Explaining Differences in Economic Performance Among Racial and Ethnic Groups in the USA

A bstract . By utilizing self-reported race and ancestry in the 1980 and 1990 USA censuses and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique, the extent of wage discrimination experienced by women and by men is examined across 50 ethnic/racial groups. Systematic evidence of negative discrimination is revealed in both census years for Asian, Indian, black (African-American), Vietnamese, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican , and Native American males. To assess the charge that the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition indicates cultural rather than discriminatory differentials, two additional data experiments are performed—one that controls for color and varies culture, and one that controls for culture and varies color. Race appears to matter.     

Opportunity, Subculture and the Economic Performance of Urban Ethnic Groups

A bstract . An attempt is made to account for age-specific differences in economic performance among 14 ethnic groups living in the nation's nine largest metropolitan areas, by regression analysis of 1950 U.S. Census data. A large proportion of the variance in occupational structure, income, unemployment, and labor force status is accounted for by variations in urban opportunities, relative group size and the members' educational attainment. With the specified economic factors held constant, ethnic factors—nationality and nativity—are associated with residual differences in economic performance. These residual ethnic influences as well as ethnic differences in marital, educational, and labor force status suggest that differences in ethnic subculture have important economic consequences.     

Mixed Embeddedness: (In)formal Economic Activities and Immigrant Businesses in the Netherlands

Immigrants from non-industrialized countries have become part and parcel of the social fabric of many advanced urban economies, including those in the Netherlands. A significant number of these migrants opt for setting up shop themselves. Lacking access to large financial resources and mostly lacking in educational qualifications, they are funnelled towards the lower end of the opportunity structure of these urban economies. To survive in these cut-throat markets, many migrant entrepreneurs revert to informal economic activities that are strongly dependent on specific social networks – mostly consisting of co-ethnics – to sustain these activities on a more permanent basis. To understand the social position of these migrant entrepreneurs and their chances of upward social mobility, one has to look beyond these co-ethnic networks and focus on their insertion in the wider society in terms of customers, suppliers and various kinds of business organizations. To deal with this latter type of insertion, we propose the use of a more comprehensive concept of mixed embeddedness that aims at incorporating both the co-ethnic social networks as well as the linkages (or lack of linkages) between migrant entrepreneurs and the economic and institutional context of the host society. We illustrate this concept by presenting a case study of Islamic butchers in the Netherlands. — Les immigrants des pays pas industrialisés sont devenus une part intégrale du tissu social de nombreuses économies urbaines développées, y compris celles des Pays-Bas. Un nombre significatif de migrants choisissent de s’établir à leur compte. N’ayant pas accès à des ressources financières importantes et ayant peu de qualifications académiques, ils sont entraînés vers le bas des structures de débouchés de ces économies. Pour survivre dans ces économies très dures, beaucoup d’entrepreneurs immigrants retournent aux activités économiques informelles qui dépendent fortement des réseaux sociaux spécifiques – principalement co-ethniques – pour soutenir ces activités de façon plus permanente. Afin de comprendre la position sociale de ces migrants entrepreneurs et leurs possibilités de mobilité sociale vers le haut, il faut regarder plus loin que ces réseaux co-ethniques et explorer leur insertion dans la société en général par rapport aux clients, fournisseurs et divers types d’organisation commerciales. Pour traiter de ce type d’insertion, nous proposons d’utiliser un concept d’incorporation mélangée plus compréhensif qui a pour but d’intégrer à la fois les réseaux sociaux co-ethniques et les liens (ou manque de liens) entre les migrants entrepreneurs et le contexte économique et institutionnel de la société d’acceuil. Nous illustrons ce concept par un cas d’étude de bouchers islamiques aux Pays-Bas.     

住房群租与房改缺失

群租是指居住拥挤并产生较大负外部性效应的居住现象。群租现象产生的直接原因是住房租赁市场中可供租赁房源的供不应求,而深层次的原因在于我国城镇住房制度市场化改革进程中存在的缺陷。群租产生了负的外部性,政府对此加以管制是毋庸置疑的。除了完善有关住房租赁的法律法规外,大力发展我国住房租赁市场,广开出租房源,将有助于群租现象的有效解决。     

都市边缘群体及其社会保障权益

都市边缘群体-农民工已形成了介于农民与工人之间的一个特殊社会阶层.这一阶层由于职业与身份的不一致,在工作及工作以外的诸多方面遭受着不平等的待遇,其基本权益、劳动权益、劳动保护权益、社会保险权益均无保障,极需在完善城镇职工社会保险的同时给以足够的重视:建立规范的用工制度;解决与生产密切相联、与农民工生命相关的工伤保险问题;建立农民的医疗保险和生育保险;考虑农民工的养老保险问题.     

