Building politics: The British Embassy Peking, 1949–1992

Abstract

Timor-Leste is among the youngest nations in the world. It began its independence under difficult circumstances: poverty is widespread, education is poor, the industrial sector is non-existent, and political turbulence is on the rise. On the positive side, future oil revenues are predicted to be substantial, which could potentially be a great help in Timor-Leste's struggle for development. This paper examines critically the possibility for Timor-Leste to use oil revenues to achieve economic development. It describes how difficult it is to estimate the future revenues because of volatile prices, territorial disputes, and insufficient seismological mapping. It continues with a discussion of the ‘resource curse’ – the difficulty of combining natural resources with economic development. Moreover, the particular challenges for Timor-Leste's development are dealt with at some length, as are possible ways to avoid the resource curse.     

China's engagement in South America and Africa's extractive sectors: new perspectives for resource curse theories

Abstract

China's engagement in South America and Africa's extractive sectors has increased significantly in the last decade. How comparable are the African and South American cases from a developmental perspective? This article explores resource curse theories, arguing that the ‘curses’ often associated to extraction are historically produced dynamic processes that need to be reevaluated in light of China's direct and indirect impacts on resource-endowed countries. It elaborates a framework to compare the developmental dynamics entailed by China's involvement in the South American and African extractive sectors, distinguishing between external, internal and intrinsic ‘curses’. The article holds that China's growth and investment have strengthened the position of resource-endowed countries in the international economy, revitalizing resource industries and improving terms of trade for commodities. Concurrently, the expansion of extractive activities has brought about increased environmental and economic sustainability challenges. Divergences between the African and South American cases are best observed at the national levels, where China's non-interventionist approach has different developmental implications depending on internal trends within investment host countries.     

Conceptualizing China–Latin America relations in the twenty-first century: the boom,the bust,and the aftermath

Despite the emergence of a rich literature on the rise of China in Latin America (LAC) since 2000, we are still grappling with this phenomenon. In this article we seek to theorize this expanding South–South relationship from two vantage points. First, from the perspective of China, we argue that, by necessity, the PRC has had to internationalize its development strategy in order to compensate for its serious natural resource deficit, feed the world's largest domestic population, and fuel the soon-to-be largest economy in the world. LAC has been just one slice of China's ‘go out’ strategy. Our second perspective probes the effect of China's entry into the region. Through the lens of development economics, we identify three separate political economy scenarios that have been accentuated within those countries that have the strongest economic ties with China. We rely on measures of institutional performance and macro-economic trends to illustrate the variable effects of China on LAC.     

Building climate-resilient cities： Examining climate change actions and hazard vulnerability in U.S. coast

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico＇s coastal counties have experienced many serious climate-related coastal hazards. It is important to identify how well local jurisdictions in gulf coast have prepared for climate change. The objective of this study is to exam how well the coastal jurisdictions have been aware of climate change and how well they have taken actions in climate change mitigation and adaptations. This study uses geographic information system （GIS） to identify the spatial variations of seventy-seven gulf coastal jurisdictions＇ climate change actions. The results show that only twelve coastal counties and their incorporated cities have made actions for climate change. The majority of coastal population in Gulf of Mexico are totally not be covered by local climate change initiatives or plans. The logistic regression results find that most of the contextual variables never show any statistical contribution to local climate change actions. The research suggests further coordination and education efforts to enhance local climate change awareness and actions.     

Governing the future: the European Central Bank’s expectation management during the Great Moderation

Abstract

The experience of the global financial crisis has sparked renewed interest in the role of futurity in the capitalist economy in general and in the formation and coordination of expectations under uncertainty in particular. Economic sociologists have carefully studied the ‘defuturizing’ technologies devised by private actors, but have tended to neglect the increasingly pivotal part played by central banks. Political economists have had more to say on central banks, but have focused on institutional issues rather than on the concrete practices of central banking. Making an original contribution to both literatures, this paper traces the construction and subsequent evolution, up to 2007, of the European Central Bank’s communicative apparatus. Drawing on official documents and on interviews with both ECB staff and market participants, the paper shows how this apparatus created the conditions for the formation and coordination of private sector expectations. The insights from this empirical analysis into the performative dimensions of ‘credibility’ and ‘knowledge’ in monetary governance contribute directly to ongoing debates about the recent extension of the ECB’s communicative apparatus through forward guidance and quantitative easing.     

