能源的诱人前景

在传统能源日趋枯竭情况下,未来30年经济靠什么推动？有专家大胆断言,新能源将成为最大的一驾马车。能源总消耗当中,如果未来30年三分之一由新能源提供,就将形成能源产业50％以上的年度成长。新能源行业极有可能成为新的经济增长点。     

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN ZIMBABWE: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL AND MACROECONOMIC FACTORS

The purpose of our research is to examine the impact of property rights on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Zimbabwe for the period 1964‐2005. While the macroeconomic determinants of FDI have been analysed to a considerable extent in past empirical work, the role of institutional factors such as the protection of property rights and the efficiency of the legal system has been underexplored. Using a multivariate cointegration framework, we use a newly constructed de jure property rights index for Zimbabwe to determine the impact of property rights on FDI. The empirical evidence shows that property rights are consistently an important explanatory variable of FDI in Zimbabwe, even after controlling for periods when there are no significant new foreign capital inflows. Other significant explanatory variables of FDI in Zimbabwe are the real gross domestic product (GDP), capital intensity, the external debt to GDP ratio, political instability as well as the educational levels.     

HIGH AND VOLATILE TREASURY YIELDS IN TANZANIA: THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC BIDDING AND AUCTION MICROSTRUCTURE

The observed increase in the level and volatility of Tanzania's Treasury yields in recent years against an otherwise benign macroeconomic backdrop presented a puzzle for policymakers, while raising concerns about the fiscal burden of rising debt interest payments and diversion of bank credit away from the private sector. Using evidence from bid-level data, and supported by a simple theorising of bidder incentives under unorthodox issuance practices, this paper traces the recent volatility in yields to the emergence of a sharp segmentation of the T-bill market between sophisticated financial market players (foreign-controlled banks) and a less-experienced group of investors (domestic pension funds and small banks). An important policy recommendation that emerges is that public debt managers should avoid micro-managing Treasury bill auctions by issuing amounts in excess of those offered or by dipping into oversubscribed segments of the yield curve, as such practices seriously disadvantage the less-sophisticated (but more competitive) investors vis-à-vis the more sophisticated players.     

TRADE LIBERALIZATION AND WAGE PREMIUM IN ARGENTINA: THE ROLE OF TRADE FACTOR INTENSITY

During the 1990s, several Latin American countries implemented policies directed to the removal of barriers on international trade. However, there is a perception that reforms, especially trade liberalization, failed to deliver on their promises, easing the way for policies aimed at reversing some of them. Following Wood's hypothesis, we allow for the effects of liberalization to vary, depending on the skill intensity of production. The evidence confirms that the role of trade liberalization has been relatively small, but controlling for the presence of endogeneity gives larger estimates. Contrary to previous evidence, the wage premium of skilled workers was more sensitive to the increase of skill‐intensive exports than to that of unskilled‐intensive imports.