Social mobility and inequality in urban China: understanding the role of intergenerational transmission of education

China’s rapid economic growth since the late 1980s has been accompanied by great economic and social transformations, which have resulted in a sharp increase in income inequality. This article contributes to the literature of social mobility in China by examining the impact of parental education on the education of their children. Using the 1990 and 2000 Chinese Population Censuses, we employ nonparametric estimation strategies to provide a systematic investigation of intergenerational transmission of education in urban China. We find evidence of increasing parents–children educational correlations. Our results raise concerns regarding economic inequality in urban China as high intergenerational persistence of education is expected to be a barrier to equal opportunities in children’s education attainments and their future labour market outcomes.     

The changing employment situation in some cities with living wage ordinances

More than 120 municipalities (cities, towns, and counties) have introduced living wage ordinances. These laws mandate that certain employers in their jurisdiction pay their workers wages that are above federal and state minimum levels. The opponents of these laws argue that these ordinances have adverse impacts on local labor markets. This study considers rates of growth of employment and unemployment trends in a sample of these cities before and after they introduced their living wage ordinances. It finds that while a few cities have had negative labor market experiences after introducing their living wage law these cities represent the exception rather than the rule.     

以城乡互动推进就地就近城镇化发展分析

“伪城镇化”、“半城镇化”现象的背后是中国城乡二元经济“一元化”过程中的“农民进城”与城市吸融功能不足的矛盾、“小城镇化浪潮”与农村城镇化的发展潜力不足的矛盾。结合中国国情的高质量城镇化发展模式在于守地式的就近就地城镇化发展,而守地式发展的关键在于农村产业发展,农村产业的发展又依赖于城乡市场与产业的互动。这需要发展立足农村的“产供销一体化”大型商贸企业,破解农村市场劳动力流转、土地流转、融资与技术及管理水平低下问题,构建城乡产业互动的交换利益基础,优化城乡产业体系配套和互补的对接方式,提升城乡产业合作的分工层次。     

中心镇推进城乡一体化的时空演进模式研究:理论与实证

重点发展大城市和农村剩余劳动力向城市转移的传统城市化道路越来越受到内外发展环境的制约而困难重重,改革与发展中心镇日益成为破除城乡二元结构和推进城乡一体化的重要路径.在充分阐述中心镇作为城乡一体化战略节点的内涵及其战略意义的基础上,文章理论和实证地研究了中心镇推进城乡一体化的阶段性特征和空间模式化特征.研究发现,中心镇推进城乡一体化主要经历了初始阶段、成长阶段及成熟阶段三个发展时期,在不同的发展阶段,中心镇自身的产业结构、基础设施发展水平以及政府政策重点与导向等各不相同,中心镇推进城乡一体化发展具有十分明显的阶段性特征.同时,从生产力空间布局形态来看,推进城乡一体化的中心镇空间模式主要包括了产业平台集散驱动型和城镇功能优化带动型两种.最后,提出了分阶段分层次的中心镇改革发展政策建议.     

城市居民游憩行为时空特征调查研究——以南京为例

满足市民利用闲暇时间放松身心的游憩需求,不仅仅是市民个人的问题,更关系到城市发展问题。从南京市民角度看,参与游憩的欲望与程度取决于市民个体的身体及收入状况、游憩地类型、距离因素等;从时空特征角度看,市民游憩时间与闲暇时间呈正相关,而在空间上则表现出距离衰减规律;从游憩地条件看,游憩设施吸引力有限、消费太高、服务有待完善、交通不够便捷等问题已成为市民参与游憩的障碍。政府部门应加强对市民游憩观念的引导,更应加大投入力度,强化基础设施及游憩功能建设,着力解决诸如公共交通、环境保护等问题,推进游憩资源整合,不断完善游憩服务与产品,提升公共服务能力。     

