The theory of the characteristic agriculture＇s development

The development of characteristic agriculture is the important way to adjust the agricultural structure and increase the farmer＇s income, and improve agricultural competitiveness. Scientific understanding of the basic characteristic agricultural content and features and grasping its basic ideas of development is the fundamentality to guide the economic development of agriculture. Based on the research of other scholars as a reference to agricultural development and based on the actual in Henan characteristic agriculture, we attempt to summarize the feature of the theory of agricultural development which can provide reference for the practices of characteristic agriculture.     

Workers’ self-management and social property: A participatory approach to black economic development

Conclusion and Implications Self-management provides a context and a process for economic growth, political development, and institution building. Since its use as a developmental model does not presuppose unalterable fealty to any dogmatical theory, it can be easily modulated and revised to fit the particular needs and circumstances of the black community. For example, the concept of workers’ management and social property is a derivation of Marxian theory of social and economic organization. Moreover, Yugoslavia, the only sociopolitical system in which the theory of labor-managed market socialism has been reduced to action through system-wide implementation, is, unlike the U.S. economy or the black community’s subeconomy, a decentralized socialist state. 29 But the conceptual lineage or previous use of the idea does not preclude its revision for use by groups with different socio-historical experiences and contemporary conditions.     

The development of Media Economics in China

The media economics in China started in 1978.At the Third Plenum of 11th Central Committee of CPC(1978), Chinese govern- ment made the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world, the nation’s economic development determined as the principal tas…     

The top three questions in economics? When theory is confronted with history

Abstract

Three important economic questions have long remained unanswered, and this article explores the nature of these questions. They are: Why was the Great Depression so long and so deep? Why did the Industrial Revolution occur there and then? Why is the whole world not developed? This article gives reasons why these questions may be called the top three questions in economics, investigates the potential multi-disciplinary content of the topics, discusses the pieces of understanding that are still not in place, and makes a few speculations as to how, eventually, the questions may be answered.     

What explains the missing girls in nineteenth-century Spain?

Infant and childhood sex ratios in nineteenth-century Spain were abnormally high, thus pointing to some sort of unexplained excess female mortality. This article analyses internal regional variation and shows that certain economic and social factors mitigated gender discrimination against newborn and/or young girls. In particular, the presence of wage labour opportunities for women and the prevalence of extended families in which different generations of women cohabited had beneficial effects on girls’ survival. Likewise, infant and child sex ratios were lower in dense, more urbanized areas.     

The Shadow Economy in Transition Countries: Friend or Foe? A Policy Perspective

By treating the shadow economy as a distinct entity, rather than just a symptom of policy failures, we are able to examine its short-term and dynamic consequences for development. First, we construct measures of the size of the shadow economy in 25 transition countries for 1990–97. We find hysterisis suggesting that, once established, the shadow economy is hard to remove: a dollar decline (rise) in official GDP is attenuated by a shadow expansion (contraction) of 31 (25) cents. We then examine whether the shadow economy prevents, merely slows down, or actually promotes economic growth and competitiveness, and through what mechanisms. We also consider implications for policymaking.     

Structural change in the economy and energy needs: A South African perspective∗

The paper reviews economic structural changes and the resultant effect on the demand for energy. Seen globally, structural change is determined primarily by:

• shifts In the sectoral contributions

• technological development

• increase in the urban population

• redistribution of income.

The South African situation is analysed with respect to the following factors:

• changes In sectoral energy use as a result of the development of the economy away from an agrarian economy towards a more industrialised economy

• urbanisation and the changing energy consumption patterns especially with regard to increased food and water, housing, domestic energy, transport and waste disposal needs

• redistribution of income and projected future demand for energy.

The importance of structural change in planning for future energy needs is emphasised.     

Closing the development finance gap in post-conflict and fragile situations: What role for development finance institutions?

For many years, the main focus of international institutions and bilateral aid agencies has been on state building as the main action to support countries' recovery from conflicts or other fragile situations. The role of the private sector has been widely overlooked, despite being crucial in supporting economic growth and job creation. We argue that development finance institutions have a dedicated role to play in closing financial gaps, which are widening as fragility increases. They have the comparative advantages needed to make projects happen by supporting the private sector, hence significantly contributing to the recovery process.     

