The Role of Nonattenuated Rights in Positive Economics: A Critical Appraisal

This article assesses the institutionalist elements of Friedrich Hayek's neoliberal political economy by presenting his views on the entangled relations between the state and markets in capitalism. Through the analysis of Hayek's work, the article contributes to further consolidating the view that neoliberalism is an ideological project of institutional transformation which, despite some enduring myths, has an irreplaceable role for a state with many important functions in a more limited democracy. Markets, for their part, are politically contested social constructions that depend on previous non-market institutions for their existence and legitimation. This paper argues that Hayek's work corroborates this institutionalist claim.     

欧洲福利国家危机的政治经济学分析

20世纪70年代以来,福利国家的危机日益加剧,凯恩斯主义在欧洲各国不同程度地被新自由主义所取代.新自由主义从意识形态、全球化与竞争力、不平等、经济与社会政策、公共财政等方面对福利国家发起了攻击,其目的 不是取消福利国家,而是改变福利国家的内涵,使之服务于新自由主义,其核心利益关切点不再是社会大众,而是金融资本.在这一背...     

新自由主义与国家空间:反思与启示

2008年以来的全球金融危机将世界政治经济环境推向所谓的后新自由主义时代。文章首先回顾新自由主义的起源,以及不同政治地理背景下的新自由主义在发展与演变过程中的异同。其后,文章介绍学术界对新自由主义思潮获致的三点共识:其一,民族国家的意义并没有因为新自由主义而消亡;其二,理解政府在经济发展中的角色对于理解新自由主义至关重要;其三,新自由主义的发展因地而异。新自由主义思潮在全球扩散的同时塑造新的国家空间。新国家空间有三个特点:尺度重组、柔性边界与扁平化。研究指出,不论新自由主义是否终结,其局限性已经凸显,因此有必要跳出新自由主义的思维模式,思考如何在新自由主义创造的所谓新国家空间中,重塑政府监管,思考各国发展经济的全球责任,并思考创造社会空间再分配模式的可持续性等问题。     

Growing China’s renewables sector: a developmental state approach

Over the last decade China expanded its renewable energy sector with unprecedented speed. This success story presents a challenge to Western modes of environmental governance, where stakeholder participation is often deemed a necessary pre-condition for effective policy outcomes. Drawing on new research (including previously unpublished interview data), the article first discusses established modes of environmental governance before examining the growth of China’s renewables sector through the theoretical lens of the ‘developmental state’. The article then analyses renewable energy policy design and implementation in China, illustrating how top-down command and control strategies have successfully diffused renewable energy technology from a standing start. We argue that (1) China’s distinct approach to the sector differs from Western modes of environmental governance and (2) this has revealed a new path towards renewable energy diffusion that authoritarian states in particular might regard as an attractive alternative to participatory models.     

State versus market in the early historiography of the industrial revolution in Britain c.1890–1914

Abstract

This article reveals how the emerging historiography of industrialisation in Britain moulded a lasting division between two explanations of its origins, one emphasising discontinuity, individual enterprise, and free markets, the other evolutionary change, the role of the state and the importance of empire. Both views were historically informed but led in contrary directions in the highly polarised politics of early twentieth-century Britain, the former linked to support for free trade and liberalism as the basis of economic welfare, the latter to support for Conservative tariff reform and imperial reconstruction.     

韩国残疾人福利的历史、现状与未来展望

韩国残疾人福利历经初创期、转换期、发展期,正步入跃进期。其制度体系虽然涵盖收入保障、医疗康复、雇佣保障、教育制度、出行权及信息获取权保障、残疾人福利预算等且运行平稳,但福利充足度整体上非常有限。为应对残疾人口的迅猛增长和改善他们的福利境遇,韩国政府应优先健全残疾人福利法规、合理划分福利责任,并重点关注加快构筑社区保护网、提高收入保障力度、改善福利服务机构运营水平以及持续增加残疾人福利预算。     

The New ‘Passive Revolution’ of the Green Economy and Growth Discourse: Maintaining the ‘Sustainable Development’ of Neoliberal Capitalism

This paper analyses the rapidly emerging discourse of a green economy based on green growth. It highlights inherent conflicts and contradictions of this discourse such as the myth of decoupling growth from the environment, pollution generations and resource consumption. Using key theoretical constructs of both Gramsci and Polanyi, the paper argues that the green economy/growth discourse can be seen as a Gramscian ‘passive revolution’ whereby the dominant sustainable development discourse, subsumed by capitalist hegemony, is protected in the context of global environmental, economic and development crises. The ‘neoliberalising of nature’, or in other words, the privatisation, marketisation and commodification of nature, akin to Polanyi's fictitious commodities, continues and intensifies with green economy/growth strategies. Greening the economy and associated strategies of green growth divert attention from the social and political dimensions of sustainability and issues of social and international justice. In this way, the inexorable march or ‘sustainable development’ of neoliberal capitalism is maintained. This paper goes on to argue that contesting the claims of green economy/growth discourse through political struggles by civil society against the neoliberalisation of nature is a sign of a slowly emerging counter-hegemonic ‘double movement’ which challenges capitalist hegemony and the commodification of society–nature relations.     

