Demographic change and its impact on farmers' field production decisions

Following the general trend in demographic change, and enhanced by the large-scale and continuous rural-urban migration, the rural labor force remaining in farming is quickly reducing and aging. This is likely to have significant impact on the labor-intensive agriculture. However, the fast growing of machinery service has provided farmers an opportunity to out-source field work that demands heavy labor inputs. Therefore, the demographic change and development of machinery service may jointly influence farmers' production decision in terms of crop choice and inputs. Household data of Fixed Point Rural Survey (FPRS) are used to examine the potential change in farmers' decisions on crop mix and input uses. It is found out that, under current situations, aging may impact agriculture through changing crop mix, and the choice is largely determined by access to service of farm machine; which, in turn, is likely to be determined by topography.     

Productive government expenditure and its impact on income inequality: evidence from international panel data

Review of World Economics - This paper addresses the impact of productive government expenditure on income inequality using a dataset of 80 countries over the period of 1980–2015. It...     

公路的路况与通行能力的相关性研究

基于相关文献的考察,文章系统地分析了公路的路况与通行能力之间的关系,得出了各个路况等级的通行能力修正系数。文章提出增加特差路等级的建议,有助于公路养护的实践和研究。     

Real exchange-rate changes in the European community: The empirical evidence and its implications for European currency unification

Zusammenfassung Reale Wechselkurs?nderungen in der Europ?ischen Gemeinschaft: Der empirische Befund und seine Bedeutung für die Europ?ische W?hrungsvereinigung. — In diesem Beitrag wird-anders als von der Theorie des optimalen W?hrungsgebiets-ein umfassendes Kriterium für die ?konomische Wünschbarkeit einer W?hrungsvereinigung vorgeschlagen, das der empirischen Verifizierung zug?nglich ist: der Bedarf an realen Wechselkurs?nderungen zwischen den potentiellen Mitgliedern der W?hrungsunion. Die Europ?ische Gemeinschaft wird im folgenden an diesem Mabstab gemessen. Dabei zeigt sich, daβ die Europ?ische Gemeinschaft mit einiger Wahrscheinlichkeit ein weniger geeignetes W?hrungsgebiet ist als die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Italien oder die USA. Ein Vergleich der realen und der nominalen Wechselkurs?nderungen zwischen den neun Mitgliedsl?ndern beweist jedoch, daβ die erheblichen (nominalen) Wechselkurs?nderungen der letzten fünf Jahre überwiegend auf mangelnde Koordination der nationalen Geldpolitiken und nur in geringem Maβe auf strukturelle Divergenzen (reale Wechselkurs?nderungen) zurückzuführen sind. Eine Gegenüberstellung der durchschnittlichen innergemeinschaftlichen realen Wechselkurs?nderungen in den Jahren 1967–1970 und 1971–1975 ergibt, daβ die Bereitschaft zur wirtschafts-politischen Koordination sogar im Zeitverlauf nachgelassen hat; der Fehlschlag der Bemühungen um eine europ?ische W?hrungsunion kann nicht durch ungünstige wirtschaftliche Ereignisse (einen verst?rkten Bedarf an realen Wechselkurs?nderungen) erkl?rt werden. Der Versuch, dem Ziel der europ?ischen W?hrungsunion durch wirtschafts-politische Koordinierungsbemühungen n?her zu kommen, ist — so lautet die abschlieβende These — wahrscheinlich aus grunds?tzlichen ?konomischen Erw?gungen zum Scheitern verurteilt; erfolgversprechend erscheint aus ?konomischer Sicht nur eine Strategie der Zentralisierung.

---

Résumé Les variations des taux de change réels dans la Communauté Européenne: L’analyse empirique et ses conséquences pour l’unification monétaire européenne. Contrairement à la théorie de la zone monétaire optimale, l’auteur propose un critère de la souhaitabilité de l’unification monétaire qui est en même temps compréhensif et sujetible à la vérification empirique: le besoin de variations des taux de change réels parmi les membres potentiels de l’union monétaire. En suite, cette norme est appliquée à la Communauté Européenne. Il se montre que la Communauté est probablement une zone monétaire moins appropriée que la R.F.A., l’Italie ou les Etats Unis. Une comparaison des variations des taux de change réels et nominels parmi les neuf pays membres prouve que, cependant, les variations considérables des taux nominels pendant 1970–1975 étaient dues principalement au défaut d’une coordination des politiques monétaires et assez peu à des divergences structurelles (c.à.d., à des variations des taux de change réels). En fait, si l’on compare les variations intra-communautaires moyennes des taux de change réels en 1967–1970 et 1971–1975, il se montre que l’échec du projet de l’union monétaire ne s’explique pas par des événements-économiques défavorables (c.à.d., par un besoin plus fort de variations des taux de change réels), mais par un relachement de la volonté coordinatrice. Selon la thèse finale, il y a des raisons d’ordre économique qui indiquent que probablement chaque essai d’approcher le but de l’union monétaire par une stratégie coordinatrice est a priori condamné à l’échec; du point de vue économique seulement une stratégie de centralisation promet du succès.

