China＇s ApprOach to Rebalancing： A Conceptual and Policy Framework

This article seeks to develop a conceptual and policy framework for understanding China’s role in the global economic imbalances.China’s contribution to these imbalances via recurrent trade and financial surpluses corresponds with a phase of deepening structural risks to China s economic growth and development.These structural challenges include:the composition of growth resulting from China’s dynamic internal transformation,China’s trade orientation,the trajectory of resource use and Commissions,welfare problems relating to distribution and international constraints.This article develops a conceptual framework for examining the relationship between the processes of long-run structural transformation in China,its economic imbalances,and the role of institutional reform in dealing with these structural challenges.As such,economic policy should extend beyond short-term macro management to pursue an institutional reform agenda to facilitate broader structural change to mitigate constraints to future growth and to improve economic welfare.     

Economic growth and poverty reduction in Indonesia before and after the asian financial crisis

This paper assesses the relationship between poverty reduction and economic growth in Indonesia before and after the Asian financial crisis. The annual rate of poverty reduction slowed significantly in the post-crisis period. However, the trend in the growth elasticity of poverty indicates that the power of each percentage point of economic growth to reduce poverty did not change much between the two periods. In both, service sector growth made the largest contribution to poverty reduction in both rural and urban areas. Industrial sector growth largely became irrelevant for poverty reduction in the post-crisis period even though the sector contributed the second-largest share of GDP. Agricultural sector growth, mean-while, remained important, but in rural areas only. The findings suggest the need to formulate an effective strategy to promote sectoral growth in order to speed up the pace of poverty reduction.     

How broad-based is broad-based black economic empowerment?

Common perceptions about broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) have been that it is nothing more than a tool for the already affluent to access further wealth and has limited potential to address the economic exclusion of the most marginalised. An analysis was conducted of data on black economic empowerment (BEE) deals between 2004 and 2009. The findings demonstrate that although the elite continue to benefit from deals, broad-based beneficiaries, particularly employees and women, are also beginning to benefit to some extent. This suggests that empowerment policies have some potential to promote private sector involvement in addressing the state's social transformation agenda. However, a closer analysis of the BEE transactions shows that the BEE landscape is far more complex and nuanced than commonly thought. Further research is necessary to understand the real impacts of BEE on the ground.     

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDENTS IN SECOND‐YEAR MICROECONOMICS

This paper analyses the impact of educational interventions made in the first‐ and second‐year microeconomics courses on academic development students' final mark in the second‐year course. It also addresses issues of methodology, specification, and statistical analysis with respect to other studies in the field. The results suggest that the educational interventions in the first‐year had a positive impact on the academic performance of the academic development cohort, relative to the mainstream cohort for the first period (2000‐2002). The results also suggest that the educational interventions introduced in the second period (2003‐2005), in the form of voluntary workshops, improved the academic performance of the academic development and mainstream cohorts.     

Unemployment and Economic Policy in Denmark in the 1930s

Abstract

The paper examines Danish unemployment and the employment policy in the 1930s. The unemployment data indicate that though the unemployment increased dramatically the rate of unemployment remained low. The official Danish unemployment records definitely underestimated the actual unemployment in the early 1930s, but the discrepancy was hardly as big as some scholars have suggested. The paper furthermore points out that the rather atypical rise in the Danish unemployment from the mid-1930s can be attributed to a rise in the natural rate of unemployment due to an improved unemployment insurance coverage and a more comprehensive registration of the unemployment. The second part of the paper deals with the Danish employment policy. Unemployment remained high on the political agenda, but the employment problem never became the main target for the economic policy. An active employment policy was constrained by the problems of the balance of payments and the political disagreements in parliament. While the macroeconomic policy did help to stabilize the economy and the employment, the number of measures directly targeting the labour market was small, and they seldom gave rise to much job creation.     

The geography of urbanization — Sweden and Finland,c. 1570–1770

Abstract

In this article Swedish urbanization is considered as a long term growth cycle. The urban system expanded both geographically and demographically during the seventeenth century. Many new towns were founded, and urban growth rates were generally high. Swedish urban geography was characterized by peripheral expansion mainly towards northern Sweden. At the same time there was a strong tendency towards the centralization of urban resources. The capital city, Stockholm, evolved from being a medium-sized town to becoming a city worthy of Sweden s great power status. During the eighteenth century several of the seventeenth century trends were reversed: the centralising tendency ended and indeed regressed, while general urban growth slowed down, turning into an ‘urban growth from below’. Stockholm became a stagnation metropolis' and the eastern-central part of Sweden experienced an urban setback relative to western Sweden, where several towns, including Gothenburg, profited from their close connections with the expansive markets of northern and western Europe.     

利益制衡——解决营销道德失范的良药

近年来假冒伪劣、虚假广告等不道德营销行为不时见诸媒体 ,营销道德失范问题日益成为人们谈论的热门话题。营销道德失范给咨询行业乃至整个社会造成了极为不良的影响。咨询公司营销道德失范是一个经济方面的问题 ,另辟蹊径 ,利益的驱动是产生不良营销行为的根本原因 ,为此引入第三方 ,建立利益制衡系统的解决思路。     

论我国流通模式的创新发展

深化流通体制改革,发展现代流通方式,整顿和规范市场经济秩序,健全现代市场经济的社会信用体系,打破行业垄断和地区封锁,促进商品和生产要素在全国市场自由流动,是我国流通模式创新的发展趋势。为适应社会主义市场经济深广发展和全面建设小康社会的要求,我国必须不断创新流通模式,加速其向流通产业化发展。     

韩国利用外资的特点及启示

韩国在金融危机前,实施外向型经济发展战略,使其经济迅速发展,而外资在其中的作用是巨大的,它缩短了韩国实现现代化的过程,仅20多年韩国就跃入新兴工业化国家的行列。但是,韩国在利用外资中以贷款为主,尤其是以商业贷款为主,这使其外债不断增加,最终给韩国的经济造成重大影响。金融危机后,韩国及时调整利用外资的政策,使其经济不断走向正轨。     

市场经济条件下政府的经济职能研究

“市场失灵”和“政府失灵”的存在决定了政府必须并且只能在一定程度上对市场经济进行干预。因此 ,在提出市场经济条件下政府经济职能的界定应遵循适度、法治等原则基础上 ,结合我国当前的实际情况 ,对我国政府的主要经济职能进行了探讨