Global Value Chains and Technological Capabilities: A Framework to Study Learning and Innovation in Developing Countries

This paper presents a critical review of the global value chain (GVC) literature in light of the “technological capabilities” approach to innovation in less-developed countries (LDCs). Participation in GVC is beneficial for firms in LDCs, which are bound to source technology internationally. However, the issues of learning and technological efforts at the firm level remain largely hidden in the GVC literature. We propose a shift in the empirical and theoretical agenda, arguing that research should integrate the analysis of the endogenous process of technological capability development, including specific firm-level efforts, and of the mechanisms allowing knowledge to flow within and between different global value chains into the GVC literature.     

Intellectual property piracy in a North–South context: empirical evidence

The protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) has been a contentious issue for more than 20 years. Industrialized nations have moved to knowledge‐based economies, and simultaneously, trade barriers have fallen, making intellectual property (IP) vulnerable. Adding to this vulnerability are conflicting international institutional environments, belief systems, and economic realities. The debate over IPR protection has become a significant global trade issue pitting the net‐technology producing “North” against the net‐technology consuming “South.” With this in mind, there has been much debate about the impact of alternative IPR regimes (tight or loose) on the welfare of Southern economies. Policy makers, in both the South and the North, search for arguments to convince recalcitrant Southern countries to follow the Northern model of strict IPR regimes. The South, faced with a dilemma, searches for arguments to justify looser regimes or convince its populace that tighter regimes are in the best interest of the nation. The objective of this research is to add empirical clarity about the welfare impacts of weak IPR on the firm and host country. To this end, we employ a novel methodological design and unique context. The research design is deductive, in that we use the empirical setting of Pioneer‐Argentina, S.A., a seller of bioengineered agricultural seeds, to test the existing theory of weak IPR impacts in a North–South context.     

(Landlord) Theory from the South: Empire and estates on a Punjabi Frontier

Theory has occasionally shaped agrarian transformations. Utilitarian theory, for instance, influenced British colonial land revenue policies, while modernization theory spurred, via the Green Revolution, the development of capitalist farming across the global South. Yet scholarship, when it has probed the mediation of theory in agrarian change, has largely centred on the intellectual activities of Western figures. In this paper, I examine an under-appreciated theorizing actor: landlords in the global South. I explore landlords' concept-work in the former “Punjab Frontier,” a region where Baloch chiefs collaborated with the British Raj to acquire localized magisterial powers, a paramilitary apparatus, and immense “landed estates” (jagirs). To overcome various crises, certain chiefs engaged with various imperial concepts—namely, property, race, progress, contract, and freedom—and re-arranged their estates. By showing how these elites creatively embraced these concepts to maintain a colonial-fortified hegemony, I also challenge those who overstate the emancipatory and decolonial possibilities of theory from the South.     

Striving for PAR excellence in land use planning: Multi-stakeholder collaboration on customary forest recognition in Bulukumba,South Sulawesi

Decentralization has enlivened new, bottom-up approaches for forestry governance in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, social forestry and adat (indigenous) rights have come to the fore. The landmark 2013 Constitutional Court decision MK35/2012 allows adat communities greater control over their traditional forest areas. MK35 is the subject of much attention in national debates on forest devolution, but many questions remain about implementation. This paper examines a unique case of MK35 implementation through a local regulation involving the Kajang adat community of Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. We highlight participatory action research (PAR) processes and methods, such as participatory mapping and survey “ground truthing,” which built consensus around vital, contentious policy questions such as the extent of the adat forest. Findings suggest that PAR, albeit time-consuming, is a robust approach for fostering complementarity between stakeholder groups and decision makers in bottom-up land use planning and management.     

Amazonian indigenous peoples are threatened by Brazil’s Highway BR-319

The Amazon rainforest in Brazil is under the greatest human pressure in its history. This pressure is increasing under the current presidential administration, with proposed retraction of environmental and humanitarian protections. Among these pressures are new hydroelectric dams, railways and highways. An infrastructure project with especially far-reaching consequences is the reopening of Highway BR-319 right through the heart of the Amazon Forest. The highway connects Manaus in central Amazonia to Porto Velho in the “arc of deforestation” on the southern edge of the forest. The highway crosses one of the most conserved parts of the Amazon with a large concentration of Indigenous Lands (“Terras Indígenas”). Although Brazil is a signatory to ILO Convention 169, which establishes the need for consultation with indigenous peoples and traditional communities, consultations have so far not been held. Here we argue for the need for consultation of all indigenous peoples within 150 km of any part of the highway, comprising 63 Indigenous lands and five other areas containing indigenous communities that are directly threatened by the project.     

