Agricultural land loss in China’s urbanization process

1. IntroductionThe experience of developed countries confirmsthat urbanization is an inevitable and necessary coursein economic transition and development. Urbaniza-tion is developing fast in China, which is stepping upeconomic liberalization and industrialization. Highpopulation density and changeful life styles have beenseen as the predominant characteristics ofurbanization, accompanied with contracting greenbeltand peripheral rural land conversion. In 2003, Chinahad 660 municipalities, 283…     

Endogenous product versus process innovation and a firm’s propensity to export

This article provides an empirical analysis of the effects of new product versus process innovations on export propensity at the firm level. Product innovation is a key factor for successful market entry in models of creative destruction and Schumpeterian growth. Process innovation helps securing a firm’s market position given the characteristics of its product supply. Both modes of innovation are expected to raise a firm’s propensity to export. According to new trade theory, we conjecture that product innovation is relatively more important in that regard. We investigate these hypotheses in a rich survey panel data set with information about new innovations of either type. With a set of indicators regarding innovation motives and impediments and continuous variables at the firm and industry level at hand, we may determine the probability of launching new innovations and their impact on export propensity at the firm level through a double treatment approach.     

The Russian budgetary process and defence: finding the ‘golden mean’

Abstract

In Russia the budgetary process for defence is broadly similar to that for other sectors but is characterised by a considerable degree of secrecy, limiting the role of parliament and any form of effective social control. The article examines the main actors and features of the defence budgetary process, the system of state secrecy, and explores the issue that generates the most conflict between the ministries of finance and defence, namely the long-term state armament programme.     

‘Modern’ Phillips curves and the implications for the statistical process of inflation

‘Modern’ theories of the Phillips curve imply that inflation is an integrated, or near integrated’ process. This article explains this implication and why these ‘modern’ theories are logically inconsistent with what is commonly known about the statistical process of inflation.     

Dynamic control of a monopolist’s product and process innovation with reference quality

ABSTRACT

Our main purpose is to investigate the dynamic control problem of a monopolist’s product and process innovation under reference quality. The main features of this article are: (i) a monopolist dealing with customer behaviour in the spirit of the principle of behaviour economics determines the product price, and carries out the activities of product and process innovation; (ii) the consumers’ demand depends on price, product quality and reference quality, and adopts an additive separable demand function form. Our main results show that under the cases of the monopolist optimum and the social planner optimum, (i) there exists an unique stable, which is a saddle-point steady-state equilibrium; (ii) the change rates of the monopolist’s investments in product and process innovation are increasing with the reference quality, while the monopolist’s steady-state investments in product and process innovation are decreasing with the reference quality; (iii) as the memory parameter increases with other parameters kept constant, it is very likely that the monopolist’s investment in process innovation be greater than the investment in product innovation; and (iv) the social incentive towards both investments in product and process innovation is always larger than the private incentive characterizing the profit-seeking monopolist.     

On designers’ use of biomimicry tools during the new product development process: an empirical investigation

As technological problems and societal challenges become increasingly complex, designers are urged to recombine knowledge from different sources in order to innovate. In this article we question how nature may be the key source of inspiration and whether it can impact the new product development (NPD) process. We shed new light on whether designers and researchers are: first, familiar with biomimicry tools; second, aware of their characteristics; third, in favour of using biomimicry tools in the NPD process; and fourth, able to assess the impact of biomimicry tools on the NPD performance. By analysing survey data, counterintuitive results emerged concerning both the awareness of the biomimetic tools and their impact on the NPD innovation outcomes.     

