The Spatial Dimension of Trade‐ and FDI‐driven Productivity Growth in Chinese Provinces: A Global Cointegration Approach

This paper analyses the major determinants of long‐ and short‐run labour productivity evolution for Chinese provinces between 1978 and 2010. The role played by openness to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) constitutes the main focus of this analysis. From a methodological perspective, our main contribution is the inclusion of spatial effects into a dynamic error correction modelling framework. The results show that, in addition to domestic factors such as investment intensity and infrastructure use, trade openness and inward FDI also exert a direct impact on labour productivity. Furthermore, the geographical environment has a strong indirect influence on productivity: The more a region is surrounded by high‐productive regions with good infrastructure and linkages to the world economy, the higher are its productivity level and growth rate. The magnitude of these impacts varies by spatial regime (coastal, interior provinces) and time period in focus. Especially in the recent past, trade and FDI activity appear to be increasingly important drivers of regional productivity evolution, both for coastal and interior regions. These findings have important policy implications: In order to fully exploit the benefits from such spillovers, coordinated industrial policies which foster regional complementarities and support the free movement of production factors across regional borders are crucial.     

Regional impact and spillover effect of public infrastructure investment: An empirical study in the Yangtze River Delta,China

Since China's reform and opening up, public infrastructure investments have significantly improved. These investments drive China's long-term economic growth. Based on panel data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2006 to 2017, the simultaneous equation models (SEMs) are constructed to explore the regional impact and spillover effect of infrastructures with resolving endogenous problems. Public infrastructure investment remains to have a systemic effect on household income, urban population, and land prices in certain regions. In certain region, the estimated coefficients of public infrastructure investment are consistent with expectations and significant, which are 0.523, 0.142, and 0.781 with three-stage least squares method. And the endogenous variables also affect public infrastructure investment. But, the coefficient of the spatial term is −0.019, negative and not significant. The cross-regional spillover effect of public infrastructure investment is nonsignificant using the generalized spatial three-stage least squares method.     

土地违法对经济增长的影响研究分析

本文基于土地违法投入对经济增长的作用机理,通过实证研究分析了中国1999-2006年土地违法投入对经济增长的影响及贡献。研究结果：土地违法投入由于其获取方式和途径等不同对社会经济产生不同于合法土地投入的效应,因而产生了不同于合法土地投入对经济增长的贡献。从短期看,违法土地投入对经济增长的产出弹性远远小于合法土地投入,从长期看,违法土地投入不利于土地的合理投入和集约利用,对经济增长并不能产生正的贡献。因此,政府应该从多方面措施入手,最大程度地遏制土地违法现象的发生。     

Economic Gain and Loss from Public Infrastructure Investment

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of transportation investment on the Korean economy using the dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model. The result of the counterfactual analysis shows that infrastructure investment policy has the advantage of economic growth, but the disadvantage of price inflation. The elasticities of infrastructure investment with respect to GDP, export, private utility, and inflation depend on institutional restrictions on the domestic inflow of foreign capital and financing alternatives for infrastructure projects. The growth effect of transportation investment would be maximized if regulations on inflow of foreign capital to the private sector were lifted. On the other hand, the effect of transportation investment on inflation would be minimized if transportation investment expenditure were completely financed by tax revenues.     

The Role of Information Density in Infrastructure Investment

The twentieth century witnessed an extraordinary flow of institutional investment into urban infrastructure. Notwithstanding this, the demand for infrastructure projects exceeds supply of skills and capital. With this disconnect as a backdrop we develop a model of information flow to examine how financial assets are transacted over time and space. Specifically, we build on conceptualisations of “information content” from Clark and O'Connor ( 1997 ) to propose a way of theorising “information density”. We apply this specifically to infrastructure investment and find four ways in which infrastructure investment is highly dense. This relates to asset‐level definitions in infrastructure, opacity with respect to how products are securitised, high variance in investment performance, and high relational and investment expertise. We draw on a large qualitative sample of 53 in‐depth interviews, which we validate with quantitative data, to support our findings.     

