International trade policies,industrialization, and economic development

During the 1950s and 1960s, most developing nations, particularly the larger ones, strongly opted for a policy of import substitution industrialization (ISI). This was based on heavy protection and generally led to very inefficient industries. Since the early 1970s, an increasing number of developing countries deregulated their economies and liberalized trade, and this stimulated efficiency and growth. Some developing nations also tried strategic trade policies and to endogenize growth (as postulated by endogenous growth theory), but with only limited success. It seems impossible and inconsistent under the new international trade rules, however, for other developing countries to duplicate the East Asia “miracle,” which was based on strong government support for domestic industry while stimulating competition and efficiency among domestic firms. The successful completion of the Uruguay Round is expected to greatly benefit developing countries through continued deregulation and increased access to developed-country markets.     

Potential economic variables and actual economic policies in Europe

Ignoring for a moment the debate on whether balanced budget rules are a sensible idea from a macroeconomic point of view, there remains a major problem with tying one’s fiscal policy to econometric estimates of potential variables: their notorious unreliability. With every one of its biannual economic forecasts, the EC provides revised estimates of structural parameters that are crucial components of its macroeconometric models and, by extension, its economic policy advice. This article shows that the EC’s econometric estimates of potential growth variables in Europe have been subject to massive revisions since the financial crisis.     

The East Asian model and the Baltic states

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had higher national incomes than most of the other states of the USSR. The “Southeast Asian miracle” economies often did not reach comparable levels until the 1980s. Now that the Baltic states have regained independence, are there any lessons to be drawn from the experience of the “tigers”?     

Austerity in the Baltic states during the global financial crisis

The Baltic states were arguably the countries most severely affected by the global financial crisis. This article discusses the boom preceding the crisis, the ensuing austerity policies and the economic effects of these policies. All three countries maintained fixed exchange rates, but the degree of fiscal austerity varied across the countries, with Estonia undertaking the strongest fiscal consolidation in 2009. The downturn was so swift and deep that expansionary policies were unlikely to affect short-term outcomes. Growth returned towards the end of 2009, largely driven by exports. The export performance cannot be directly linked to the austerity policies. The main lesson from the Baltics is that increased macroeconomic stability must be attained by avoiding overheating and unsustainable financial exposure. The challenge for the future is to ensure that austerity policies are implemented during economic booms.     

Macroeconomic adjustment: the Baltic states versus euro area crisis countries

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have succeeded in rapidly reducing their current account deficits despite fixed exchange rates. Which factors have played a major role in this? What similarities, and what differences, do the Baltic states show compared to Greece and Portugal? What insights can be gained for the political debate on the euro area debt crisis?     

浅谈我国农村经济政策的改革与发展

近年来我国农村始终保持经济平稳较快的发展,为巩固和发展农业农村良好形势.我们必须把握农业农村经济发展新特征,提高政策的针对性和灵活性.本文就我国农村经济政策的改革与发展情况谈几点粗浅认识.     

东北三省利用外资存在的问题及政策建议

在经济全球化的触角遍布全国的今天，利用外资无疑是一个区域经济增长的重要引擎，外资所提供的资金、技术、产品和服务都将极大地促进该区域在全国市场乃至世界市场上．竞争力的提高。在我国实施振兴东北老工业基地的战略后，东北三省吸引和利用外资能力显增强。而且随着开放水平的提高和改革步伐的加快，东北三省在利用外资方面也取得了一定的成果。然而，通过分析东北三省利用外资的现实状况，发现其中还存在着若干问题，必须加以关注并积极应对，使得东北利用外资能够上一个新的台阶。     

普京第二任期的经济政策对中俄经贸关系的影响

中俄经贸关系的现状与战略意义的提升。普京执政四年来，中俄两国不论在政治方面还是在经济合作方面都取得了进展。两国贸易额几乎增长了一倍．可以说，目前中俄经贸关系存在两个特点：一是结束了磨合期，进入快速增长期；二是经贸关系逐步进入与政治关系平衡发展的新时期。但是，两国在经贸领域的合作仍存在不少弱点或问题：一是应该承认，尽管这几年经贸合作有了较快发展，但总体水平不     