城市化与城市资源消耗间关系的实证研究——以北京市为例

建立基于误差修正模型的Granger因果关系模型,检验分析了北京的城市化与城市资源消耗之间的因果关系。结果显示:在短期内,北京的城市化与城市资源消耗互为Granger因果关系;在长期内,仅存在从城市化到城市资源消耗的单向Granger因果关系,这表明当前及今后很长一段时间内北京城市化仍较多依赖资源消耗。最后指出建立有助于节约资源的城市化推进模式是实现北京市可持续发展的根本路径选择。     

旅游同城化的动力机制与合作模式研究--以太榆同城化为例

“同城化”是城市化发展到一定阶段而产生的新现象,旅游同城化既是“同城化”的一个重要内容,更是“同城化”的一种创新思维。阐释了旅游同城化的基本内涵,从大量实践中总结出旅游同城化的类型和驱动因素。并以太（原）榆（次）同城化为例进行了实证研究,探讨了太榆同城化的条件和合作模式,得出旅游同城化的合作模式通常是几种模式并存。最后提出太榆旅游同城化的战略构想与实施机制以及实施的具体策略。     

边远农村集体经济发展困境及其对策——以湖南湘西自治州龙山县为例

发展和壮大农村集体经济是我国经济制度的重要内容之一。在建设社会主义新农村过程中,尤其是在城乡一体化发展中,面临的边远农村集体经济建设问题,显得越发复杂。湖南湘西龙山县的实际状况,有着许多值得思考和探索的东西。其中,立足于政策和法律制度的建设问题,比如集体经济的作用力、集体土地等资源的制度适用、农村建设人才的培育以及如何发挥各地农村建设特色功能,是需要重点注意的。     

Structural changes and regional disparity in China's inflation: a revisit

The study re-examined the time series properties and regional disparities in Chinese inflation by extending the work of Chong, Zhang, and Feng (2011 Chong, Tai-Leeung, Terence, Ning Zhang and Feng, Qu. 2011. Structural Changes and Regional Disparity in China's Inflation. Economics Bulletien, 31(1): 572–583.  [Google Scholar]). For this purpose we employed the Lagrange Multiplier (LM) unit root test with one structural break and two structural breaks suggested by Lee and Strazicich (2003 Lee, Junsoo, Mark, C. and Strazicich. 2003. Minimum LM Unit Root Test with Two Structural Breaks. Review of Economics and Statistics, 85(4): 1082–1089. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2004 Lee, J. and Strazicich, M. 2004. Minimum LM unit root test with one structural break. Working Paper 04–17, Boone, North Carolina: Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.  [Google Scholar]) and a recently developed ADF type unit root test with two structural breaks of Narayan and Popp (2010 Narayan, Paresh Kumar and Stephan Popp. 2010. A New Unit root test with Two Structural Breaks in Level and Slope at Unknown Time. Journal of Applied Statistics, 37(9): 1425–1438. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We found that national, urban and rural series of the overall inflation series, clothing, and food, national series of education and residence and the rural series of residence and education are stationary. We also found regional disparity in Chinese inflation, but the disparities existed only in education inflation series.     

Remembering the Beatles' legacy in Hamburg's problematic tourism strategy

Since the late 1980s/early 1990s, Liverpool has been synonymous with Beatles-related tourism, investing in museums, city walks, and redeveloping the Mathew Street Cavern Quarter. Another, perhaps lesser known, site of Beatles' tourism that has slowly immerged in recent years is the Reeperbahn area of Hamburg, Germany. While a number of cities with a strong musical heritage have developed tourism and urban regeneration around their musical past, primary research and photographic evidence gathered in Hamburg reveals that Hamburg is a city of conflicting identities. The city's leaders want Hamburg to compete as a cultural and financial site of tourism and investment on a global scale. However, by examining the mytholization of ‘the Beatles’ Hamburg’ at the Beatlemania Museum, and the lack of investment in the surrounding infrastructure, research shows that this act of selective memory is driven by economic and ideological agendas in Hamburg's overall urban regeneration plans. Arguably, the multi-billion euro HafenCity project is to be the new vision and focus of Hamburg's regenerated image. This article does not argue for a ‘Disneyfication’ of Hamburg's Reeperbahn area, but attempts to highlight the missed opportunities for the city to support and cultivate its music heritage and struggling artisan/independent scene.