高校教师人力资源对社会发展的战略意义

高校教师人力资源在发挥人力资源本身作用的同时,不断地再造与重塑社会人力资源。作为重要的生产要素,在为社会经济发展做出贡献的同时,重要的是她能够也应该引领社会的先进文化、选择与传承优秀的人类文明,从而区别于其他生产要素而为社会和谐与科学发展具有重要的战略意义。     

Common pool resources and contextual factors: Evolution of a fishermen's cooperative in Calcutta

The CPR school has successfully rebutted Hardin's pessimistic Tragedy of the Commons model. However, in recent years, critics have focussed on the inward orientation and lack of contextual analysis characterising the writings of the CPR school.Oakerson [A Model for the analysis of common property problems. Working Paper R86-13. Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, 1986] and Ostrom [Governing the Commons. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990] have detailed the list of variables that have to be studied to understand the mechanics of collective action. However, these factors are internal to the community. Recent critics' point out that the actions of individual agents are also influenced by the alternatives embedded outside the system. These variables are collectively labelled contextual factors.In our paper, we have analysed the case of a fishermen's cooperative in the Calcutta Metropolitan District to show how the historic and economic context shapes targets of resource users and affects the feasibility of alternative courses to achieve the target by determining opportunity and transaction costs of actions. This indicates the importance of contextual factors in explaining the formation and evolution of the resource regime.     

Modern sector development: The role of exports and institutions in developing countries

A prospering modern sector is crucial for the successful long‐term development in developing countries as it provides income and job growth for large shares of society. While this idea is widely accepted, there is, perhaps surprisingly, far less analysis about the exact determinants of this economic modernization process. In this article we empirically investigate whether international trade and institutions, both much discussed in the debates on general growth and development, are particularly important for the diffusion of production in the modern sector within developing societies. In a large cross section time‐series sample, we provide robust estimation results that point to an important role of institutions and to a nonlinear impact of manufacturing exports. Our results, which are derived using a range of estimators and are ultimately less susceptible to endogeneity concerns, also provide interesting insights into the role of natural resources and official development aid.     

Participatory institutions: The context of common and private property resources

Participation is the initiation and continuance of an active process by which beneficiary groups influence the direction and execution of development activity. In the context of resource management participatory institutions often present an alternative when the market and/or the state fail to maintain resource stocks at desirable levels. This paper presents two case-studies of the emergence of participatory institutions and builds up analytical models that explain the process of their evolution in an inter-temporal framework.It is shown that the evolution, sustenance and replication of participation and its impact on levels of resource conservation depends on (a) the nature of the links between common and private property resources, (b) the possibility of taking advantage of scale economies, and finally (c) the distributional rules and arrangements.     

The role of farmer cooperatives in promoting environmentally sustainable agricultural development in China: A review

Environmentally sustainable agricultural development is an essential part of the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the United Nations in 2015. This article systematically reviews studies on the role of farmer cooperatives in promoting environmentally sustainable agricultural development and uses China as a case study to analyze the measures and function mechanisms of farmer cooperatives in promoting the adoption and scaling of sustainable farming practices by farmers. Farmer cooperatives in China influence farmers’ farming practices and benefits by not only serving farmers with various information and technologies but also supervising farmers’ production processes. Nevertheless, farmer cooperatives, both in general and in China in particular, face challenges in effectively promoting the adoption of environmentally sustainable farming practices. A few policy implications are proposed based on these analyses.     

The challenge of understanding decisions in experimental studies of common pool resource governance

Common pool resource experiments in the laboratory and the field have provided insights that have contrasted to those derived from conventional non-cooperative game theory. Contrary to predictions from non-cooperative game theory, participants are sometimes willing to restrain voluntarily from over extracting resources and use costly punishment to sanction other participants. Something as simple as face-to-face communication has been shown to increase average earnings significantly. In the next generation of experiments, both in the laboratory and in the field, we need to extract more information that provides insight concerning why people make the decisions they make. More information is needed concerning attributes of individuals as well as the social and social-ecological context in which they interact that may give rise to such deviations from theoretical predictions. In the process of extracting more information from participants and the contexts in which they interact, we face several methodological and ethical challenges which we address in this paper.     

