Masakhane case studies

The Masakhane Campaign in South Africa has received a fair amount of criticism, largely because its high media profile has not been accompanied by delivery and improvement of services at the local level. Contrary to this generally negative perception, there are a number of local authorities that have greatly improved the situation in their areas through pragmatic strategies and programmes under the banner of Masakhane. This article presents information on the current status of the campaign in a sample of local authorities, and attempts to interpret this information so as to ascertain those factors that influence on the success or failure of local authorities as service providers.     

古镇清溪韵味长

去年开春,有朋友相邀去汉源拍片。当时我脑海中除了“汉源花椒”的色、香、味之外,再无其他可联想的东西了。取道成雅高速,过了荥经县,翻过泥巴山,便到了汉源的北大门——清溪古镇。朋友说,清溪自隋大业三年(公元607年)设汉源县起,至1949年都是汉源县的县城。汉源古名笮都,西汉武帝时置沈黎郡,这里地处西陲,山川险峻,历史上是“南控夷獠,西拒吐蕃”的经边要地,常有重兵戍守。明代曾设黎州安抚司,统辖周边几县。因而清溪在南丝绸之路上不仅有过繁荣昌盛的历史,也是兵家必争和历代商贾必经之地。我愧叹自己孤陋寡闻,多次走此道去云南竟与其失之交臂。     

Economic studies of taxation in Japan: The case of personal income taxes

We argue that tax policy in Japan is on a shaky empirical ground. First, until recently, no serious attempts had been made to estimate labour responses to taxation, especially with respect to prime-age male workers. Second, while there is some stock of empirical analysis on labour supply response of female workers, few studies have appropriately allowed for the budget constraint structure implied by the tax system. Third, as a corollary, there is not a reliable stock of empirical estimates to quantify the frequently employed concepts of “disincentives to work” or “distortion.” Given this state of the literature, we introduce our estimates, and calculate the degree of distortion using the concept of the marginal cost of public funds.     

张帝:急智歌王大众偶像

"今天张帝多么地欢欣,能够来到这里见到你……"当红遍港台地区的青岛籍歌星张帝唱着新编的歌词出现在演出现场时,全场一片轰动.坐在前排的明星们也像众多粉丝们一样激动地为张帝鼓掌欢呼.     

Development as liberation: Policy lessons from case studies

Four case studies are summarized in which oppressed people have successfully assumed control over their own destinies and development strategies. Lessons from experience are drawn, at the national and macro-economic level, from Guinea-Bissau where the popular liberation movement has grown into the national government without losing close contact with its constituency; from the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka which has started as a modest development organization of poor people, based on indigenous social and cultural values, and which has grown into a popular movement of 1 million people (of 14 million total population) in some 2000 villages; from the SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) in Ahmedabad, India, where oppressed street vendors, artisans, junksmiths and garment-makers have founded their own bank (which now has 1000 shareholders and 10,000 depositors) to circumvent usurious lending practices and to gain access to capital at their own terms; and from a Quechua community in central Bolivia where handicrafts producers' cooperatives have successfully maintained self-reliance and cultural identity through conscious choice of appropriate technology at their own terms. Lessons on development as a form of liberation are drawn from the social praxis of each of these examples.     

变化之最：“灰钢城”蝶变之舞

说大渡口,就不得不提重钢。曾经,飞溅的钢花,奔腾的铁水和烟囱里喷出的滚滚浓烟是重钢环境的真实写照,“通红炉火映脸膛,风吹烟尘半天扬”也是重庆人对十里钢城大渡口的深刻印象。但是,2009年9月,随着重钢搬迁,大渡口的重钢时代也宣告结束,取而代之的一座森林之城、公园之城的崛起。     

The impacts of tourism investment on rural communities: Three case studies in South Africa

Significant research, both locally and internationally, has been undertaken on tourism development and its impacts on the empowerment of rural communities. This article analyses the extent to which three tourism projects in South Africa, namely the Makuleke tourism initiative, Umngazi River Bungalows and the commercialisation of Manyeleti Game Reserve, have improved the livelihoods of rural communities and contributed to rural economic development. The projects are analysed in terms of both their economic and non-economic benefits, as well as their contribution towards the attainment of certain key policy objectives of the South African government.     

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival: More than just jazz

Economic impact studies have been used to value goods with the characteristics of both public and private goods, such as arts festivals, and have been useful in providing a quantifiable monetary estimate of their worth and, more accurately, of the impact of such events on a specific region. This paper provides just such a valuation, using economic impact analysis conducted on surveys of visitor and organiser spending at the 2009 Cape Town International Jazz Festival. On the basis of the survey data and event budget, a social accounting matrix (SAM) for the Western Cape Province was used to estimate the economic value of the festival to the province's economy (using the classic SAM's multiplier approach). The results of the analysis show that the festival generates approximately R158 million via visitor and organiser spending, and that 1059 jobs depend on it.     

