The Return of Geopolitics in the Era of Soft Power: Rereading Rudolf Kjellén on Geopolitical Imaginary and Competitive Identity

This paper looks at how Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellén (1864–1922) conceived of the relationship between nature and culture, between material and immaterial power as well as the role of soft power, geopolitical imaginary and competitive identity in off-setting potentially unfavourable geopolitical conditions for small and medium-sized states. It is argued that with regard to small states, Kjellén did not maintain a consistent separation between “soft” cultural resources of power and “hard” laws of nature. Rather, he placed the mutually constitutive tension between geography (nature) and politics (culture) at the centre of his politico-scientific analysis, arguing that active “biopolitics” could supplement geopolitics. In Kjellén’s conception, cultural and natural resources are instruments of an otherwise integrated notion of power which challenges the contemporary separation between hard and soft power.     

Comparative net cost impact of the utilization of romiplostim and intravenous immunoglobulin for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia in Québec,Canada

Abstract

Objectives:

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by platelet destruction, sub-optimal platelet production, and mild-to-severe bleeding. Nplate® (romiplostim), a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), an expensive and occasionally scarce blood product, are used in the treatment of ITP. The objective of this study was to compare the total cost of treating patients with romiplostim vs IVIg in Québec, Canada.     

Problems Existed in Applications of Cointegration Theory in China

Although the Cointegration Theory was founded by the C.W.J Granger and other economists in the 1980s, it was not widely used in China until C.W.J Granger was awarded with Nobel Prize in 2003. Since then, a lot of economic papers introducing or applying Cointegration Theory have emerged, but the phenomenon of misuse of this theory possibly arose at the same time. Based on some of these papers obtained from web site （www.cnki.net）, this paper explores the applications of Cointegration Theory in China and draws some initial conclusions. Most of these applications are reasonable, but some of them are a bit blindfold or even contradictory in conclusions, which indicates that the overall application quality has a large room to get improved and should be paid more attention by academe.     

Jules Dupuit,Société d'économie politique de Paris and the issue of population in France (1850 – 66) ∗

Abstract

The tradition that views Dupuit only as a brilliant engineer-economist who trained at the École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées remained strong in the fifty years that followed World War II. Within this tradition, research on Dupuit mostly was focused on his publications on surplus theory, road tolls and discriminating monopoly. His participation in the debates about other issues taking place within the various learned societies to which he belonged (Société d'économie politique de Paris, Société d'économie sociale, Société de statistique de Paris) long remained unexplored. But recent research has begun filling the gap. This paper follows on these latter research efforts. It aims at uncovering a largely unknown facet of Dupuit, endeavouring to fully elicit his role in the various controversies that took place in France between 1850 and 1866 on the issues of population and the Malthusian principle of population.     

Restricting factors of the development of SEA in China

＂Environmental Impact Assessment Law of P. R. China＂ was promulgated on Oct. 28^th, 2002 and has been put into effect on Sep 1^th, 2003. This paper puts forward some important factors which restrict the development of Strategic Environmental Assessment according to the preliminary practices of SEA in China. These restricting factors are： （1） potential resistance from some departments; （2） poor cooperation between different departments; （3） limited availability of information resources （4） lack of well-developed SEA methods; （5） difficulties in public participation. The primary thought to solve these problems were proposed at policy and technique level.     

Economic Impact of Internet in China

This paper examines the current status of Internet development in China; analyzes its contributions to Chinese economy from the perspective of economic structural changes, IT industry development, E-commerce, productivity growth, foreign investment, and labor market, etc.; suggests its direction in terms of government policy orientations; and proposes strategies toward greater success of Internet in China. To promote economic growth, it is important for Chinese government to establish sturdy e-environments to enable its industries to compete in the global economy and to bring about a greater cohesion within its societies.     

