Economic spillover effects in the Bohai Rim Region of China: Is the economic growth of coastal counties beneficial for the whole area?

This study uses panel data on the Bohai Rim Region of China to test for spatial autocorrelation, and measures economic spatial spillover effects with the space Durbin econometric model. We discuss whether the economic development of coastal counties benefits the whole area. To do this, we focus on the “distance from the coast” factor, which is influenced by transportation time. The results indicate the presence of significant spatial autocorrelation in the Bohai Rim Region. Further, economic spatial spillover effects exist in this region. “Distance from the coast” exerts a significantly negative impact on the local GDP per capita but a significantly positive impact on the GDP per capita of other districts. This means that the economic development of coastal counties does not benefit the whole region. “Value of exports” exerts a significantly positive influence on the local economy and no significant influence on other counties, while “foreign direct investment” exerts a significantly positive influence on the local economy and a significantly negative influence on other counties. “Number of employees in units” exerts a significantly positive influence on the local economy and a significantly negative influence on the other counties. The factors “primary industry's share in GDP” and “tertiary industry's share in GDP” influence the local economy positively, but the former exerts no significant influence on other counties and the latter exerts a negative influence on other counties. “Rate of fixed asset investment” influences the local economy negatively and has no significant effect on other counties. “Total retail sales of social consumer goods” has no significant influence on the local economy but a positive significant influence on the others. Finally, marine resource utilization and marine output can affect economic growth positively. On this basis, we propose policy suggestions for harmonious economic development in this region.     

Industrial decentralization under apartheid: The relocation of industry to the South African periphery

This paper is concerned with industrial decentralization in South Africa, specifically the impact of decentralization on industrialization in the bantustans. The paper begins by describing the evolution of decentralization policy and examines the results to date. Particular attention is directed towards the revised program introduced in 1982. Section 3 identifies the political imperatives that have underpinned the program since its inception and discusses the alternative thesis that a drive towards “spontaneous” decentralization may have emerged more recently. The fourth section, drawing upon the results of the authors' two surveys, focuses upon the factors that militate against the development of growth points in the bantustans. This shows that most are severely disadvantaged with respect to growth points established in “white” areas and may therefore be largely excluded from any “spontaneous” drive towards decentralization. Finally, Section 5 demonstrates that the supposed “developmental” impact of decentralization on the bantustan sub-economies is extremely limited, with most of the benefits draining back to the metropolitan centers.     

Accounting Discretion and Managerial Conservatism: An Intertemporal Analysis*

Accounting discretion and the principle of conservatism are two salient features embedded in financial reporting systems. Arguably, the practice of conservative accounting choices can never be well understood without incorporating their effect on future periods (the intertemporal effect). This paper provides one explanation for managerial conservatism in a two‐period agency model with hidden information (a binary project type) and hidden actions (the agent's efforts). A piece‐wise linear incentive scheme with accounting earnings as the performance measure is employed. The agent's discretion is the choice of a depreciation method. Discretion is valuable if and only if the agent's marginal productivity of a “bad” project is greater than that of a “good” project, but not to an extreme degree. A conservative depreciation method decreases current compensation in exchange for a “bet” on future compensation and, hence, serves as a commitment device for the agent to signal that the prospect is indeed good. The accounting mechanism replicates the performance of the optimal direct mechanism.     

The role of infrastructure in China’s regional economic growth

This study investigates the relationship between infrastructure capital and China's regional economic growth for the period 1990–2013. Four types of infrastructure are considered: electricity generating capacity, roadway, railway, and telecommunications. Using a vector error correction model, we find mixed support across time period and region for the contribution of infrastructure investment to economic development. With regard to road construction in lagging regions in particular, the impact appears to have become negative under a program of ramped up efforts. The results resonate with the theoretical literature on the inverse U-shaped relationship between infrastructure investment and growth which posits a “crowding-out effect” of private capital when infrastructure investment becomes too dominant.     