公众预期对我国房地产宏观调控政策影响分析

1998年以来中国的房地产宏观调控发展历程经历了五阶段,各阶段公众预期呈现出不同的特征,并对调控政策效果产生了影响。因此,房地产市场调控政策的出台必须从调整房地产市场供求关系、建立长效机制、加强媒体与舆论的引导和管理以及保持政策的连续性、稳定性和长期性等加强公众预期管理等方面考虑。     

Democracy prevention: The international collaboration of authoritarian regimes

Current scholarship increasingly argues that international factors and, more specifically, authoritarian collaboration fundamentally affect the persistence of authoritarian rule. In order to generate a better understanding of the nature and effects of these international dimensions of authoritarianism, this article provides a conceptual framework for various aspects of authoritarian collaboration to prevent democracy, particularly the relationship between authoritarian regime types and their international democracy‐prevention policies. It differentiates between authoritarian diffusion, learning, collaboration and support, as well as between deliberate efforts to avert democracy and efforts not explicitly geared towards strengthening autocracy. The article further distinguishes between crisis events and normal conditions where authoritarian rulers' hold on power is not in danger. It is argued that authoritarian powers' motivations to provide support to fellow autocrats are self‐serving rather than driven by an ideological commitment to creating an ‘authoritarian international’: authoritarian rulers first and foremost strive to maximise their own survival chances by selectively supporting acquiescent authoritarian regimes, maintaining geostrategic control and fostering their developmental goals.     

Party Management of Talent: Building a Party‐led,Merit‐based Talent Market in China

This study examines major policy measures that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders have adopted to establish a party‐led, merit‐based talent management system to cope with a talent deficit in the reform era. It also assesses the effectiveness of these measures at both national and local levels. This study argues that although merit principles are never entirely missing from China's cadre personnel management, they have been given increasing priority in managing the cadre corps and recruiting global experts to China during the past three decades. This study shows that the CCP personnel management policies are in substantial and adaptive evolution, which is important for understanding the nature of human resource management in post‐Mao China.     

共享经济下企业的组织资源贡献行为及创新绩效——基于中国三大高新区高技术企业的定性比较分析

资源贡献行为对于共享经济模式下企业构建自身竞争优势具有重要意义。借助动机—机会—能力(M-O-A)框架构建企业资源贡献的理论模型,并探讨产业竞合与组织因素的组合对创新绩效的作用机制,有助于厘清资源贡献行为及构成,了解资源贡献行为促进创新绩效提升的作用机制。以北京中关村示范区、苏州工业园区和天津经济技术开发区的中国高新技术企业为研究样本,运用定性比较分析法探讨资源贡献行为的动机、机会、能力要素与产业环境因素对企业创新绩效的组配效应。研究发现了可实现高水平创新绩效的6种路径,即反应型资源贡献、研发—能力利用型资源贡献、(利用式)能力塑造型资源贡献、(获取式)能力塑造型资源贡献、动机驱使型资源贡献、资源捕捉型资源贡献,为企业提升创新绩效提供可行的策略选择。     

重新认识中华法资源的价值--从胡适的"老英雄悲剧"谈起

在1932年发表的<中国历史的一个看法>中,胡适描绘了一出"老英雄悲剧",即"老中华"的失败史,从中可以看出他对中华文明盲目指责和对西方近代文明盲目崇拜的态度.在当时那个新旧变替和文化碰撞最激烈的时代,出现一些偏激看法是正常的现象;但在经济全球化的今天,则必须建立起理性看待中西文化的态度.百余年来中国借助西方法资源建构的法律体系缺乏本土的社会基础,因此目前应当重新认识和发掘中华法资源,纠正长期存在的对于中西法治文明简单化和教条化的认识.     

Investigation of officials＇ behaviors of lnternet abuse under e-government in China

The paper investigated the lnternet abuse behaviors of government officials in public administration or public service departments in China. The time period and frequency being on Internet for private purposes, the non-official business surfing behaviors within working hours, as well as the main harms brought to the government affairs and government networks were analyzed statistically. The attitude of officials upon being online supervised and controlled by technical tools, the requirements of internal entertainment web construction, and the proposals to improve the management systems of e-government network were collected and analyzed systematically. This study has provided the first hand materials for treating Internet abuse in e-government environment in China.     

关于墨子经济思想的哲学思考

墨于是公元前五世纪未中国最具独创精神的思想家,他出于对贫苦大众的深切关怀,一生都在为改善小生产者和劳动者的物质生活、为提高他们的社会政治地位而斗争。而他的思想就是在这些社会实践中形成的。在社会生产实践中他提出了关于生产、消费、财富、管理等方面的经济理论,而在这些经济思想中又渗透着丰富的哲学内涵,本文从其生产观中运用的生产力与生产关系的矛盾论、消费观中运用的资源合理配置论,财富论中运用的生产需求与供给之间平衡性与不平衡性矛盾论、以及管理论中运用的改革与科学管理作用论等理论入手,分析墨子经济思想中的哲学元素．挖掘墨子经济哲学思想对当今社会政治经济发展,有着重要的启示意义。