ECONOMIC REFORM IN EASTERN EUROPE

Abstract. Since the early 1960s, reforms in the traditional centralized model of a planned economy have been debated. In most of Eastern Europe, reforms have been confined to cautious ones seeking to improve central planning. But in Hungary, and to a small degree elsewhere, more radical reforms have taken root. These retain elements of planning but also introduce the institutions and policies needed to support a more active market orientation for the economy. Such reforms encounter limits when they begin to threaten, or call into question, established political structures and it is an open question how much further reforms can proceed in Hungary without political change.     

STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND GROWTH IN CHINA UNDER ECONOMIC REFORMS: PATTERNS,CAUSES AND IMPLICATIONS

This paper investigates the patterns, causes, and implications of China's structural change and its contribution to China's regional growth. Among many other findings, our regression results show that conditional convergence exists across different regions in China. Regional structural change has a convergence effect and regional openness facilitates regional structural change. Structural shocks and structural transformation had the opposite effect on China's interregional convergence during the 1990s, though the combined effect of overall structural change is a convergence effect. We also find that Chinese regions rely more heavily on structural change for labor productivity growth as the economy evolves. In summary, the results of our empirical analysis support the hypothesis underlying the theoretical model of this paper.     

THE ROLE OF LAW IN ECONOMIC GROWTH: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract Compared with other explanatory variables, such as capital accumulation, technological innovations, geographical endowments, economic openness, and cultural factors, institutions, especially legal institutions have been regarded as a crucial condition for economic growth in recent years. The importance of legal rules is systematically revealed by a series of cross‐country econometric studies conducted by La Porta et al., who claim that legal origins are central to understanding the divergence in living standards across the regions and countries of the world and, compared with civil law countries, especially those countries with French civil law tradition, common law countries have enjoyed superior economic outcomes. The controversies set off by La Porta et al.'s proposition indicate that there are a number of questions that are difficult to explain by La Porta et al.'s theory, and hence call for more work on comparative analysis of different legal families before a consensus can be reached.     

THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND REGIONAL SYSTEMS OF CHINA'S CITIES*

Employing cluster analysis of selected economic indicators, this paper classifies Chinese cities into various levels according to their total urban economic strength and per capita economic performance. Regional characteristics of China's urban system are identified and policy-related measures for improving the economic efficiency of Chinese cities are suggested. In general, China''s urban economy appears to be undergoing a transition from a centrally planned economy into a market-oriented one, particularly in cities along the coast and the lower reaches of the Yangzi valley.     

THE DECADES‐LONG DISPUTE OVER SCALE EFFECTS IN THE THEORY OF ECONOMIC GROWTH

The so‐called “new growth theory” is characterized by the now Nobel Prize winning insight that ideas are a nonrival input to and output from endogenous investment in innovation. Nonrivalry implies increasing returns to scale, but this also unintentionally creates an empirically disputed scale effect that a growing population implies an ever‐increasing growth rate. Empirical evidence supports fully‐endogenous growth without scale effects, but theoretical issues sustain the decades‐long dispute over exactly how to negate the scale effect. This article surveys theoretical approaches to resolving the scale effect and shows how four generations of endogenous growth theory are defined by the maturing of modeling techniques for constraining increasing returns. The synthesis suggests that the dispute over scale effects is really a narrative about how the powerful application of increasing returns has followed a standard theoretical development pattern. This implies that a fourth generation is now emerging that negates the scale effect while retaining fully‐endogenous growth without relying on assumptions of linearity. Instead, the market response to excessive increasing returns to innovation constrains explosive growth by expanding the market, rather than by a linear assumption. This latest class of endogenous growth models may be the final chapter to resolving the long‐running dispute.     

EFFECTS OF THE 2011 GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE ON ELECTRICITY LOAD DEMAND: STRUCTURAL CHANGES DURING RECOVERY PERIODS

In response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant's severe crisis, the Tokyo Electric Power Company planned rolling blackouts, and the Japanese government encouraged companies and residents to conserve electricity by adopting self‐restriction plans. We examine the structural changes caused by the disaster in Japan and the effects of the power blackouts and self‐restriction plans on the magnitude and pattern of load demand. The results show that the total demand decreased after the disaster and changed from weekdays to weekends and holidays. In addition, the effect of temperature on load demand changed after the disaster.     