The “New” Kerala Model: Lessons for Sustainable Development

The “Kerala model of development” has won wide international attention for its achievements in regard to social development and, to a certain extent, environmental sustainability. The “old” Kerala model, preoccupied with redistributive policies, failed, however, to induce economic development. As a result, attention is now being given to a “new” Kerala model. The new policy explicitly seeks reconciliation of social, productive and environmental objectives at the local level, and tries to develop synergies between civil society, local governmental bodies and the state government. The new Kerala model thus holds important lessons for participatory, community-based sustainable development in India and elsewhere.     

Agricultural economic research in less developed countries: A farm systems approach

Present efforts in agricultural development, at least at pronouncement level, are aimed directly or indirectly at the farmer, but unfortunately the supposed object of all these efforts is the least understood of all elements in development.

Meaningful agricultural development research should emphasise the central position of the farmer within his farming system. The farm systems approach to agricultural development research provides the methodological framework to facilitate such “farmer orientated” research. This article has as its object the introduction of the concept of Farm Systems Research (FSR) as a viable approach to effective research in less developed agriculture. Some thoughts are also expressed on the conduct of agricultural economic research within the FSR approach.     

In the Eyes of the State: Negotiating a “Rights-Based Approach” to Forest Conservation in Thailand

Recent debates about governance, poverty and environmental sustainability have emphasized a “rights-based” approach, in which equitable development is strongly associated with individual and communal rights. This paper reviews this approach and explores its practical application to Thailand's “Community Forestry Bill,” which seeks to establish communal rights of access and conservation in forest reserve areas. The paper examines conflicts concerning watershed forests and mangroves in Thailand, and argues that efforts to support rural livelihoods through community rights have been undermined by a state that has frequently supported commercial interests or opposed decentralization to minority groups. The paper documents how civil society organizations may negotiate rights within the wider public spheres in which rules, rights, and “community” are established, and defended.     

创新生态视角下中国信息产业面临的挑战与突围——美国制裁华为事件的启示

在贸易摩擦不断升级的背景下,美国不惜动用国家力量“绞杀”华为,其实质是对中国信息产业发展的围追堵截。文章类比生物生态系统,分析了中国信息产业创新生态系统的结构与生存机制,包括反馈机制、鲁棒调节机制、多样性调节机制等。针对中国信息产业领导种群的位置由欧美企业占据、企业核心技术缺失等问题,提出构建完善的产业生态系统,努力做到国产自主可控;聚焦信息产业核心技术,抢占产业生态领导种群位置;建立产业联盟,共建创新生态系统;加大对本土信息产业创新生态系统培育政策扶持力度等“突围”措施。     

AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION DISPUTES IN TAIWAN: CASES OF “SELF‐RELIEF”

During the late 1980s and early 1990s in Taiwan, people's protests against environmental pollution often took the form of “self‐relief,” meaning that they attempted to fight polluters using their own resources, without relying on legal or administrative procedures. Why did such an extreme form of dispute become so widespread? What institutional changes did these movements bring about? These questions are analyzed using the analytical framework of “law and economics.” Our research shows that self‐relief functioned to a certain extent as a means of realizing quick compensation for victims, and for reflecting the opinions of local people concerning development projects; in addition, it served to promote the formulation of law and administrative systems. However, as it was based on direct negotiations between the parties concerned, the outcome of each dispute only reflected the transient balance of forces, and the experience gained in negotiations was not accumulated as a social norm.     

从2020到2021,跟着铁路调度员跨年

“十三五”开局之年,习近平总书记来渝视察,要求重庆建设内陆开放高地。按照习近平总书记的要求,重庆在“十三五”期间畅通道、扩平台,提升对外开放水平,不断向开放前沿迈进。“十三五”收官之际,《今日重庆》记者深入重庆兴隆场编组站调度一线,试图透过一个个繁忙的调度员身影,折射重庆打造内陆开放高地的努力。     

Specialized markets and Chinese industrial clusters: The experience of Zhejiang Province

