Innovation upgrading of local small and medium-sized enterprises and regional innovation policy: An empirical study

The aim of this paper is to clarify factors that promote innovation upgrading of regional SMEs and to analyze why and how policy programs implemented by local government affect their upgrading. This study is based on a firm-level questionnaire survey conducted in 2014 that targeted 1324 SMEs in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Innovation upgrading was classified into four stages depending on the novelty of the technology used and products; the novelty is classified according to whether they were existing or new. Measures of upgrading include the ratio of research and development (R&D) investment to sales, open innovation, sources of ideas, problem solving ability, human resource development (HRD), and business development strategies. An ordered probit model was employed. Six policy programs of Hyogo Prefectural Government were analyzed. The Manufacturing Academy was seen to be significant, and how this policy program affects upgrading through factors inside SMEs was examined by introducing cross-terms of policy programs and measures. Estimation results demonstrated that this policy program enhanced upgrading through HRD in SMEs, and it is considered that this was due to the policy programs meeting the necessity that SMEs have to develop the skills and abilities of their engineers and workers.     

Satellite TV in Asia: Forming a new ecology

This paper examines the development of satellite television in the Asian countries and their policy change. It is found that many countries initially tended to forbid the reception of satellite television but, with the growth of satellite television, liberalization is on the way. In response to competition posed by satellite television, policy makers generally choose to deregulate their local television market in the hope that the quality of local television will improve through competition. The authors suggest that satellite television in Asia is likely to agglomerate the diverse markets into bigger cultural markets to gain the economy of scale. Satellite television will bring about a regional capitalist culture. Professional journalism modelled after the West may also grow. The general trend for Asia is towards further deregulation and greater openness.     

A Property Tax Base Model

This model analyzes fiscal year changes and shifts in local government's real property tax base. The three variables quantified by this analysis are net new development, change in assessment-market price ratio and appreciation. The model's results provide useful analytical data to taxpayers and policy makers. These data can be used to help determine policy actions relative to (1) the amount and type of development and its impact on the future fiscal position of the respective jurisdiction; (2) the equity of the various property classes' assessment-sales price ratios; and (3) possibly altering the rate of appreciation among the various classes. The model might also be used on a sub-area basis to help determine prospering and declining areas, and to help forecast the property tax base and revenue.     

地方产业群战略

本文旨在论述营造地方产业群是提高竞争力应以全球化挑战的重要政策措施。一是从“全球－本地”二重性出发，从国际经验分析发展地方产业群的背景和产业群理论的由来；二是说明产业群的概念、形成因素和发展机制；三是论述产业群战略的重要性、政策目标和具体内容；四是结合区域产业发展的现实问题和认识误区，提出我国实施地方产业群战略以及相应的制度创新的重要性。     

英国低碳能源转型:战略、情景、政策与启示

总结英国上一轮能源转型的清洁化、多元化、市场化特点及影响,简要阐述其面向"2050碳中和"目标的立法,引用英国国家电网公司发布的"未来能源情景(2019)",分析低碳转型目标下未来英国能源系统"可信"的演变方式。在情景规划的基础上,以未来英国增长潜力最大的海上风能为例,着重分析英国本轮能源市场改革中如何通过政策干预与市场竞争,实现可再生能源的快速发展以及低碳化能源系统与市场的构建。对中国政府和企业制定低碳发展战略的启示包括:应对气候变化和面向低碳能源的立法是实现转型的基本保障;能源低碳化转型路径不唯一,应充分结合本国资源与产业特点制定能源政策;政策扶持结合市场竞争的模式可以加快新能源产业发展,降低转型成本;融入区域统一能源市场,低碳转型中强化多重能源战略目标的实现。     

Seeing the full picture? Technologically enabled multi‐agency working in health and social care

The implementation of local e-government in England touched all public services and affected front-line workers across local authorities and partner agencies. Professional 'cultures' are invoked rhetorically as barriers to the translation of this policy into practice. We propose that the concept of 'street-level bureaucrats' offers a more nuanced and grounded framework to think about local responses to centrally driven change.     

Public policy in two-way cable: Difficult issues for a developing technology

The technological development of two-way cable communication has advanced rapidly without concurrent public policy development. In an effort to bring the policy issues to light, the authors describe existing US policy in two-way cable communication, identify definitional problems, suggest policies for implementing two-way service, and outline some of the responsibilities of local franchising authorities peculiar to two-way services, particularly in the area of upstream spectrum allocation.     

National food strategies and food policy reform

National food strategies, sponsored by the World Food Council, are intended to produce policy blueprints for improving food production in poor countries. International experience with agricultural development discloses wide agreement on national and local policy specifics which should have priority. However, the absence of research into the political attitudes and processes which foster consensus on goals and the reconciliation of competing desirable policies, eg short term v long term, equity v efficiency, may impede the desired policy reform.     