EXPORTS, URBAN GROWTH, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Several cross-countries regression analyses have revealed that exports positively contribute to economic growth in less developed countries, implying that apart from the increases in the stocks of labor and capital, growth can also be stimulated by reallocating resources from the less efficient non-export sector to the more productive export sector. This paper re-specifies the relation between exports and economic growth for non-urban goods exporting African countries. The impact of exports on the growth rate of national income is analyzed along with that of the growth of population in the urban region.     

ECONOMIC RECESSIONS,BANKING REFORM AND THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM1

In the 2010 London School of Economics and Political Science Hayek Memorial Lecture, the author argues that flaws in the design of the monetary and financial system were responsible for the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession. The crash reflected the unsustainable nature of the bubble induced by artificial credit expansion created by fractional‐reserve banking under the direction of central banks. Such boom–bust cycles will continue until radical reforms are implemented, including a 100% reserve requirement for demand deposits.     

THE LIMITS OF REGULATORY REFORM IN THE EU

The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) may seem like a good mechanism for holding EU regulators to account as it requires them to compute costs and benefits of regulations before implementing them. However, it is too easy to use the RIAs to justify preconceived opinions. To achieve deregulation in the EU it is necessary to have a commitment to liberal markets and the concept of regulatory competition.     

广州楼市仍处调整期

在业内一片“唱好”声中，五一楼市气象被渲染的有些过火，开发商借“回暖”涨价掀起推盘热，购房者亦热情高涨，投资者蠢蠢欲动。     

DESIRABILITY AND SEQUENCE OF LIBERALIZATION AND STRUCTURAL REFORM POLICIES IN A MODEL WITH INFORMAL SECTOR

The paper develops a three-sector general equilibrium model with informal sector and examines the welfare effects of liberalization and structural reform in the presence of labor and capital market distortions. It attempts to determine a credible sequence of reforms that may be the most welfare-enhancing, since implementation of reforms in all the markets at a single stage may be neither feasible nor optimal. Foreign capital is welfare-improving only in the presence of labor market distortion, while welfare deteriorates if the capital market is distorted. While tariff and capital market reforms may be welfare-enhancing in the absence of labor market distortion, labor market reform may intensify the formal-informal wage gap and have a worsening effect on welfare in the presence of tariff distortion and capital market imperfection. One of the plausible sequences of reforms may be to initially undertake tariff reform followed by capital and labor market reforms, respectively.     

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE QUANTITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF EDUCATION: A SURVEY

Abstract The focus of this survey is to discuss different attempts at incorporating the distributional dimension of human capital into the theoretical and empirical growth framework. We present a series of models which deviate from the direct link between the aggregate or average level of human capital and economic growth in that they introduce the distribution of education as a new element in explaining the relationship under investigation. After surveying the theoretical literature, we present recent empirical work on the relation between economic performance and the average level, as well as the distribution of education, respectively.     

DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CONSEQUENCES FOR THE PROVISION OF PENSIONS

As the population of an economy ages saving declines and, through that channel, economic growth can decline too. Returns to physical capital fall, making the provision of pensions more and more difficult. The income of the working population deteriorates and they respond by having fewer children. This intensifies the problem even further.     

EMPLOYMENT GROWTH AND STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN URBAN CANADA, 1971–1991

This paper presents an analysis of recent patterns of employment growth and structural transformation within urban Canada and, more specifically, seeks to determine which economic activities are becoming spatially more concentrated or more dispersed across the urban system. In addition, the paper seeks to identify the urban area attributes (e.g., size, region, economic diversity) that are most strongly correlated with employment growth. The data employed in the empirical analysis are based upon employment in 159 economic sectors across a set of 152 urban units with populations greater than 10 thousand inhabitants. The results indicate three major trends: tertiarization; spatial polarization; and declining rates of employment growth.     

THE EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC REGULATION IN THE ISTANBUL TAXICAB MARKET

This paper discusses the regulation of the Istanbul taxicab market and its consequences. While price and entry regulations are common to many taxi markets, there are significant differences in their institutional frameworks. We examine the problems of the Istanbul market and offer recommendations to improve its efficiency.