Local specialized markets and industrial clusters have been a driving force in China's transition from a rural to a market economy, as they have constituted a means for small local producers to access markets since the reform and the launching of the “open door” policies. In this article the industrial development of local industrial clusters endowed with specialized markets is outlined on the basis of fieldwork case studies in Zhejiang Province. In this area of China, tight linkages between the development of industrial clusters and specialized markets are based on social and economic foundations that have propelled the growth of market relations since the late 1970s. Together with local traditions and skills in both handcraft production and commerce, specialized markets accompanied the take-off of industrial clusters following the so-called “Zhejiang model” of development. The role of specialized markets is still crucial nowadays as a powerful channel for the distribution of consumer goods as well as a means of coordination of fragmented productions in China and abroad.     

China＇s Economy in 2005： At a New Turning Point and Need to Fix Its Development Problems

I. High Growth, Higher Stakes China’s economy in 2005 experienced another year of surging growth, with its total GDP(based on recent revision) expanding at 9.9 percent to reach 18.23 tn yuan (US$2.26 tn).1 Growth in 2005 was slightly lower than the 10.1 percent in 2004; but it was nonetheless very high. Sustained high growth is accompanied by potential high risks, and it inevitably raises the issue of future sustainability of high growth. Although the Chinese economic policy-makers in 200…     

美国在阿富汗的“国家建设”缘何失败

阿富汗是美国在“全球反恐战争”背景下实施“国家建设”的主要对象。基于考察小布什政府和奥巴马政府的相关政策及其实施情况,可以认为美国在阿富汗展开的“国家建设”缺乏切实可行的目标和连贯明确的战略,很多政策相互矛盾,资源投入严重不足,在政策执行和机构协调等方面问题重重。美国在阿富汗的安全重建受到“反恐”和“反叛乱”军事行动的主导,削弱了阿富汗社会和普通民众的安全感,重建援助的“军事化”问题突出。在政治重建方面,美国不顾北方联盟和部分国家的反对,在阿富汗推行总统制,这一选择与阿富汗政治传统和文化不相适应。美国绕开阿富汗中央政府进行援助导致出现“平行政府”,破坏了中央政府权威。在经济重建方面出现“双重寄生体制”,对农业和乡村地区的发展支持严重不足,难以有效应对毒品经济问题。美国提出的“新丝绸之路”计划高估了中亚国家与阿富汗的一体性,也缺乏促进地区经济发展的资源投入。根本而言,美国在阿富汗的“国家建设”缺乏道义基础,难以获得阿富汗民众的支持,与阿富汗政府倡导的“阿人所有、阿人主导”的和解进程存在诸多冲突,彰显了美国权力的傲慢及其“自由主义霸权”战略的深刻困境。     

Trade,debt, and the Cuban economy

Like many other Latin American countries, Cuba pursued a strategy of “debt-led growth” in the mid-1970s and sustained large balance of payments deficits with the West. Though external balance was restored by 1979, Cuba faced a severe liquidity crisis in 1982 when short-term loans were suddenly withdrawn. This paper is a study of Cuba's seemingly exceptional ability to decrease its foreign debt after 1980, meet interest payments on time, and maintain an overall program of growth with equity. A combination of implicit Soviet trade subsidies, and Cuba's socialist polity and political-economic control, have apparently mitigated the constraints of the “world capitalist system,” and fostered an alternative program to the current austerity measures of most of Latin America.     

Is Economics Useful for Public Policy?

Economists have always played an important role in major public policy debates. Even so, I believe that the role of economists in these public policy discussions has often been misguided because it has typically relied upon “best practices,” stated in the form of “general guidelines” or even “universal principles.” However, “best practices” are not best if the specific situation does not conform with the assumptions that underlie the advice. So my first conclusion is a cautionary, and negative, one: Specific circumstances differ so profoundly across individuals, firms, markets, countries, and time that most any attempt to define “best practices” that apply in all circumstances will lead to profoundly misleading public policy recommendations. However, even if economics cannot identify “the” truth, it can often identify “a” truth. So my second conclusion is a more positive one: Economists should continue to develop multiple theories that inform public policies, but we should also focus our efforts on identifying and testing the critical assumptions that drive the results of these theories, recognizing that the validity of any assumptions will depend intimately on specific circumstances. I illustrate these two main conclusions with specific examples from my own work. I conclude with some “best practices” recommendations of my own, recognizing the obvious irony of such an effort.     

