Institutions and the Environmental Kuznets Curve for Deforestation: A Crosscountry Analysis for Latin America,Africa and Asia

The relationship between deforestation and income across 66 countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia is examined. Institutional characteristics as well as macroeconomic policies of each country are hypothesized to impact deforestation. Results show strong evidence of an environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between income and deforestation for all three continents. Institutional structure and macroeconomic policy significantly affect the tropical deforestation process. Improvements in political institutions and governance significantly reduce deforestation. The factors leading to deforestation differ across regions, however, and there is no one-size-fits-all global policy recommendation for restraining the tropical deforestation process.     

From protectionism to free trade fever? Recent reforms in developing countries

During the 1980s, increasing numbers of developing countries unilaterally liberalized their trade regimes. This paper presents an overview of this dramatic shift from protectionism toward freer trade. South Asia, Latin America, and East Asia have implemented extensive reforms, yet each region has shown a distinct difference in approach and in the degree of liberalization actually achieved. Latin America stands out as moving sharply toward the level of openness of the East Asian Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs). Only in Africa is there little progress toward freer trade.     

COMMODITY PRICE SHOCKS AND THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY SINCE FEDERATION*

Australia has experienced frequent and large commodity export price shocks similar to commodity exporters in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, but this price volatility has had much more modest impact on economic performance. Why? This paper explores Australian terms of trade volatility since 1901. It identifies two major price shock episodes before the recent mining‐led boom and bust. It assesses their relative magnitude, their impact on de‐industrialisation and distribution during the booms, and the labour market and policy responses to the shocks. Australia has indeed responded differently to volatile commodity prices than have other commodity exporters.     

The political economy of the United States policy in Southern Africa

Conclusion Former Secretary of State Kissinger’s policies towards and maneuvers in southern Africa must be examined within the context of America’s global strategy and imperialist objectives. As in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, the United States aims at giving South Africa sufficient support so that she can play a policing role in southern Africa, if not in sub-Sahara Africa as a whole. This is what the Nixon-Kissinger Doctrine called for. It argued that the Western countries must now establish a decentralized, global system of defense. This article was originally published inRBPE, Spring 1977 (vol. 7, no. 3).     

美国的中亚政策及其对上海合作组织的制约分析

冷战结束后,各种政治力量进入中亚,美国就是影响中亚政局重要的因素之一。中亚的资源和特殊的地理位置令美国不可忽视,美国通过政治干预和经济渗透使其对中亚国家的影响和控制不断增强。美国因素影响到中亚国家的政策取向,并有可能使中亚国家对“上海合作组织”的立场和态度发生改变,制约上海合作组织的发展。     

Competition among developing countries for foreign investment in the eighties — Whom did OECD investors prefer?

Conclusions Developing countries including the NIEs failed to maintain their shares in total foreign investment of all major OECD countries in the eighties. Shares were generally lower by 1988 than ten years ago. This negative trend can be observed for investment in manufacturing in particular, but also for non-manufacturing. Middle East and SubSaharan African countries came down to negligible shares, while shifts in shares mainly occurred between Latin America as a losing region and the Asian NIEs as winners. In absolute terms, however, Latin America remained a major host area. Within the regions, trends towards concentrating investment on few countries proliferated from Latin America where such concentration was traditionally high, to Asia with Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and partly Hong Kong, in the lead. Against this background, home countries widely continued to maintain their traditionally preferred strongholds as did Japan in Southeast Asia, West Germany in Brazil and Argentina, the US in Latin America in general, and the UK in Commonwealth countries. Such patterns remained stable over time, but differed from each other.     

