Between the gift and the market: the economy of regard

'The great transformation' from customary exchange to impersonal markets is incomplete. Reciprocal exchange pervades modern societies. It takes the form of 'gifts', reciprocated without certainty. Reciprocity is driven by the pursuit of 'regard'. Money is avoided in regard exchanges, because it is impersonal. Instead, regard signals are embodied in goods, in services, or in time (attention). The personalization of gifts authenticates the signal. Reciprocal exchange persists in family formation, in intergenerational transfers, in labour markets, in agriculture, the professions, in marketing, entrepreneurship, and also in corruption and crime. Reciprocal exchange is constrained by time and psychic energy, but is likely to persist as a preferred source of regard.     

日本的生活保护法对完善我国最低保障制度的启发

日本在1950年建立了新生活保护法以来,已经经过了50多年的历史。50多年中生活保护法作为最后的安全网保障着日本贫困人口的最低生活水平,维护着社会安定,为日本发展经济提供了安定的社会条件。我国1999年城市最低保障制度已经全面开始实施了,近年越来越多的农村人口也被纳入最低生活保护的安全网之中。本文通过具体数据介绍日本的生活保护制度的提出背景、现状、内容、保障标准等,得到一些启发,提出了一些对完善我国最低生活保障制度的思考。     

进一步完善服务贸易统计体系研究——以浙江省宁波市为例

完善服务贸易统计体系,做好国际服务贸易统计工作,为服务贸易的发展提供咨询、监督、预警和指导,是大力发展服务贸易所必须解决的一项基础性课题。由于服务贸易统计体系涉及部门较多,情况分散复杂,在推动和发展服务贸易的过程中尚未形成一个整体协调的有效工作体制,建立并完善宁波市服务贸易统计体系的步伐比较缓慢。文章认为,完善宁波服务贸易统计体系必须改善国际收支申报的细节工作,优化服务贸易申报过程;改进统计方法——大力提倡抽样调查法收集统计数据;确立有效的服务贸易统计主体;加快宁波服务贸易统计的制度化、信息化和科学化建设。     

Macroeconomic adjustment programmes in the euro area: an overall assessment

Since the start of EMU (Economic and Monetary Union), the euro area, and more broadly the global economy, experienced an unprecedented credit boom. The expansion of credit was particularly strong in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus and all of them subsequently needed official financial support. In each of the four programmes, financial assistance has been provided and promised against the commitment of each country to fulfil certain economic policy conditions contained in the macroeconomic adjustment programme. In general, a macroeconomic adjustment is a process driven by policies but also by changes in private spending behaviour (consumption, imports, investment) and improvement in competitiveness that countries are required to undertake after a large shock. In the case of the four countries, the shock emerged as a consequence of an excessive accumulation of imbalances in different parts of the economy: in the public sector in Greece, in the housing and banking sectors in Ireland, external imbalances in Portugal and in the banking sector in Cyprus. The paper looks at the feasibility of the fiscal adjustment comparing the macroeconomic conditions in the four countries and emphasising the role of the fiscal multipliers in the process. It also assesses the fall in the output in a comparative framework, stressing the role played by the different components of demand either in amplifying the effect of the fiscal consolidation or in offsetting it. In addition, it considers formulation of the programmes as well as their implementation with most attention devoted to reforms aiming at improving competitiveness, growth and employment in the framework of a cross-country approach.     

安徽省CPI走势特点分析

自2003年我国走出通货紧缩的阴影后，经济就步入了新一轮增长的周期，连续4年经济运行呈现出高增长、低通胀的良好态势。但进入2007年后，受多种因素的影响，我国价格由结构性上升向明显的通货膨胀转变的趋势。安徽CPI走势整体上同全国保持着高度的相关性，也体现为结构型上涨特征。同时，安徽物价上涨也呈现出自身的特点。文章首先阐明了安徽省CPI的走势特点，接着进行了原因分析，并提出了对策，希望能为安徽省防止通胀提供一点参考。     

如何培育大学生的合作精神——高校辅导员的工作定位

高校辅导员作为大学生的人生导师,肩负着对学生政治上领导、思想上诱导、道德上倡导、心理上辅导、生活上指导、学习上引导、工作上教导、为人处世上劝导的多重重任。因此在构建和谐校园的系统工程中,作为辅导员,我们应当高度关注对大学生合作意识的教育与培养。     

“十二五”战略定位与地区发展因应:重庆证据

以重庆十二五规划总体思路研究为案例,构建地区发展定位的理论分析框架,分析影响和制约因素,详细阐述重庆未来发展的五大定位:经济上成为西部的重要增长极和商务之都;城市上建成西部最大最强的绿色城市群和基础设施网络;开放上建成西部对内对外开放的重要高地;生态上建成长江中上游最大的生态安全保障区之一;社会发展上建成全国统筹城乡改革发展示范区。基于市情分析、发展阶段判断以及战略定位,重庆十二五战略目标可概括为三个率先,即率先在西部地区实现全面建设小康社会,率先在西部地区转变发展方式,率先在西部地区实现城乡统筹。     