中国纤维板产业国际竞争力影响因素分析

基于波特的钻石模型,选取中国、德国、波兰等11个国家的1994-2011年的面板数据,运用面板数据模型对中国纤维板产业国际竞争力的影响因素进行分析。研究结果表明：纤维板人均消费量、中密度纤维板出口额占纤维板出口额比重、高技术产品出口额占制成品出口额比重、人均森林面积、其他人造板出口额和胶粘剂出口额对纤维板的国际竞争力有正面作用。据此建议：培育并扩大挑剔性纤维板顾客的数量、开发高质量与高附加值的纤维板、加强技术创新、加强生产原料的开发与利用、发展相关支持性产业。     

水电咨询业科技创新

水电设计咨询企业面临西部大开发的机遇、日趋增长的环境保护意识和激烈的市场竞争。因此，必须强化科技创新，研究解决工程技术难题，以满足工程建设需要；依靠科技进步，优化工程设计方案，降低工程造价；积极研究应用新材料、新工艺、新工具、改进设计方案、应用数字信息技术等。     

Decision Process for Adoption of Innovative Products in the European Seafood Market: The Importance of Supply and Demand Factors

This study proposes a new approach with two-dimensional point of view to test predicting factors that are influencing European trader decisions for the adoption of innovative seafood products in the distributor channels. A combination of two main predicting factors for adoption is investigated in the “supply factors” (4Ps: product, promotion, place, and price) and the “five innovation demand factors” (5IDs: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability). The findings indicate that 4Ps and 5IDs have a significant effect as controlling variables in the decision-making process for innovation adoption. This fact shows a strategic function and illustrates that supply–demand factors have a pressure effect on the innovation adoption process in the market. The results are important both for satisfying consumer expectations and for industrial innovation strategies.     

Use of fuzzy cognitive maps to develop policy strategies for the optimization of municipal waste management: A case study of the land of fires (Italy)

This paper applies an analytical method for developing policy strategies to optimize municipal waste management systems (MWMSs) to the case of the Land of Fires (LoF). The LoF is an area of Italy’s Campania region that is characterized by a legacy of authoritarian environmental governance and the improper dumping and burning of waste. In this paper, we employ the fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) method, which draws on a participatory approach. Specifically, the complexity of the investigated system was determined from the causal relations identified by relevant stakeholders and experts. The results show that the most effective policy strategies to improve the LoF MWMS, as identified by informants, include: fostering social innovation (e.g. communication and information campaigns); promoting technological innovation (e.g. material and process design); and supporting scientific and technological cooperation among actors. The overall diversity of the identified policy strategies suggests that policy makers must move beyond a simple “best option” approach, given the systemic complexity of the waste management sector.     

淮扬饮食文化的特点及发展路径探究

淮扬历史文化悠久,塑造了独特的饮食文化,其"精""雅""养"的饮食文化特质,成为中国饮食文化中的独特元素.在新的时代环境之下实现新的发展,这是淮扬饮食文化发展的内在需求.本文立足淮扬饮食文化特点,分析了其发展中面临的问题,并在此基础之上,从推动饮食文化创新、推动饮食产业发展、打造市场品牌影响力、实施"饮食+"措施等方面,阐述了淮扬饮食文化发展的路径.     

The meanings of forest governance in Esmeraldas,Ecuador

Participatory forestry has become the most accepted way of exploiting timber resources in tropical rain forests. This paper shows the links between participatory forestry, sustainable forest management and the continuing objective of reconciling conservation with commercial development in the province of Esmeraldas, one of the poorest and most rapidly deforested regions of South America. I describe and contextualize the evolving logging programme of a leading Ecuadorian wood-processing group to show that the decentralization of the development process, the recognition of local communities as legal entities in the management of natural resources, and the active involvement of profit-oriented firms in biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation all contribute to the emergence of new alliances between the Ecuadorian government, the logging companies, conservation and human rights organizations, and local Black and indigenous communities. My central argument is that devolution in this context leads to conflictive interpretations of regulation. I end with a discussion of the multi-scalar nature of “forest governance”, and highlight the contribution it makes to our understanding of control, regulation and management in new contexts of privatization and decentralization.     

