The trade facilitation impact of the Chinese diaspora

Using an enhanced data set on the population share of overseas Chinese in 1970 and 1990, this paper analyses the impact of the Chinese diaspora on facilitating China's bilateral trade during the period 1973–2013. Our findings suggest substantial trade creation effects resulting from the presence of ethnic Chinese in the trade partner population. Diaspora impacts on Chinese bilateral imports are in general higher than those found for exports. Coethnic networks play a larger role as long as the partner country does not have an RTA with China in place. Among export sectors, effects found were strongest for food, as well as for machinery and transport equipment. In regard to imports, coethnic networks matter mostly for raw materials, machinery and transport equipment, and chemicals.     

一种改进的RSSI测距定位算法

针对接收信号强度指示(Received Signal Strength Indication,RSSI)定位模型易受环境影响导致测距误差较大的问题，提出了采用天牛须搜索(Beetle Antennae Search,BAS)优化后向传播（Back Propagation，BP）神经网络拟合测距模型，克服了对数衰减模型易受环境干扰、参数取经验值等问题。首先，利用卡尔曼滤波对RSSI值进行校正，将校正后的数据输入BAS-BP网络拟合出测距模型并通过测距模型输出距离值；然后，利用极大似然估计法求解未知节点的坐标。实验结果表明，与BP模型和粒子群优化的BP模型相比，改进方法收敛速度快，定位精度提高更加明显。     

Conflict in tourism development in rural China

This paper explores the phenomenon of conflict in tourism development in rural China. Four cases were selected and analyzed as part of this exploration. The study identified eight major conflict issues: land expropriation, ticket revenue distribution, vending rights, tourism management rights, house demolition, house building, entry restrictions, and village elections. The conflict evolution process indicates that these issues are dynamic and connected rather than static and isolated. Local government was found to be the most important conflicting party for local people due to its authority and economic interests in tourism development. In addition, an often-ignored conflicting party, villagers' committees, was found to have limitations in maintaining local people's interests. The findings of this study shed light on this complicated and sensitive tourism conflict phenomenon in rural China. A couple of practical implications for local authorities and UNESCO are outlined at the end of the paper.     

A Non-Proportional Hazards Model with Hazard Ratio Functions Free from Covariate Values

A brief survey on methods to handle non-proportional hazards in survival analysis is given with emphasis on short-term and long-term hazard ratio modelling. A drawback of the existing model of this nature is that except at time zero or infinity, the hazard ratio for a unit increase in the value of a covariate depends on the starting value. With two or more covariates, the hazard ratio for a unit increase in one covariate with other covariates held fixed depends in an unintended way on the values of the other covariates. We propose an alternative way to model short-term and long-term hazard ratios without the above drawbacks through a judicious choice of covariate-time interactions. Under the new model, it is easier to describe the time-varying effect of each covariate on the hazard. Nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation for the new model can be carried out in the same way as for the existing model. We also propose a product version of the existing model, which overcomes its second drawback but not the first. The advocated covariate–time interaction model provides a better fit to the Veterans Administration lung cancer data set than the original and product versions of the existing model.     

Vertical fiscal imbalance and local fiscal indiscipline: Empirical evidence from China

Based on Chinese city-level panel dataset, this paper examines the effects of vertical fiscal imbalances (VFI) on local fiscal indiscipline in a partial fiscal decentralization setting. We find that higher VFI induces a form of fiscal indiscipline: a reduction of tax collection effort by local governments. In addition, by exploiting the unique Chinese fiscal institution of “extra-budgetary” revenues, we show that in this case higher VFI does not alter local governments’ tax collection effort. Even though local governments also possess full taxing power for “extra-budgetary” revenues, these revenues do not contribute to the determination of central fiscal transfers to local governments, thus creating very different incentives for local governments response to VFI. Our results shed light on the working mechanism of the VFI and provide significant implications for improving the design of fiscal decentralization policy in China and elsewhere.     

