Circular economy in China and recommendations

It is an overall, urgent and long-term strategic task for China to vigorously develop the circular economy and build a resource-saving and environ- mental-friendly society. China is now at the acceler- ating stage of industrialization and urbanization. Lower per-capita resource amount and tendency of environmental deterioration has not been fundamen- tally averted. Therefore a circular economy devel- opment is an inevitable choice to realize the goal of building a well-off society, ensure sust…     

Development of resource-conserving society：from the perspective of circular economy

The purpose of building a resource-conserving society is to pursuit less resource consumption and less environmental pollution,and to accept greater economic and social benefits,and the ultimate goal is to ensure sustainable use of resources and economic and social sustainable development.Developing circular economy is the inevitable choice and the basic way to build a resource-conserving society.Recycling economy is a resource-conserving production,initiate resource-conserving consumption,and it is the key to build resource-conserving society.This study tries to clarify the relationship between them and bring forward a scientific index system which can measure the development level of a resource-conserving society.It provides a new set of ideas for the evaluation of resourceconserving society,and it is important for the resource-conserving society assessment and construction,while further empirical research is made on China＇s eastern coastal Shandong Province.     

Circular economy indicators to evaluate regional development： A case study of Tianjin municipality

With the aim of the harmonious development of economy-environment system in Tianjin Municipality, an index system used to evaluate the circular economy （CE） is presented in this paper. The index system consists of the index of economy development, green development, human and culture development. According to the evaluation results, this paper brings forward the countermeasures including industry structure adjustment, improving city infrastructure system, increasing the level of habitation environment, establishing the system of green social consumption to improve the development of circular economy in Tianjin.     

Understanding China’s monetary policy: an institutional perspective

Given China’s status as a large transitional economy, analysing the country’s monetary policy requires an understanding of the institutional and policy environment within which monetary policy operates. As China’s monetary policy has multiple objectives and the central bank is subordinate to the State Council in monetary policy decisions, addressing deep-rooted structural issues and improving governance and institutions are essential so that monetary policy can be more focused and effective. Confronted with the Impossible Trinity dilemma, China faces daunting challenges in tackling the inevitable policy choice between monetary autonomy and exchange rate control as its capital account increasingly liberalises. This article analyses China’s unique and evolving monetary policy framework from an institutional perspective and evaluates the challenges to monetary management and reforms. Relevant policy implications for monetary policy implementation are also discussed.     

America’s neglected debt to the Dutch,an institutional perspective

America’s early constitutional development owes a good deal to the experience and policies of the Dutch republic. Many of the parallels are direct: In the late 16th century, the Dutch fought a successful war to secede from a major empire. They wrote a declaration of independence and adopted a federal model of Republican governance almost exactly two hundred years before the Americans. Somewhat later, the Dutch republic and its political institutions subsequently inspired and protected enlightenment scholars. Its leading political family and army played a crucial role in curtailing English absolutism in England and in England’s American colonies, and its federal template provided a model for early American institutions.

Relationship between ecological economics and circular economy, eco-industry, cleaner production, and other relevant categories

Eco-industry, circular economy, cleaner production, industrial ecology or industrial ecosystem and other subjects are all categories related to sustainable developinent. This paper studies the relations and differences between the four categories and sustainable development as well as ecological economics. Circular economy, eco-industry, industrial ecosystem and cleaner production were put forward during the revolution in “end treatment pattern” of traditional industrial society. Industrial ecology, eco-industry and circular economy theory are three content expansions of cleaner production. Ecological economics is of instructive function theoretically and methodologically for circular economy, eco-industrial, cleaner production and industrial ecology. Circular economy theory is easier to be accepted, compared with ecological economics theory. And circular economy in nature is the complete application of ecological economics theory.     

A model of quality control based on recycling economy and sustainable manufacture

People currentiy pay attention to a hotspot problem that how industrial production is evaluated and controlled based on sustainable development theory. Quality is one of the important indexes. Two mainstream theories guide us to realize the industrial sustainable development： mainly the circular economy and sustainable manufacturing are introduced. The basic characteristics of the sustainable manufacturing are introduced, and that quality management is important contents of sustainable development is indicated. Based on circular economy and sustainable manufacture theories, the drawbacks in the existing quality management models are analyzed. The requests that satisfy the big system ＂environment- society - economy＂ are summarized to build up a model. A Chinese traditional cultural principle is applied and the relevant contents are sublimated as the platform to set up the model. The new quality management concept models are put forward ＂T- D- R＂ three-dimensional structures and ＂ecological quality loop＂ model, from which the new quality concepts are formed The paper elaborates the contents and the process of setting up the models. The big quality problems of the system can be handled by the new quality concept and model that are validated in practice.     