The process and a simple logic of ‘meso’. Emergence and the co-evolution of institutions and group size

‘Summing-up’ aggregation of micro decisions contrasts with structural emergence in complex systems and evolutionary processes. This paper deals with institutional emergence in the ‘evolution of cooperation’ framework and focuses on its size dimension. It is argued that some ‘meso’ (rather than ‘macro’) level is the proper level of cultural emergence and reproduction. Also Schumpeterian economists have discussed institutions as ‘meso’ phenomena recently, and Schelling, Axelrod, Arthur, Lindgren, and others have dealt with ‘critical masses’ of coordinated agents and emergent segregations. However, emergent group size has rarely been explicitly explored so far. In an evolutionary and game-theoretic frame, ‘meso’ is explained in terms of a sustainably cooperating group smaller than the whole population. Mechanisms such as some monitoring, memory, reputation, and active partner selection loosen the total connectivity of the static and deterministic ‘single-shot’ logic and thus allow for emergent ‘meso’ platforms, while expectations ‘to meet again’ remain sufficiently high. Applications of ‘meso-nomia’ include the deep structure of ‘general trust’ and macro-performance in ‘smaller’ and ‘well networked’ countries which helps to explain persistent ‘varieties of capitalism’.     

Innovation as a nonlinear process,the scientometric perspective,and the specification of an ‘innovation opportunities explorer’

The process of innovation follows nonlinear patterns across the domains of science, technology, and the economy. Novel bibliometric mapping techniques can be used to investigate and represent distinctive, but complementary perspectives on the innovation process (e.g. ‘demand’ and ‘supply’) as well as the interactions among these perspectives using animations. In a map, the different perspectives can be represented as ‘continents’ of data related to varying extents over time. For example, the different branches of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in the Medline database provide sources of such perspectives (e.g. ‘Diseases’ vs ‘Drugs and Chemicals’). The multiple-perspective approach enables us to reconstruct facets of the dynamics of innovation, in terms of selection mechanisms shaping localisable trajectories and/or resulting in more globalised regimes. By expanding the data with patents and scholarly publications, we demonstrate the use of this multi-perspective approach in the case of RNA Interference (RNAi). The possibility to develop an ‘Innovation Opportunities Explorer’ is specified.     

Trade policy,market ‘distortions’, and agriculture in the process of economic development Brazil, 1950–1974

Brazilian agriculture was heavily and increasingly taxed during the 1950–1974 Import Substitution Industrialization process as a consequence of ‘distortions’ in the price structure. The subsidized rural credit policy from the mid 60's benefited only those segments of producers already well-off and more technologically advanced. Thus, the economic policy package of the period was highly selective and discriminatory both between sectors and within agriculture. The article systematically analyses the size and direction of the income transfers involved in this process.     

Do process innovations boost SMEs productivity growth?

In this paper, we explore in depth the effect of process innovations on total factor productivity growth for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), taking into account the potential endogeneity problem that may be caused by self-selection into these activities. First, we analyse whether the ex-ante most productive SMEs are those that start introducing process innovations; then, we test whether process innovations boost SMEs productivity growth using matching techniques to control for the possibility that selection into introducing process innovations may not be a random process. We use a sample of Spanish manufacturing SMEs for the period 1991–2002, drawn from the Encuesta sobre Estrategias Empresariales. Our results show that the introduction of process innovations yields an extra productivity growth, and that the life span of this extra productivity growth lasts for only one period.     

Intermediary–user collaboration during the innovation implementation process

The innovation process is characterised by obstacles faced both by innovation suppliers during development and by users during implementation. Although the literature has underscored the importance of collaboration, how this process occurs during implementation remains understudied. In this study, a cross-case analysis of implementation processes showed that intermediary–user collaborations are characterised by different ways of matching users’ demands with intermediaries’ services, different formal and informal governance mechanisms, and different implementation outcomes. We propose that these characteristics are due to the specificities of implementation and to the particularities of the intermediary–user relationship. Additionally, there are particularities to intermediary–user collaborations that both facilitate implementation and create risks for its outcomes. We suggest that the link between the implementation outcome and the collaboration process affects user satisfaction, further investments in the technology, and learning. We conclude by drawing implications of the particularities of intermediary–user collaboration and implementation for theory, managers, and further research.     