The transformation of the mobile telecommunications industry in Pakistan: A developing country perspective

This paper offers a rare insight into the reality of the mobile telecommunications market transformation in Pakistan. Our analytical framework treats the mobile telecommunications market as a complex socio-technical system. Specifically, we define the telecommunications market as being composed of technology standards and three sets of social actors that include government institutions, network and service providers, and users. In the case of Pakistan, these social actors together determine the adoption of standards and services, and thus shape the trajectory of the market change. Our case study provides evidence that a pro-competition policy is imperative for mobile telecommunications development in developing countries, and an independent regulator is critical in promoting technological innovation.     

Functional separation in Swedish broadband market: Next step of improving competition

Technological development together with liberalization policy has led to competition in the telecommunications market. Broadband has been recognized as a driving force in the social and economic development of nations, and many countries have introduced policies and/or regulatory frameworks to improve competition in broadband markets. An evolution can be seen from the 1980s until the present day through open access to local loop unbundling to several degrees of separation including functional separation. There are several countries implementing functional separation such as the UK, Italy, Sweden and, recently the EU. It has been suggested that functional separation can be an effective policy for increasing competition in broadband markets under certain circumstances. Sweden has implemented functional separation by amending the Swedish Telecommunications Act in 2008 to include mandatory functional separation as one of the powers of the PTS, the Swedish telecommunications regulator. Although TeliaSonera, the incumbent fixed line operator decided to voluntarily separate part of their business, the amendments to the law were debated with arguments similar to the debates in the EU following the new regulatory framework implemented in 2009. Against this background, this paper provides an overview of the development of functional separation in the EU and European countries such as Sweden and the UK. The paper also provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the implementation of functional separation. The evolution of functional separation in Sweden is explained and ends with a discussion of the implementation of functional separation in the Swedish broadband market.     

The Internationalization Process of Singapore Government-Linked Companies: A Contextual View

Western management theories on internationalization do not fully explain the evolution of Asian MNCs. In East Asia, state policy has been an important intervening variable in the growth and development of the local MNCs. However, the patterns of firm growth differ from country to country and the strategic frames are embedded in the local political and cultural context. The internationalization strategies adopted by firms in East Asia are best understood if viewed from a contextual perspective.Singapore has been held as model of economic development for developing countries. This paper attempts to capture the dynamics of the internationalization process from a contextual perspective. It describes the evolution of two government-linked companies in Singapore and reviews their internationalization strategy. The cases are set within the framework of Singapore's political economy and its development policy. We identify the themes in the internationalization process of these firms and contrast their experiences with traditional theories.     

转型期中国宏观产权制度的形成机理

中国地方政府围绕资本形成展开竞争,导致产权改革的非均衡推进,从而演进出政府对各生产要素利益保护不一致的宏观产权制度,这种宏观产权制度在过去的30年里是极具效率的。但随着资本日益丰富以至于不再稀缺,我们有必要在进一步产权改革的基础上建立政府适度退出机制,以使政府对各生产要素的利益保护都趋于正常值水平。     

Development pathways for hillsides and highlands: some lessons from Central America and East Africa

This paper reviews hypotheses and evidence about the development pathways (common patterns of change in livelihood strategies) occurring in hillside and highland areas and their implications for sustainable land management and poverty reduction, based upon community level survey results from Honduras, Uganda and Ethiopia. Several common development pathways were found in these three countries, all of which include cereal production as the primary or secondary activity. These include expanding or intensifying cereal crop production, mixed cereals/livestock, cereals/perennials, cereals/perishable annuals, cereals/non-farm employment, and in Honduras, cereals/forestry activities. These pathways were largely determined by four types of factors affecting local comparative advantages: agricultural potential, access to markets and roads, population density, and presence of programs and organizations. Adoption of improved land management was higher and productivity, resource and welfare outcomes were better in the pathways associated with higher value crop production or non-farm employment. In less-favored environments where such pathways have less potential, other development pathways should be facilitated and improved. Opportunities for socially profitable investments have been shown to exist even in less-favored environments, but these need to be tailored to the different comparative advantages of these areas.     

Local competition for telephone services

A policy discussion and overview of the development and scope of local exchange competition in U.S. Telecommunications markets is presented. The primary focus is on access and cable competition. In the future, we will see policies which encourage cable to enter telephone services, telephone companies to develop a video dialtone, and transportation networks which allow interexchange carriers to bypass the access charges of the local network. Regulatory policy needs to manage these competitive changes so that there is parity between the various service providers.     

Toward new guardrails for the information society

Increasing interdependencies and deepening uncertainty change how the information society can be governed sustainably. In response, policy approaches worldwide are being reconsidered and new approaches developed that are more appropriate to these conditions. This article explores the conditions under which policies that worked in the past remain appropriate and when they will likely fail. It explores the role of dynamic analytical frames and a reconsideration of the normative principles of information society policies in overcoming these weaknesses. New instruments and policy arrangements that are considered include the establishment of boundary conditions (“guardrails”) for players, reliance on adaptive forms of policy, and reliance on ethics across all layers of governance. Driven by the global heterogeneity of values and the diversity of historical, economic, political, and cultural conditions, national and global governance arrangements will likely become more multi-centric. To avoid regulatory drift and fragmentation, policy must strive to create dynamic learning systems that help to continuously improve information society governance.     

