The political economy of land reform choices in Central and Eastern Europe

In all Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) land reform has been a key part of the overall agrarian reforms and land reform procedures differ significantly among CEECs. This paper, by focusing on distributional effects and political economy implications, explains why thirteen CEEC governments chose particular reform procedures. Key factors in their choices are the history of the land ownership, including the post-collectivization ownership status, length of Communist rule, the ethnicity of pre-collectivization owners, and the equality of pre-collectivization asset distribution. These factors influence the distributional consequences of the land reform, including the (potential) conflicts between efficiency, social equity, and historical justice, and thus the political economy equilibrium.     

思想政治教育专业中国哲学史本科教学的整体性思考

由于教学理念、课程设置、教学内容、教学形式、教学考核等方面存在诸多问题,目前的中国哲学史教学在非哲学专业院校一度受到冷落,所以只有从教学理念、课程设置、教学内容、教学形式、考核方式五个方面作相应的教学改革,方能改变中国哲学史目前的现状和困境。     

中国经济改革的经验与启示

中国经济改革最根本的经验就是发展社会主义市场经济,社会主义基本经济制度与市场经济相结合,实现国有经济的市场化与发挥国有经济的主导作用相结合,国家的宏观调控与市场机制的基础作用相结合,提高效率与促进公平相结合,坚持独立自主同参与经济全球化相结合,坚持公共部门的公益性与利用市场运作相结合。中国经济学的建设与发展要坚持以马克思主义为指导,建设具有中国特色的经济学理论,走自主发展的道路。     

经济体制改革与中国金融安全——问题、逻辑和对策

国家注资依赖所导致的超经济货币发行基础上的金融运行,是我国金融不安全因素的核心表现。金融对经济改革的支持、金融改革和全球化冲击是其主要形成逻辑,保障金融安全的根本在于坚持国家综合发展战略,长期保持国家净财富积累和稳定市场信心。     

Economic structural reform and China’s financial security

The authors believe that the financial operation based on the issuance of paper money in excess of economic capacity resulting from dependence on the state investment is the central manifestation of factors of China’s financial insecurity. The financial support for the economic reform, the financial reform and the impact of globalization constitute the major logic of its formation. The fundamentals to safeguard financial security lie in the persistence of the state’s comprehensive development strategy, so as to maintain long-term accumulation of the state’s net wealth and the stability of faith in markets. Translated from Jingji Lilun yu Jingji Guanli 经济理论与经济맜理 (Economic Theory and Business Management), 2006, (7): 5–12     

Thy Neighbor's Curse: Regional Instability and Economic Growth

We show that regional instability, defined as politicalinstability in neighboring countries, has a strong negative effecton a country's economic performance. The magnitude of this negativeexternality is similar in size to that of an equivalent increasein domestic political instability. We also identify two mainchannels through which regional instability lowers economic performance.First, regional instability disrupts trade flows. The sharesof merchandise and manufactured trade are lower in countrieswith high regional instability. Second, regional instabilityleads to increased military outlays. Defense expenditures arehigher in countries with high regional instability. In contrast,the share of government expenditures allocated to education islower in countries with politically unstable neighbors. Our resultssuggest the existence of negative spillovers among politicallyunstable neighboring countries. These adverse regional influencesshould be taken into account when projecting the future economicperformance of countries. The evidence presented also suggeststhat the gains from reducing regional instability extend farbeyond the welfare of the country experiencing political unrest.Policies directed at settling current territorial disputes ina peaceful and orderly manner can have large beneficial effectsfor parties not directly involved in the conflict.     

Enterprise reform in China: agency problems and political control

The past reforms of state-owned enterprises in China delegated many effective control rights to managers while maintaining ultimate control rights for the Party and government. The result is that either the agency costs are high because managers lack accountability or the political costs are high because the government causes political interference. Reform of state-owned enterprises in China should aim at reducing both political and agency costs, which can be done through depoliticization, effective corporate governance, and deserialization. In particular, China needs an ownership transformation with a combination of privatization, denationalization, and pluralization; a state assets management system to limit political influence from the government; and corporatization to establish effective corporate governance which may take a variety of forms.     