Privatizing Monopolies in Developing Countries: The Real Effects of Exclusivity Periods in Telecommunications

Many developing countries have given newly privatized incumbent network utilities, especially telecommunications, exclusive rights to serve particular markets. Research to date has explored privatization, competition, and to a lesser extent, regulation. We know little, however, about the effects of the privatization transactions themselves and, in particular, how these exclusivity periods matter. I use original data to investigate this approach to privatization. I find that exclusivity periods are associated with significant increases in the firms sale price. Exclusivity periods are also, however, correlated with a significant decrease in the incumbents investment in the telecommunications network, payphones, mobile telephone penetration, and international calling.JEL Classification: L1, L5, L96, O12I am grateful for the thoughtful comments and suggestions of Luke Haggarty, Tom Hazlett, Phil Keefer, Roger Noll, Russ Pittman, Greg Rosston, David Sappington, Mary Shirley, Lixin Colin Xu, and two anonymous referees. I thank Troy Kravitz for research assistance. I am solely responsible for all mistakes.     

我国高速铁路公司引入战略成本管理的思考

目前,我国高速铁路处于起步阶段,经营存在诸多问题。由于受经营管理体制的影响,目前高速铁路公司在成本管理方面普遍不够深入。因此,分析了高速铁路公司目前在成本管理方面存在的缺陷,即成本管理观念滞后、可控成本空间较小、成本管理资料缺乏等。结合自身工作体会,提出高速铁路公司要加强成本管理,就必须在引入战略成本管理理念、塑造企业战略成本文化、发挥专业部门成本源头控制作用、明确受托方的经营责任、硬化成本约束、提高投入效益等6个方面加强成本管理。     

Yield effects of agricultural cooperative membership in developing countries: A meta-analysis

This study uses a meta-analysis to synthesize the effects of agricultural cooperative membership on the yield of crops and livestock. It collects 158 estimated yield effects from 42 studies, covering 19 developing countries. Our analysis finds evidence that there exists positive publication bias in the empirical literature, confirming that researchers and journals have a preference to publish articles that report positive and significant results. After correcting for publication bias, we find that cooperative membership has a small-sized and insignificant effect on the yield. The meta-regression analysis reveals that variation in the reported yield effects can be largely explained by the study attributes such as the sample type (full sample vs. subsample), membership ratio, econometric approaches (instrumental-variable based parametric approach, non-parametric approach or ordinary least square regression), effect size types (average treatment effects on the treated, average treatment effects, or coefficient), agro-product type (grain or others), and climate zones (tropical or non-tropical).     

Research on effectiveness of technology transfer in technology alliances: evidence from Turkish SMEs

Many SMEs homed in newly industrialised countries are successful international players despite limited technological infrastructure and R&D resources. This study bridges a gap in the extant literature by examining the relationships between characteristics of partnership relationships, knowledge sharing and the effectiveness of technology transfer in partnerships between SMEs in developing countries and firms from developed countries. By studying data from Turkish SMEs and using partial least squares structural equation modelling, we find that explicit knowledge sharing forms the basis of technology transfer. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that explicit knowledge sharing is strongly contingent upon formalised technical support while trust and technical support seemed to be important antecedents of tacit knowledge sharing.     

The effects of health aid on child health promotion in developing countries: cross-country evidence

Although epidemiological knowledge in relation to child health has improved in the last few decades, around 3 million children die each year in developing countries from preventable diseases. The international development community views increased immunization coverage for children as an important step in eliminating or reducing these deaths. Many developing countries have very limited resources to tackle major health problems and have to rely on external finance. This article examines the impact of foreign aid devoted to the health sector on child health promotion in developing countries. Two proxies for child health promotion are used: (a) immunization against measles and (b) immunization against Diphtheria–Pertussis–Tetanus (DPT). A range of model specifications and panel data econometric techniques are applied to data covering the period 1990 to 2005. This article finds a positive and statistically significant link between health aid and the measures of child health promotion.     