Injury mortality in local communities in Sweden and in the three Baltic States: implications for prevention

This study provides a comparative time-trend evaluation of injury mortality in local communities in Sweden and the three Baltic States, considering their national socio-political and economic situations and with analysis of local injury prevention structures and activities. Data for the period from 1990 to 2002 were gathered from national statistical offices for the cities of Bor?s, Tartu, Jelgava and Kaunas and from WHO databases for national level analyses. The death rates for Bor?s remained relatively stable over the time period, while the Baltic communities had increasing rates until 1994 and seemed to stabilize after 1997. The differences in injury mortality in the studied communities were highest for the 0 - 19 year age group and especially in the 20 - 64 year age group, but not for the 65+ year age group. Local communities in the Baltic States should consider coordinated safety promotion and injury prevention programmes as a complement to national safety promotion framework.     

Trends in international business thought and literature: Reviewing east asia's miracle,its economic dynamism,and future issues

East Asia's miracle and its economic dynamism has become a popular topic for academic and business research. Researchers and practitioners have used many theories and justifications to explain this area. Since there is limited consensus among the researchers regarding the East Asian miracle, viewpoints, interpretations, and discipline-centered critiques remain equivocal. This article reviews and analyzes salient issues of this debate, its multidisciplinary contents, and some of the inherent differences between various perspectives put forward by the researchers. The importance of this review lies in its multidisciplinary approach and cross-referencing.     

EU Enlargement,Institutional Governance and Innovation Environment in the Baltic Countries

Abstract

This paper presents institutional framework to implement innovative and co-operative procedures of industrial reorganization and economic growth in the Baltic countries. By using the recent features of organization mode theories and institutional economics, we apply how institutional development helps the Baltic firms to survive in the integration of EU25 markets. We present this framework as a dynamic process in three stages. The first stage identifies the main foundations from the transition period: macroeconomic stabilization, privatization, and financial governance. The second stage considers how to build up the institutional structure of the governance in production. The third stage points out those topics that enhance innovation environment and benchmarks the Baltic countries to EU innovation capacity. These progressive stages in financial, production, and innovation systems of governance can be overlapped or happen in sequential order but the final purpose of these improvements is to enhance the managerial incentives for higher innovative activity in the EU-Baltic industrial integration. It is found that the Baltic innovation input capacity is competitive compared with the EU25 average but a gap in innovation output is still essential.     

Corporate investment, financing, and dividend policies in the high-tech industry

The agency theory, transactional cost economics, and traditional strategic management perspectives have provided several key corporate financial policies. However, these policies have generally been discussed and established separately. This study explores the causal structure of corporate financial strategies for the high-tech firms in Taiwan and China. By employing path analysis and directed graphs model, this paper explores the causal relationships among investment, financing, dividend policies, and corporate performance. The results show that the investment expenditures by Taiwan's firms positively affect financial performance and the increased borrowings jeopardize company's profits. However, the financing decisions of China's firms have a positively effect on their capital expenditures. The findings suggest that firms across the Strait adopt different strategies in financial decision environments.     

Basic needs,planning and policies

The recommendations of international organizations such as the World Bank, ILO, OECD and FAO and comparable demands by critical social scientists evince a growing awareness that basic human needs should be made the point of departure and orientation for analyses, planning and evaluation. They betoken a decisive turning away from the conventional growth- and employment-oriented economic policies towards a strategy which is determined by basic needs.     

Security,commercial and monetary policies

This article discusses the frustrations both sides of the Atlantic regarding security, commercial and monetary policies. It suggests, however, that with the European Community, Japan and the USA all in difficulties together they might now possess the political will to arrest through negotiations a threatening return to discriminatory policies.     

