Centrally Planned Economies

A bstract . Historical comparisons between the USSR and US economies most often focus on the stark contrasts between market and centrally controlled systems. However, expediency in response to dynamic pressures caused the adoption of central planning in both countries. Additionally, the USSR's lackluster economic performance when wedded to Marxism caused institutional arrangements to move toward markets. After summarizing USSR's central planning experiences before 1965, its similarity to the US's wartime planning is discussed. These comparisons provide insights into the problems of moving between market and planned economies     

试论我国出口市场多元化战略实施

出口市场多元化应包括四个方面的内涵:首先,市场多元化是指区域多元化,即出口市场应全方位、多角度分布于世界各地,而不仅仅聚集于少数市场;其次是指商品多元化,因为商品是市场的核心内容,一国对外贸易,不单单是点多、面广,而且商品品种、规格、档次等都要多样化,才能符合不同消费层次的需求;第三,出口市场多元化应包括经营手段的多样化,即开拓海外市场要采取灵活多变的方式、方法。     

双旋Y切石英振子厚度模式的频温特性的研究

本文利用描述固体中弹性声波的克里斯托费尔方程,建立了双旋Y切石英振子厚度模式的频温特性分析方法,并编制了相应的计算机程序。该程序可给出双旋Y切石英振子在任意切角(ф_3ф_1)下的厚度模(a、b、c模)的频率温度特性曲线。文中给出了单旋AT切、BT切(b模)、双旋SC切(b、c模)、FC切、IT切、LC切、NL_1切、NL_2切、AK切等各已知切型的频温特性曲线。对石英谐振器的切角灵敏度和切角误差进行了分析。     

Social Networks and Economic Sociology

A bstract The social network metaphor is widely used by sociologists to study socioeconomic behavior and processes The use of social networks generally takes place within the ranks of sociology However, a more complete social science would result by combining work being done on social networks within sociology with mainline economic theory The insights from such a research agenda will help us better understand socioeconomic behavior With this in mind, the main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of the network metaphor to economists This objective will be accomplished through developing four basic components of social networks, and using them to navigate through the existing literature in economic sociology Furthermore, topics for future research in which social networks can provide contributions to the explanation of socioeconomic behavior are explored as well     

Web服务:颠覆性的创造力

Gartner观点:Gartner的专家们认为直至2003年Web服务才能真正发展起来。2003年全球40%的电子商务贸易将利用Web服务来完成,2004年这一数字将超过50%,而交易时间将大大缩短。2003年大约80%的开发平台将支持Web服务体系,Web服务将代表下一代软件开发平台的发展方向。据调查显示,在创建Web服务应用程序时,有78%的人使用的是J2EE,并且认为它是最有效的创建和配置Web服务的平台;而使用微软.Net的人为22%。从中我们似乎可以看出哪一个平台更适合于Web服务,哪一个平台又更适合于大多数的开发者。这两个平台的竞争,在2002年愈演愈烈。     

我国市场经济的历史起点与发展阶段的选择

国际上市场经济经历了萌芽阶段、初级阶段、发展阶段、发达阶段,各阶段的依据是不同生产力性质、不同生产关系形式以及商品生产和商品交换的不同水平.我国市场经济的历史起点应是三个:一是从计划经济开始向市场经济转化,二是从自然经济向商品经济转化,三是从小商品经济(或简单商品经济)向大商品经济或市场经济转化.我国市场经济发展阶段的战略选择,应该是分类定位和分类发展,采取多层次多样化的市场经济的发展阶段.     

“De‐risking” Corporate Pension Plans: Options for CFOs

Until the stock market bubble burst in 2000–2002, most CFOs viewed their defined benefit pension plans as profit centers and relatively risk‐free sources of income. Since neither pension assets nor liabilities were reported on corporate balance sheets, and expected returns on pension stocks could be substituted for actual returns when reporting net income, the risks associated with DB plans were masked by GAAP accounting and thus assumed to have no bearing on corporate capital structure. But when stock prices and corporate profits fell together, the risks associated with conventional stock‐heavy pension plans showed up first in reduced pension surpluses (or, in many cases, deficits) and then later in higher required cash contributions and lower reported earnings. As a consequence, today's investors (and rating agencies) are viewing pension and other legacy liabilities as corporate debt, and demands for transparency and increased funding have triggered accounting changes and proposed legislative reforms that will further unmask the economics. This article aims to provide both private‐sector and public‐sector CFOs with suggestions for reducing and controlling the cost of providing for the retirement of their employees. Profitable, tax‐paying companies with DB plans should consider (1) funding any unfunded liabilities (if necessary, by issuing debt) and (2) reducing pension equity and interest rate exposures by shifting some (if not all) pension assets into bonds and defeasing the pension liability (achieving a tax arbitrage in the process). And in cases where the expected costs of maintaining DB plans outweigh the benefits, companies should consider freezing or terminating their plans and switching to a defined contribution (DC) or some form of hybrid plan. The authors also propose similar changes for public pension plans, where underfunding and mismatch problems are greater, less transparent, and in some ways less tractable than those of corporate DB plans.     

Immigration and the Global City Hypothesis: Towards an Alternative Research Agenda

The debate around the ‘Global City Hypothesis’ (GCH), and particularly the research agenda of the ‘Globalization and World Cities’ network, have been preoccupied recently with the business and technological dimensions of so–called ‘global cities’. This article seeks to recover the role of immigration in large urban economies. Using mainly observations from European metropolises, I argue first that the GCH requires significant revision insofar as it can be used as a tool for addressing issues of inequality, and I offer five propositions for a renewal of the existing contours of the GCH. Second, beyond these revisions, I suggest a complete reformulation of the debate by linking it with ideas emanating from the literature on transnationalism. Le débat sur ‘l’Hypothèse de la ville globale’, et notamment sur le programme de recherche du réseau ‘Mondialisation et Villes mondiales’, s’est récemment soucié des dimensions économiques et technologiques des dites ‘villes planétaires’. Cet article tente de révéler le rôle de l’immigration dans les grandes économies urbaines. A partir d’observations de métropoles européennes principalement, il affirme d’abord que, dans la mesure où cette hypothèse peut servir d’outil pour aborder les questions d’inégalité, elle requiert une importante révision; sont donc exposées cinq propositions pour en renouveler les profils existents. Il suggère ensuite une reformulation complète du débat en l’associant à des idées émanant de travaux sur le transnationalisme.