Obesity: An economic and financial perspective

Obesity has been slowly increasing in most countries. This problem has increased to an extent that it is being labeled an epidemic and a leading cause of preventable deaths, second only to smoking. This paper provides a synthesis of the extant economics literature on obesity. More importantly, a framework outlining the economic causes and effects of obesity is discussed. The causes of obesity are many, including economic, technical, historical, and biological. The effects of obesity can be external or internal. These effects, in turn, can be direct or indirect. Recommendations for governments and businesses and directions for future research are discussed. Helpful comments from James Payne and research assistance of Richard Connelly are appreciated. Financial support from the Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University is gratefully acknowledged.     

Financial development and economic growth in Vietnam

By making use of a panel dataset that covers 61 provinces of Vietnam over the period 1997 to 2006, this paper examines the link between financial development and economic growth. Our analysis, which is based on endogenous growth theory, reveals that financial development has contributed to economic growth in Vietnam. We find that high ratio of credit to Gross Provincial Product (GPP) has accelerated economic growth in Vietnam. We also found a strong positive link between financial development and economic growth when alternative measures of financial development were used. The impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth will be stronger if more resources are invested in financial market development.     

上海经济增长:现实与前景展望

对上海的城市定位和发展方向保持清醒认识,大力发展生产服务业,拉近与周边省份的利益纽带,进一步推动上海"四个中心"建设进度。     

Debt,financial sector development and Asian economic growth

This special issue of Economic Systems includes four papers that broadly relate to the relationship between financial sector development and debt in the Asia-Pacific region. The motivation underlying the choice of the Asia-Pacific region in this special issue is due to the increasing importance that this region will play in powering future world economic growth. In addition, in recent times the focus has been upon the importance of equity and financial sector development, as opposed to debt. The world currently faces many economic imbalances and increasing importance is being placed in the Asia-Pacific upon the breadth and depth of bond markets in helping to restore equilibrium in the world economy. Debt influences corporate funding opportunities and may assist countries in achieving sustainable economic growth. These four papers contribute to our knowledge on the relationship between debt and financial sector development.     

中国金融发展与经济增长经验分析

本文通过设计金融发展规模、金融结构、金融效率等变量,运用中国1981—2002年间的时间序列数据对中国金融发展与经济增长之间的关系进行了Granger因果检验。分析结果显示,在1981—1991年间,金融发展和经济增长之间的因果关系并不明显;而当金融体系发展到一定程度时,这种因果效果才明显地体现出来,即在1992～2002年期间,金融发展成为经济增长的直接原因。从不同金融结构、金融效率与经济增长的角度进行考察发现,在1992～2002年间,银行结构变迁与银行效率提升是经济增长的直接原因,银行体系的发展对经济增长起到了一定的促进作用;而经济增长却是非银行结构变迁与非银行效率提升的直接原因,正是我国经济增长的必然要求促进了股票市场与债券市场在一定程度上的发展。因而,目前中国的金融发展与经济增长的关系处于银行体系“供给领先型”与资本市场“需求追随型”的混合阶段,这是中国经济成长过程的必然选择。     

Export-led economic growth and the case of Brazil: An empirical research

The world has been globalized much more than ever before and this process integrates the economies of countries. Moreover, one means of integrating the economies of countries is trade. In this instance, the export-led economic growth emerges as a considerable determinant. Export-led economic growth is beneficial for the countries since it facilitates the inflow of foreign exchange, increases production, creates new employment opportunities and enhances the overall commercial volume. In this study, the correlation between export-led economic growth is explored for Brazil. Therefore, according to the findings of this paper as well as econometric and statistical applications, there is a bi-directional causality in Brazil since 1960s between economic development and exports in the long-run (this could also be termed as feedback); furthermore, in the short-run, there is export-led economic growth. The novelty of this paper is that, it is one of the latest studies investigating export-led economic growth for Brazil.     

基于SWOT视角下的深圳经济发展研究

文章以SWOT分析理论为基础,通过对深圳的经济发展优劣和机遇与威胁的具体分析,浅述了深圳经济发展的可行性建议.     