State Characteristics and the Locational Choice of Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Regional FDI in Mexico 1989–2006

ABSTRACT Despite the growing importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Mexican economy, statistical evidence on the determinants of the regional distribution of foreign‐owned firms is seriously limited. In this paper, empirical findings are presented from a variety of econometric models that identify several regional characteristics influencing the locational choice of FDI. The main findings are threefold. First, several locational factors appear to be potentially important; these include regional demand, wages, schooling, infrastructure, and agglomeration economies. Second, the effect of agglomeration economies stems from several sources. In particular, the regional presence of agglomerations of manufacturing activity and of foreign‐owned manufacturing firms both have an independent positive effect on the locational decision of new FDI. Third, the locational process of maquiladora firms differs from the locational process of overall FDI. The actual findings suggest that regional demand and infrastructure, as suggested above, are not important locational factors for export‐oriented firms. Furthermore, whereas agglomeration economies from manufacturing and the presence of existing FDI attract new maquiladora investment, the presence of a regional agglomeration of services deters the location of new maquiladora firms. Finally, agglomeration economies appear to be more important in the locational process of maquiladora firms.     

Road to shared prosperity: The elaboration and influence of a transboundary policy narrative for regional economic integration

In the Mekong Region, the Asian Development Bank and partners have promoted economic corridors as a way to achieve regional economic integration and growth. This study evaluates how a transboundary policy narrative of shared prosperity around the East–West Economic Corridor programme emerged, and then how it was elaborated and used, taking a set of border policies of the government of Thailand as cases. For two decades the shared prosperity narrative has been used by a coalition of elite actors to support a programme of investments in road infrastructure, as well as to push for agreements on trade, border logistics, investment and tourism. The shared prosperity narrative has helped maintain support for the programme despite its failures to meet projections and expectations. Although criticised by civil society and experts from time to time, no coherent shared counter‐narrative emerged. Policy elites in Thailand have used the transboundary narrative to justify investments in special economic zones, and transport infrastructure near the border and inside neighbouring countries. Thailand has also reproduced the narrative in support of efforts to bolster tourism cooperation, and negotiate cross‐border trade and logistics agreements. Roads and bridges have been built, underlining how discursive practices have material consequences and reinforce the narrative.     

基于主成份分析法的我国水产苗种产业区域划分及影响因素研究

水产苗种的产业化生产是未来水产养殖发展的必然趋势。分析了中国29个省区水产苗种产业,通过主成份分析得出了苗种产业竞争力评价指标,包括基础设施指标、人力资源指标、自然资源指标以及政策指标。其中基础设施指标、人力资源指标在产业区域竞争力形成过程中起到至关重要的作用。最后,根据4个指标得分和综合竞争力排名情况,将中国水产苗种产业划分为高度发达地区、较发达地区、欠发达区域以及落后地区4大类区域。并对4类区域的竞争力指标情况,提出针对性的产业提升建议。     

干旱对农业生态系统影响研究进展

笔者综述了国内外近10 年干旱对农业生态系统的影响研究,国内外学者主要基于田间试验观测,从细胞微观、单株作物、站点尺度较好地研究了干旱对农作物干物质合成、分配的影响机制,分析了不同生长阶段干旱对作物生长的影响差异。干旱明显降低了作物气孔导度,影响了ATP 合成酶的活性,降低了光合作用效率。在部分作物生长前期,干旱会适当地增加干物质向根部的分配比例,提高水分利用效率;但在大部分作物生长中后期,干旱将直接影响作物地上生物量合成,降低作物产量。但是,干旱对农业生态系统的区域性研究稍显不足。干旱影响范围广,持续时间长,受灾地区农作物品种复杂。单一站点田间试验观测不能反映干旱的区域性影响,且在大范围下开展多站点田间实时观测耗时费力。遥感可以实现干旱影响的大范围监测,但却不足以反映干旱对不同作物的影响差异。随着计算机模拟技术的不断发展,基于田间试验观测构建的作物生长模型能有效克服田间试验的时空局限性,且通过不同的作物模型或参数设置,能够较为准确地反映干旱对不同作物的影响差异,成为开展干旱对农业生态系统影响的重要手段。     

基于ISM的荔枝冷链物流发展影响因素分析

我国荔枝冷链物流体系建设的滞后与薄弱,导致荔枝采后损耗严重。本文运用解释结构模型(ISM)方法,对影响荔枝冷链物流体系发展的因素进行提炼与分析,选取了10个要素建立邻接矩阵与可达矩阵,并计算得出五阶结构模型。根据模型的层次结构进行分析,提出了加大冷链物流基础设施资金投入、加强宣传教育、加强人才培养、扶持第三方冷链物流企业、完善标准制度建设等对策建议。实现在资源局限下有主次、分步骤地解决制约荔枝冷链物流发展的各种因素,为荔枝产业的发展提供参考。     