国际金融整合下资金流动与经济增长关系研究——基于新兴经济体面板数据的分析

在引入特定的宏观经济、金融和政策变量等控制变量后,本文尝试检验东欧、东亚和拉丁美洲三大主要新兴经济体的资金流动方向及其对经济增长的影响。实证结果显示:东欧地区收入水平与金融深化程度仍然偏低,但随着发展程度提高,未来将由资金流入转为流出。东亚地区的超额外汇储备、贸易顺差与资金流出,被指控为造成美国巨额经常账户赤字与全球经常账户失衡的主要原因之一。但该地区若能够持续进行金融深化,资金可能回流并使全球经常账户失衡现象得以缓解。至于拉丁美洲地区的宏观经济、金融和政策变量,对资金流动方向并无决定性影响,财政与货币政策仍是决定资金流入能否有助于经济增长的关键因素。最后,本文对解决我国国际收支不平衡问题提出了政策建议。     

Optimum Currency Areas in Emerging Market Regions: Evidence Based on the Symmetry of Economic Shocks

This paper examines which emerging market regions form optimum currency areas (OCAs) by assessing the symmetry of macroeconomic shocks. We extend the output-prices-VAR framework by adding net exports and the real effective exchange rate as endogenous variables. Based on theoretical considerations, we derive which shocks affect these variables in the long run: shocks to labor productivity, foreign trade, labor supply, and money supply. The considered economies of Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, East and Southeast Asia, and South Asia, exhibit large enough shock symmetry to form a currency union; the economies of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East do not.     

美日韩农村公共物品供给的特点与经验借鉴

中国农村公共物品供给不足一直困扰着农村经济的发展,他山之石可以攻玉,实践证明,美国、日本、韩国农村公共物品供给的财政政策比较符合农村公共物品供给及农村经济发展的客观规律,文章在总结美日韩经验的基础上提出了解决中国农村公共物品供给不足的财政政策。     

The age of mass migration in Latin America

The experiences of Latin American countries are not fully incorporated into current debates concerning the age of mass migration, even though 13 million Europeans migrated to the region between 1870 and 1930. This survey draws together different aspects of the Latin America immigration experience. Its main objective is to rethink the role of European migration to the region, addressing several major questions in the economics of migration: whether immigrants were positively selected from their sending countries, how immigrants assimilated into the host economies, the role of immigration policies, and the long‐run effects of immigration. Immigrants came from the economically backward areas of southern and eastern Europe, yet their adjustment to the host labour markets in Latin America seems to have been successful. The possibility of rapid social upgrading made Latin America attractive for European immigrants. Migrants were positively selected from origin according to literacy. The most revealing aspect of new research is showing the positive long‐run effects that European immigrants had in Latin American countries. The political economy of immigration policies deserves new research, particularly for Brazil and Cuba. The case of Argentina shows a more complex scenario than the classic representation of landowners constantly supporting an open‐door policy.     

巴西解决社会发展问题的措施与启示——兼谈巴西与中国经济关系的重要性

巴西是拉美第一经济大国,中巴两国同为发展中国家,两国经贸合作潜力巨大。深入观察和研究巴西经济社会发展现状、问题和采取的措施,对解决我国社会矛盾、构建社会主义和谐社会不无裨益。     

Strategic factors for trading and investing in Latin America by U.S. businesses during the post-NAFTA era

The U.S. entered into a tripartite free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico on January 1, 1994. This scientific survey examines the strategic factors for trading and investing in Latin America, specifically Mexico, by U.S. businesses during the post-NAFTA era.Support for this research was provided by a Jacksonville State University Faculty Research Grant, 1995–96.     

后危机时代中日韩自由贸易区发展中的机遇与挑战

东北亚是全球超强博弈的重要场所,甚至可以作为全球政治经济发展的一个风向标,这使当地的区域合作变数更大。本文从政治经济学角度分析后金融危机时代中日韩区域合作发展的新契机和挑战,为三国经济健康发展提供建设性政策参考。     

家族企业主的政治联系、制度环境与慈善捐赠——基于全国私营企业调查的实证研究

家族企业的慈善捐赠是中国慈善事业的中坚力量,探究其影响因素对深化理解家族企业行为具有重要价值。文章基于2012年全国私营企业调查数据,采用Tobit回归模型,研究了家族企业主的政治联系、制度环境对慈善捐赠的影响。研究发现家族企业主的政治联系促进慈善捐赠行为,具有政治联系的家族企业主比没有政治联系的家族企业主更多地进行慈善捐赠,政治联系级别越高,慈善捐赠水平也越高。当企业所处地区的制度环境更完善时,政治联系对慈善捐赠的促进作用减弱。文章揭示了家族企业慈善捐赠行为的部分规律,对推动中国慈善事业的发展具有一定的政策含义。     