Agricultural land loss in China＇s urbanization process

In China, urbanization of agricultural land around city agglomerations increases rapidly. Rapid urbanization of agricultoral land affects food supply, land value and ecological balance in the society. In China, the urban built-up area had increased by 40% from 1996 to 2003. This increase came predominantly from farmland surrounding the cities. How the ongoing urbanization of China affects its agricultural land is the focus of this paper. In current studies, we have found that population density; urbanization degree and personal income are key factors that influence the urbanization process. Based on this, relation model has been established and to predict the general trends of the urban area expansion in China in 2020.In 2020, the constructed urban area of China would be increased by 1.3 times compared wtth 2003. In 2020, this study anticipates the conversion of about 32,562 sq. kin. agricultural land of China for urban use.     

北方干旱“硬伤’’

“十年九早”，干旱似乎已是我国北方大地冬春季节的常态。切实地走在田间库边，记者才深切的感受到去冬今春的干旱度。眼前的景象早已不是往昔的“北国风光，千里冰封，万里雪飘”，而是皲裂的土地，干涸的水渠，枯黄的麦苗……持续的干旱，将可能终止我国连续七年丰收的好景，更会给北方这片我国冬粮的主产区带来大面积的歉收。     

Seasonal Mackey–Glass–GARCH process and short-term dynamics

The aim of this article is the study of complex structures which are behind the short-term predictability of stock returns series. In this regard, we employ a seasonal version of the Mackey–Glass–GARCH(p,q) model, initially proposed by Kyrtsou and Terraza (Computat Econ 21:257–276, 2003) and generalized by Kyrtsou (Int J Bifurcat Chaos 15(10):3391–3394, 2005). To unveil short or long memory components and non-linear structures in the French Stock Exchange (CAC40) returns series, we apply the test of Geweke and Porter-Hudak (J Time Ser Anal 4:221–238, 1983), the Brock et al. (Econom Rev 15:197–235, 1996) and Dechert (An application of chaos theory to stochastic and deterministic observations. Working paper, University of Houston, 1995) tests, the correlation-dimension method of Grassberger and Procaccia (Phys 9D:189–208, 1983), the Lyapunov exponents method of Gençay and Dechert (Phys D 59:142–157, 1992), and the Recurrence quantification analysis introduced by Webber and Zbilut (J Appl Physiol 76:965–973, 1994). As a confirmation procedure of the dynamics generating future movements in CAC40, we perform forecast with the use of a seasonal Mackey–Glass–GARCH(1,1) model. The interest of the forecasting exercise is found in the inclusion of high-dimensional non-linearities in the mean equation of returns.     

未来商业空间“黑洞化’’

基于生活方式而出现的商业空间，颠覆了传统工业时代商业空间的存在形态，在未来的商业世界里，商业空间是以一个个的漩涡状的商业黑洞状态存在着[编者按]     

零售业多元化需要“机会主义’’

零售业态所处的生命周期不仅影响、刺激零售商的多元化冲劲，同时直接关系到零售商业态多元化的机会[编者按]     

Does a non-linear mean reverting process characterize real GDP movements?

This paper uses non-linear models to investigate non-stationarity of real GDP per capita for seven OECD countries over the period 1900–2000. Unit root tests based on non-linear models are more powerful than traditional ADF statistics in rejecting the null unit root hypothesis. Empirical results show that, contrary to what the linear ADF statistics suggest, stationarity characterizes five out of the seven countries. This finding stands at variance with other recent studies which conclude that movements in real GDP per capita can be characterized as a non-stationary process.

Large shareholders’ shareholding and earnings’ longitudinal persistence

This paper is the first to adopt longitudinal data analysis methods, such as the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis model, hierarchical linear model and Cox proportional hazards regression model, to investigate the relationship between large shareholders’ shareholding and earnings persistence. We find that large shareholders’ shareholding has a negative effect on corporate longitudinal persistence. The large shareholders’ shareholding will increase the risk of earnings decline and strengthen the declining trend of earnings. The effects of large shareholders’ shareholding on earnings’ longitudinal persistence for SOEs are different from those for non-SOEs, the effects in the pre-crisis period are also different from those in the post-crisis period. These findings contribute to the literature by adopting longitudinal data analysis methods and present new empirical evidence on the economic consequences of large shareholders’ shareholding.