我国生猪饲养的发展出路——生态养猪

人口迅速增长,资源严重短缺和环境污染是当今世界的三大问题,资源与环境已严重威胁人类的生存和发展。本文就资源和环境角度出发,利用比较分析法和生态学原理知识,对我国生猪饲养业的现状和面临的问题进行分析,指出我国生猪饲养的发展出路--生态养猪,并且从国家支持、政府投资、技术培训等方面,提出如何发展和推广生态养猪的措施。     

The relationship between China's income inequality and transport infrastructure,economic growth,and carbon emissions

Since the beginning of the 21st century, accompanied by the tremendous achievements of China's economic growth is an increasingly severe income gap between the rich and the poor. Based on panel data from 2000 to 2018, this study systematically examined the relationship among transport infrastructure, economic growth, carbon emissions, and income inequality in China, using the panel vector autoregressive model estimated by the generalized method of moments. We further divided China into three regions to investigate the regional heterogeneity of these relationships. The results show a long‐run equilibrium relationship between transport infrastructure, economic growth, carbon emissions, and income inequality. Income inequality in the previous year significantly affects that in the current year positively. Whether at the national or regional level, economic growth affects income inequality negatively. For the national sample, the highway reduces income inequality, while the railway increases income inequality. For both the subsamples and the national sample, carbon emissions significantly increase income inequality and are the Granger test cause for income inequality. Furthermore, we discuss some of the possible mechanisms of these results. Our findings generate policy implications for reducing income inequality in regard to economic growth, transport infrastructure, and carbon emissions.     

State Infrastructure and the Geography of Employment

ABSTRACT The effects of state public capital investment on economic growth is an important question that has been the focus of a recent substantial research effort. But the majority of this research has ignored these investments’influence on the intra-state pattern of economic activity. Yet if external agglomeration economies are important determinants of growth, then investments may indirectly affect growth by fostering or discouraging agglomeration. This paper discusses the effect of state infrastructure investments on the distribution of employment within states and the implications of these spatial effects for aggregate state employment growth. Preliminary empirical results suggest that state infrastructure investments tend to redistribute growth from areas of dense employment to other parts of the state. This redistribution may diminish agglomeration benefits offered by cities, which has the potential to reduce state growth. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications of the work for research and policy.     

Regional Development Within National Industrial Policies: An Analysis of the British Coal Industry

Three variations in regional policy distinguish the conduct of the nationalized British coal industry—social industry, state industry, and state commerce. Each variation takes a distinct approach to natural and human resource development in chronically depressed regions such as the peripheral coal fields in Britain or the Appalachian coal fields in the United States. Central to the variation are recognition of the factor of decline that E. F. Schumacher analyzed in the 1950s and the mitigation of social welfare consequences of shifts in production and investment. Schumacher's analysis raised policy issues of social welfare, resource development, and energy. These emerged again in the British coalminers'strike of 1984–85. Broad issues like these are likely to surface in regions where employment is concentrated in a declining industry facing new and severe competition.     

Retail Business Adjustment in Rural Hierarchies

Many rural hierarchies are becoming increasingly dominated by a few regional growth centers while the retail sector in adjacent smaller communities either stagnates or declines. This study tests the hypothesis that the rate of adjustment of the retail sector to changing consumer spending patterns is uniform across different ordered communities in a rural hierarchy. Neoclassical investment theory is combined with central place theory to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between the retail sector and investment in a community. A three tiered 49 community hierarchy is constructed using data from the Minnesota Department of Revenue and the Report of Condition and Income of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A crosssectional time series ordinary least squares regression model is employed to estimate retail coefficients of adjustment for the hypothesis testing. Regional estimates indicate only partial adjustment in the retail sector across the whole hierarchy to shifts in consumer spending patterns. Community estimates, which decompose the regional estimate, indicate retail businesses in the largest and mid-sized communities adjust totally in one period, but that retail businesses in the smallest communities do not. The faster rates of adjustment by retail businesses in the larger communities to changing consumer spending patterns may augment the development of regional growth centers in rural areas.     