基于SWOT视角下的深圳经济发展研究

文章以SWOT分析理论为基础,通过对深圳的经济发展优劣和机遇与威胁的具体分析,浅述了深圳经济发展的可行性建议。     

论经济发展战略转型与经济发展方式转变

我国"十二五"时期经济社会发展的主线是加快经济发展方式转变,而要加快经济发展方式转变,首要的实现经济发展战略转型。本文首先分析了经济发展战略转型的必然性和基本内容,以及转变经济发展方式的重要性、长期性和主要内容;其次,分析了经济发展战略转型中要处理好的几个关系;最后,提出实现经济发展战略转型和经济发展方式转变,必须以推进技术进步和技术创新为支撑,以深化改革和扩大开放为动力。     

An extended matrix of economic growth and corresponding dynamic system

This paper considers an extended matrix of growth and corresponding dynamic system. The aim of this consideration is to define and analyse different cases of interdependences based on the extended matrix of growth. The system on the basis of the extended matrix of growth is built on the general structure of sectors growth. This generalized structure is expressed by the direct and indirect growth rates among sectors and exogenous factors. The main characteristic of this system is that it can be formulated and examined under various conditions. This is because of the fact that growth is characteristic of all economic processes, and the extended matrix of growth has the capability of including and expressing the structural and dynamic aspects of the interdependence of processes. In this sense the extended matrix of growth is used to examine various systems of interdependence.     

甘肃区域经济可持续发展构想

作者认为 ,城市在区域经济发展中处于核心地位。因此 ,作者以可持续观点 ,分析研究了甘肃省区域经济的现状及存在问题。以城市为主 ,提出了甘肃省区域经济可持续发展的目标、任务及具体政策和配套措施。     

以服务于大众旅游为目标发展经济型饭店的探索

本文以首旅集团创造和经营“如家”品牌为例,探讨了如何以品牌为纽带,变社会旅馆为经济型饭店,逐步建设、完善现代大众旅游接待体系。     

Spatial agglomeration and endogenous growth

This paper constructs a dynamic general equilibrium model with spatial interactions in which a human capital externality is the centripetal force towards agglomeration. The resource cost of transportation is, on the other hand, the main centrifugal force, preventing a city from growing unboundedly. A central feature of our analysis is the dynamic interaction between (perpetual) economic growth and (bounded) city growth. We examine the socially optimal and the decentralized growth rates as well as city sizes. In the decentralized environment, individuals under-invest, whereas cities are under-populated. We show how public policies may enable a decentralized city to attain the socially optimal allocation.     

New highways as economic development tools: An evaluation using quasi-experimental matching methods

Stimulating economic growth and development in rural and economically lagging regions is the goal of several federal and state highway programs. This paper examines the effectiveness of highway investment as an economic development tool. A quasi-experimental matching method is used to examine the effects of interstate highways on counties which obtained links during the period 1963–1975 or are in close proximity to these newly linked counties. The results show that the beneficiaries of the interstate links in terms of economic growth are interstate counties in close proximity to large cities or having some degree of prior urbanization, such as a city with more than 25,000 residents. Rural interstate and off-interstate counties exhibit few positive effects.     

Corruption clubs: endogenous thresholds in corruption and development

The relationship between corruption and economic development is characterised by three stylised facts: (i) a strong negative correlation between corruption and development (ii) countries can remain trapped in high corruption-low development or low corruption-high development equilibria (iii) amongst intermediate levels of development corruption levels are more variable, some countries have high corruption and others low corruption. This paper argues that existing models are consistent with the first two only and demonstrates how these models might be extended to capture all three. The paper searches for the location of corruption clubs within the data and provides some explanation of their cause.     

Entrepreneurship and economic development: the EMPRETEC showcase

The hypothesis that entrepreneurship is linked to economic growth finds it’s most immediate foundation in simple intuition, common sense and pure economic observation: activities to convert ideas into economic opportunities lie at the very heart of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a source of innovation and change, and as such spurs improvements in productivity and economic competitiveness. The entrepreneur has been a fundamental agent in most production, distribution and growth theories. The role of entrepreneurship as the driving force of economic growth found its most explicit foundation. Empretec was established in 1988 to promote entrepreneurship in developing countries. Empretec’s programs have been initiated in 27 countries plus additional centers in Brazil, assisting more than 80, entrepreneurs through local driven business support centers. The information collected for this paper was secondary data rather than conducting survey. Therefore, one objectives of this paper is to examine the exact nature of entrepreneurship and its role in economic theory.     

把握规律切实转变经济增长方式--我国经济增长的因素分析

本文从资本、劳动力、人力资本、产业结构、制度变迁等影响经济增长的因素出发,建立了我国经济增长的模型;对影响我国经济增长的因素进行了实证分析;通过对实证分析结论的解释,对我国经济增长提出规律性认识;从科学发展观的高度,对保持我国经济持续高速增长提出了一些建议。