Local Government,Spatial Spillovers and the Absorption of EU Structural Funds

The allocation of regional policy funds varies dramatically across regions even when one controls for regional development indicators. We investigate the impact of local government performance as well as spillovers in knowledge, financial means and social relations as determinants of regional fund absorption. Government performance is derived within a Data Envelopment Analysis approach. Spillovers are investigated using a spatial Durbin model. Results show that government performance has a positive impact on fund absorption. Spillovers occur in knowledge as well as in financial means. The empirical analyses focus on Special Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development in Slovakia using panel data.     

Measuring rural consumers’ willingness to pay for quality labels using experimental auctions: the case of aflatoxin‐free maize in Kenya

Aflatoxins are a common health hazard in tropical countries, especially in rural areas. New methods to reduce aflatoxin levels in food staples, as well as cheaper test methods, are being developed, but consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for these improvements is unknown. A survey was conducted with a representative sample of rural consumers (1,344 in total, 63% women) in all major maize‐production zones of Kenya. The survey included an experimental auction with maize products of different qualities. The results showed that many rural consumers were aware of aflatoxins, but few understood their health risks. Respondents were willing to pay a premium for maize tested for aflatoxins and labeled, but asked a high discount for maize that was visibly contaminated with moldy grain. The premium was higher for respondents with education and in regions with aflatoxicosis outbreaks. Knowledge of aflatoxins substantially reduced the overall WTP, but did not increase the WTP for tested maize. Welfare analysis indicates that mandatory testing would result in substantial benefits if the cost of testing can be lowered to below the premium.     

专利资产证券化运行机理及专利技术产业化路径与对策

专利资产证券化作为技术创新与金融创新的融合,其本质在于将专利资产未来现金流转变为现在现金流,实现专利技术使用价值与交易价值的内在统一,获得企业进一步发展所需资金。在深入剖析专利资产证券化运行机理及专利技术产业化路径的基础上,提出为科技型中小企业发展开拓新的融资渠道,从而有效提升科技型中小企业技术研发能力,推动产业结构优化升级的政策建议。     

RAIFFEISEN AS SOCIAL INNOVATOR

In recent years the term social innovation has become widely used by policy makers, yet important ambiguities remain. One of these concerns what has been called the paradox of embedded agency – how social innovators conceive of something new when working with existing social institutions. So far few writers have considered whether historical examples can, with benefit of hindsight, shed light on the relationships between social innovators and social institutions. This paper considers the example of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, creator of rural credit unions and agricultural co‐operatives in 19th‐century Germany. Raiffeisen was a social conservative who worked in many ways within existing social institutions. At the same time, his desire to meet social needs drove him to create new forms of action and organization that resulted in social innovation. Raiffeisen's process of invention shows that social innovation, particularly in transitional eras like his, need not be a matter of using logical‐deductive processes to address a social need, but may depend critically on values, will, a readiness to experiment, and an ability to find allies. These qualities enabled Raiffeisen to break through existing institutions to do something fundamentally new, and they may be qualities that provide new focus for social‐innovation research and policy.     

Community-based rural residential land consolidation and allocation can help to revitalize hollowed villages in traditional agricultural areas of China: Evidence from Dancheng County,Henan Province

The accelerated rural hollowing driven by vast and increasing out-migration of rural labors under urban–rural dual-track system has imposed huge obstacles on improving land use efficiency and coordinating urban–rural development in China. Taking Dancheng County in Henan Province as an example, this paper analyzes the status quo of rural hollowing and discusses two typical rural residential land consolidation and allocation (RRLCA) practices in traditional agricultural areas (TAAs) of China. The results show that, Dancheng experienced rapid rural hollowing characterized as the hollowing of rural industries, infrastructure, and residential population and settlements. However, Dancheng has considerable potential and the necessity of RRLCA, for the model-based estimation shows that the potential of increasing farmland by carrying out RRLCA was about 5649 ha. The two community-based RRLCA practices show positive effects on the improvement of local living conditions, increment of farmland area and development of rural industries. Their experiences, including self-organized rural planning, democratic decision-making, and endogenous institutional innovation may benefit future RRLCA. Overall, it indicates that promoting community-based RRLCA scientifically according to local conditions could provide an integrated platform for increasing farmland area, developing modern agriculture, promoting new countryside construction, and thus revitalize hollowed villages. On considering the limitations and obstacles of current initiatives, suggestions for future RRLCA in rural China have been put forward.     