Weakness in Economic Development of China

China has made the miracle of rapid development in GDP in recent 20 years. However, the economic development is at the cost of environment and resources, which will decrease the speed of economic development in return. China should gradually change the guideline from simply pursuing GDP growth to harmonious development, and establish a new set of performance-evaluating system, the resource-saving responsibility system as soon as possible.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Resource-based Antecedents of Customer Value in Turbulent Environments in China

With the increasingly turbulent environment and the significant role of customers in business success, creating and delivering superior customer value by deploying unique competences of a firm has been winning more attention. However, studies of customer value seem rather divergent and fragmented, and few studies, if any, have been conducted to identify the distinctive capabilities that determine the effective and efficient creation and delivery of customer value. This paper tries to bridge such gaps and explores the fundamental antecedents of customer value in turbulent environments in perspective of a resource-based theory. Based on the structural equation models developed, we find that technological competences, integrative competence and strategic flexibility are the key resource-based antecedents of customer value while no evidence is found to support the impact of marketing competences on customer value. Furthermore, only the moderating role of marketing turbulence in the relationship between customer value and strategic flexibility is detected and supported.     

Politics of scale and strategic selectivity in the liberalisation of public services – the role of trade in services

One of the most contentious issues of the neoliberal agenda has been the privatisation of public services. The WTO GATS negotiations over the liberalisation of trade in services, which commenced in the year 2000, led to a strongly contested debate over whether the international level would provide an additional channel for the privatisation of public services. In particular, the position of the European Union was criticised for promoting this agenda. More recently, this question has regained its significance with the start of negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Thus, this article seeks to analyse the politics of scale in the field of trade in services and its specific impact upon the liberalisation of public services. By applying a Neo-Poulantzian IPE approach, we propose a typology of (i) scalar forms in trade policy and (ii) of particular liberalisation strategies. Our results suggest that the multilateral level is but one element in a strategic politics of scale, with the former primarily fulfilling the role of locking-in liberalisation gains achieved at other levels, while other scalar forms, in particular bi- and plurilateralism, are primarily used to progressively advance the liberalisation agenda.     

On the Fabrication of Structural Model of Quality System of Urbanization in China

This paper classifies the factors related with the quality system of the urbanization into three dimensions as quality planning, quality realization and quality improvement according to the relationship of their mutual actions. Then it fabricates a three-dimension space structural model. In order to achieve sustainable improvement on urbanization quality improvement, this paper puts forward the measures of controlling the operation of the quality system of urbanization to make it run effectively and smoothly.     

Can We Meaningfully Speak of Changes in Price under the Regime of Changes in Techniques?

Abstract

This paper presents a simulation exercise on Sraffa's system under various types of technical changes to show that the direction of changes in prices of commodities is contingent on the choice of the numeraire. Thus, such a comparison of prices in two systems turns out to be meaningless. This result points to the arbitrary nature of the neoclassical supply functions, as they inevitably compare prices across several Sraffa systems on the basis of an arbitrarily chosen numeraire. We anticipated such a result from our reading of Sraffa as part of his ‘prelude to a critique of economic theory’.     

Keeping people in their place: An exploratory analysis of the role of violence in the maintenance of “property rights” in race and gender privileges in the United States

Economists' accounts of the experience of women and people of color in the United States completely omit the role of violence against them. This paper begins the process of incorporating violence into economic analysis, suggesting that violence maintains property rights in race and gender privileges. This paper presents the analytical underpinnings for this conceptualization, surveys the extent of race and gender violence in the United States, and sketches a research agenda investigating the dynamics of race and gender violence.     

Identity in a World of Scarcity： The Book of Eli

This paper examines the construction of identity in Hugue＇s brothers movie, The Book of Eli setting in an America post-apocalyptic world destroyed by nuclear war and environmental disasters. Economic relations in this world without time or history and without production of goods and commodities, are based on ancient practices such as barter. The goods are exchanged for goods according to the need and the currency lost its meaning before the supreme usefulness. Essential items to human life like water now have a very high value due to its complete scarcity. Eli （played by Denzel Washington） toured the United States for 30 years westward circling the wasteland leading the only existing copy of the King James version of the Bible. Then he reaches the town, which is under the control of Carnegie, the villain, whose ambition is to have the holy Bible in order to exercise power. In this world full of shortages, power belongs to the old that has the memory of the past. Texts of Giddens, Beck, Lash, Benveniste, and Marx compose the theoretical apparatus that allow understanding how to reconstruct the identity in a world in crisis, and no shortage of complete story without memory card with the movement of goods excluding currency.     

