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 Drawing on new research (including previously unpublished interview data), the article first discusses established modes of environmental governance before examining the growth of China’s renewables sector through the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.     

Governance experimentation and factors of success in socio-technical transitions in the urban water sector

The necessity of a shift towards more sustainable urban water management practice is widely acknowledged and advocated. Experimentation that enables social learning is regarded of high importance for realising such a change. For instance, literature on Transition Management suggests that governance, as opposed to purely technical, experimentation is considered a critical factor in achieving a socio-technical transition. When analysing the water sector it becomes clear that modern urban water systems have almost exclusively focused upon technological experimentation with little attention directed towards the importance of governance experimentation for social learning. Empirically little is known neither on how governance experimentation actually unfolds nor about its effectiveness for socio-technical transitions. This research paper presents a critical analysis of a unique process of governance experimentation within the Australian urban water sector which generated sufficient social–political capital to change an established water governance framework. Conclusions of this research reveal some theoretically conjectured processes, like deepening, broadening and scaling-up, are found in this contemporary, real-life example. Furthermore, factors which influenced the success of this governance experimentation process are revealed and the role of various forms of learning therein is described.     

Behavioral heterogeneity in the Australian housing market

We propose a heterogeneous agent model (HAM) of four groups of investors with Markov chain regime-dependent beliefs for the housing market. Within the Markov switching framework, we take into account how heterogeneous investors shift their trading behaviour in response to changes in housing market conditions. The model is estimated and compared with the benchmark rational expectation models using the Australian housing market data from 1982Q1 to 2013Q2. We find evidence of within- and between-group heterogeneity in the Australian housing market. We show that HAM with Markov switching beliefs provides a better in-sample estimation efficiency and outperforms the conventional rational expectation models in terms of out-of-sample prediction.     

THE EXTENDED GOVERNANCE OF COOPERATIVE FIRMS: INTER‐FIRM COORDINATION AND CONSISTENCY OF VALUES

This work aims at providing a framework for the analysis of governance in networks of cooperative firms. It builds on four bodies of literature: cooperation, transaction costs, monopoly capitalism, production networks. The framework associates the specific principles that define the identity of cooperative organizations (self‐help, member ownership, democratic control, financial participation, limited capital remuneration) alongside more general governance levels (embodied values, property rights, control, resource allocation). We then apply the same dimensions to production networks and propose a stylized networking model for cooperatives. We introduce market power, and identify two polarized types of networks: (1) heterarchical forms of coordination based on cooperation and mutual help, (2) hierarchical coordination based on exclusive direction. We compare both types with our normative framework providing examples and brief case studies for each network type. Recommendations to scholars and practitioners point at the opportunity to discriminate inter‐firm relations and production development strategy in terms of the values of cooperation, at all governance levels.     

Mapping expectations for system transformations: Lessons from Sustainability Foresight in German utility sectors

Expectations held by different actor groups are of key importance for the shaping of socio-technical transformation processes. Foresight activities may be interpreted as a means to elicit, aggregate, modulate and contextualize expectations held by different actors. The paper proposes a conceptual framework that allows assessing and reflecting expectations in foresight initiatives that focus on sustainable sector transformations. For this purpose it draws on the recent literature on socio-technical system transformations and social expectation dynamics. The application of the framework is illustrated by experiences gained with the Sustainability Foresight method developed for the case of sustainable utility sector futures in Germany. The process was conceived as a series of participative scenario and strategy workshops involving about 120 stakeholders from the provision, use and governance of utility services.     

THE GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES: EVIDENCE FROM A UK EMPIRICAL STUDY

ABSTRACT:  The social enterprise sector in the UK is going through a period of rapid growth, and is being seen by government as another important vehicle for delivering public services. As a result the issue of public trust in social enterprise is of growing importance. While there is a growing literature on the governance of voluntary and non-profit organizations, with some exceptions (e.g. co-operatives) there has been little research on the governance challenges and support needs of social enterprises. The research reported here aimed to help fill that gap. Based on interviews and focus groups with governance advisers, board members and chief executives it explores the typical governance challenges faced by social enterprises. Based on the research the paper develops a new, empirically-grounded typology of social enterprises based on their origins and development path, and presents findings about some of the governance challenges that are common across the sector and some that are more distinctive to the different types of social enterprise.     

