Toward Myanmar's New Stage of Development: Transition from Military Rule to the Market

The economic reforms implemented by the Thein Sein government face several challenges, some of which continue from the past military regime and some of which are new. The government is starting to overhaul institutions in order to obtain market‐based macroeconomic policy tools, which will possibly eliminate a long‐lasting fundamental cause of economic instability. One essential challenge is to design policies to encourage private capital, and to promote the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, which have already shown a high potential. At the same time, a regulatory framework and a well‐functioning financial system, which are essential to encourage private capital with market discipline, must be developed. A recent rise in natural resources exports created both a fiscal cushion and balance‐of‐payments surplus, which seems to have promoted reforms. However, the government should be aware that the recent favorable conditions may not last for a long future.     

基于SDA模型的生态工业园资源环境压力与结构分解研究——以大连经济技术开发区生态工业园区为例

本文建立结构分解分析（SDA）模型,以大连经济技术开发区生态工业园区为例,定量分析了2001-2010年资源与环境压力的驱动因子和效应。结果表明,土地因子对生态工业园区资源环境压力的效应为正,相对较小且稳定,而效应随园区经济发展逐渐减弱则说明土地开发不再是造成资源环境压力的主要因素;经济因子的效应为正且逐年增大,是园区资源环境压力的主要动因,表明典型园区在经济高速增长阶段对资源和环境造成了破坏;技术因子的效应为负,相对较大且稳定,但随着园区经济因子正效应的逐渐增大,技术因子负效应开始抵消不了经济因子的正效应,表明园区在后期的发展会遇到节能减排技术创新的瓶颈,技术因子减小园区的资源环境压力的效应呈边际递减。     

推动先进生产力发展是中国的必然选择

要认清当代先进生产力,首先要解决方法论问题。只有正确认识和理解先进生产力及其现代特征,才能代表先进生产力的发展要求。先进生产力是指那些先进的科学技术含量高的生产力,是由具有现代思想观念、现代价值追求、现代科技知识的高素质的劳动者所掌握和运用的生产力,而先进生产力的发展要求是指适应先进生产力发展的生产关系和上层建筑。     

Sustainable development of resource-based industrial clusters in Yunnan, China

The resources-oriented industry cluster is geographically close to natural resources development and processing industry.The knowledge-intensive,technology-intensive,capital-intensive,and labor-intensive is a relatively aggregate associated with natural resources and will structure commonality and complementary coupling so that economic and social development play a leading role in the complex adaptive systems closely related to ecological environment.A resources-oriented industry cluster in Yunnan has general common characteristics of industrial clusters and will form the characteristics of the enterprise spatial aggregation of innovative network of the industrial chain and value chain.According to the market structure of resources and resources market behavior in Yunnan,the particularity of resources commodity production has conduced resources market structure and general merchandise market structure many differences.Optimizing the cluster structure and extending the industrial chain have improved the productivity of the cluster and extension the lifecycle of the cluster to achieve sustainable development.     

江苏县域社会经济协调发展格局及对策研究

根据区域协调发展的内涵,构建评价县域社会和经济协调发展的指标体系。对江苏52个县市(不包括地级市市区)的数据运用主成分和协调发展函数等方法进行定量分析,得到县域社会和经济综合指数、协调度、发展度和协调发展度。通过分析计算结果得出以下结论:社会、经济综合指数存在由南向北递减的特征,社会发展明显滞后于经济发展;52个县市总体的协调水平较低,表现在绝对数值偏低、所属类别较差、相互之间差距较大,在空间上存在由南向北明显的梯度性格局。最后基于52个县市所属的协调发展类型提出江苏县域社会和经济协调发展的相应对策。     

西安会展业发展战略及推进市场化进程研究

会展业不仅是为举办城市带来巨大经济效益的＂面包＂,而且是加强城市与外界商贸文化交流的＂窗口＂。立足于西安的城市特点,深刻分析了影响西安会展业态势的五大因素,针对存在的问题：管理方式与形势不适应;会展主体培育不充分;从业人员数量、素质亟待提高;软硬件设施不齐全;会展业系统程度较低,提出又好又快发展西安会展业、推进市场化进程的创新途径。     