Impact of local payments for ecosystem services on land use in a developed area of China: A qualitative analysis based on an integrated conceptual framework

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have increasingly been applied as economic incentives for improving ecosystem services around the world. However, due to difficulties in measuring and attributing ecosystem services provisioning, a land-based approach has been popularly adopted as a proxy for the desired ecosystem services. In this study, we demonstrate the impact mechanism and outcomes of locally financed PES programs on conservation-based land use in a developed area of China. We present this work using a PES-land use proxy framework that is examined empirically through a variety of qualitative assessments. Our framework illustrates that, within the ecological, socioeconomic, and institutional conditions of developed areas, land use class, pattern and function would be impacted by (a) conservation effect, (b) stakeholder response, and (c) institutional adaptation mechanisms of local PES programs, with multiple land use trends as potential outcomes. We examine the framework using materials from Suzhou, China, which has implemented a top-down, partly involuntary (ecosystem services supply side), land based PES program. Our results show that, expected land use class, land use pattern and land use function are observed in areas where the PES programs were implemented. We also find that the conditions of developed areas and locally financed payments mechanism indeed played a crucial role in promoting conservation-based land use in Suzhou.     

The impact of austerity on funding green infrastructure: A DPSIR evaluation of the Liverpool Green & Open Space Review (LG&OSR), UK

Following the introduction of austerity measures by the coalition government in 2010, Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) across the UK were required to take stock of those services that they are legally and financially obliged to deliver. One area directly impacted has been the funding of green infrastructure (GI), which is often considered an “optional extra” in service provision. The financial limitations placed on GI maintenance have a significant influence on both the liveability and quality of urban environments. To address this dilemma this paper contextualises the complexities facing UK cities within a global discussion of GI financing but goes further by presenting an ex-post DPSIR examination of the choices being made by Liverpool City Council (LCC) to fund maintenance. DPSIR is an evaluation process which provides scope to better understand the factors influencing GI at an LPA scale. The paper reflects upon the drivers, pressures and impacts associated with austerity asking what responses are being used by LCC. The paper argues that, although austerity has placed significant constraints on LCC, through the Liverpool Green & Open Space Review (LG&OSR) the city is engaged in an ongoing dialogue pertaining to innovative funding mechanisms. It concludes that, although no single approach can effectively finance GI, a suite of complementary financial models exists, which are transferable between cities addressing current political, socio-economic, and ecological limitations.     

The role of spatial interdependence in local government cost efficiency: An application to waste Italian sector

The paper aims to study the effect of spatial interdependence, among nearby municipalities, on public services efficiency. An empirical analysis on the waste disposal service in 4250 Italian municipalities was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of waste management expenditure, once the impact of positive/negative externalities, of neighbouring local governments, on efficiency levels is isolated. From a methodological point of view, our study extends the spatial stochastic frontier methodology proposed in Fusco & Vidoli (2013) usable only for production analysis, allowing to admit into a cost frontier the spatial autocorrelation among residuals. Ignoring spatial autocorrelation leads to inferential problems violating one of the most important assumption of classical regression models: the non-correlation of the residuals. We found a significant spatial interdependence among neighbouring municipalities in term of cost efficiency, that, thanks to the methodology proposed, has been isolated allowing a discussion on the specific efficiency of municipalities. These results may suggest the need to consider proximity effects in future investigations about the efficiency of waste management and, more generally, of public services.     

区块链技术在地方财政管理改革中的运用探究

区块链作为融合了分布式数据存储、点对点传输、共识机制、加密算法、智能合约等计算机技术的新兴应用模式,具有去中心化、数据不可篡改或重复、交易信息易于追踪和监督、交易流程公开透明等特征,为数字化时代下的财政管理改革和发展提供了新的思路和方向。本文在分析区块链技术特征的基础上,探究其在地方财政管理改革中的运用,为优化地方财政会计信息质量和预算编制流程、提高财政资金的使用效率、确保财政资金的合理合规使用和全流程可控、增加财政预决算信息公开透明度提出相关方案和建议。