Microfinance in the Asia Pacific

The use of financial services as a development tool has taken a variety of forms over the past 25 years—rural credit schemes offering heavily subsidised loans to poor farmers, microfinance organisations providing working capital loans to predominately female micro-entrepreneurs, and a variety of organisations offering a range of financial services (credit, savings and insurance) to help poor households increase incomes and reduce their vulnerability to income fluctuations. Microfinance providers in Asia and Latin America have been world leaders, and the demonstration effect of their successes has helped to build substantial microfinance industries in countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Bolivia. Africa has fewer well-known programs but some notable performers and growing microfinance sectors nonetheless; while regions such as the South Pacific have few if any microfinance successes. This paper highlights some key themes in the development of microfinance, with particular reference to the Asia Pacific region.     

Robert Kuok: Family,Dialect, and State in the Making of a Malaysian Magnate

Chinese overseas family businesses generally lack longevity. In addition to difficulties in transiting towards professional management they are susceptible to state pressures. However, Robert Kuok, the richest man in Southeast Asia who heads a vast business empire, has been able to surmount both challenges. This study shows how Kuok successfully turned three important sources of identity into strengths: family, dialect, and the state. These three sources are set against his Johor Bahru background, the changing domestic political landscape, and shifting regional economic influence.     

SOUTH AFRICA'S INTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONS: AN EVOLVING SYSTEM

Across Africa, Latin America, Asia and the transition economies of Eastern Europe, the need to enhance the capability and capacity of sub‐national governments (SNGs) in providing public goods and services has become a main theme of development programmes. Central to this theme is the need to design an intergovernmental fiscal relations (IGFR) system that enhances the effectiveness of sub‐national governments in mobilizing revenues and implementing expenditure programmes. For South Africa, the post‐1994 dispensation has involved significant reforms to the structure and administrative capacity of the three spheres of government. Critical to these reforms is the need to formulate an IGFR framework that takes cognisance of South Africa's past, and serves as an effective policy tool in ensuring that public sector service delivery is well structured and managed. This paper provides an analysis of South Africa's evolving IGFR system. It outlines the historical evolution of the current IGFR system, identifies current challenges, and discusses implications that these challenges have for the functioning of the IGFR system. The general conclusion emerging from this study is that in the South African context, the key elements necessary for an effective IGFR system are in place. Ongoing reforms have improved the capacity of provincial and municipal authorities in carrying out their revenue and expenditure responsibilities. However, the evolving nature of South Africa's IGFR system requires that significant attention be devoted towards enhancing coordination between delivery departments and improving the capacity of many SNGs. These should not only aid the effective functioning of the IGFR system but also ensure that the gains of decentralisation are sustainable.     

Bloody foreigners! Overseas equity on the London Stock Exchange, 1869–1929

This article presents data on quantity, capital gains, dividend yields, and total returns of domestic and overseas equities listed on the London Stock Exchange during 1869–1929. Indices are presented for Africa, Asia, Australia (including New Zealand), Europe, Latin America, and North America (as well as for the UK), and for the finance, transportation, raw materials, and utilities sectors in each region. Returns and volatility were typically highest in emerging regions and the raw materials sector. Dividend yields were similar across regions and differences in total returns were due largely to disparities in capital gains. Contingent liability was most extensively employed where leverage was high and the physical assets were either meagre or inaccessible to creditors.     

Inward and outward foreign direct investment and poverty: East Asia vs. Latin America

Using panel data of 12 middle-income countries in East Asia as well as Latin America, this paper examines how openness in general and outward FDI in particular affects poverty. While economic growth and trade openness are found to be associated with lower poverty, both outward and inward FDI adversely affect the mean income of the poorest quintile of the population. The results hold in both regions, though the Latin American countries seem to be in a somewhat less favorable situation.