欧盟新成员国带给中国经贸关系的挑战

2004年5月1日，波兰、匈牙利、捷克、斯洛伐克、斯洛尼亚、爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚、立陶宛、塞浦路斯和马耳他等10国正式加入欧盟。欧盟由15国增加到25国，拥有4．5亿消费，年进出口额接近3万亿美元，占世界总贸易额的20％，国内生产总值占世界1/4，成为全球最大的贸易集团和进口市场。而这些新成员占拥有25个成员国的欧盟表面积的19．4％，人口的16．7％，国民生产总值的8．1％，新成员国的人均国内生产总值占欧盟平均数的48．6％。     

Labour mobility in the EU: Dynamics,patterns and policies

The continued economic crisis has become a major test for the labour markets of individual member states. Labour mobility within the European Union has the potential to help to reduce labour market pressures and ease economic imbalances. However, a long-term loss of working age population can be detrimental to sending countries. This Forum explores mobility patterns within the European Union and analyses the labour market and welfare effects of labour mobility via case studies of the UK, Poland, Germany and Spain. It also examines a number of its aspects that have important political and institutional relevance for the European Union and its future.     

Group Action in the Baltic States

The article is based on a study which aimed at examining the existence and use of group actions in consumer issues in the Baltic states. It was part of a larger research project in which the same questions were studied in all Central and Eastern European countries. Besides group actions in courts, administrative group actions were also studied.A starting point for the study was an overview of substantive consumer protection legislation in the Baltic states. In spite of the fact that there has been a rapid development in this field during recent years, the main finding was that many substantive law elements of consumers' collective interests, which in the EU Member States are often protected by different kinds of group actions, are as yet not regulated at all in the Baltic states or not regulated in a sufficiently detailed way in the Baltic states.The study showed that several kinds of group action exist in these countries. Firstly, there are administrative group actions for injunction. They are applied mainly in cases concerning product information, product safety, and unfair competition. Secondly, a group action by a consumer organisation for injunction in a court is, in principle, possible in Estonia and Lithuania, but not in Latvia. So far, no case law exists, however. A genuine group action for compensation is not possible in the Baltic countries, but a consumer organization may represent an individual consumer or a specified group of consumers in a court and may claim compensation on their behalf. The study showed that administrative group actions are a functioning part of the present consumer protection system in these countries, whereas court actions so far exist only on paper. It also showed that in the Baltic states, procedural means are in some matters better developed than substantive consumer law, whereas in many western countries, the exact opposite is the case. The article concludes with some recommendations as to how the Baltic states could develop their consumer protection legislation.     

Trends in international business thought and literature: Filling competence and skills gaps in management education and training in the baltic states

After a 50-year Soviet occupation, the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania gained independence in the early 1990s (Nordberg, 1993: 27). The socialist planned economy left the Baltic countries' economies and industrial structures in a state of disarray. Industries developed during the Soviet occupation were, in fact, inefficient, old-fashioned, and too large in size for these small countries. The planned industrial and demand base was the Soviet Union. After independence, products could not be sold on Western markets without significant new Western investments (Nordberg, 1993: 37, 68-69, 110). The underdeveloped industrial sector and the centralized influence of the Gosplan-system had a significant detrimental influence on the management of the state-run companies. In the centrally planned system, the skills and competencies of management were not necessarily success factors; political priorities dominated. Large numbers of Russians were sent to all three Baltic states as workers, middle management, and as executives. In 1989 nearly 34 percent of the citizens of Latvia were of Russian origin, in Estonia the figure was 30 percent, and in Lithuania nearly 10 percent (Nordberg, 1993: 38). The companies in the Baltic states were seen as production units of a large centrally managed system. Marketing, sales, finance, and investment decisions were made in Moscow. Management training was production oriented. Most companies were primarily concerned with filling production quotas. With independence, everything changed. Markets, marketing, management, financing, and other normal business skills became essential for success. As privatization of state-owned industries commenced and Western competitors appeared on the market, the competence and skills gap of the Baltic executive became apparent to international partners as well as to Baltic national governments. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Temporal changes in income distribution among the states of America during the 1980s

Abstract: The purpose of this paper was to examine the effect of variations in selected factors on the change in interstate distribution of household income during the 1980s. The results indicate that the percentage change in the female labour force's participation as well as the state unemployment rate had statistically significant effects on the percentage increase change in the Gini measure of income inequality.     

历史嬗变视角下的技术创新与经济结构变迁

本文从历史的角度关注技术创新的演变过程,认为历史上每一次工业革命都是以技术上的突破为基础的,由于各个时期的主导技术是不同的,因而技术创新的形式及与其相适应的经济结构也是不同的.