Education,society and development: Some main themes and suggested strategies for international assistance

The evidence of recent years demonstrates clearly that the education of large numbers of people will not alone create jobs for them. This failure of education to generate employment is in our view but an example of a wider phenomenon, namely that educational systems are to a large extent determined by the societies they must serve and cannot be expected to reshape those societies in fundamental ways. The relationships between education and employment in developing nations should be viewed in this wider context.     

The link between entrepreneurship and informal investment: An international comparison

This study explores the link between entrepreneurship and informal investment. Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data, we examine what types of individuals invest in new businesses. The results reveal that individuals who engage in entrepreneurial activity are, on average, three times more likely to invest in new businesses than those who do not. We also find that individuals with entrepreneurial networks are more likely to invest in new businesses. Moreover, we present estimation results for the odds ratio of business ownership/management and informal investment, as well as of entrepreneurial networks and informal investment, in each country. We find that the link between entrepreneurship and informal investment differs across countries. Specifically, while the proportion of individuals who start businesses or engage in informal investment in Japan is lower than in other countries, the relationship between entrepreneurial propensity and informal investment in Japan is the greatest among 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, suggesting the presence of small-world phenomena in entrepreneurship in Japan.     

The impact of international agreements on domestic policy: An analysis of tariff policy in African countries

This paper estimates a fixed effects tariff model to study the impact of the tariff reform provisions of international agreements on domestic tariffs, using a sample of eight Sub-Saharan African countries. The structure of the model explaining domestic tariff changed from the preagreement period to the postagreement period. However, the results indicate that for the most part, efforts by governments to adhere to tariff agreements failed in all but a few countries. Even for the countries in which the agreements appeared to be successful, the significance of the results is relatively weak.     

Financial investment instruments of pension reserves: New approaches to investment policy

This paper reviews investment policy and new approaches to the allocation of pension reserves based on the principle of the reasonable investor. The offered approaches permit nongovernmental pension funds to more adequately respond to market challenges, at the same time maintaining transparency and reliability of investments, which make it possible to provide stable growth in pension assets in the long term. The application of such approaches is demonstrated in terms of the MDM Nongovernmental Pension Fund.     

An empirical assessment of the relationship between competition policy and investment

The relationship between competition policy and investment is empirically examined. Empirical findings suggest that increasing market competition has a positive and robust impact on the share of total investment in GDP per capita. Developing countries enjoy benefits from competition legislation efficiency improvement, whereas the reduction of government anti-competitive price control intervention enhances the good investment environment in developed countries. In relation to the potential impacts of ASEAN competition policies, if ASEAN-4 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand) become as competitive as Singapore, the investment shares are expected to increase to approximately 2–4%. Further, foreign direct investment inflows from the 30 OECD countries are expected to increase roughly 0.6–1.2%.     

An integrated planning model for investment in urban infrastructure and pricing municipal services

This viewpoint proposes an iterative, cyclical and incremental model for preparing and pricing a capital investment programme and budget for municipal infrastructure services. South African towns and cities are used as case‐studies. The model links capital investment, operation and maintenance (supply) to the prices offered or paid by the beneficiaries (demand). Ignoring the conventional framework for the development of an area, this viewpoint concentrates on how capital investment for municipal infrastructure services could be planned and programmed and prices or tariffs determined. Given that socio‐economic trends in most municipalities in South Africa are unpredictable, short‐ to medium‐term capital investment planning is emphasised.     

Amortization policy as a factor in the investment policy of an economy

The article is based on the Concept and a draft law on amortization policy in the Russian Federation prepared by the Association of Mining and Metallurgical Industrialists of Russia (Russian abbreviation: AMROS). It examines the role and place of amortization policies in Russia and around the world as well as their essential differences in terms of the economic mechanisms of capital reproduction. Measures to improve Russia’s amortization policy are suggested.     

Income differences and poverty: Problems facing Russia and the international experience of dealing with them

The topicality of income difference and poverty issues has greatly increased in post-Soviet Russia. Solutions to these problems are considered key goals of the country’s socioeconomic development. Factors behind the current situation are identified to develop specific measures for reducing the existing income differences and poverty level. The foreign experience in solving this problem is analyzed.     

Development policy and water services in South Africa: an urban poverty perspective

This paper explores the impact of overall macroeconomic development policy on water service delivery policy and urban poverty in South Africa. It scrutinises ambiguous definitions of ‘urban’ in the literature, which tend to obscure the extent of urban poverty in this country. This is crucial given that a large proportion of the urban poor live in informal settlements, which are sometimes lumped with rural areas. Informal settlements are generally characterised by limited essential services such as housing, water supply, storm-water facilities and sanitation services. Water services, like other social services, retain the racial imprint of apartheid. Consequently, water policy in South Africa attempts to address water issues from an equity perspective. By analysing the effects of the tariff subpolicy within the water policy, the paper recommends that free basic water should be made available only to poor households.     

Infrastructure and poverty reduction: Assessing the dynamic impact of Chinese infrastructure investment in sub-Saharan Africa

Infrastructure investment is essential for African countries to enhance economic activities and reduce poverty; however, the conclusions from national-level studies remain ambiguous. Combining geo-coded Chinese infrastructure project data from 2000 to 2014 and Demographic and Health Surveys information, we employ a spatiotemporal estimation strategy and explore the dynamic effectiveness of Chinese infrastructure investment on local multidimensional poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and its mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate that infrastructure projects can continuously alleviate local multidimensional poverty following project completion, primarily by improving living standards through local industrialization and increasing individual employment stability. Further investigating heterogeneities, we determine that Chinese infrastructure projects are more effective for self-dependent recipients, in rural areas, and when overseen by state-owned enterprises. Our findings provide insights into the long-term effectiveness for underdeveloped countries to reduce local poverty with Chinese infrastructure investment.     

国际投资件数的变化对投资利益的影响

本文以寡头垄断的国际经济理论为背景,提出一个国际投资摩擦的理论模型,并以这个理论模型为基础,以美日投资摩擦为案例,通过理论模型和案例,分析国际投资摩擦形成的条件及其效果,探讨在寡头垄断的市场条件下,各国进行国际投资的利益分配的基本形式。     

Special issue of the journal international economics and economic policy: international economics,climate policy innovations and economic policy (IEEP,issue 2)

International Economics and Economic Policy -     

Tax policy on foreign direct investment in the presence of cross-hauling

Tax Policy on Foreign Direct Investment in the Presence of Cross-Hauling. — The authors develop a partial equilibrium model of foreign direct investment (FDI) in which identical foreign firms locate themselves in a host country to compete with internationally mobile domestic firms in non-tradeable oligopolistic markets for two differentiated commodities. The host country, which is small in the market for FDI, uses lumpsum subsidy (tax) to encourage (discourage) FDI. There is unemployment in the host country. Under this framework, the authors analyse the effect of discriminatory and uniform subsidies on the inflow/outflow of domestic and foreign firms and on employment. They also derive some properties of optimal subsidies.     

关于我国外资立法与国际投资惯例接轨的法律思考

加入WTO后，我国在外资领域与国际投资惯例接轨是一个必然的趋势。本文在阐述国际投资惯例的基本内涵的基础上，介绍了我国现行外资法与国际投资惯例接轨的现状，探讨了一些仍然需要完善、进一步与国际惯例接轨若干问题。如何在尊重国家主权、倡导建立国际经济新秩序的前提下，与国际投资惯例接轨，我们中国人应有的思考和对策。