Linking the defence of territory to food sovereignty: Peasant environmentalisms and extractive neoliberalism in Guatemala

Food sovereignty and the defence of territory are increasingly influential environmental paradigms for rural social movements in opposition to free market hegemony in the global south. These paradigms propose radical alternatives to growth based economies, unequal property regimes, and the absolute territorial sovereignty of nation states. Drawing on fieldwork in rural Guatemala with progressive NGOs and social movements, this essay describes these tendencies' origins and characteristic discourses and demands, examines their links to traditional peasant politics and indigenous rights movements, and assesses their divergences, limitations, and possibilities for synergy. Building on Joan Martínez‐Alier' conception of the “environmentalism of the poor”, I show how these “peasant environmentalisms” converge and reinforce one another while responding to different aspects of neoliberalism's threat to lives, livelihoods, and territories during Guatemala's conflict‐ridden transition to neoliberal democracy. I also discuss how their convergence has expanded thinking about territorial alternatives and suggest that holding these paradigms in tension is vital to build broad coalitions among a fragmented peasantry. I propose food sovereignty as the economic model of the plurinational state.     

Testing the induced innovation hypothesis: an error correction model of South African agriculture

This paper applies cointegration techniques to a model of induced innovation based on the two-stage constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function. This approach results in direct tests of the inducement hypothesis, which are applied to data for South African commercial agriculture for the period 1947–1991. South African data is used because the policy changes have been substantial enough that the factor and price ratios have turning-points, rather than being monotonie. The time series properties of the variables are checked, cointegration is established, and an error correction model (ECM) constructed, allowing factor substitution to be separated from technological change. Finally, the ECM formulation is subjected to causality tests, which show that both the factor price ratios and R&D and extension expenditures are Granger-prior to the factor-saving biases of technological change. Thus, each stage of the analysis corroborates the inducement hypothesis. However, straightforward price-inducement is only part of the explanation of changes in factor ratios. Policy-induced innovation, in response to tax concessions and subsidised credit, is also present.     

社会心理服务驱动下信访“分类治理”的理路——以河南省西平县为例

学界对于信访分类治理的研究大多基于因“人”分类或因“事”分类展开,形成了信访分类治理研究的基本范式。然而,社会心理服务嵌入信访治理体系,为信访分类治理提供了新的视野:因“心”分类,即按照信访人“心理诉求——利益诉求”的两分原则,将信访人分为利益型、心理型、耦合型和无意识型四种。本文以西平县信访治理实践为个案,提炼出由“心”而治的信访分类治理模型,并对该模型的治理理路进行了分析。研究发现:地方政府对信访频次、情绪和事件的三维叠加形成了信访分类治理的参照维度,而地方政府对治理技术的灵活性运用则构成了信访分类治理的动态实践。本文为信访分类治理过程中信访人的心理诉求与利益诉求间的关系提供经验事实,并为社会心理服务驱动下的信访分类治理理路提供分析框架。然而,受限于研究区域和案例数量,本文提炼出来的由“心”而治的信访分类治理模式还有待进一步验证和完善。     

Innovation in Agro-Foods: A Comparative Analysis of Value Chains

ABSTRACT

The innovative activity of firms has been linked to the introduction of a new product or process associated with the development or application of new technological knowledge. New products generally contain innovative techniques that increase the quality of goods. New processes are based on the use of new technologies to increase the efficiency of production. However, the exclusive link between technology and innovation has been criticized for various reasons. It provides a restrictive vision considering innovation as part of the manufacturing and services sectors. Innovation in firms affects not only the development and application of new technologies but also the adoption and the reorganization of business processes, internal organization, external relations, and marketing. The literature in the field of management emphasizes the importance of integrating product, process, and organization to translate new ideas into market success. Thus, to obtain a complete picture of the innovative efforts of firms in the agro-food industry, the concept of innovation has been extended to both technological and nontechnological innovations. This analysis provided evidence of innovations used by agro-food firms. It also identified latent demand for future innovation.     