政府政策与循环经济发展

政府在循环经济发展中具有不可替代的作用,其中最重要的是采取必要的政府政策以促进循环经济在正确的轨道上发展。以经济过程排放的废弃物数量为主要指标,可以把循环经济的发展进程划分为三个阶段,即废弃物回收再利用———循环经济起步阶段,废弃物排放量减少———循环经济发展阶段,废弃物“零排放”———循环经济成熟阶段,由此采取相应的政府政策。从构建循环经济生态系统出发,可以把循环经济分解为可操作的生态企业、生态工业园和生态社会三个层次,由此采取相应的政策。     

循环经济与政府政策

政府在循环经济发展中具有不可替代的作用,其中最重要的是采取必要的政府政策以促进循环经济在正确的轨道上发展。以经济过程排放的废弃物数量为主要指标,可以把循环经济的发展进程划分为废弃物回收再利用、废弃物排放量减少和废弃物“零排放”三个阶段,由此采取相应的政府政策。从构建循环经济生态系统出发,可以把循环经济分解为可操作的生态企业、生态工业园和生态社会三个层次,由此采取相应的政府政策。     

The “sugar rush” from innovation subsidies: a robust political economy perspective

The governments of most advanced countries offer some type of financial subsidy to encourage firm innovation and productivity. This paper analyzes the effects of innovation subsidies using a unique Swedish database that contains firm level data for the period 1997–2011, specifically informa tion on firm subsidies over a broad range of programs. Applying causal treatment effect analysis based on matching and a diff-in-diff approach combined with a qualitative case study of Swedish innovation subsidy programs, we test whether such subsidies have positive effects on firm performance. Our results indicate a lack of positive performance effects in the long run for the majority of firms, albeit there are positive short-run effects on human capital investments and also positive short-term productivity effects for the smallest firms. These findings are interpreted from a robust political economy perspective that reveals that the problems of acquiring correct information and designing appropriate incentives are so complex that the absence of significant positive long-run effects on firm performance for the majority of firms is not surprising.     

Innovative performance effects of institutional quality: an empirical investigation from the Triad

ABSTRACT

Using data for a set of 823 R&D-intense manufacturing firms within the Triad and the Quality of Government (QoG) dataset over the 2002–2010 period, this article investigates the effects of institutional quality upon firms’ inefficiency, through the application of a Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA). Empirical evidence, which is robust to alternative specifications of the technology employed and different lag structures in R&D activities, reveals that improvements in the quality of institutions significantly reduce firms’ inefficiency and suggests that, among the set of relevant institutional factors considered, a pre-eminent role is found for the rule of law.     

Making sense of the sharing economy: a business model innovation perspective

ABSTRACT

The emergence of a sharing revolution is leading to a new societal system of collaboration enabled by digital technologies. Although sharing-based initiatives are re-shaping established organisational practices and innovating traditional business models (BMs), existing research fails in grasping the phenomenon's multiple facets. This study aims at making sense of the Sharing Economy (SE) by shedding light on how startups embed the social trend of sharing and leverage digital technologies to develop innovative BMs. We attempt to solve the current theory-practice misalignment by proposing an original framework, definition, and classification of SE startups. The study presents a cluster analysis on 196 SE startups. We argue that SE startups group into five clusters: (i) pseudo-sharing; (ii) gig economy; (iii) crowd-based economy; (iv) pooling economy; and (v) P2P rental. This study contributes to positioning the SE from both a conceptual and an empirical perspective, interpreting the SE phenomenon from the theoretical lenses of BM Innovation, and classifying it through the unit of analysis of startups, intended as empirical vehicles and manifestation of the phenomenon.     

