Dividing or uniting Europe? Internet usage in the EU

Using Heckman’s sample selection procedure, we first analyse access to the Internet and then specific Internet usage given individual Internet access, across the EU countries using Eurobarometer data for 2004 and 2005. Internet access varies more within countries than between them. But the reverse is the case for Internet usage given access. Two specific country attributes are identified: first gross national income and the rule of law reflecting the extent to which people have confidence in the security of the Internet. Further variables also emphasize the importance of trust.     

英汉被动语态的异同分析

被动语态在英语和汉语中都是非常重要的语法项目。由于受到汉语的干扰和影响,中国学生在学习英语被动语态时经常出错。本文从结构、用途两方面对英汉被动语态进行比较研究,分析其异同,希望将汉语的干扰变成促进英语语言学习的有利因素.     

外商来华直接投资与中国企业对外投资的差异分析

中国的"引进来"和"走出去"是发展失衡还是渐趋平衡?本文从投资规模、投资产业、投资形式和投资政策四个方面进行了分析。     

Adaptation investments and homeownership

This article develops a model where ownership improves the efficiency of the housing market as it enhances the utility of housing consumption for some consumers. The model is based on an extended Hotelling–Lancaster utility approach in which the ideal variant of housing is obtainable only by adapting the home through a supplementary investment. Ownership offers low costs of adaptation, but has high contract costs compared with renting. Consumers simultaneously choose housing demand and tenure, and because of the different cost structure only consumers with strong preferences for individual adaptation of the home choose ownership. This article analyses the consumer’s optimization. The model provides an explanation for the observation that homeowners typically live in larger dwelling units than tenants. It also provides an explanation for a high price of housing services tending to reduce homeownership rates.     

Targeted poverty investments and economic growth in China

In the mid-1980s, the Chinese government launched its ambitious poor area development policy, which was centered around a series of grant, credit, and Food-for-Work programs. Ironically, for the remainder of the 1980s rural poverty remained at about 90 to 100 million, or approximately 10% of the rural population. The lack of progress cannot necessarily be blamed on ineffective poor area policies, since much of the agricultural economy was mired in a deep recession between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s substantial additional poverty reduction had been achieved. Even in the late-1980s, farmers in many poor counties did better than the national average in terms of income growth. After accounting for the effects of macroeconomic elements, what factors can help explain the differences in performance among poor regions and between poor areas and rich ones? Can part of these differences be accounted for by poor area policies, in general, or by the way local and regional officials allocate their poor area investment funds, in particular?The overall objective of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of Chinese poor area policy. Specifically, the paper seeks to meet three objectives. First, we want to understand the evolution of poor area policy since the mid-1980s, trying to deduce the true goals of central and regional poor area officials, as well as how these policies have been implemented in the provinces. Next, we want to understand the magnitude and scope of investment into poor areas, and examine if changes in these policies have affected the uses of the investment funds. Finally, we want to determine the effectiveness of the investment of poor area funds, analyzing which types of investments have generated growth, and which ones have not.     

Productivity differences and the dynamic effects of labor movements

Barriers to labor mobility across countries coexist with substantial differences in living standards largely attributable to productivity differences. A growth model with endogenous labor movements is used to assess the effects on output, capital accumulation and welfare of removing barriers to labor mobility. The model is parameterized so that it is consistent with evidence on historical labor movements, and is applied to two cases: the enlargement of the European Union and the (hypothetical) creation of a common labor market in the North America. The main finding is that there are large resulting gains in terms of output and welfare.     

技术引进、金融发展与城乡居民收入差距

为了利用“后发优势”实现快速追赶,中国从发达国家引进技术以促进经济增长。但是,中国城市工业与农村农业的技术引进存在明显的非对称特征,城市技术进步要快于农村的技术进步。而且,为了配合技术快速引进,国家将金融资源也向城市部门倾斜,使得城乡金融发展水平差距也呈现出扩大的趋势。基于LSTR2模型的研究表明,中国的技术引进不平衡和金融发展差异对城乡收入差距影响具有非线性的特征：在总体上,技术进步差异和金融发展差异都扩大了城乡居民的收入差距,但金融发展差异的非线性部分对城乡收入差距有一定的缩小作用。     

大陆游客赴台旅游影响的台湾居民感知差异分析

大陆居民赴台旅游对台湾各方面都产生一定的影响。利用因子分析、相关性分析等方法,研究台湾居民对开放大陆居民赴台旅游影响的感知,及感知在不同人口统计要素中的差异。结果表明,大陆游客赴台旅游的居民感知的五个维度在不同人口统计要素的人群中存在一定的差异。其中女性、41岁以上年龄段、高中职教育水平的人群是大陆游客赴台旅游影响感知的高敏感人群。而男性、40岁以下年龄段、硕士及以上人群是大陆游客赴台旅游影响感知的低敏感人群。     

论承认差异的平等正义

社会结构的差异性、利益主体的多元化、文化的多样性与生活方式的差异化是当下平等正义的时代背景。由于人与人、群体与群体之间的差异事实上存在,且会对到底什么是平等正义产生影响,因此主张对人与人、群体与群体之间的差异进行承认的差异平等才是当下的理性诉求。为了做到差异平等,应减少文化霸权、破除经济垄断、消灭政治歧视。     

区域城镇化差异对FDI空间集聚的影响——基于省级面板数据的GMM估计

随着我国进入城镇化高速发展的新时期,城镇化逐渐展现出其开放性的特点,其对FDI的空间分布具有较大的影响作用。文章利用全国30个省级城市2004-2013年的面板数据,运用广义矩动态面板模型分析城镇化水平区域差异对我国FDI空间分布的影响。结果表明,人口城镇化水平在中部地区与FDI呈显著正向关系、产业城镇化水平在东、中、西地区对FDI均呈现明显负向影响,土地城镇化水平对东部和中部地区FDI的数量和分布产生显著正向影响。因此,本研究有利于从城镇化的角度,制定合理的外商引资政策,在推进城镇化建设的过程中,缩小FDI区域分布的差异。