“Made in China”的发展观思考

“Made in China”具有“双刃剑”特征,既在推进产业高度化的过程中具有不可替代的贡献,也释放出“发展中落后”的效应。落后之一,产业低端;落后之二,污染集聚;落后之三,资源的过度消耗;落后之四,在国际市场中低价竞争并受制于他人。必须使持续的增长真正成为“现代”的起点,实现“Made in China”根本转型,并在转型的道路上处理好自主创新与塑造世界品牌的关系,做到以拚搏世界品牌为导航,而这意味着体制的突破和民族精神的再造。     

Trade-off between economic development and environmental governance in China: An analysis based on the effect of river chief system

The conflict between economic growth and environmental pollution has become a considerable bottleneck to China's future development. In the context of the promotion tournament, the Chinese Central Government incorporated the responsibility of water environment governance into the assessment and promotion system of local officials and implemented the river chief system (RCS). The RCS is an important measure to rebalance local economic development and environmental governance. However, two critical questions need to be addressed due to the path dependence of the “economic growth first” strategy and the complexity of cross-border watershed governance. Specifically, whether the RCS improved water environment as effectively as the economic responsibility system promoted economic growth, and whether local governments in China found a balance between economic development and environmental governance. This study aims to address these questions by investigating the policy impact of River Chief System (RCS). The results show that the RCS has heterogeneous effects on different pollutants, namely, an improvement in NpH value and NH₃-N but a deterioration in COD and DO. We found opposite conclusions when using provincial monitoring data in Jiangsu province, which provides empirical evidence of cosmetic pollution governance by local governments. Our conclusions imply that the implementation of the RCS is not as effective as the government claimed. Moreover, we did not observe the trade-off between economic development and environmental governance for local governments. Local economic development is still in preference to environmental governance. We recommend improving the mechanism of the long-term implementation and dynamic evaluation of the RCS, highlighting the independence of evaluation authorities, and introducing third-party evaluation and public supervision systems.     

Does financial development help to align growth opportunities with growth? Evidence from industry-level data

Financial institutions are expected to play a crucial role in reallocating resources in favor of industries facing greater global and local shocks to growth opportunities. Fisman and Love, in their paper entitled “Financial development and intersectoral allocation: A new approach”, argue that growth opportunities are unobservable and propose a new methodology to test the capital allocation hypothesis. The methodology is based on correlations in the patterns of intra-industry growth between two countries and similarities in the level of financial development and income. This paper extends their methodology by proposing direct and forward-looking measures of local and global growth opportunities, obtained by interacting the country’s patterns of industrial specialization with industry-level price-earnings ratios, as in the paper “Global growth opportunities and market integration” by Bekaert et al. The results, obtained in a cross-section framework including 37 developed and developing countries over the period 1992–2006, confirm the relevance of financial development to promote economic growth and to help industries in taking advantage of global and local growth opportunities. They also show that the methodology developed by Fisman and Love can be extended to include direct measures of growth opportunities.     

Des « clusters » aux « small-worlds » une approche en termes de proximités

A recent literature has described, on an empirical level, the mode of working of local industrial organizations, called “clusters”, strongly inserted within global industrial and commercial networks. Those studies have shown that space by itself doesn’t offer the sufficient conditions for co-ordination but can contribute to its efficiency, providing the existence of other sharing dimensions among agents: organic level, representations, projects… Such an approach can be usefully translated in the terms of proximity economics based on “situated agents” that are involved both in a local co-ordination game and in external complementarities and competition relations. For that purpose, “small-worlds” theory brings a very fruitful way to build models in which a substantial amount of local interconnections generate a high network cliquishness, whilst a more reduced proportion of global links (shortcuts) ensures an efficient access (path length) to any node of the network.