---

Resumen Variaciones reales de los tipos de cambio en la CEE: Los resultados empíricos y su importancia para la union monetaria europea. — En este trabajo se establece — a diferencia de la teoria de las zonas monetarias óptimas — un criterio general para la deseabilidad económica de una union monetaria, que es posible ser verificado empfricamente: la necesidad de variaciones en la tasa de cambio real entre miembros potenciales de una union monetaria. La CEE se analiza más adelante bajo este criterio. El resultado del análisis fue que la CEE es con alguna probabilidad una zona monetaria menos adecuada que Alemania Federal, Italia o los EEUU. Una comparación de las variaciones reales y nominales de las tasas de cambio entre los nueve estados miembros de la CEE demuestra, sin embargo, que las variaciones (nominales) sustanciales en las tasas de cambio de los últimos cinco a?os se debieron preponderantemente a falta de coordinación en las politicas monetarias nacionales y en menor medida a divergencias estructurales (variaciones en la tasa de cambio real). Una comparación de las variaciones promedio en las tasas de cambio reales dentro de la Comunidad en los a?os 1967–1970 y 1971–1975 muestra, que la predisposición para coordinar politicas económicas ha disminuido a traves del tiempo; el fracaso de los intentos por formar una union monetaria no se puede explicar por medio de hechos económicos desfavorables (una mayor necesidad de variaciones cambiarias reales). El intento de acercarse a la meta de una union monetaria europea a traves de empe?os en la coordinación de politicas económicas está — así dice la tesis final — probablemente condenado a fracasar debido a consideraciones económicas básicas; una estrategia de centralización parece ser desde el punto de vista económico la única que promete éxitos.

     

The impact of microcredit on women's empowerment: evidence from China

The impact of microcredit on women's empowerment remains controversial, as documented in the microfinance literature. While some studies claim that microcredit helps women increase their income earning abilities, leading to greater power to overcome cultural asymmetries, others contend that small loans allocated to women are usually controlled by their spouses, which results in more severe subordination of women and leaves them more vulnerable to the patriarchy system within the household and/or at society level. This paper evaluates the empowerment impact of microcredit on rural women in China. Logistic regression is employed for empirical analysis and data are collected through a rural household survey. The results confirm that microcredit has a significant impact on five dimensions of women's empowerment, ranging from economic security to awareness of social/legal issues.     

International production networks and host country productivity: evidence from Malaysia

In the 1990s, Malaysia, along with other East Asian countries, achieved rapid economic growth rates. Research has yet to ascertain the extent to which this rapid economic growth was due to the development of global production networks. The main objective of the paper is to examine the impact of international production fragmentation on productivity growth. The paper hypothesises that international production fragmentation increases productivity growth through trade and foreign direct investment, and that productivity growth increases due to skill‐intensive industries producing within an international production network.     

International labor-cum-capital migrations: Theory,welfare implications,and evidence

Although capital is often portrayed as being more internationally mobile than labor, the theory of labor migrations typically ignores capital flows. Economic historians provide long-term evidence suggesting close linkages between capital and labor movements for high labor immigration/emigration economies. Analyzing this linkage shows that labor-cum-capital migrations have distinctive economic effects compared to labor migrations alone. These distinctive effects impact on international economic economic convergence. GNP per head is invariably a poor indicator of development trends when labor (with or without capital) migrates.     

Off-farm employment and grain production change: New evidence from China

How does off-farm employment affect grain production? Previous research findings are inconsistent. This paper provides a general theoretical framework to explain the effect of off-farm employment on grain production and consider that the effect is non-liner. The empirical results show that off-farm employment decreases grain production and insignificantly changes grain crop structure. Importantly, we find an inverted-U correlation between off-farm employment and grain production, meaning that off-farm employment will increase grain production when the off-farm labor supply is relatively low and will decrease grain production when the off-farm labor supply is relatively high. Further, we investigate the heterogeneity of the causal effect in the destinations of off-farm employment, household's land scale, land features, household location, and household aging.     