Conference on development policies in Southern Africa: Was the future shaped?

The Development Society of Southern Africa held its biennial conference from 10—12 September at the University of Cape Town. The theme was ‘Development policies: Shaping the future of Southern Africa’. Fifty‐five papers were presented and discussed by some 350 people at plenary and parallel sessions. There was also a panel discussion, a number of lead‐in discussants, and a poster session; three conference newspapers containing the essence of the discussions were published and a number of videos on developmental and related topics were shown.

The question to be answered in this review is whether all these papers and other activities actually achieved what the conference set out to do: shaping the future development policy for Southern Africa.     

Towns and rural industrialisation in Sweden 1850–1890: A spatial statistical approach

Abstract

Using a spatial statistical analysis we study the relation between rural industrial employment and distance to towns and access to communications in nineteenth century Sweden. Our results show that rural parishes with access to communications had a higher proportion of rural industrial workers than parishes without. In a region with few towns, the south-east of Sweden, parishes close to large towns had a higher proportion of industrial employees than distant parishes in 1850, while no significant correlation was observed in 1890. In a region with a relatively dense urban system, Mälardalen, only in 1890 did parishes close to large towns show a higher proportion of rural industrial workers than did more distant parishes. However, the mean positive effect was negligible beyond 10 km. Thus, in the second half of the nineteenth century the immediate urban hinterland was industrialising prior to large scale urbanisation and urban industrialisation.     

Financial reforms and persistently high bank interest spreads in Bangladesh: Pitfalls in institutional development?

This paper analyzes interest rate spreads and margins in Bangladesh for the period 1990–2008 by applying the Arellano–Bover/Blundell–Bond dynamic panel regression model to a panel of 43 banks. The model has been applied to tackle short-panel bias and endogeneity problems in banking analysis. A high degree of persistency in spreads and margins is observed, which points to inefficiencies of bank management. More specifically, high administrative costs, high non-performing loan ratio, market power, small share of deposits and some macroeconomic factors are found to be the key determinants of persistently high interest rate spreads and margins in Bangladesh. The findings of this study suggest that reforms commenced in the 1990s could not generate adequate competition and efficiency in the financial sector, particularly to drive down the spread in line with the predictions of interest rate literature. This situation in other words indicates pitfalls in institutional development.     

The Fisher Effect Puzzle: A Case of Non-Linear Relationship?

The Fisher effect specifies a positive, one-for-one relationship between the nominal interest rate and expected inflation. Most recent empirical studies on the Fisher equation, typically based on ordinary least squares and co-integration estimation, found that the equation did not fit various data sets well. However, recent empirical studies showed that this fit improves if the Fisher equation is treated as a non-linear equation. Using U.S. quarterly data, this paper examines whether the results of the previous studies on the Fisher equation arose as a direct consequence of specification errors. We use time-varying coefficient (TVC) estimation, a procedure that allows us to directly confront the unknown functional form problem, specification errors, and spurious relationships. We find strong support for the view that, under TVC estimation, the Fisher equation holds and is no longer a puzzle.     

Does infrastructural development foster export upgrading in Africa?

A growing body of literature highlights the importance of export sophistication for economic development. Given the newness of the literature on export sophistication, its determinants are under-exploited. As a pioneer study, this paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining the effect of infrastructure development on export sophistication. Based on a panel of 45 African countries over the period 2003–2016, the results of the different estimations show that infrastructure, including transport, electricity, ICT and access to water and sanitation, improves export sophistication in Africa. Our results also show that the effect of infrastructure varies at different intervals of the export sophistication distribution. Therefore, improved infrastructure would allow African countries to not only improve their export structure but also achieve sustainable and durable growth.     

The development of real wages in Norway about 1730–1910

Abstract

Prior to about 1850, the classes in Norway living in households where the living standard of household members was wholly or largely determined by the size of an annual wage paid in cash were numerically speaking marginal. In 1801, for example, the aggregate urban population of Norway formed no more than about 10% of the country's total population of 883,000. During the industrial revolution in Norway the subsistence economy was to a large extent replaced by the cash economy, but around 1910 about 360,000 of the occupationally active total of 880,000 were still employed in primary occupations.     

