The Poverty of the Doha Round and the Least Developed Countries

Two distinct literatures have emerged on the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and its likely benefits for developing countries. One is built on the use of computable general and partial equilibrium simulations, while another explores the political economy of the negotiation process to explore the opportunities a concluded round will bring for developing countries. Both literatures generate important insights into the DDA, and both highlight that the deal on offer to developing countries is very weak. However, there has been little engagement between these two bodies of thought. This paper seeks to begin to redress this, fusing a review of the simulations of likely DDA gains with an examination of the passage of the Doha negotiations. It argues that through this process we can arrive at a fuller understanding of how limited, and problematic, the results of the DDA are likely to be for the less developed countries. If the DDA is to deliver on its mandate, a qualitative shift in the negotiations is required.     

Determinants of Efficiency in Least Developed Countries: Further Evidence from Nepalese Manufacturing Firms

Using a translog stochastic production frontier and maximum likelihood econometric methods, we estimate and model the determinants of firm level efficiency in the Nepalese context. Our results are broadly in line with theoretical expectations. We find that large firms are more efficient and that a higher capital intensity leads to inefficiency. There is no statistical evidence to suggest that foreign participation leads to efficiency improvements. Also, we do not observe any link between export intensity and efficiency improvement. We find that higher protection leads to inefficiency. Overall, our results suggest that an outward looking industrial strategy, which relies on less intervention and permits the development of large-scale industries, is conducive to efficiency improvement in least developed countries (LDCs) like Nepal.     

发达国家农民工社会保障经验及对中国的启示

人权保障是当今国际社会的重要话题,受到国际社会的普遍关注。实践反复证明,资本主义市场经济条件下的广大劳工,不是市场经济的局外人,而是市场经济的重要主体;不是无足轻重的雇佣奴隶,而是对市场经济发展有重大影响的“利害攸关者”。     

西方发达国家政党运用互联网推进电子党务

当前信息网络技术的高度发展,在一定程度上改变了西方发达国家民众的政治参与方式和思维与行为逻辑,从而对其政党传统的组织、动员以及宣传模式造成冲击.     

发达国家期刊发展模式与品牌战略

自1663年世界历史上第一本期刊在德国诞生起,历经几个世纪的发展,期刊这一传媒形式,已成为影响力能够与电视、报纸比肩的主流媒体形式。在一些发达国家,期刊的影响力甚至超过了报纸和电视。在世界企业500强的排行榜中,常可以看见期刊传媒巨头的身影。纵观发达国家期刊发展的历史轨迹,可以看出,凡是发展又快又好的期刊,虽然其办刊思想、编辑模式及经营策略各具特色,但它们的发展战略却基本趋同——均不约而同地选择并坚持了打造品牌、以品牌取胜的品牌战略。     

发达国家主权债务风险增大及其影响

2010年以来,以希腊、葡萄牙、爱尔兰和西班牙为典型的主权债务信用危机在欧元区蔓延,受到金融危机冲击后的欧元区又陷入了另一场危机中。欧债危机还未缓解,随后便是英国、日本和美国等主要发达国家主权信用问题的浮出。尽管,目前发达经济体核心国家普遍存在的主权债务信用风险还未向全球大面积扩散,只是在发达经济体内蔓延或消化,     

创新导向的英国知识产权产业化战略

英国的科技对世界文明的进步作出了不可替代的贡献,但是这种科技的优势并不能自然地转化为产业竞争的优势。二战后,美国、日本迅速成长为经济强国,而英国在整个20世纪一直处于下滑的趋势。     

发展中国家的安全状况及其前景

冷战后,发展中国家在安全领 域面临前所未有的复杂局面,内外安全方面的不确定性增加,各种突发事件猝不及防。世界安全的矛盾焦点也在向发展中国家集中。发展中国家维护国家综合安全的难度和压力空前加大,许多国家已陷入日趋艰难复杂的安全困境中。伊拉克战争的爆发,成为发展中国家安全现状的一个活生生的注脚。     

Food Aid and Malnutrition in Developing Countries: Evidence from Global Food Aid Allocation

This study investigates the allocation of dietary energy, iron, vitamin A and zinc within global food aid. The response of US and non-US donors to nutritional needs and donor interests is estimated with a dynamic correlated random effects Tobit model. Aid flows of the period 1993–2007 are analysed. The empirical results show that nutrient shipments in emergency food aid have been allocated towards poorer countries, but also face inertia and media bias. Project food aid from the US is found to be targeted towards politically stable and rural regions, while non-US project aid focuses on populations with high nutritional requirements.     