提高人才培养质量的思考——以苏州农业职业技术学院为例

我国高等职业教育在经历了多年的发展后,取得了突破性的进展,但如何更好地提高人才培养的质量,仍然在不断探索。高职人才培养目标是真正体现以市场为导向,本着以人为本的理念,培养出高素质的技能型人才。提出了提高人才培养质量的措施是明确培养目标,加强专业建设;加大课改力度,做实课程建设;加强团队建设,提高双师素质;加大教学投入,不断改善基础实施;推进教育创新,深化教学改革。     

A Synthesis of Empirical Research on the Impact of Government onLong‐Run Growth

This paper provides a synthesis of the 1983–98 published literature on the empirical evidence regarding the interaction between government policies and growth. Five policy areas are considered: general government consumption, tax rates, education expenditures, defense and public infrastructure. The most conclusive results in the literature relate to the positive impact of education expenditures on growth. Public infrastructure also appears important. Regression analysis remains the most commonly adopted research methodology. A better link with current theories will be obtained when parameter calibration methods formicro‐foundations based models replace parameter estimation of regression models with ad hoc specifications. Nonetheless, there remain severe limitations on what can be learned for policy from highly aggregative models of endogenous growth. Better data are needed at the regional macro and meso levels to complement thecurrently available pooled cross‐section time‐series country data. The potential endogeneity of government fiscal variables can be resolved through the selection of appropriate instrumental variables, such as those that arise in cases of “natural experiments”.     

陕西省资源环境承载力时空差异分析

利用陕西省资源、环境及社会经济数据,采用主成分分析方法建立了陕西省资源环境承载力评价指标体系,并提取了四个资源环境承载力主成分即资源供给、环境质量、社会经济和基础设施。通过ArcGIS 自然断点分级将承载力分为五个等级,即高承载地区、较高承载地区、中等承载地区、较低承载地区和低承载地区,分析了陕西资源环境承载力的时空特征。结果表明：综合承载力分布表现为关中高,陕北次之、陕南低的特征;资源供给承载能力关中最高,陕北中等,陕南承载能力最低;环境质量承载能力为渭南、榆林为属高承载力,安康及商洛最低;社会经济承载力陕北高,关中及陕南较低;基础设施承载力为宝鸡和咸阳高,铜川低。陕西省资源环境承载力空间分布不均,整体上各区域承载力表现出微弱的增加趋势,其中陕北地区承载力增加最大。陕西资源环境承载能力的变化与能源利用、耕地面积、工业废气排放量、人均GDP等因素密切相关。这些研究为区域经济和生态环境均衡发展规划提供了依据。     

Collaborative Work Team Grouping Strategy in Networked Virtual Enterprise

Grouping a virtual enterprise is a key technique of agile manufacturing formation.By analyzing the elements of the enterprise's resource and requirements and making use of the concept of rescouce index and the mothed of fuzzy judgement, the model of enterprise's resource is presented. The communication structure of collaborative work team is built by using the network infrastructure of COBRA .Also, team grouping process of collaborative work is discussed.Considering the enterprise's resource demands, the strategy of selecting partners based on the optimzation of enterprises's resource is proposed.     

Modelling concept of lettuce breeding for nutrient efficiency

Modern lettuce cultivars are bred for use under high levels of input of water and nutrients, and therefore less adapted to low-input or organic conditions in which nitrate availability varies over time and within the soil profile. To create robust cultivars it is necessary to assess which traits contribute to optimal resource capture and maximum resource use efficiency. We therefore revisited earlier published results on root growth, resource capture and resource use efficiency of lettuce exposed to localized drought and nitrate shortage in a pot experiment. Root growth in a soil profile with localized resource shortage depended on the resource that was in short supply. We conceptualized a model describing nitrogen uptake and use efficiency. We also investigated the genetic variation among 148 cultivars in resource capture over time and soil depth and in resource use efficiency in four (two locations × two planting dates) field experiments. Cultivars proved to be highly diverse in their ability to capture and use resources. This ability, however, was strongly affected by other sources of variance, stressing the need for an eco-physiological model capable of reducing the residual variance and improving the expression and evaluation of cultivar differences in relation to both resource capture and use efficiency in lettuce. We showed that genetic variation was best expressed under limiting conditions. To improve the conceptualized model further we identified issues requiring further analysis, e.g., the physiological reasons why certain cultivars are capable of quickly responding to changes in the environment to maintain optimal resource capture.