GLOBALIZATION AND SOCIAL SPENDING

Abstract. We provide evidence indicating that countries with well developed social security systems do not necessarily face a trade‐off between social spending and competitiveness. On average, countries that spend a lot on social needs score well in the competitiveness league. We investigate the importance of a reverse causality from competitiveness to social spending, and find that this is weak. We also present some possible explanations for our empirical finding. Finally, we interpret our findings in the framework of a theoretical model in which risk affects the size of the social sector and social spending affects the production function of the private sector.     

The effect of housing allocation on social inequality in Hungary

The main characteristics of the present Hungarian housing sector are as follows: there are state-owned apartments with rents centrally fixed at a very low level and privately owned houses and condominiums sold at high prices on the free market. In cities chronic housing shortages prevail. This paper investigates the impact of the dual housing market on social inequalities. After surveying the ethical principles of contemporary Hungarian socialism, we examine the factual distribution of dwellings and the variables explaining it. It is shown that the redistributive effect of state subsidies in housing does not reduce, but, on the contrary, increases inequality.     

社会资本、民主发展与政府治理——对69个国家的比较研究

社会资本被认为是社会的润滑剂和善治的社会基础。很多文献认为,高水平的社会资本能够提高政府的治理绩效。但是目前国内外的研究均忽略了社会资本发挥作用的制度环境。本文通过对全球69个国家的实证数据进行比较分析后发现,社会资本能否对政府治理产生影响,依赖于一定的制度环境。在民主制度建设不完善、民主发展水平较低的情况下,社会资本对政府治理并不能产生显著的影响;只有在民主发展水平比较高、民主制度比较健全的情况下,社会资本才能显著地促进政府治理绩效的提高。而且,民主制度建设得越完善、越充分,社会资本对治理的正面促进作用就越大。     

IT治理评价:在公司治理基础上的信息化水平评价

分析了现有的4种IT治理评价体系,探讨了IT治理评价的重要性和复杂性,指出了造成IT治理评价困难的5种原因。提出IT治理评价可从公司治理评价和信息化水平评价两方面入手,通过已有的成熟的衡量体系,间接地建立IT治理评价体系。     

房价波动、隐含担保与银行系统性风险*

银行对房地产行业的信贷优先倾向导致信贷投放向房地产业集中,房地产价格波动对金融系统性风险的影响日益突出。本文基于银行与房地产两部门或有权益资产负债表分析框架,从资产和负债两个方面研究房地产部门对银行的风险传导机制,构造银行对房地产部门的隐含担保比例作为度量风险传导强度的指标,运用TVP VAR方法刻画2002—2016年我国房价波动与房地产部门、银行系统性风险的动态演变路径。研究结果表明,我国房地产风险主要通过银行信贷从负债项进行风险传导,房地产部门风险对风险传导强度的影响存在明显的结构性突变,银行系统性风险存在非线性加速恶化特征。本文最后提出要稳定房价、拓宽房地产融资渠道、降低地方政府对土地财政依赖等建议。     

城乡结合部问题的根源与发展策略的转变——以北京地区为例

北京城乡结合部的政策制定目标经历了从单纯"生态保护"向"生态保护"、"社会治理"兼顾的转变过程,目前仍然遗存了诸多问题,而基于"低价值判断"的"被动整治"策略是问题的根源。为此应采取"主动提升"策略,重新审视该地区的综合价值,主动吸纳面向国际、适宜在该地区发展的高端功能,"以功能带动价值,以价值带动整治",将"功能提升"、"生态保护"、"社会治理"三个目标捆绑解决,在"发展"中解决问题。在此基础上,对北京城乡结合部的空间形态、规划理念和政策保障提出了建议。     

The Dutch disease revisited: absorption constraint and learning by doing

This paper revisits the Dutch disease by analyzing the general equilibrium effects of a resource shock on a dependent economy, both in a static and dynamic setting. The novel aspect of this study is to incorporate in one coherent framework two distinct features of the Dutch disease literature that have previously been analyzed in isolation: capital accumulation with absorption constraint, and productivity growth induced by learning-by-doing. The result of long run exchange rate appreciation is maintained in line with part of the Dutch Disease literature. In addition, a permanent change in the employment shares occurs after the resource windfall, in favor of the non-traded sector and away from the traded sector growth engine of the economy. In other words, in the long run both of the classic symptoms of the Dutch Disease remain in place.     

Housing Collateral and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism

In this paper, we quantify the effects of the recent increase in the housing loan‐to‐value ratio (LTV) on the monetary transmission mechanism. We set up a two‐sector dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with collateral constraints and production of goods and housing. Using Bayesian methods, we quantify the component of the monetary transmission mechanism that is generated by housing collateral. We find that this component is substantial and strongly increasing in the LTV. We conclude that in order to properly understand the monetary transmission mechanism, we need to take into account the effects of housing‐related collateral constraints and their changing nature.     