乡村旅游开发:我国城市反哺农村的理想途径

以城市和乡村这两种不同类型的人类集居地域对比为基础,从乡村旅游的本质和特性着手,探讨其在我国城市反哺农村中的产业优势与产业适宜性。认为乡村旅游通过吸引城市居民直接到农村地区异地消费而巧妙地实现城乡之间财富的隐形调拨,是平衡地区经济的天然杠杆;乡村旅游主要以乡村环境和物产以及遍在性的山水和风土民情为物质基础,从而使得绝大多数农村地区都具备发展条件,堪称为农村地区"量身订造"的新型产业;乡村旅游还因就地取材和游客主动上门而能获得既靠近原料地、又靠近消费市场的产业布局效应;乡村旅游业发展条件的门槛较低,是落后的农村地区可进入性较好的产业。     

Rural-urban gradient analysis of ecosystem services supply and demand dynamics

Urban regions are important places of ecosystem service demands and, at the same time, are the primary source of global environmental impacts. Although there is broad agreement on the importance of incorporating the concept of ecosystem services into policy strategies and decision-making, the lack of a standardized approach to quantifying ecosystem services at the landscape scale has hindered progress in this direction. Moreover, tradeoffs between ecosystem services and the supply/demand ratio of ecosystem services in urban landscapes have rarely been investigated. In our paper, we present a method to quantify and map the supply and demand of three essential provisioning services - energy, food, and water - along the rural-urban gradient of the eastern German region Leipzig-Halle. This urban region has experienced significant socio-economic dynamics and land use changes since the German reunification in 1990. The results show that both the demand and the supply of ecosystem services changed considerably during the time span under consideration (1990-2007). We identified an increasing supply/demand ratio of food and water but a decreasing supply/demand ratio of energy. In addition, the pattern of ecosystem demands shows a levelling of rural-urban gradients, reflecting profound modifications of traditional rural-urban relationships. The changes of ecosystem service supply gradients are determined more by land use intensity, such as the intensification of agricultural production, than by land cover changes such as urban sprawl. The comparison of supply/demand ratios and rural-urban patterns of ecosystem services can help decision-makers in landscape management in striving for a sustainable balance between resource supply and demand.     

基于DEMATEL方法的新兴技术产业化融资影响因素实证研究

新兴技术是提高国家产业竞争力的重要载体，但是资金问题一直是制约我国新兴技术产业化的瓶颈之一。构建新兴技术产业化融资影响因素理论模型，运用DEMATEL方法，实证检验不同因素对新兴技术产业化融资的影响程度。研究表明：融资扶持政策、资金渠道可选择性、共享信息有效性等因素对新兴技术产业化融资具有显著直接影响；资金供求匹配性、融资产品创新、信息共享方式等因素易受到其它微观因素影响，对产业化融资具有显著间接影响；担保费用、配套服务综合性及配套服务专业性等因素对产业化融资同时具有显著的直接与间接影响。据此，提出新兴技术产业化融资对策建议。     

The economic and environmental performances of rural districts in Italy: Are competitiveness and sustainability compatible targets?

This paper analyses the economic performances of the rural system and the level of land sensitivity to degradation in Italy. Three indicators (district value added, share of agriculture on total product, and a composite index of land sensitivity) were used to classify 784 Italian local districts into eight performance classes. Four classes share a combination of high environmental quality (in terms of land degradation), high (or low) economic performances, and high (or low) productivity of the primary sector. The remaining four are characterised by a combination of low (and declining) environmental quality, high (or low) economic performances, and high (or low) productivity of the primary sector. The eight classes were grouped into four ‘environmental quality’ types and four ‘target performance’ categories to discriminate among high- and low-performance districts by considering twelve additional variables within a Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA). 148 high environmental performance districts (18% of total) were identified mainly across the Alps and Apennine while 314 districts (41%) were classified in the lowest performance class and concentrated in flat areas of southern Italy. The districts with high environmental performances were characterised, on average, by medium to low district value added, moderately low economic weight of the primary sector, and tourism specialisation. Districts with high economic performances and low environmental performances were characterised by high sensitivity to LD, low district value added, high share of agriculture in total product, and the lowest productivity of labour in all economic sectors. In these districts the risk of entering a downward spiral of rural poverty and environmental degradation is potentially high.     

开发乡村生态旅游探析

本文在分析乡村景观的特点和乡村生态旅游开发的意义基础上，提出了乡村生态旅游的基本类型，初步探讨了开发乡村生态旅游应注意的问题及对策。