世界一些发达国家统筹城乡基本公共服务的经验

世界主要发达国家的发展经验表明,在工业化进程中不失时机地选择适合本国国情的手段统筹城乡基本公共服务供给,以此缩小城乡差距,顺利完成经济社会结构的转型,是带有普遍性的发展规律的。这些国家根据本国的具体实践采取有效措施缩小城乡基本公共服务供给差距,取得了很好的效果。     

西方发达国家高等教育国际化研究

当前,国际化已成为西方发达国家高等教育发展的重要趋势。这种国际化体现为学生与教师的国际流动、跨国高校问学术项目的合作、国际化课程开发与人才培养等形式,是培养具有国际视野、国际交流能力和国际竞争能力的优秀人才的必要手段。教育国际化加速了高等教育现代化的进程,有助于增进人与人之间、民族与民族之间的了解,从而对世界文化的多样性发展作出贡献。     

世界各国构建住房保障体系的基本模式和经验归纳

切实解决与改善中国低收入居民家庭的住房问题,实现“人人享有适当住房”的目标,乃是构建社会主义和谐社会的重中之重。中国共产党的“十七大”报告指出：“努力使全体人民学有所教、劳有所得、病有所医、老有所养、住有所居。”“健全廉租住房制度,加快解决城市低收入家庭住房困难。”这充分体现了中国党和政府对于住房保障体系建设工作的高度重视。低收入家庭的住房保障问题也是世界各国面临的一个共同性社会问题。     

Place-Shaping by Local Government in Developing Countries: Lessons for the Developed World

The Lyons Inquiry into local government in Britain represented a significant contribution to the debate on local government reform, with policy ramifications well beyond contemporary Britain. This article considers the Inquiry's concept of “place-shaping” as a mode of local government reform which captures the experience of a number of developing countries in recent years. By way of illustrative examples, we examine these processes in the specific contexts of South Africa and Indonesia. In particular, we consider whether the devolution of functions to municipalities in developmental settings constitutes place-shaping, and how this bears on processes of local government reform in developed nations.     

The Location of Overseas Research and Development and Intellectual Property Protection

Do multinationals distinguish between locations on the basis of the local intellectual property laws, in conducting their overseas research and development? We seek to address this question using data on US multinationals spanning the period 1977–2004. Particular care is taken to capture the host location enforcement environment of intellectual property protection. For our sample and time frame, we find that stronger intellectual property protection is not important in determining overseas research and development by these multinationals. The results are robust to disaggregation of the protection measure into its component indices, as well as to disaggregation of overseas research and development by industry. Instead, host country market size and human capital resources are found to be consistently important in explaining the location of overseas research and development.     

FDI,AGOA and Manufactured Exports by a Landlocked,Least Developed African Economy: Lesotho

Lesotho, a resource-poor country located inside South Africa, is now Africa's largest exporter of apparel to the US. Its performance, very unusual for Africa, relies heavily on Asian investors and trade privileges. This article traces the origins of FDI in Lesotho and the determinants of its export competitiveness, showing that apparel production suffers from low productivity, poor skills and weak local links. Its prospects after AGOA (the African Growth and Opportunities Act) remain uncertain unless the government addresses these structural problems. Lesotho holds important lessons for industrial development in Africa, going beyond creating a good investment environment.     

美国国家安全战略的思想根源

战略观念与战略思维是影响国家战略行为的深层因素。美国在成长为超级大国的历史进程中,逐步形成了自身独特的战略安全观念与战略思维方式。综合考察战后以来尤其是冷战期间美国国家安全战略的缔造与实施过程,可以看出,美国战略安全观念与战略思维方式有几个近乎一以贯之的显著特点:立足"最坏假设",强调实力地位,保持技术优势,偏重军事手段,追求绝对安全,维持全球霸权,秉持道德普遍主义和意识形态优越论。其中,物质与精神并重,权力尤其武力手段与道德、意识形态旗帜并举,是最具美国特色的战略思想。这些思想特征构成美国安全战略的深层脉络,在战略实践中起起落落但从未销声匿迹。这些思想观念所塑造的全球战略既成就了美国的超强地位,也造成了美国霸权的困境,是理解当前和未来美国国家安全战略的重要历史与思想线索。     

国际粮价高位运行对中国粮食安全的影响及应对策略

当前,国际粮食价格持续上涨,根据联合国粮农组织(FA0)统计报告,2007年全球粮价指数上涨加%.导致全球粮价不断攀升的因素,除国际谷物的低库存、趋紧的供给现状与强劲的需求之间严重失衡,致使供求状况紧张,国际粮价一路走高外,生物质能源的广泛利用、大量玉米被用于生产乙醇也推高了玉米价格,进而导致其他粮食价格上涨.此外,气候变化带来的自然灾害致使庄家歉收,对全球粮食供给和需求产生了较大影响,也成为推动国际粮价上涨的诱因之一.面对国际粮食短缺和国际粮价上涨的现状,作为发展中国家的中国,保障粮食安全,减轻国际粮价高位运行带来的影响,制定切实可行的应对策略则至关重要.     

Agricultural Commercialisation and Food Security in Rural Economies: Malawian Experience

This paper contributes to the debate on the nutrition-related outcomes of cash crop adoption by using a model with essential heterogeneity and a semi-parametric estimation technique. The model explicitly frames non-separability between production and consumption decisions of farming households providing an original test of separability. The empirical application is run using Malawian data. The results imply rational anticipations and decision process of agrarian households relative to the crop portfolio choice, disparate strength of market barriers faced by the farmers, non-separability between production and consumption decisions and a weak transmission from agricultural incomes to higher food expenditures and better diet.     

台湾地区智慧财产法院特色机制及其运行评述

台湾地区智慧财产法院的设立,最大程度地实现了知识产权案件的集中审判,审判效率获得极大提升。采用法官与技术审查官相结合模式,设置技术审查官辅助法官判案,有效解决法官技术知识不足问题。引入法院审理侵权诉讼可自行判断知识产权有效性制度,并协调各案间知识产权有效性判断的冲突,彰显案件审判之效率。