Catch-up strategies and the latecomer effect in industrial development

Since 2003, the West and Central African (WCA) cotton initiative in the World Trade Organization has stood as an ambitious case of Africa's desire to be integrated into the trading system and yet also receive reparations for past injuries. This article seeks to explore how and why the initiative debuted through close attention to the interdependence between power and language in diplomatic practice. It takes the concept of cognitive framing to explore the relationship between political legitimacy and mobilisation capacities. The genesis of cotton as ‘an issue’ is critically examined, focusing on how the WCA countries constructed a novel ‘competitive victim’ frame to define themselves and the problem. While this opening move was effective, it also featured tensions that were exploited by Northern actors who were threatened by the campaign. I argue that what followed was the introduction of a politically driven ‘counterframe’, which divided the problem into a ‘trade-related’ component and a ‘development-related’ component. It is important to understand why and how this distinction was constructed and monitored. By scrutinising the relationship between framing and institutional power, I suggest that the counterframe won over the original frame, leading to a re-positioning of the demanders and a re-calibration of their expectations.     

Polanyi and Post-neoliberalism in the Global South: Dilemmas of Re-embedding the Economy

Although Karl Polanyi Studied a different epoch and focused on Europe, his ideas have inspired an outpouring of studies on contemporary problems and prospects in the neoliberal era. The bulk of these studies pertain to industrial countries or global economic issues. However, the human, environmental and financial impact of market deregulation is arguably more devastating in the ‘developing’ countries than in the core. A question thus arises: do Polanyi's reflections on progressive alternatives to liberalism clarify contemporary debates on development alternatives in the Global South? I contend that democratic socialism – Polanyi's preferred remedy to the ‘demolition’ of society and nature occasioned by market civilisation – is problematical in light of what we have learned from the twentieth century, but his framework for evaluating alternatives – featuring the re-embedding of economy in society – remains as powerful as ever, I support this argument with an exploration of socialism and social democracy – as well as community – based alternatives arising from ‘reciprocity’. Each possibility raises distinctive dilemmas, as an analysis of cases reveals.     

The Impact of Patents on Innovation,Technology Transfer and Health: A Pre- and Post-TRIPs Analysis of India's Pharmaceutical Industry

The debate surrounding the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement indicates that patents matter for development. Yet literature on the geography of knowledge transfer shows that knowledge is spatially sticky, suggesting that the impact of patents can be exaggerated. Using interview evidence, this paper explores how Indian pharmaceutical firms have responded to changes in patent law, including the introduction of more extensive patent protection in 2005 as a condition of TRIPs. A regime of limited patent protection for over three decades prior to TRIPs facilitated informal knowledge transfer and the emergence of a pharmaceutical industry with significant domestic capabilities. Contrary to some expectations, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has continued to grow post-TRIPs, with large domestic firms becoming involved in more formal technology transfer as part of an increasingly collaborative relationship with multinationals. This trend is also driven by a focus on the markets of developed countries, raising questions for the future sustainability of India's low-priced medicines. While changes in patent law can facilitate or inhibit a variety of aspects of development, the adaptation of the Indian pharmaceutical industry suggests that their impact must be related to the broader institutional setting, particularly the underlying domestic capabilities.     

Towards Trade Equalisation: A Network Perspective on Trade and Income Convergence Across the Twentieth Century

An enduring dynamic of the twentieth century is the dramatic expansion of global trade with increased partners, goods, frequency and volumes. Most trade explanations such as the Heckscher–Ohlin, new trade theory, gravity models, and Ricardo and Sraffa focus on how bilateral import and export volumes and intermediate input goods are driven by decreased financial and information transaction costs. Extending work on trade flows and economic development, we derive several network measures of degree, betweenness and eigenvector centrality from dyadic trade flows from 1960 to 2009. We then empirically explore the interactive effects of trade connectivity, economic production and stages of development on income convergence and trade equalisation. We empirically find clear patterns towards a new phenomenon, both sigma levels and beta rates trade convergence and equalisation for our entire sample. Visualising sigma and beta convergence for seven major trading nations from 1920 to 2010, we believe offers new insights into economic development theory if only beginning to loosen the knot of trade, growth and globalisation.