公共服务、政府透明度与公众对政府的信任：影响机理与经验证据

公众对政府的信任关系到政府合法性、社会稳定性和法制有效性。近年来,很多国家面临公众信任政府程度日益下降的窘境。为了改变这种局面,一些国家意图通过建设电子政务来改善公共服务、提高政府透明度,进而增强公众对政府的信任。然而,这种举措可以提高公众对政府的信任吗?本文首先剖析公共服务、政府透明度影响公众信任政府程度的机理,然后根据中国2010年300个地级市电子政务评估数据,采取结构方程模型进行检验。结果发现,公众对政府的信任与公共服务正相关,公共服务越好,公众越信任政府;公众对政府的信任与政府透明度正相关,政府透明度越高,公众越信任政府。研究还发现,公共服务还通过影响政府透明度而间接影响公众对政府的信任。本研究对公共管理改革具有一定的应用参考价值。     

Detecting bubbles in Hong Kong residential property market

This study uses a newly developed bubble detection method (Phillips, Shi, and Yu, 2011) to identify real estate bubbles in the Hong Kong residential property market. Our empirical results reveal several positive bubbles in the Hong Kong residential property market, including one in 1995, a stronger one in 1997, yet another one in 2004, and a more recent one in 2008. In addition, the method identifies two negative bubbles in the data, one in 2000 and the other one in 2001. These empirical results continue to be valid for the mass segment and the luxury segment. However, this method has also found a bubble in early 2011 in the overall market, and in the mass segment but not in the luxury segment. This result suggests that the bubble in early 2011 in the Hong Kong real estate market was caused primarily by the mass segment under the demand pressure from end-users of small-to-medium sized apartments.     

LONG-TERM CHANGES IN FOOD CONSUMPTION IN JAPAN*

The Japanese economy has shown a high rate of growth compared with European countries and America. Food consumption in Japan, however, has risen less rapidly than in these countries. The purpose of this paper is to explain the prewar rigidity in food consumption in Japan and to show how this has changed in the postwar period. The main factor in the rise of food consumption is usually the increase in per-capita income. Consumption of starchy foods generally decreases at certain levels of percapita income. In Japan, however, this level of income is lower than in other countries. While in the West the decline in demand for starchy foods has generally been due to the increased substitution of livestock products, in Japan this has been due mainly to low caloric consumption. Before the Second World War, starch intake in Japan remained fairly constant despite the rise in per-capita income. One reason for this rigidity is Japan's fondness for rice. In the postwar period, however, income elasticity for food and drink has doubled and livestock products have become more important, thus raising total caloric intake. This shift in food consumption, however, has caused problems for food production and agricultural incomes.     

Gender Difference in Returns to Education Independent of Gender Wage Gap in Korea*

This study examined the difference between male and female groups’ return on investment (ROI) in education independent of the average gender wage gap. Women’s additional ROI in education was significant and positively estimated. Furthermore, the ROI in women’s education was consistently higher than that in men regardless of educational stage, except for graduate education. These gender differences were greater in the younger generation than in the older generation and have decreased significantly in the recent ten years in high school education. Although the additional ROI in women’s education was positive in the field of culture and arts, education’s effect on wage increases in professional occupations was less than in men, especially in the fields of law and medicine. In addition, we show that gender differences in ROI in education were countercyclical. A base effect, large wage declines for low‐educated women during recessions, could explain this phenomenon. However, coinciding with the existence of positive cash flow news in the stock market that promises good business performance, a significant wage increase among highly educated women was found.     

Migration,Education and Rural Development: Evidence from China 2000 Population Census Data

There has been a concern that the growth of towns has been stalled recently and with it, the creation of non-farm jobs in rural industries. This study uses 2000 census tabulations to look at this issue by examining in-migration in towns in three provinces in China, Zhejiang, Henan, and Sichuan. In addition to the diversified patterns of town in-migrants revealed in these provinces, this paper finds that town in-migrants generally possess higher levels of educational attainment than those of the local population in towns, especially in the less-developed western and central provinces of Sichuan and Henan. There is also evidence that as towns themselves grow wealthier, such as in Zhejiang, better educated people in rural areas were likely to shift their jobs from the farm to non-farm sector in towns nearby, instead of leaving the countryside to migrate to other provinces. Labor markets in towns in less-developed western and central provinces were more flexible in accommodating in-migrants, whereas in the coastal province of Zhejiang, labor markets tend to become segregated between migrants and the local population.     