Using Malmquist index to select the strategic partners in vertical integration: the case of Taiwan LED supply chain

In recent years, green technology efficiency has been one of the most interesting issues when referring to energy saving. The light-emitting diode (LED) is one of the competitive industries on green technology in Taiwan. The objective of this article is to select the vertical strategic partners of the 22 LED companies through investigating performance of integration. The Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is used to evaluate the average efficiency change from 2011 to 2015. The empirical results show that the productivity change was influenced by both catch-up effects and frontier effects. For upstream companies, the MPI of Tekcore is superior to others because it maintained technical efficiency and technological change. For downstream companies, most of them are performed well in technical efficiency than technological change. This article helps LED manufacturers select the appropriate strategic partners to achieve competitive advantage.     

Information technology innovation and its impact on job creation by SMEs in developing countries: an analysis of the literature review

ABSTRACT

This study reviews the literature on the role of technology innovation in job creation through small businesses in developing countries. A seven-step approach to the literature review is used for synthesising relevant data. The results show that technology innovations influence employment creation in small businesses positively and act as a driving force for economic development. The effective use of information technology in small businesses has a major impact on their competitiveness and access to international markets. Thus, the need for the government to develop technology innovative strategies for small businesses to actualise their firm performance and enhance job creation is recommended. The findings and proposed theoretical model of the study enrich existing theories and would help policymakers understand the role of information technology innovation in job creation and economic development.     

Risk-Cost Analysis for the Regulation of Airborne Toxic Substances in a Developing Context: The Case of Arsenic in Chile

Most developing countries are just beginning to takeenvironmental protection seriously. In some cases it is common tocopy regulations from developed countries; however, determininghow much protection is required is difficult, ideally requiringthat the costs and risks be considered to propose a realistic andeffective policy. Chile has serious problems with arsenicpollution associated to emissions from its copper smelters. Toregulate these emissions, a strict ambient concentrationstandard, applicable to the whole country, is being proposed thatreduces risks to an acceptable level. However, little is knownabout the exposure and health effects associated to currentemission levels, and the corresponding costs of reducingemissions. The results of a three-year project that combinesengineering, economics and health information sheds light onthese costs and risks for different values of ambient standards.These show that there are ``win--win' options that obtainsignificant health improvements at low, even negative, costs.However, costs quickly increase as the concentration standardbecomes more stringent, with few additional health benefits. Inmany locations naturally high background levels of arsenic makeit very costly or even impossible to reach the desired goal.These results make it necessary to examine the use of a case-by-caseregulation for each source, rather than a general one basedon a unique ambient quality goal. They also suggest that copyingstandards or risk criteria used in developed contexts can beextremely expensive.     

The participation decision versus the level of participation in an environmental treaty: a spatial probit analysis

This paper represents treaty participation as a two-stage game, for which nations first decide whether or not to participate and then they choose their level of participation. The resulting subgame perfect equilibrium is used to derive a reduced-form equation for estimating and separating the influences of the variables at the two decision stages. This spatial probit equation forms the basis for a full-information maximum likelihood estimator that accounts for the simultaneity bias associated with public good spillins at both stages. When the procedure is applied to the Helsinki Protocol, we find that the strategic influence of a variable may drastically differ depending upon which stage is scrutinized.     

Marketising the commons in Africa: the case of Ghana

The recent surge in the marketisation of the commons in Africa – especially of water bodies – warrants careful political economic analysis. Three questions remain intractable: (1) Were there markets in the beginning? If so, how have they transformed and if not, how did markets arise and transform over the years? (2) what are the outcomes of such markets for people, their livelihoods, and their environment? And (3) how to interpret the outcomes of water markets and whether water should be commodified at all. For new institutional economists, water markets have arisen because of the inferior nature of Indigenous or customary systems which are incapable of offering precisely what water markets offer Africa: economic and ecological fortunes. Using an institutional political economy approach and drawing on experiences in Ghana, the paper investigates the social history of marketisation of the commons and probes the effects of marketisation in terms of absolute, relative, and differential/congruent outcomes as well as the opportunity cost of the current water property rights regime. The empirical evidence shows that markets have been socially created through imposed and directed policies. Some jobs have been created through investment, but such employment is not unique to marketisation and private investment. Indeed, the private model of property rights has worsened the distribution of water resources not only within different property relations in Africa but also between diverse property relations. Water markets have been responsible for much displacement and trouble not only for communities but also nature. Overall, there is no necessary congruence between the promises made by new institutional economists and how communities experience water markets. Tighter regulations for the use of inland and transboundary water sources might temporarily halt the displacement of communities sparked by marketisation of the commons, but only one fundamental change can guarantee community well-being: to regard the access to and community control of water as constitutionally sanctioned human rights and as res communis.     