Wealth distribution and its impact on minorities

Originally published inThe Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Summer 1972) pp. 27-37.     

Women's autonomy and its impact on fertility

This paper seeks to assess empirically the impact of female autonomy on fertility. It argues that by attending to fundamental freedoms for impoverished women, by enhancing women's access to and control over critical resources — their capability to achieve well-being — we not only meet welfare goals but also promote a reduction in fertility. The findings of this paper affirm the post-Cairo discourse emphasizing health and women's education. The findings also suggest the need to broaden the focus to include other initiatives that foster women's autonomy and to engage the full range of empowerment possibilities.     

The impact of environmental change on relocated communities in South Africa

The last thirty‐five years have seen the relocation of several million people in South Africa, for reasons related mainly to the implementation of the South African government policy of ‘apartheid’ or ‘separate development’. As a result, most studies of relocation have focused on the political causes and aspects of relocation, often to the neglect of its social consequences.

Community relocation, whatever its causes, involves the transformation of the physical and social environment in which people find themselves. This paper suggests that a focus on the nature and degree of environmental modification involved in particular cases of relocation will provide a useful start to understanding the social and economic consequences of relocation in South Africa. Various kinds of relocation (relating to Betterment Planning, Group Areas, relocation townships and closer settlements) are considered in these terms.     

The reach and impact of Child Support Grants: evidence from KwaZulu-Natal

This paper examines the reach and impact of the South African Child Support Grant, using longitudinal data collected through the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies. The grant is being taken up for a third of all age-eligible resident children, and appears to be reaching those children living in the poorer households of the demographic surveillance area (DSA). Children who received the grant are significantly more likely to be enrolled in school in the years following grant receipt than are equally poor children of the same age. However, older brothers and sisters of grant recipients, when they were observed at younger ages, were less likely than other children to be enrolled in school – perhaps reflecting the greater poverty in grant-receiving households. Thus the grant appears to help overcome the impact of poverty on school enrolment.     

Corporate innovation in China and its implications

China's current economic transition policies focus on shifting from export‐driven manufacturing towards high‐end, high‐tech research and development (R&D), and domestic consumption. Since the early 2000s the government has issued a series of policies and guidelines to encourage innovation. Both in‐house R&D investment and the number of patent grants/applications have seen considerable growth in recent years. More specifically, industry‐funded R&D was responsible for more than three quarters of total in‐house R&D investment. Despite the rapid growth in R&D expenditure and the number of patents, China's corporate innovation still faces many obstacles and challenges. To further stimulate corporate innovation, the government may need to create an environment of fair competition for domestic enterprises, encourage the growth of institutional investors and their active participation in corporate governance, and improve the efficiency of financial systems. The experience of China in promoting innovation provides policy approaches and implications from which other emerging economies can learn.     

Structural change in the Russian far east: The implications for trade and factor markets

This study compares actual directions of structural adjustment in the Russian Far East since the collapse of the former Soviet Union with estimated directions of adjustment that would be predicted to follow an opening of the region to the world market. How would moving to world prices affect the competitiveness of individual sectors of the Russian Far East? This author estimates the impact of changing terms of trade by revaluing a 1987 input-output table for the Russian Far East by price relatives between internal Soviet prices and world prices estimated by David Tarr [1992]. These estimates measure apparent competitiveness of each sector at world prices and identify four sectors of the Russian Far East—food processing, forest products, light industry, and the chemical industry—as negative value added sectors at world prices. However, actual short-run directions of adjustment in 1992–94 are only partly consistent with the directions predicted in the model. Measured gains from trade are strong on the import side but not on the export side.     

Accounting for the stock of human capital: Selected evidence and potential implications

Accounting for the Stock of Human Capital: Selected Evidence and Potential Implications. — Given the observed distribution of output and labor across countries, most capital flows should be from rich to poor countries. As is shown for a limited sample of countries, accounting for differences in the stock of human capital substantially reduces the implicit cross-country rate of return differentials. Additionally, accounting for human capital externalities based on independent empirical evidence, turns around the predicted rate of return differentials in favor of rich countries. Hence, the world economy may converge to a rather unequal distribution of incomes as long as human capital accumulation is neglected as the key variable limiting economic development.