Decisiveness of contributors’ perceptions in elections

We consider a model of two-candidate elections with a one-dimensional policy space. Spending on campaign advertisements can directly influence voters’ preferences, and contributors give the money for campaign spending in exchange for promised services if the candidate wins. We find that the winner of the election depends crucially on the contributors’ beliefs about who is likely to win and the contribution market tends toward nonsymmetric equilibria in which one of the two candidates has no chance of winning. If the voters are only weakly influenced by advertising or if permissible campaign spending is small, then the candidates choose policies close to the median voter’s ideal point, but the contributors still determine the winner. Uncertainty about the Condorcet winning point (or its nonexistence) can change these results and generate equilibria in which both candidates have substantial probabilities of winning.     

Study on the use of trade barrier of anti-dumping in China

WTO allows its members to use anti-dumping barrier to combat unfair competition. Nowadays, anti-dumping barrier has been dominant protective trade measure in the world, while in China, this measure is still not fully used and at low level. For the purpose of protecting domestic industries and enhancing national welfare, China should use this barrier cautiously and construct its own anti-dumping system at the same time.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Growth of IT Enterprises in China

The paper makes an empirical analysis on the main factors affecting IT corporate growth-human resource and R＆D. By using data of China＇s listed IT companies, we focus on the relationship among corporate value （net return of equity, ROE） or development of COl＇porate value （Tobin＇s Q） and manager＇s salary, R＆D fee, R＆D employee etc. The conclusion shows that development of corporate value （Tobin＇s Q） has correlativity positive with the plurality of board chairman and general manager, independent directors＇ proportion, R＆D fee, and R＆D employees while it is non-obvious positive with salary of superior managers, holding stocks of general manager, capital investment, and negative with corporate scale. The conclusion is accordant with the development status of Chinese IT corporate.     

Studies on HRM in the SMEs of Three Types of Ownership

This article makes a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences on HRM in the small and medium state-owned, civilian-owned, foreign-invested enterprises in Guangdong province and puts forward some suggestions to enhance the competition preponderance of the SMEs.     

Semantic Differential as an Assessment Tool of （Dis） Advantages of QMS in the Light of Accredited Certification in Poland

This article is a continuation of the issue in the field of assessment of （dis）advantages resulting from the implementation of the quality management systems （QMS） in a structure of the organization. The publication uses the results of studies conducted in the range of assessment＇s information completeness provided by the certification bodies （CBs） in the context of advantages and disadvantages of the QMS implementation in accordance with PN-EN ISO 9001. In addition, an attempt to define a tool for the QMS assessment of （dis）advantages in the organization has been made. The basis for empirical analysis of the issue was the information provided by an accredited management systems CBs recommended by the Polish Centre for Accreditation （PCA）. There are 33 units in Poland, which were granted by PCA with the accreditation within the range of ISO 9001：2008. In the first stage of the research work, a substantive analysis of websites content among mentioned CBs has been carried out. In addition, the paper proposes use of semantic differential method （SD） to evaluate （dis）advantages of the QMS. SD adaptation for the assessment of the QMS （dis）advantages is the authorial concept. The authors hope for polemic in this area. In the face of obtained results, an authorial SD construction has been proposed, which is useful and may help in the formulation and conveying of the relevant （reliable） information to potential clients in the range of （dis）advantages resulting from the QMS implementation to the organization. As a consequence, the recommendations have been set, which are kind of guidelines that could significantly influence the realignment of the information state conveyed on the internet by the CBs.