Combining the technological innovation systems framework with the entrepreneurs’ perspective on innovation

For their technological sustainability innovations to become successful, entrepreneurs can strategically shape the technological field in which they are involved. The technological innovation systems (TISs) literature has generated valuable insights into the processes which need to be stimulated for the successful development and implementation of innovative sustainability technologies. To explore the applicability of the TIS framework from the perspective of entrepreneurs, we conducted a case study in the Dutch smart grids sector. We found that the TIS framework generally matches the perspectives of entrepreneurs. For its use by entrepreneurs, we suggest a slight adaptation of this framework. The process ‘Market formation’ needs to be divided into processes that are driven by the government and processes that are driven by entrepreneurs. There should be a greater emphasis on collaborative marketing, on changing user behaviour and preferences and on the development of fair and feasible business models.     

INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE IN SOCIAL ENTERPRISES IN THE NETHERLANDS – A CASE STUDY

An element that policymakers and academics often believe to be constitutive in the governance of a social enterprise is the use of inclusive and responsible decision‐making processes. This entails the involvement of various categories of stakeholders. In this paper, a case study is used to explore how a work integration social enterprise based in the Netherlands, AutiTalent BV, has organized its governance. The Netherlands has not developed legislation specifically dealing with social enterprises, in contrast to many other EU Member States (16 out of 28), and it does not require, although it allows for, the establishment of inclusive governance. By examining how (national Dutch) law affects the governance of a work‐integration‐oriented social enterprise, the authors aim to contribute to emerging theory on participatory and inclusive governance of social enterprises – as a legal concept but also as an organizational concept – shaped by (tailor‐made and/or ordinary) law. The case study reveals that the investigated work integration social enterprise has not set up formal inclusive governance, suggesting that a social enterprise may not be stimulated by legislation which allows but not requires the participation of stakeholders in decision making. At the same time, informal direct communication channels exist between the people who influence the decision‐making processes and people from various stakeholder categories.     

多元化经营企业组织结构与治理特征的匹配关系

本文在分析多元化经营企业组织结构演进过程的基础上,形成了多元化经营企业不同组织结构下管理控制系统、公司治理特征的匹配关系以及管理与治理关系的逻辑。提出管理与治理各司其职,存在相互制约的瓶颈,并且在不同的组织结构下存在不同的替代关系。只有实现企业组织结构与管理控制系统、治理特征的匹配,才能克服管理与治理的瓶颈,有效实现对企业的控制与管理。     

Let There Be Light: Social Enterprise,Solar Power,and Sustainable Development

Energy poverty is a major problem in the developing world, with nearly 1.3 billion people lacking household electricity. Strikingly, the electrification rate is not only low, but is falling in many countries as population growth outpaces efforts to give more people access to electricity. Seizing the opportunities presented by rapid changes in technology and the availability of renewable energy at continually falling costs, social enterprises have begun to light the darkness and fill in the gap between the public and private provision of electricity. We review the extent of energy poverty and explain why neither the public, nor the private sector has successfully addressed this problem. We also discuss institutional factors that have created an environment conducive to the spread of solar power. To illustrate the social enterprise response, we explain the sector’s three most common approaches to solar electrification. Since the potential benefits of any social innovation revolve around its scalability, we discuss various paths to scale before outlining A.T. Kearney’s “Social Enterprise Accelerator” model as a template for scaling up individual social businesses. To enable greater consistency with an institutional economic framework, we suggest an adaptation of the model. We conclude by highlighting potential benefits and challenges facing solar electrification, including the limits of social enterprise as a stand-alone solution to utility provision.     

Job-search and foreign capital inflow — A three-sector general equilibrium analysis

The purpose of this paper is to extend the Fields' (1989) multi-sector job-search model in a three-sector general equilibrium framework by introducing international trade and capital as input. The three sectors are the rural sector, the urban informal sector and the urban formal sector. The rural sector and the urban informal sector use one type of mobile capital while the urban formal sector uses a sector-specific capital. We find that the effects of an inflow of foreign capital in the urban formal sector on unemployment and social welfare crucially hinge on the relative factor intensities of the rural sector and the urban informal sector. We show that there is a possibility of trade-off between the government's twin objectives of improvement in social welfare and mitigation of the urban unemployment problem. These results are extremely crucial from the view point of policymaking in an unemployment plagued, low-income developing economy.