Local number portability and local loop competition. Critical issues

Local telephone number portability (LNP), the ability of a telephone subscriber to change local exchange carriers, location or type of service without changing telephone numbers, is an essential feature of a competitive local loop market. This article describes these three types of portability and then examines the implications for local loop competition of specific LNP issues: implementation techniques; E-911 emergency services delivery; neutrality of subscriber database and number administration; infrastructure cost allocation and cost recovery. Evolution of number portability policy in the US, including jurisdictional complications, is reviewed.     

A ‘Common Food Policy’ for Europe: How governance reforms can spark a shift to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

More than half of adults in the European Union (EU) are now either overweight or obese (53%). Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), many of which are diet-related, account for 70% of mortality in Europe and a growing share of healthcare costs. While eating habits have an important role to play in NCD prevention, consumption patterns across the EU are diverging significantly from recommended diets. There is growing consensus on the solution: a series of coordinated and wide-ranging policy interventions to build healthy ‘food environments’.This article argues that EU governance structures remain ill-adapted to the systemic nature of this and other challenges in food systems (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, food poverty): conflicting objectives and missed synergies are identified between different policy areas (agriculture, trade, health, environment, etc.) and between different levels of governance (EU, national, local). An integrated food policy framework – a ‘Common Food Policy’ – is therefore required to meet the EU’s public health and sustainability objectives. It identifies four distinct aspects of the governance shift required to promote healthy diets and build sustainable food systems in Europe: (i) coherence across policy areas; (ii) coherence across governance levels; (iii) governance for transition; and (iv) food democracy. Blueprints for a Common Food Policy are already emerging, and are ripe for consideration, development, and implementation by the European institutions.     

制约供电企业盈利能力的三大因素

对制约供电企业盈利能力的三大因素,即①政策性因素,如价格政策、投资政策、服务政策。②体制性因素,如行政体制、核算体制、转业体制。⑦管制性因素,如企业价值定位、企业发展量和质的关系、企业非盈利性成本高低等作了较为详尽的阐述。     

‘New order’ or business as usual: uncertainties and issues for frequency policy and WARC 79

One by one previously calm, traditional areas of telecommunications planning and policy have been upset and their landscapes changed beyond recognition by technological and social change: examples now familiar include the revolution in network planning brought about by digital and stored-program technologies, and the steady trend, most notable in the USA but increasingly visible in Europe, towards more competition, initially in such ‘peripheral’ areas as the supply of terminals and the development of private ‘affinity’ networks. At the same time international affairs have been transformed in the past twenty years by such factors as the increasing assertiveness of the developing countries, the growing importance of international cooperation and international institutions in a high-technology world economy, and the new world role of China. All these forces converge in the international process of frequency-spectrum regulation carried on through the International Telecommunication Union and due for thorough-going review at the General World Administrative Radio Conference to be held in September 1979 (WARC 79), the first such conference for twenty years.     

Membership Participation and Centralized Control

The union faces severe economic and political problems: it is becoming increasingly expensive to perform important union functions, membership losses are difficult to replace, job mortality is high, firm size is small, membership income is modest, skill level is low, and the union has minority status in almost all of its industries. The policy response to financial pressure is to encourage members to volunteer to perform many union functions which the union can not otherwise afford. Policies supportive of this goal include supply of a broad array of services at union headquarters, insistence that members pay dues in person, insistence on meeting attendance, and emphasis on the steward and crew and the role of the experienced member. The political pressure is weakened union authority. Unusual heterogeneity among employers, occupations, and members, plus an unavoidably decentralized collective bargaining situation, present strong centrifugal tendencies. Major variations in occupation, skills, income level, union background, job security, and ethnic and cultural identification contribute to a diversity of interests and loyalties. A tendency for the membership to be clustered or differentiated by character of their employment also adds a potential threat of balkanization by local. The policy response to political pressure has been the effort to centralize authority and initiative. For example, the 1,000-member General Council has been granted almost unlimited governmental authority. The Council is the channel for downward communication flow; the related structuring, sequencing, and common agendas of all union meetings also keep initiative and authority at the Districtwide level. Additional centralizing aspects include the absence of constitutional restraints on leadership freedom of action; the lack of restraints from the international union; emphasis on crew and steward, rather than on local and local officer; the discouragement of electoral conflicts inherent in the application of the “majority rule”; the preferred ballot position of Districtwide candidates; the Districtwide vote required for the four “regional” leaders; and the offsetting of decentralized collective bargaining with an array of control devices. Meeting attendance, dues payments (without benefit of checkoff), and electoral participation are unusually high. However, volunteer offices are difficult to fill; experienced occupants are difficult to hold. There is little volunteer participation in organizing and collective bargaining and participation is way below the level prescribed by union policy pronouncements. Areas of inconsistency, if not conflict, exist between the two major strands of policy, i.e., encouragement of membership participation, on the one hand, and centralization of authority, on the other. Centralization makes it more difficult to involve members in union affairs. De-emphasis of the role of the local officer and organizer in favor of stewards and vice-presidents has minimized potential divisive influences, but at the cost of inhibiting volunteer leadership activity.