Using the functional analysis to understand the emergence of biomaterials within an existing biotechnology system: observations from a case study in Turkey

ABSTRACT

The paper applies a functional approach to the analysis of an emerging technology within an innovation system (IS) in a developing country. By doing so, the paper identifies the advantages and drawbacks of the approach through a dynamic analysis and highlights the life cycle of an IS within which a new technology is emerging. This is done empirically by analysing the emergence of biosimilars within the infant Turkish biotechnology system mainly from the perspective of firms. Our analysis of the Turkish case illustrates how the tool of functional approach could be valuable in understanding the dynamics of a technology in a developing country context. Policy suggestions and implications of the study are presented as concluding remarks.     

Economic growth and poverty traps in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of education and TFP shocks

This paper investigates the “education-total factor productivity trade-off” in explaining income per worker differences between sub-Saharan (unlucky) and G7 (lucky) economies. First, we examine the dynamics of average years of schooling (i.e. education), capital per worker, income per worker, and total factor productivity (TFP) across sub-Saharan and G7 countries. We confirm that physical capital and education levels partially explain income per worker differences between lucky and unlucky economies. Second, we undertake a novel examination of the impact of technology shocks on income per worker, with the goal of understanding the role of technology variation in causing cross-country income per worker differences, and as a potential contributor to overall slow growth in the sub-Saharan region. In a vector autoregressive (VAR) framework, we show that the impact of “ad hoc” TFP shocks on income per worker is larger in unlucky economies than in lucky ones. We observe that average TFP volatility in the “unlucky world” is eight times higher than in the “G7 world”. We argue that the order of magnitude of the impact heavily depends on the level of the TFP volatility. Last, we suggest that the documented differences in the amount of physical capital and in the productivity of human capital between these two regions add conceptual support for the existence of poverty traps for sub-Saharan Africa.     

The healthy development of economies: A strategic framework for competitiveness in the health industry

Applying a strategic decision-making perspective on the economics of business, we suggest that a competitive locality in the health industry is one that, relative to other localities, is effective in: (1) providing the healthcare that enables everyone to participate fully in the democratic development of the locality; (2) providing the healthcare that is democratically identified as a direct objective of this development; (3) contributing through the health industry to any other democratically determined objectives of the locality's development. The paper hypothesizes that strategic decision-making in organizations is an especially significant determinant of the impacts of the health industry. We conclude that: (i) a locality that suffers concentration in the power to determine the objectives of its health industry could not be strictly competitive in that industry; (ii) the first best way to achieve competitiveness in the health industry would be to democratize its strategic decision-making. What this would entail in practice is discussed in some detail.     

Size and Implication of Informal Economy in African Countries: Evidence from a Structural Model

This paper presents estimates of the informal economy in 41 African countries, including North Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and West Africa during the period 2007–2013. Using a structural equation model with latent variables, the empirical results indicate that the average size of the informal economy in Africa (in% of formal gross domestic product) in 41 countries is 42.9%, 39.9% in 5 countries in North Africa, 40.02% in 11 countries in southern Africa, 43.24% in 6 countries of East Africa, 45.5% in 7 countries of Central Africa and 45.21% in 12 countries in West Africa. We suggest economic policy recommendations to solve the dilemma of the informal economy not only in the regions but also in different countries such as: identifying the causes of informality, the barriers to formalization and how to eliminate them; developing policies, procedures and institutions that can help informal activities meet market economy requirements, reforming legal systems and ensuring equal access for all; and finally, establishing affordable social benefits for workers.