Accountability and legitimacy in earth system governance: A research framework

Along with concerns over the effectiveness of earth system governance, ways of enhancing its accountability and legitimacy are increasingly coming to the fore in both scholarly debate and political practice. Concerns over accountability and legitimacy pertain to all levels of governance, from the local to the global, and cover the spectrum of public and private governance arrangements. This conceptual article elaborates on the sources, mechanisms and reform options relating to more accountable, legitimate and democratic earth system governance. We proceed in four steps. First, we conceptualize accountability and legitimacy in earth system governance. Second, we place questions of accountability and legitimacy within the larger context of earth system transformation, which, we argue, poses special challenges to the pursuit of accountability and legitimacy. Third, drawing on the contributions to this special section, we analyze different sources and mechanisms of accountability and legitimacy and their effects on the democratic potential and effectiveness of governance. Fourth, in concluding, we outline reform options that may help alleviate persisting deficits in the democratic potential of earth system governance.     

Do networks or performance impact the promotion of Chinese officials? Evidence from prefecture‐level cities

This study examines the effects of connections and economic performance on the promotion of Chinese city mayors. Our study differs from the published literature in four respects. First, this study covers a comprehensive data set, including 1,422 mayors from 284 prefecture‐level cities. The use of a large data set helps resolve mixed results of past studies. Second, we use a broader range of top leaders. Third, we apply a more comprehensive definition of connections than earlier studies. Finally, we examine the effects of the policy shift of the 11th 5‐year plan on promotion of mayors. Our results reveal that the performance of a city mayor assisted his/her promotion to party secretary before 2006 but not afterwards. However, a mayor's connection with five types of top leaders is helpful. Among the four types of connection, colleagueship is the most effective in expediting the promotion of mayors. Graduating from the same university and department is also helpful but to a lesser extent. Township connection is not useful.     

External debt and economic reform: does a pain reliever delay the necessary treatment?

Recent literature argues that conflict in shifting adjustment costs between different socioeconomic groups delays necessary reforms and finds that such reforms often follow economic crises. This paper expands these models by including external borrowing by the private sector and shows that this may lead to a further delay in economic reform. Empirical evidence based on a large panel of developing and emerging economies supports this argument and shows that the result is slower economic growth. External financing sometimes acts like a “pain reliever”, postponing the much needed “treatment” of a “sick” economy by reform.     

Growth Accelerations

Unlike most cross country growth analyses, we focus on turning points in growth performance. We look for instances of rapid acceleration in economic growth that are sustained for at least 8 years and identify more than 80 such episodes since the 1950s. Growth accelerations tend to be correlated with increases in investment and trade, and with real exchange rate depreciations. Political-regime changes are statistically significant predictors of growth accelerations. External shocks tend to produce growth accelerations that eventually fizzle out, while economic reform is a statistically significant predictor of growth accelerations that are sustained. However, growth accelerations tend to be highly unpredictable: the vast majority of growth accelerations are unrelated to standard determinants and most instances of economic reform do not produce growth accelerations.     

The French Communication Industry Defined and Analyzed through the Social Fabric Matrix,the Filiere Approach,and Network Analysis

This paper examines the relative impact of economic freedom, civil liberties, and political rights on growth. A system of three simultaneous equations is used to unearth the channels through which these institutional dimensions affect economic growth. These include greater efficiency and enlarged investment in physical and human capital. The sample contains 79 countries and six periods covering the years from 1976 to 2005. The results show that the three dimensions of institutional quality are important for economic growth either through a better allocation of resources or, indirectly, through the stimulation of investment in physical and human capital.     

论政治社会化在“思政课”教学改革中的意义

政治社会化是指人们在特定政治关系中,通过社会政治生活和政治实践获得政治知识和能力,形成或改变自己政治心理和思想的能动过程。从政治社会化定义、内容、类型、媒介、特点、影响因素、功能、目标和途径等方面分析了思政课教学改革的原因和内容,提出了措施。     

制度缺失与中国经济体制改革面临的三大问题

经济体制改革以来,由于制度缺失的存在,致使经济体制改革在取得辉煌成就的同时,也面临着市场化改革所带来的严峻经济问题,这些问题突出地表现在以下三个方面:一是日益凸现的失业问题;二是财富分配不公问题;三是国有资产流失问题。制度缺失导致的这三个问题,加重了改革的社会成本,危害了社会公平,破坏了经济效率,因此必须采取相应的治理措施。