Hospital Mergers and Antitrust: Some Economic and Legal Issues

A bstract The article traces the development of the market for hospital services through evolutionary stages to the present emphasis on merger and consolidation. Examination of the traditional principles of antitrust analysis suggests they are sufficiently flexible to warrant their application in evaluating the competitive impact of hospital mergers.     

区域中心城市经济转型:机制与模式

从国内外区域中心城市产业转型、我国区域中心城市经济转型的动力机制、区域中心城市经济转型的模式与经验、区域中心城市经济转型的成功标志4个方面,进行了文献回顾、梳理与总结,认为在区域中心城市经济转型的时机、度、势和演化等方面的研究还有待于理论化和强化。     

Against the New Economic Imperialism: Some Reflections

Classical political economy recognised that what needed analysing, explaining, and acting on was an economic system inextricably linked to the wider political and social systems. Smith and Ricardo, as well as Marx, saw class and the distribution of income as key. Neoclassical economics replaced these social and collective categories with the individual consumer and the marginal product of labour as the fundamental analytical categories—the "political" having been discarded. Yet even one of the founders of neoclassical economics, Alfred Marshall, would barely recognise nor accept what is today presented as economic analysis, ignoring as it does the key industrial and organisational detail underlying production. The "new political economy" claims to incorporate insights from other disciplines. But far from enriching economic analysis, these new strands of theory simply impose the assumptions and methods of neoclassical economics. We argue that this new economic imperialism needs to be replaced with a genuinely multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to analysing economic issues.     

房地产业与城市经济的研究综述

本文针对国内外房地产业与经济发展的关系展开的研究进行梳理,并探讨了在我国的研究中存在的问题。本文将文献综述分成两部分,一部分是国外房地产业与经济发展的理论与实证研究综述;另一部分是国内房地产业与经济发展的理论与实证研究综述,最后总结出研究中存在的问题。     

城市经济活力:特征、评价体系与提升建议

随着社会的不断进步,国家的经济竞争力主要体现在城市的竞争力上,城市的活力带来了国家的活力。尽管城市经济活力备受关注,但是由于其复杂的内涵也造成现有研究较少对其进行深入挖掘。城市经济活力具有集聚力、创新力、市场活力、韧性以及辐射力等5个主要特征。要提升经济的活力特别是城市经济的活力,需从更多注重微观上升到更多注重中观和宏观,使微观与中观、宏观结合,特别是要着眼力于优化城市整体环境,激发城市的整体活力,让城市间开展最广泛也最有效的活力竞争。     

城市群中的经济壁垒及其治理创新

城市群是空间视角下经济利益相关者自发活动的结果,这种区域整合是在遵循经济发展规律的前提下通过市场机制来实现的。我国现实中的区域经济壁垒及行政区管理体制阻碍城市群的形成和区域经济的自然组合,削弱了区域整体竞争力。要进行区域治理创新,就要在充分尊重市场的前提下,尽力协调政府间的关系,从而打破行政区经济藩篱,并通过建立多层次的城市区域治理协调组织,以保证各种经济要素的充分流动与交换,要以Citistates理念为指导,弱化我国城市群治理创新理念发展的行政区概念,以形成常规化的合作协调机制。要建立健全区域共同市场规则,扩大城市群内企业的市场配置空间。推动建立跨区域的合作组织,以提升城市群公共政策的执行力。最后,还应积极引导民间力量参与其中。     

现代城市经济发展的特点和趋势

城市经济是将城市作为载体的一种经济形态,是作为一个国家,或者地区经济发展最进步的地区。因此城市经济的发展不仅影响该区域,对于整个国家而言也是意义重大。在新时代新特征的影响下,对于现代城市经济发展的特点和趋势分析具有重要的现实意义。以下主要通过"三高"特征和两大发展趋势进行了分析。     

Profitability and Investment: Anglo-German Comparisons

Why is Germany so much more successful a producer-nation than the UK? Dr Graham Hallett, of University Oollege, Cardiff, contrasts Britain's reliance on the inadequate state system of vocational training run by the Youth Training Scheme with West Germany's privately funded investment in training.