The Complex Inequality–Innovation–Public Investment Nexus: What We (Don’t) Know,What We Should Know and What We Have to Do

In this paper, we deal with the complex relationship connecting inequality to innovation, and the ways through which public investment can affect it. We first stress that inequality and innovation may interact in many different ways. The positive relation that part of the economic theory often assumes to exist between (initially) rising inequality and improving innovation performances emerges as only one among many other far less virtuous dynamic trajectories. We then analyse the specific case of the US. We put emphasis on the possible perverse effects that the financialization of the US economy may have on the inequality–innovation nexus. We note that the US developmental state—very often neglected by the economic literature—can effectively mitigate such undesirable outcomes. According to our interpretation of recent developments in the US economy, the widespread belief in the positive pro-innovation effects of fierce cut-throat remuneration systems may prove to be ungrounded.     

A hard slog, not a leap frog: Globalization and sustainability transitions in developing Asia

How does globalization influence transitions toward more sustainable socio-technical regimes in the developing world? This paper argues that transformations of regimes, the networks and institutions governing technological and environmental practices in an industry, can be positively influenced by globalization but it depends on how global forces interact with local socio-political landscapes—the political-economic institutions, values, and regulations broadly guiding an economy and its relationship to the environment. We evaluate these relationships through a comparison of two kinds of socio-political landscapes—the neo-liberal export-led development model commonly found in the developing world and the uniquely Asian capitalist developmental state. We first show how the neo-liberal model overemphasizes the power of market forces to facilitate upgrading and more sustainable industrialization. We then argue that capitalist developmental states in East and Southeast Asia have been better able to harness global economic forces for technological and sustainability transitions through an openness to trade and investment and effective public-private institutions able to link cleaner technologies and environmental standards to production activities in firms. We buttress this argument with firm-level evidence showing the evolution of socio-technical regimes in two industries—cement and electronics. The case studies demonstrate how interactions with OECD firms can contribute to environmental technique effects provided the socio-political landscape is amenable to changes in an industry's regime. Ultimately, we find the process of transition to be complex and contingent; a hard slog not a leap frog toward a potentially more sustainable future. We close by considering the limitations on the capitalist developmental state model and with comments about what else needs to be learned about globalization's role in sustainability transitions.     

中国先进文化：从革命到创新的发展与启示

近现代以来,中国先进文化经历了从革命到创新的发展历程,这既是中国近现代历史发展的必然要求,也是中国先进文化发展的必由之路,其发展轨迹给新世纪中国特色社会主义文化的发展以深刻启示。     

伊拉克战争对我军信息化建设的启示

该文以美军的新军事变革为背景，分析了伊拉克战争信息化武器装备的使用情况及其重要意义，进而对我军信息化建设提出了政策性意见和建议。     

NGOs,the State,and Development in Africa

This paper discusses the impact of the rise of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social entrepreneurs on economic development, with a special focus on how they have been used in Africa. The paper describes the decline of the state and the rise of NGOs as a force in economic development under neoliberalism. We then turn to two of the major problems with the roll-back of the state in Africa: the inherent weaknesses of nonstate actors in the development process, and the significant cost that is incurred by undermining the role of state. The paper concludes by suggesting the necessity of reinserting the state as the major vehicle for economic development, albeit in productive partnership with NGOs and social entrepreneurs.     

The Political Economy for Low-carbon Energy Transition in China: Towards a New Policy Paradigm?

China has become the leading country to develop wind and solar energy industries. By presenting the institutional arrangement and interest constellations of China’s regulatory system of renewable energy sectors, this paper argues that the reasons for China’s swift expansion of wind and solar energy investment go beyond the notion of a state-led model. It also reveals that due to a series of internal power struggles and external shocks, the current regulatory system is undergoing significant restructuring. A new policy paradigm is emerging that is largely different from the previous decades of policy orientation that centred on capacity expansion and instrumental interests for renewable energy development. The new paradigm would face tremendous challenges from existing institutions and vested interests, and it requires new set of ideologies that can help renewable energy sector to truly competing with the energy incumbents in order to bring about meaningful low-carbon energy transition in China.