Buy Local! Familiarity and Preferences for Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Italian Consumers

Over the last few years, the origin of the local product has played a central role in consumer choices. This study explores what Italian consumers want and look for when purchasing olive oil by combining a web-based survey and a perceived analysis technique. In particular, preferences for different olive oil attributes as well as the psychographic traits of respondents were revealed through a web-based questionnaire administered to Italian consumers (N = 179). From this questionnaire, respondents who indicated their availability to participate further underwent a preference test under blind conditions (N = 99). Respondents also did an expectation test based on the visual observation of the labels. Results showed that the majority of consumers considered local production, PDO and region as factors of highest importance in determining olive oil quality.     

Collaboration for R&D Projects between the Industry and External Agents: Evidence from Manufacturing Companies in Peru

In this article we use the innovation survey of the manufacturing industry of Peru to identify cooperation behaviors for research and development (R&D) projects among companies and external agents in general. Likewise, we also find cooperation behaviors among the industry and the following external agents: university, technical centers, suppliers, customers, and companies of the same group, competitors, guilds, and consultants. Within the specific agents, the university is considered a cooperation agent for R&D projects. We use the survey of innovation in the manufacturing industry of Peru conducted in 2015, which resulted in 1447 Peruvian companies being surveyed. Evidence was obtained as to the degree of the tie between the industry and external agents for cooperation in R&D projects, giving relevance to variables such as investment, resources, and degree of innovation. Our results show that investment is an important factor for cooperation with external agents. Additionally, companies that have innovated at some point seek to cooperate with external agents. Finally, the importance of the university is demonstrable, thus, companies that invest in R&D seek to cooperate with the university.     

How will the Belt and Road initiative advance China’s exports?

We examined 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 data from 49 countries to determine changes wrought by China’s Belt and Road initiative; we also used panel data regarding the Maritime Silk and Inland Silk Roads to test initiative effects on Chinese exports. Post-initiative infrastructure expansion and logistics performance improvements led to positive effects on China’s exports. Additionally, legal-system similarities and inland borders with trade partners had a more positive effect on Chinese exports in the Inland Silk Road, while population and free trade agreements were found to have a more positive effect on the Maritime Silk Road.     

The development trinity: How regional integration impacts growth,inequality and poverty

Developing countries today have become more active participants in regional trade agreements. This raises questions about how the benefits of integration are distributed, and the extent to which lower‐income countries are able to capture development gains. Historically, such impacts have been difficult to identify with precision. This paper seeks to address this gap by empirically analysing the impact of regional integration on development, particularly the effects on growth and welfare. Using both bilateral and regional integration measures, we show that the ability to capture gains from integration varies across developing country regional groups, with developing Asia benefiting on par with developed countries. The findings in the paper indicate that trade and trade policy play an important role in reducing inequality and poverty in developing countries. It also shows that regionalism can function as a channel to make multilateralism a more adept way of addressing national challenges.     

淮安高等职业教育与区域经济发展的问题与建议

目前,淮安高职教育存在着的问题,主要体现在高职教育与区域经济发展不均衡、高职科研服务与区域经济发展不相适应,特别是科研领域未对推动区域经济增长发挥显著作用。加快实现高职教育与区域经济同步发展,应优化专业结构,提高高职教育服务区域经济发展的吻合度;深化科研兴教,提升为区域经济发展科技支撑服务水平,从而通过高职教育提高人力资本质量,加快人力资本积累,满足区域经济持续增长的人才、科技需求。     

Development credit corporations: Not-for-profit development finance institutions in the postwar United States

Development credit corporations (DCCs) were innovative not-for-profit organisations first set up in the United States in the years after World War II. DCCs borrowed from financial institutions and lent on a long-term basis to small companies that needed funds to expand or maintain their operations but did not qualify for long-term credit from conventional lenders. DCCs were private-sector bodies created at the state level under charters issued by state governments. The organisations were established in more than half the American states. DCCs continue to function in the contemporary era, and have thus proved to be a permanent fixture in the landscape of development entities and not-for-profit financial institutions.     

Intertemporal substitution in the Spanish economy: Evidence from regional data

This paper studies the intertemporal substitution in consumption and leisure for the Spanish economy by estimating the first‐order conditions of an individual optimization model with regional and aggregate data. While first‐order conditions determining intertemporal substitution in consumption show a good econometric fit, and the value we obtain for the intertemporal elasticity of substitution is similar to previously available results, the econometric fit of the intertemporal condition in leisure indicates that the behaviour of the Spanish labour supply over the cycle is more complex than can be explained by the canonical intertemporal choice model.     

河南省区域经济-物流弹性分析

本文选取河南省1990-2008年有关统计数据进行拟合分析,测算了河南省区域经济-物流弹性并预测了其变化趋势。结果表明河南省区域经济-物流弹性持续下降接近于1,区域经济增长速度快于区域物流增长速度;从边际效应和物流效率角度分析了河南省区域经济-物流弹性变化趋势,并提出了河南省物流业发展的建议。     

宁夏区域经济增长拉动力及其转变分析

一个地区是什么需求拉动型经济其实是产业结构问题,一个地区经济增长所依靠的拉动力转变的途径是调整产业结构,宁夏的产业结构决定了宁夏是典型的投资拉动型经济。由于社会经济环境的限制,宁夏的投资拉动型经济不具有可持续性,必须通过调整产业结构的途径实现经济增长拉动力的转变。     

技术创新和人力资本对区域经济的动态影响

经济增长一直是世界各国永恒的话题。国内现阶段不同区域经济发展程度差异显著,因此探究区域长期经济增长的影响因素以及这些因素之间的动态关系是亟待解决的重要研究问题。研究通过构建人力资本—技术创新内生增长模型,探究人力资本和技术创新对于区域经济增长的影响,以及人力资本和技术创新的动态平衡关系。