我国发展循环经济的制度创新与路径依赖

文章构建了较为新颖的理论博弈模型,以研究我国发展循环经济的制度创新与路径依赖问题.研究结果表明:制度创新是我国实施循环经济面临的最大的难题之一;制度创新过程中很可能遇到严重的路径依赖问题;政策及相关信息的高透明度、利益集团间充分的沟通与交流、合理的产业结构以及较强的资源利用能力都是循环经济相关政策制度能够顺利实施落实的基础条件,而这些条件在我国尚有待进一步成熟.     

Under pressure: Evolution of the social economy institutional recognition in the EU

Social Economy encompasses a wide array of private organizations that can be situated along a continuum that ranges from civil society to the business sector, e.g., associations, foundations, cooperatives, social enterprises, social business initiatives. The social sphere populated by SE/TS organizations operates in complex and multi‐layer environments and is particularly sensitive to institutional configuration. This paper deals with the institutional policy and attitude of the EU Commission towards SE/TS organizations in the field of welfare policy. We start with an illustration of the key features of the Social Investment policy framework, that stresses the adoption of an ‘active policy’ orientation and the overriding of more traditional ‘compensatory policies’. Secondly, we analyze the regulatory eco‐system of the EU towards Social Economy in the last three decades. Thirdly, we present the main results of an European research project aimed at analyzing the ‘level of recognition’ and ‘institutionalization’ of the SE sector in ten European Countries. Then, we provide some data about the consistency of the Social Economy in EU, based on several research reports promoted  by European Institutions (EESC). Finally, the main results of the analysis are summarized in order to assess the current conjuncture of the Social Economy sector in Europe.     

Policy mix to foster innovation in the Dominican Republic: attempts from an empirical perspective

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to understand firms’ preferences for incentives to foster innovation in Dominican firms. A key research question arises: What are the most preferred science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy options to support innovation in Dominican firms? This research relies on the concept of policy mix and the conjoint analysis to support the empirical approach. Over 300 firms were surveyed across the country, and we discovered that Dominican firms prefer more complex STI policy options, including at the same time research grants, guarantee funds, and tax incentives to support several kinds of innovative activities. But also, firms need to understand the potential of available options such as tax credit and other monetary instruments, including guarantee funds. It is concluded that in the medium and long term, the STI policy mix approach could support as part of the Dominican policy agenda, an economic transition toward a more resilient and competitive economy.     

Immigration policy and the U.S. economy: an institutional perspective

The author examines some aspects of the current situation concerning immigration to the United States. He predicts that the 1990s will witness the largest flow of immigrants into the population and labor force of any decade in the country's history; furthermore, since there is no universally accepted right to immigrate, the adoption of migration policy is one area of economic policymaking that is not controlled by market forces. He also notes that while the country's need is for a highly skilled, motivated, and educated labor force, the majority of current immigrants have low skill levels and relatively little education. The need to develop and implement a migration policy that is in tune with the country's economic objectives is stressed. He concludes that "the resurrection of mass immigration from out of the nation's distant past was a political accident; its perpetuation in the 1990s is contrary to national interest. Immigration reform, therefore, needs to be [in] the forefront of the nation's economic policy agenda."     

循环经济效用函数的构建

本文从循环经济的特征出发,给出了循环经济一个相对严格的定义,并构建了循环经济效用函数.借助这一函数及其基本特性分析,本文解释了循环经济发展中存在的市场失灵、政府失灵等问题,澄清了循环经济与市场经济的关系,并提出了目前循环经济学研究的核心问题:在可能的发展路径上,选择循环经济效用函数增长速度最大化的路径,与此相关的如何选择、如何实施、如何避免信息不对称等问题也是研究的重要内容.     

推进循环经济发展路径刍议

传统的经济模式在促进国民经济高速发展的同时，也对资源和环境造成了极大消耗和危害。循环经济的提出和推动恰恰可以缓解经济高速发展与环境资源利用之间的矛盾。而构建完整与相配套的法律和政策体系、提高产品的科技含量、借鉴发达国家的经验分层次发展循环经济等，乃是推进我国循环经济发展的有效路径。     

循环经济在城市生态农业中的应用

本文通过对城市生态农业与循环经济概念的探讨,将循环经济的原理应用到城市生态农业中,提出了发展城市生态农业的循环经济应用模式,以此为城市的农业可持续发展提供科学依据,促进生态城市的建设和管理。