杨凌农业科技示范园区创新能力评价

[目的]文章以对园区创新能力进行科学合理的评价为目的分析了杨凌农业科技示范园区2013—2015年3年来的创新能力发展状况,从技术创新能力、制度创新能力与创新环境支撑3个方面出发构建评价指标体系。[方法]在查找与园区创新能力相关文献和数据的基础上,采用层次分析法和模糊评价法,对杨凌现代农业示范园区创新能力进行纵向对比分析。[结果]杨凌现代农业示范园区的创新能力逐渐提升;2013年、2014年、2015年园区创新能力得分分值不断增加,其分值分别为1.710 2、2.314 6、2.518 2;其创新能力对应的等级从2013年和2014年的一般发展到2015年的良好。[结论]2013—2015年,园区的经费与科技人员等投入充足,科技孵化能力增强,各项科技收入增加,表明技术创新能力有所发展;制度创新能力在各项政策的大力支持下也进步明显,其中园区创新环境支撑的飞速进步对园区创新能力发展的贡献最大。     

RS和GIS支持下的县域生态红线划定技术研究——以四川省汶川县为例

"生态保护红线"是我国在生态保护领域的一项制度创新,"生态保护红线"的划定对维护我国生态安全具有重要战略意义。目前,我国"生态保护红线"的划定工作尚处于起步状态,在此背景下,采用遥感技术(RS)与空间信息技术(GIS)相结合的方法,以汶川县为例,研究县域尺度下的生态红线划定技术,研究结果表明,占汶川县辖区面积的62%属于生态功能红线保护范围。     

Comparing supply‐side specifications in models of global agriculture and the food system

This article compares the theoretical and functional specification of production in partial equilibrium (PE) and computable general equilibrium (CGE) models of the global agricultural and food system included in the AgMIP model comparison study. The two model families differ in their scope—partial versus economy‐wide—and in how they represent technology and the behavior of supply and demand in markets. The CGE models are “deep” structural models in that they explicitly solve the maximization problem of consumers and producers, assuming utility maximization and profit maximization with production/cost functions that include all factor inputs. The PE models divide into two groups on the supply side: (1) “shallow” structural models, which essentially specify area/yield supply functions with no explicit maximization behavior, and (2) “deep” structural models that provide a detailed activity‐analysis specification of technology and explicit optimizing behavior by producers. While the models vary in their specifications of technology, both within and between the PE and CGE families, we consider two stylized theoretical models to compare the behavior of crop yields and supply functions in CGE models with their behavior in shallow structural PE models. We find that the theoretical responsiveness of supply to changes in prices can be similar, depending on parameter choices that define the behavior of implicit supply functions over the domain of applicability defined by the common scenarios used in the AgMIP comparisons. In practice, however, the applied models are more complex and differ in their empirical sensitivity to variations in specification—comparability of results given parameter choices is an empirical question. To illustrate the issues, sensitivity analysis is done with one global CGE model, MAGNET, to indicate how the results vary with different specification of technical change, and how they compare with the results from PE models.     

黑龙江省企业技术创新模式的研究

技术创新模式的选择对于技术创新的成功起着决定性的作用。通过对黑龙江省企业技术创新现状进行分析，指出黑龙江省企业技术创新存在的问题，在借鉴海尔和中兴等知名企业技术创新模式的基础上，提出黑龙江省企业技术创新应选择：引进-消化吸收-模仿创新-二次创新-自主创新与合作创新的模式。     

A methodology for class analysis: Agricultural investments and agrarian change in South Africa

This paper presents a class-analytic approach, which combines a “labour exploitation criterion” with class typologies developed for the South African context and the author's additions. The labour exploitation criterion distinguishes between rural classes based on the degree to which one employs others, works for others, or works for oneself. I combine the principal indicator of “labour exploitation” with the income contributions of social grants, ownership of farming assets and livestock, and the contribution of agricultural production to simple or expanded reproduction. Debates around class formation are explored in the context of a comparative analysis of two joint venture (JV) dairy farms, located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which involve residents as both landowners and workers. A class-analytic approach illuminates the emerging agrarian class structure that a JV-type intervention both reflects and in turn conditions, in dialectical fashion, with important implications for debates around agrarian change in South Africa.