梦里水乡话路孔

小桥流水,青瓦阁楼,水乡的幽静如画卷镌刻.路孔古镇,一个延续隐居世个梦想的地方……     

The Big End of Town: Big Business and Corporate Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia

Book reviewed
Grant Fleming, David Merrett and Simon Ville, The Big End of Town: Big Business and Corporate Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pp. viii + 310. ISBN: 0 521 83311 6. Hardback $59.99. Reviewed by Leslie Hannah University of Tokyo     

HIV/Aids and land: case studies from Kenya,Lesotho and South Africa

Recent research conducted in Lesotho, Kenya and South Africa has revealed that HIV/Aids will seriously impact on a range of land issues as a direct result of very high infection rates in these countries. HIV/Aids will affect different forms of land use, the functioning of land administration systems, land rights of women and orphans as well as the poor generally, and inheritance practices and norms. The epidemic not only affects the productivity of the infected, but also diverts the labour of the household and extended family away from other productive and reproductive activities as they take care of the sick. Affected households fall below the social and economic threshold of vulnerability and ‘survivability’, leaving the survivors – mainly the young and elderly – with limited resources to quickly regain a sustainable livelihood. This indicates the importance of effective land administration systems and of land rights as HIV/Aids impacts on the terms and conditions on which households and individuals hold, use and transact land. This has a particular resonance for women and children's rights, which, in the context of rural power relations that are themselves coming under increasing pressure from the epidemic, are especially vulnerable to being usurped. Thus, the impact of HIV/Aids on land raises complex and sensitive issues for land policies and programmes, particularly if they are intended to underpin rural development and sustainable livelihoods.     

歌剧《钓鱼城》:重庆新文化名片

在或急或缓、或激昂或悲怆的乐曲声中,大型原创歌剧《钓鱼城》缓缓拉开帷幕,观众被带到700年前的一段历史城墙下——公元1234年,南宋和蒙古联手灭掉金朝,蒙古人随即将长矛指向南宋。1259年,蒙古大汗亲率10万大军挥师南下进入四川,欲效仿西晋灭吴之法,先取道长江     

九龙坡：统筹城乡教育协调发展的“试验田”

重庆市九龙坡区是重庆市城乡统筹发展综合改革先行示范区。2007年以来,九龙坡区以实施教育“五化建设”为突破口,统筹城乡教育协调发展。提出了“一年试点探索,两年重点突破,三年全面覆盖,五年协调发展,建成全市统筹城乡教育发展示范区”的总体目标。     

格萨尔王的“兵工厂“——白玉县河坡乡

呷绒是河坡乡有名的工匠,他家生产的手工艺品远近闻名,许多寺庙用的佛具都是他家生产的,他做的藏刀还远销印度、尼泊尔等地。夏日的一天,随着“相约格萨尔故里”学术论坛的专家、记者,我们来到金沙江上游的一个山谷——当年格萨尔王兵工生产基地的河坡乡,拜访了呷绒。走     

创新创业文化在留学生群体中的传播研究——以温州大学城为例

一带一路的第5年,来华留学生数量逐年增多,在双创的全球大背景下,越来越多的留学生选择了温州这座创新创业氛围浓厚的城市。本课题以温州大学城为例,调查创新创业文化在留学生中的传播现状,分析留学生认知需求和社会支撑之间存在的矛盾,从传播者、传播内容、传播方式和途径4个维度探讨如何促进温州创新创业文化的传播,在提高留学生文化适应水平的同时,构建温州地域文化形象,帮助温州地域文化走出去。     

The changing spatial economy of cities: An exploratory analysis of Cape Town

The spatial economy of South African cities is generally believed to be experiencing selective deconcentration, which may exacerbate social inequality because of the physical disconnection between jobs and population. This paper assesses whether the locational pattern of economic activity across Cape Town is following this trajectory, using data from the Regional Service Council levies between 2001 and 2005. One of the main findings is that the city centre and areas close to the centre have maintained their economic dominance, therefore Cape Town remains a monocentric city. Yet the pattern of recent growth is more dispersed than the prior distribution because suburban nodes have gained a disproportionate share of new activity. In addition, the pattern of recent growth is skewed towards the high-income suburbs and away from the Cape Flats where most of the city's poor live. This uneven growth trajectory may be a source of concern for economic, social and environmental reasons.