Central bank independence and disinflationary credibility: a missing link?

Granting central banks independence is widely assumed to decreaseinflation by increasing the credibility of commitments to pricestability. This paper analyzes public- and private-sector behaviorin a sample of 17 OECD countries for evidence of variationsin disinflationary credibility with monetary institutions. Thepaper does not find evidence that the costs of disinflationare lower in countries with independent central banks. It alsofinds no evidence that independence inhibits collection of seignoragerevenues or electoral manipulation of policy. These resultsraise questions about some explanations of the negative correlationbetween central bank independence and inflation.     

Education and development: The role of non‐formal education,especially in developing countries

Education plays an important role in development, especially in a developing country. To develop the skills and knowledge of the large percentage of the people outside the reach of formal education, and to offer education programmes which can easily adapt and respond to the specific and immediate needs of a developing community, out‐of‐school programmes should be considered.

This article explains how non‐formal education, that is organized and systematic education offered outside the framework of the formal education system, could complement formal education, and should be organized to support integrated, community‐based development Briefly discussed guidelines for the planning of non‐formal education are the horizontal and vertical integration of all activities, extensive community involvement, a self‐help approach, the use of front line workers and the maximum utilization of existing facilities.     

Cattle sales in KwaZulu: A systems based approach to an improved marketing strategy∗

A recognition of the central role of cattle in African pastoral society, and the means by which benefits derived from cattle ownership can be accommodated under changing social and economic circumstances, should be built into appropriate livestock development strategies.

The contention put forward in this paper is that it is only through the adoption of a process—orientated, systems‐based approach to the evaluation of subsistence pastoralism, in which causes rather than effects become the key issues, that it is possible to direct administrators and planners in the formulation of appropriate marketing policies.

Past experience in KwaZulu has shown that, traditionally, cattle owners have been unresponsive and conservative in the face of marketing initiatives. This paper argues that it is not economic development that is resisted so much as the ability of rural communities to adapt to economic change. Strategies based on the perspectives and requirements of subsistence herders are advocated if current low levels of commercial offtake are to be raised in the long run.     

Where are the missing girls? Gender discrimination in 19th-century Spain

This article shows that average (male-to-female) infant and child sex ratios were abnormally high in late 18th- and 19th-century Spain, thus pointing to some sort of unexplained excess female mortality early in life. This pattern, which is also shared by other countries in Southern Europe, disappeared at the turn of the 20th century. Rather than female infanticide or other type of extreme violence against girls, these results might be explained by gender discrimination in terms of an unequal allocation of food, care and/or workload within the household. In high-mortality environments, this type of discrimination easily resulted in higher female mortality rates.     

The land question in KwaZulu: Is land reform necessary?

Land reform in the ‘homelands’ depends on whether or not a viable economy can emerge in these areas. If not, the only alternative may be to accept the failure of rural development and follow the new state policy line of ‘positive urbanization’. Outside the limits of state policy, the apparent consensus on freehold tenure may be illusory. Black‐held priorities for land appear to differ at base from those held up by white groups. White business interests want to see large‐scale commercial farming, while blacks want the free and secure right to hold and deal in land, together with a right to use rural land for residential purposes.

There is renewed international interest in land reform. Some of the Far Eastern market economies have obtained startling rises in production under a reform regime of owner‐operated mini‐farms. It is doubtful if this type of reform is appropriate in KwaZulu, where the tenure system already strongly protects the universal right to hold land, and where the community's small role in land matters is still important to local self‐organization capacity. More appropriate models might be found in Zimbabwe and China, which have also achieved sharp rises in small‐farm production without full freehold tenure. Zimbabwe's village committee system recognizes existing land rights and allows for substantial local option. In China, decentralization policies seem to be encouraging a new rural economy in which most of the population may eventually be absorbed into self‐generated nonfarm activity. This kind of enterprise‐led rural development, may offer a possible pattern for KwaZulu.