The relationship between stock prices and exchange rates in South Africa and Nigeria: structural breaks analysis

The relationship between stock prices and exchange rates has continued to generate interest from both the academia and financial industry players for many years. This study conducts an empirical investigation into the relationship between stock prices and exchange rates for the two largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa – South Africa and Nigeria. Our methodology accounts for structural breaks in the data and the long-run relationship between stock and foreign exchange markets. The results of multivariate causality tests with structural breaks showed that causality runs from exchange rates to domestic stock prices in Nigeria (flow channel) while in South Africa, no causality exists between domestic stock prices and exchange rates. The results also reveal that there is causality from the London stock market to both countries’ stock markets, thus showing that international stock markets are driving both the Nigerian and South African stock markets.     

中、韩、朝旅游合作现状及其对图们江区域经济发展的作用

图们江区域是东北亚的地理中心，是东北亚区域经济的潜在交会点，图位江区域开发是东北亚六国国际经济合和的关键。本文具体分析了环图位江区域中、韩、朝三国的旅游合作现状，旅游带动和促进了跨国区域经济的发展，旅游合作不仅给图位区域经济带来了新的增长点，并创造了许多间接收益，大大地促进了图位江区域经济的发展。     

The political economy of tourism in the third world

When a Third World country uses tourism as a development strategy, it becomes enmeshed in a global system over which it has little control. The international tourism industry is a product of metropolitan capitalist enterprise. The superior entrepreneurial skills, resources, and commercial power of metropolitan companies enables them to dominate many Third World tourist destinations. This paper outlines the dynamics of this process, particularly in the context of the South Pacific.     

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。     

黑龙江省与韩国贸易合作的理论与实证分析

在1992年中韩建交至今的10多年间，黑龙江省与韩国的贸易合作水平不断提升。虽然与其他一些省份相比，黑龙江省对韩贸易合作的层次还比较低，但随着双方贸易环境的日益改善，产业内贸易的扩大，黑龙江省与韩国贸易具有广阔的合作前景，并将向更高的层次发展。     

Capital market efficiency and the relationship between equity returns, interest rates, and monetary aggregates in Australia

This paper examines the efficiency with which the Australian share market incorporates new information relating to interest rates and the monetary aggregates into share prices. It finds a strong relationship between medium term government security yields and equity returns although little relationship could be found between unanticipated changes in the monetary aggregates and share returns. Furthermore, the interest rate relationship involved long lags and suggests inefficiency in stock market pricing in Australia.     

Social rights, essential services, and political mobilization in post-apartheid South Africa

This paper discusses movements that organize constituencies in order to allow them access to the consumption of goods and services, while rejecting at the same time their identity as consumers. Instead, they base their claims on people’s identities as citizens of the state and members of communities. Putting forward the notion of social rights, the paper examines how movements operating among marginalized communities in the post-colonial world work to define rights and entitlements, and use these to mobilize for enhancing the delivery of social services. In particular, the focus is on rights to land and to public utilities (water and electricity) in post-apartheid South Africa. Examining these in the context of political transition, the paper looks at different legal and political strategies, and the ways in which they draw on and shape discourses of power, rights, and social consumption. It concludes that meaningful social change and effective service delivery require a combined strategy, working with the courts and legal professionals, together with popular constituencies, the media, civil society organizations, academics, and state officials.     

Resource utilisation Efficiency: A South African Provincial Evaluation

The objective of this paper is to analyse the utilisation of production capacity and total under‐utilisation in order to identify weak‐performing industries across the nine South African provinces. Detecting inefficiencies within the different provinces will help to identify where sound managerial or government intervention is required, which can contribute to the future success of the New Growth Path Framework and the Strategic Integrated Projects. Using a multistage data envelopment analysis model at the subnational level, several categories of production factors are explored: intermediate demand, labour, capital, as well as taxes and subsidies. The results emphasise South Africa's weak infrastructure and the failure to effectively promote stability in managing factor inputs. The results further illustrate that industry scale efficiency for water and electricity are poorest across all provinces, highlighting the current water and energy supply concerns in South Africa and problem areas associated with the National Development Program.     

南非基础研究经费投入格局和近期出台的计划与举措

2014年5月南非新一届内阁成立,其新任科技部长宣布将在未来5年内实现RD占GDP比重为1.5%的目标,显示出南非科技投入将进入一个新的历史阶段。南非基础研究投入一直处于稳步增长态势,其政府是主要投入力量。近年来,南非针对基础研究出台了一系列的相关战略、计划与措施,如:加大对大科学计划的支持;出台了生物经济战略;加强对科学基础设施建设的规划;扩大卓越中心建设,提升基础研发能力;大力吸引科技人才,加强科研领军人才队伍建设等。期望通过对南非基础研究投入的发展和格局变化的介绍,以及对南非政府出台的相关政策措施的分析研究,对我国依靠创新驱动和提高基础研究能力具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Is there a slowdown in agricultural productivity growth in South America?

This article estimates agricultural productivity growth in 10 South American countries in 1969–2009 with the objective of investigating if the slowdown being measured in other countries is present in the region. Results show that productivity growth accounts for half of the three‐fold increase in agricultural output during this period and that performance is sensitive to R&D investments in the sector. The slowdown found for the 1990s to 2000s in the U.S. and some European economies does not seem to be present yet in South America. The region's total factor productivity (TFP) growth rate increased steadily from 1.07% during the 1970s to 2.29% during the 2000s. Given lags in adoption and the adaptive nature of innovations in these economies, we have yet to see the potential effects in South American agriculture of decreases in R&D in advanced economies.