Causes and Remedies of the Japan's Long‐lasting Recession: Lessons for China

Japan has suffered from sluggish economic growth and recession since the early 1990s. In this paper, we analyze the causes of the prolonged slowdown of the Japanese economy (the lost decade). Economics Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has argued that Japan's lost decade is an example of a liquidity trap. However, our empirical analysis shows that stagnation of the Japanese economy comes from its vertical IS curve rather than a horizontal LM curve, so the Japanese economy has been facing structural problems rather than a temporary downturn. The vertical IS curve is caused by an insensitivity of investment to a lower interest rate partly because of the decline of sales due to the aging population and firms not wanting to invest. The structural problems come from the aging demographic, which is often neglected by scholars and policy‐makers, and also from the allocation of transfers from the central government to local governments, and the unwillingness of Japanese banks to lend money to startup businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), mainly because of Basel capital requirements. Many countries, like China, are expected to face similar issues, particularly given the aging population. The present paper will address why the Japanese economy has been trapped in a prolonged slowdown and provide some remedies for revitalizing the economy.     

The Political Economy of Public Expenditures in Agriculture: Applications of Concepts to Mozambique

This paper undertakes an investigation of agricultural public investments in Mozambique, drawing on insights from qualitative field interviews conducted in Mozambique, secondary data analysis and examination of the existing empirical literature, and by situating these insights within a political economy conceptual framework. We explore the driving factors behind the amount and allocation of public funds to agriculture, and behind the differential attention that various types of public investments receive in the process of making decisions on resource allocation. Agricultural public investments are more likely to be made that have two key features: higher attributability to politicians and donors of the output of public spending, and a shorter lag time between expenditures incurred and outputs produced. Evidence on geographical targeting of agricultural public funds corresponds more closely with theories suggesting that resources are used to sway communities opposed to the ruling party, rather than to reward political supporters. Examination of the effect of actors' and organisations' incentives and constraints on resource allocation in agriculture points to the importance of not treating “government,” “the ruling party” and other institutions as monolithic bodies; the paper instead highlights how differentiated interests within seemingly coherent institutions drive what gets public expenditure attention in the agricultural sector.     

The Financial Deepening-Productivity Nexus in China: 1987–2001

The financial intermediation-growth nexus is a widely studied topic in the literature of development economics. Deepening financial intermediation may promote economic growth by mobilizing more investments, and lifting returns to financial resources, which raises productivity. Relying on provincial panel data from China, this paper attempts to examine if regional productivity growth is accounted for by the deepening process of financial development. Towards this end, an appropriate measurement of financial depth is constructed and then included as a determinant of productivity growth. It finds that a significant and positive nexus exists between financial deepening and productivity growth. Given the divergent pattern of financial deepening between coastal and inland provinces, this finding also helps explain the rising regional disparity in China.     

Long‐run Effect of the Global Financial Crisis on Singapore's Tourism and the Economy

This study employs recent Singaporean tourism survey data, the updated Singaporean input–output tables and a computable general equilibrium model to gauge the long‐run effects of the 2008 global financial crisis and selected policy responses. The simulation results suggest that the global financial crisis has had mild negative long‐run effects on the overall development of Singapore's economy, and that the GST deduction policy ought to offset this negative effect.     

土地利用规划社会环境影响评价——以浙江省杭州市为例

土地利用规划是国家为了提高土地资源利用效率,以优化土地资源配置为目的的一项重要举措,对于改善土地资源的利用现状、增加农民收入水平和推动农业的发展都有重要的作用。本文结合浙江省杭州市土地利用规划实例,通过探讨土地利用规划社会环境影响评价的方式,对土地利用规划的社会经济环境影响进行了分析与总结,并提出了减轻土地利用规划社会经济环境影响的措施。     

海南省低碳经济综合评价方法研究

本文根据海南低碳经济的实际状况,利用多元统计方法选取低碳经济综合评价的指标体系。首先,计算其能源、经济和环境三个指标的综合发展水平值以及协调关系,然后,建立综合评价模型方法,并结合实际需求提出海南省低碳经济发展的建议。     

服务地方经济发展与公务员培训课程的设置

新的经济形势下,公务员培训课程的设置与评估是关系到当前政府各级管理者继续教育和管理绩效持续发展的重要研究课题,文章总结了公务员培训课程的目标与特点,分析了公务员培训课程设置与评估的一般规律,提出了相应的管理理念和对策,为进一步深化公务员培训课程的设置与评估研究提供了科学可行的思路。     

基于循环经济视角的产业集群演进的战略选择

当前产业集群对区域经济发展的贡献日益突出。但在产业集群演进过程中,也越来越面临来自资源和环境的压力。而循环经济的实施,正是基于解决产业集群发展过程中所面临的上述问题。文章在对产业集群发展演进过程的生态系统特征研究分析的基础上,揭示了其与自然生态系统和生物群落演进的生态相似性,阐明了以循环经济的理念耦合于产业集群演进的整个进程之中,是产业集群演进的必然战略选择。     

我国虚拟经济与实体经济适度发展平衡区间：基于微分向量场方法

虚拟经济源于实体经济的再分配环节,随经济和社会的进步不断发生深刻的变化,对实体经济发展产生深刻的影响。虚拟经济与实体经济存在协调发展的平衡区间,以科学发展观为指导将二者发展保持在相对的平衡区间内,可以有效防范和降低金融风险。因此,在依据经济动力系统模型的基础上,提出了虚拟经济自增值的数理基础及对应的适度平衡区间。     

循环经济模式下钢铁企业物流系统研究

依据钢铁企业运行特点,分析了循环经济模式下钢铁企业物流的特点,在此基础上进一步探讨了循环经济模式下钢铁企业物流系统的优化问题。