Regional economic performance in China1

This paper investigates convergence patterns among China's provinces using GDP data for the period 1952–97. We analyze convergence behaviour on the basis of Markov chains proposed by Quah (1993 ) and the generalized entropy decomposition proposed by Shorrocks (1980, 1984 ). Both sets of results show similar evidence of convergence within the pre‐defined geo‐economic sub‐regions, but no evidence is found of convergence between the sub‐regions. This finding has important policy implications for regional economic development in China. JEL classification: C33, E20, O47.     

FDI facilitated by agglomeration economies: evidence from manufacturing and services joint ventures in China

The open door policy of China’s economic reform since the 1980s has attracted heavy foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into China and especially to Guangdong (particularly the Pearl River Delta region, PRD) and induced significant economic growth during the past two decades. While there exist various classical theories of FDI in attempting to identify the determinants of FDI inflow and to explain the behavior of FDI flows, limited attention has been given from the perspective of agglomeration effects generated by a core-periphery (CP) relation.This paper intends to study the impacts of agglomerations on FDI inflows in the context of Krugman’s CP relation (1991) by investigating (1) the formation of a CP relation via gravity model analysis; (2) whether different types of industry FDI flows will respond differently in the CP-system, given agglomeration effects; and (3) whether FDI origin and firm scale matter in affecting FDI flows.A database consisting of a population frame of 37,742 firm-level manufacturing and services joint ventures investing in Guangdong in 1998 was used. Empirical results show that the agglomerations of the CP relation have affected FDI flow patterns. While both manufacturing and services FDI and sources of investment responded differently to the impacts, smaller firms were found more responsive to the CP-agglomeration settings regardless of FDI by industry type and by source. The significance and implications of the CP-system to further facilitate FDI in the region are discussed.     

城市商业银行发展中面临的难题及对策

作为金融体制改革的产物，城市商业银行在我国市场经济建设中发挥了重要的作用。近年来，部分城市商业银行的经营陷入了困境，引起了社会各界的广泛关注。本文从法人治理结构、组织制度、业务特色、金融风险等几方面分析了其在发展中遇到的难题，带有一定的共性。在此基础上，提出了相应的对策和建议。     

西汉初期“与民休息”政策述论

西汉初期是我国农业经济迅速恢复并达到空前繁荣的时期,这与西汉初期统治集团采取了比较符合实际的"与民休息"的经济政策紧密相关。其时代背景主要是鉴于秦朝实行严刑峻法、横征暴敛政策而亡的历史教训,以及汉初经济崩溃、民生凋敝的实际状况。"与民休息"政策内容丰富,主要包括调整土地关系、赋予军功贵族免役特权、免部分官私奴婢为庶人、减免田税口算徭戍、崇尚节俭和轻刑慎罚等六个方面。"与民休息"的经济政策,将为我们今天解决"三农"问题,发展农业经济,建设社会主义新农村提供有益的借鉴。     

浅议如何充分发挥银行内部审计建设性职能

目前，中国建设银行已建立了总行垂直管理的内部审计体制，内部审计的地位得到了进一步的巩固和加强，管理层对内部审计也提出了更高的要求。本文就如何发挥审计的建设性职能，最大程度地做好审计增值服务，促进银行价值和运作效率的提升，实现审计职能从查错防弊向防护决策和建设性方面转变做初步探讨。     

日本政府新世纪的农业策略与启示

新世纪伊始，日本政府出台了一系列承前启后的农业策略，主要体现在农业保护、农业立法、粮食安全、比较优势、有机农业和饮食结构等方面，鉴于中日两囤三农领域较多的相似之处，这些策略对当前我国政府发展农业、改造农村、扶助农民等极富有启示意义，     

What Prompts the People＇s Bank of China to Change Its Monetary Policy Stance？ Evidence from a Discrete Choice Model

In the present paper, we model the policy stance of the People＇s Bank of China （PBC） as a latent variable, and the discrete changes in the reserve requirement ratio, policy interest rates, and the scale of open market operations are taken as signals of movement of this latent variable. We run a discrete choice regression that relates these observed indicators of policy stance to major trends of macroeconomic and financial developments, which are represented by common factors extracted from a large number of variables. The predicted value of the estimated model can then be interpreted as the implicit policy stance of the PBC. In a second step, we estimate how much of the variation in the PBC＇ s implicit stance can be explained by measures of its policy objectives on inflation, growth and financial stability. We find that deviations of CPI inflation from an implicit target and deviations of broad money growth from the announced targets, but not output gaps, figure significantly in the PBC＇s policy changes.     

The effects of transition on the distribution of income in China

Using two large samples for 1988 and 1995 we decompose the Gini coefficient of household income according to type of income with the purpose of analyzing reasons for the rapid increase of inequality. The results show that the change in relative size of money income and its changed profile are found to be the major processes behind the rapid increase of income inequality in rural China. Changes in housing allocation and an increased number of retirees in combination with higher benefits have made inequality increase in urban China and in China as a whole. JEL classification: D31, P27.     

以企业再造思想振兴东北老工业基地

从企业再造理论产生的背景和东北老工业基地的实际情况来看,在振兴东北老工业基地的实践中应贯彻企业再造思想.要以企业再造思想为指导,把整个东北地区看做一个大组织,搞好地区的文化建设;要从企业再造理论的精神实质出发,建立新的完善的市场机制;要坚持企业再造思想所强调的三个核心原则,搞好东北地区的行政改革.     

有关台湾"大陆货品特殊防御机制"的法律思考

两岸入世后，台湾当局的大陆经贸政策与世界贸易组织的要求是有一定距离的，特别是台湾当局为大陆度身设置的“大陆货品特殊防御机制”，似乎是为了利用中国大陆在其《入世议定书》中对世贸组织成员的特别的承诺条款，但从法律角度而言，这是有违台湾在世贸组织《保障措施协议》项下的义务的，极易成为两岸之间有限的经贸互动中争端的导火绳。