中共刘集支部与《共产党宣言》

山东省东营市广饶县博物馆收藏着一本1920年8月出版的中文译本《共产党宣言》，这是1975年在广饶县刘集村发现的。许久以来，人们多认为中国最早的《共产党宣言》全译本是1920年4月出版的。毛泽东同志在谈到他的思想转变时，曾多次讲到他在1920年春第二次旅居北京期间，阅读过陈望道翻译的《共产党宣言》。     

Changing Sources of Household Income,Poverty, and Sectoral Inequality in Sri Lanka, 1990–2006

Comparing dynamic changes in household income and poverty among urban, rural, and estate sectors in Sri Lanka from 1990 to 2006, this study finds that a shift of household income away from farm to nonfarm sources is accompanied by a significant improvement in household income and reduction in poverty, particularly in the rural sector. Major contributing factors are the rise in returns to labor, in general, and educated labor, in particular, due to the development of the nonfarm labor market. Persistently low income among estate households can be explained primarily by the limited availability of nonfarm employment opportunities and the low education levels of working members.     

我国当前运动心理咨询中存在的问题探析

从上个世纪八十年代开始，我国开始关注运动员的心理状态，从1986年的我国第六届全运会第一次设立心理咨询机构，到2007年我国第一批运动心理咨询专家获得认证。我国运动心理咨询领域在这二十几年中得到了一定的发展。但是，相较于国外成熟完善的运动心理咨询体系，我国现有的运动心理咨询还存在一些不足。本文作者通过分析我国目前运动心理咨询中存在的问题，旨在促进我国运动心理咨询的发展，进而更好地提高我国运动员的心理素质，为运动员们在世界性范围内的体育比赛中取得优异成绩做好充足准备。     

Does International Fragmentation Occur in Sectors Other Than Machinery?*

It is well established in the published literature that international fragmentation has dramatically developed in East Asia since the 1990s, particularly in machinery industries, including general machinery, electric machinery, transport equipment and precision machinery. However, how far has international fragmentation developed in sectors other than the machinery sector, such as textiles or chemicals? To answer this question, we empirically investigate whether features of international fragmentation appear in other sectors by examining intraregional trade in East Asia. The results indicate that, although some features of international fragmentation can be observed in some other sectors, particularly in the chemical sector, they are most distinctive in the general/electric machinery sector.     

THE MOMENTOUS GOLD RUSHES

Gold discoveries in Australia in 1851 and New Zealand in 1861 galvanised the economic development of Australasia and had spillover effects in Britain, in ship technology, and even in the trans-Atlantic trade. The gold rushes quickly transformed economic, social, and political life. Moving around the continent in an anti-clockwise direction, they were to help found the northern port cities that grew to service the gold seekers. While the major strike in Western Australia in the 1890s out-produced the earlier period, Australia saw a third gold peak in the 1990s. The article surveys the contribution of the rushes to the development of Australasia.     

Mises's dynamics of interventionism: Lessons from Indian agriculture

Despite trade liberalization, industrial delicensing, and deregulation in other sectors of the Indian economy since 1991, the agricultural sector is stifled by arbitrary, complex, and ever-increasing regulation in both input and product markets. This article resolves this puzzle of the Indian economy and, using Mises's theory of interventionism, explains the growth of regulation and subsidies in Indian agriculture. I argue that each intervention in agriculture created distortions in the market, necessitating the subsequent intervention in agricultural inputs and/or outputs. Land ceiling policies led to a large number of farmers with small and marginal landholdings. Attempts to increase agricultural productivity and income on small holdings led to interventions, and consequent distortions, in factor markets for seeds, fertilizer, electricity, water, credit, insurance, as well as in output markets in the form of minimum support prices. Indian agriculture policy serves as a cautionary tale of interventionism and needs systematic and comprehensive reforms.     

Energy Price Shocks and Economic Activity in Texas Cities

It is not known how exogenous shocks in oil price impact city economies. This study examines unemployment rates in Texas cities in relation to oil price movements during the period 1995–2008. We find that unemployment in the bigger cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston, is not related to oil prices in a significant way when compared to unemployment in the smaller border cites, especially in Laredo. Although the Texas economy has become more diversified and less vulnerable to oil price movements in the last two decades, smaller border cities still experience the effect of oil price shocks, possibly through the neighboring economy of Mexico. Our data indicate significant variations in the unemployment rate in Laredo due to movements in oil price. We observe improvements in the unemployment rates in Laredo as oil price increases.     

Genetic distance and intra-national variation in preferences and behaviours

This paper investigates the relationship between genetic distance and intra-national variation in preferences and behaviours in the Chinese context. We focus on three categories of representative and fundamental preferences—risk, time, and social preferences—and related behaviours. The results suggest that genetic distance is positively related to the differences in risk, time, and social preferences. Furthermore, genetic distance is positively related to the differences in associated economic behaviours, including the differences in entrepreneurship, saving behaviour, cooperative behaviour, and prosocial behaviour. In general, an increase in one standard deviation of genetic distance is associated with an increase in differences in preferences and behaviours by 3–18 % of a standard deviation.