A LITERATURE SURVEY ON PROPOSED AFRICAN MONETARY UNIONS

This study provides a survey of recent advances in the literature on proposed African monetary unions. The survey comprises about 70 empirical papers published during the past 15 years. Four main strands are discussed individually and collectively. They comprise the proposed: (i) West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), (ii) East African Monetary Union (EAMU), (iii) Southern African Monetary Union (SAMU) and (iv) African Monetary Union (AMU). We observe a number of issues with establishing the feasibility and/or desirability of potential monetary unions, inter alia, they are variations in: choice of variables, empirical strategies, sampled countries and considered periodicities. We address this ambiguity by reviewing studies with scenarios that are consistent with Hegelian dialectics and establish selective expansion as the predominant mode of monetary integration. Some proponents make cases for strong pegs and institutions as viable alternatives to currency unions. Using cluster analysis, disaggregating panels into sub-samples and distinguishing shocks from responses in the examination of business cycle synchronisation provide more subtle policy implications. We caution that for inquiries using the same theoretical underpinnings, variables and methods just by modifying the scope/context and periodicity may only contribute to increasing the number of conflicting findings. Authors should place more emphasis on new perspectives and approaches based on caveats of, and lessons from the European Monetary Union (EMU) and CFA zones.     

Real exchange rates: are they dominated by fundamental factors?

Using Bayesian model averaging, we determine which fundamental pair-wise differences suggested by the literature on optimum currency areas give the best explanation of medium-term variability of bilateral real exchange rates. The intercept in the best specification is statistically insignificant, implying that for a hypothetical pair of economies for which the differences were zero, the bilateral real exchange rate would not move. Thus, the ‘non-fundamental’ element of the medium-term real exchange rate variability is, in our sample at least, negligible on average. In other words, floating exchange rate does not in itself imply, on average, more real exchange rate variability in the medium term than an exchange rate peg.     

广东万绿湖生态旅游集聚区旅游新业态发展研究

生态旅游产业集聚区是旅游产业转型的一种创新型产业形态,有利于实现旅游产业规模经济效应,丰富区域旅游品牌,促进地方旅游经济的发展。广东省河源市拥有良好的生态旅游区景色及国家一级地表饮用水源,是具有较强的旅游吸引力的地接型城市,作为广东水源保护地,生态屏障区,应从循环经济、可持续发展、生态学角度,构建生态旅游集聚区经济模式,并采取切实措施,使生态旅游与环境保护平衡发展。     

基于Q币的网络虚拟币属性与影响分析

Q币目前并不是货币,但具有一定的货币属性与功能,如有限度的流通性,相对的价值尺度职能,一定程度的支付手段等。就Q币的特征而言,Q币与法定货币之间存在着很大的差异,Q币不能代替人民币的作用。但虚拟币的无限创造能力成为潜在的不稳定因素,中央银行难以有效控制货币供给,可能危及我国的金融安全。我国应严厉打击倒卖Q币的行为,加强对Q币等网络虚拟币的金融监管,建立更安全便捷的支付渠道。     

亚热带地区国有林场可持续经营指标体系研究

通过实地调查研究,借鉴已发布的国际、国家、地区、经营单位层面森林可持续经营标准和指标,以森林可持续经营为主要内容,对亚热带地区国有林场森林经营、人力资源、社会资源等方面进行研究,构建出亚热带地区国有林场可持续经营指标体系,为亚热带地区国有林场可持续经营提供理论借鉴,期盼为制定亚热带地区森林可持续经营指标提供借鉴。     

Stakeholder perceptions and governance challenges in urban protected area management: The case of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area,Philippines

The conservation and management of protected areas in urban settings has become increasingly challenging with dynamics over land use change in adjacent urban areas being highly relevant to, but at times conflicting with, the protected area. This study seeks to better understand the implications of land use change processes to urban protected area management through the case study of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) in Metro Manila, Philippines. Factors and processes influencing land use change and protected area management and the impact of stakeholders’ perceptions on protected area were analyzed. The urban protected area in itself has limited influence on its surrounding urban areas, as land use change in these areas is shaped more by social, economic and policy/institutional factors occurring within the context of urban-regional development. The study also found that land use conflict is evident in an urban protected area due to the competing ecosystem services derived by various stakeholders. This discord is deepened by the lack of coordination between land use planning and protected area management. Integrating protected area management with land use planning through legally binding instruments, specific timeframes and clear internal procedures can help resolve land use conflict for an urban protected area at the strategic or policy level.     

新时期秦巴地区发展电子商务物流现状分析及对策研究

近年来,电子商务发展迅速,但由于历史原因,秦巴地区由于各方面条件欠缺,电子商务物流发展缓慢.因此,我们必须根据实际,找准问题,推动秦巴地区电子商务物流跨越式发展.     

关于建设国际化大都市的若干思考——基于西安的经济和产业发展情况进行分析

本文通过研究国际化大都市的定位和特征,以西安为例探讨如何建设国际化大都市,并进一步分析西安高新区作为要建成世界一流科技产业园区的高新技术产业开发区,如何发挥其示范引领作用。     

Positive and normative judgments implicit in U.S. tax policy,and the costs of unequal growth and recessions

Calculating the welfare implications of changes to economic policy or shocks requires economists to decide on a normative criterion. One approach is to elicit the relevant moral criteria from real-world policy choices, converting a normative decision into a positive inference, as in the recent surge of “inverse-optimum” research. We find that capitalizing on the potential of this approach is not as straightforward as we might hope. We perform the inverse-optimum inference on U.S. tax policy from 1979 through 2010 and argue that the results either undermine the normative relevance of the approach or challenge conventional assumptions upon which economists routinely rely when performing welfare evaluations.     

亚太区域贸易协定的经济增长效应*——基于RTAs数量与质量的对比研究

21世纪以来，亚太地区区域贸易协定（RTA）签署的数量激增，学术界理论与现实出现悖论，引发学者思考各国热衷于建立RTAs背后的原因并探索新的研究方法。本文首次从RTAs数量和质量的影响效应哪个更为重要的视角，将发达国家和发展中国家进行对比分析，深入探究发达国家在新时期推进新一代贸易协定规则的原因。通过比对RTA协议的每一条条款，测算出涉及传统WTO+和新一代WTO-X领域的条款覆盖率和法定承诺率指标来衡量RTA的质量，实证分析得出，签署高质量的区域贸易协定能更有效地推动亚太地区的经济增长和人民福利水平的提高，该影响效应在发达国家中更为明显，而发展中国家受限于执行能力在新一代规则下签订RTA对经济增长的作用不显著。