Rural economy,environmental degradation and economic disparity: a case study in Deryabuyi,Xinjiang

Deryabuyi, a small isolated town in the Takla Makan desert in Xinjiang, China, is viewed from the perspective of its rural economy. The minority Uyghur inhabitants are similar to other rural minority communities in China. In particular, focus is placed on the digging of rabbit carrots, a medicinal herb that grows on the roots of mesquite trees. Just as the Tibetan caterpillar-fungus collection has brought cash, and problems, to rural Tibetans, the collection of rabbit carrots has brought cash to Deryabuyi. However, the loss of the ability to engage in sustainable economic activities due to environmental degradation, loss of grazing land, overharvesting of scarce resources, diversion of water resources, government neglect along with scarce and/or inadequate social services such as health care and education, and job discrimination among others, may mean the destruction of this unique cultural community. As such, Deryabuyi can be seen as a microcosm of the challenges facing rural minorities in Xinjiang and in other parts of China.     

Pre-colonial centralisation,traditional indirect rule,and state capacity in Africa

What explains contemporary variation in state capacity across African states? Recent research has focused on the possible role played by colonial and pre-colonial institutions. This paper investigates the way in which colonial and pre-colonial institutions interacted to affect the public legitimacy and coercive capacity of African states on independence. A coherent configuration of historical institutions, pre-colonial centralisation combined with colonial indirect rule through traditionally legitimate rulers, contrasts with the incoherent and comparatively illegitimate configurations of pre-colonial decentralisation with traditional rule and pre-colonial centralisation with colonial non-traditional or direct rule. The paper tests the theoretical expectations in a historical instrumental-variables framework.     

中日贸易的新发展、新变化及问题

新世纪以来,中日贸易规模进一步扩大,贸易商品结构也发生了新的变化。由于中国经济崛起而日本经济低迷,中国在日本对外贸易中的地位迅速提高,而日本在中国对外贸易中的地位却明显下降。中日贸易发展对中日两国经济都产生了积极的作用和影响,也存在一些不可忽视的问题,必须认真对待,尽快解决。     

战后印度尼西亚橡胶种植业发展问题探析

印度尼西亚是世界上重要的橡胶生产、出口国之一,目前其橡胶产量位居世界第二,仅次于泰国.虽然橡胶的生产与出口一直是印尼国民经济收入的重要来源,但是印尼橡胶种植业战后的发展却是一波三折.本文主要探讨20世纪50年代印尼橡胶产业所遇到的重大问题,希望以此个案展示发展中国家经济发展问题的复杂性.     

世界体系中的后苏联国家:欧盟新成员国、独联体成员国和中国之比较

自1989年以来,后苏联国家呈现出不同的沿革轨迹。这些国家大体上可以分为四个群体:欧盟新成员国(NMS)、独联体在欧洲的成员国、独联体在亚洲的成员国和中国。这四个国家群体对于当今世界经济政治体系的参与和依附程度各不相同。需要对它们在工业和贸易方面的能力作出界定,而这些能力对其经济的全球化和金融化产生着影响。国家群体对于世界体系的特定联系决定了其特定的经济(以及政治)能力和依附水平。通过考察它们各自不同的投资模式、贸易伙伴和金融依附情况,以及2007年以来世界金融危机造成的金融压力方面的影响,可以看到:一方面,欧盟的后苏联国家坚定地融入世界经济体系;另一方面,大型经济体(如俄罗斯和中国)有可能建立起本国的市场及网络,因而其经济自立水平要高于欧盟新成员国。存在着三种对于世界经济危机的主要反应方式:更深地融入占支配地位的世界资本主义制度、走向一个较少新自由主义色彩而较多协调主义的世界体系、形成以对峙力量和区域集团为标志的更加多元化的世界体系。     

Good Inflation, Bad Inflation: The Housing Boom, Economic Growth and the Disaggregation of Inflationary Preferences in the UK and Ireland

This article presents a comparative analysis of the determinants, sustenance and broader macroeconomic consequences of the ultimately unsustainable housing boom in Ireland and the UK in recent years. It examines, in particular, the role played by ostensibly depoliticised monetary policy in both contexts in the development of a house price bubble that has served to fuel consumer-led growth. It assesses the viability, sustainability and reproducibility of the private debt-financed consumer boom that house price inflation has generated. In the process it draws attention to the increasingly differentiated character of both government inflationary preferences and counter-inflationary performance—with the shift to official measures of inflation that exclude mortgage interest repayments and, in the UK at least, to the covert re-politicisation of monetary policy. It concludes by suggesting that governments may well not have time-inconsistent inflationary preferences so much as sectorally specific inflationary preferences. This might be summarised in terms of the aphorism: 'retail price inflation bad, house price inflation good'.     

Trilateral trade relations among China,Japan and South Korea: Challenges and prospects of regional economic integration

China’s emergence as a global and regional manufacturing center has significant implications for the Northeast Asian economies of Japan and South Korea. China's trade with Japan and South Korea has been rapidly growing in relative importance, largely facilitated by China's rise as a regional production base as well as changes in the trade structures between China and her neighbours. Indeed, in recent years, China has been the main driving force behind Northeast Asian trade interdependency. The strong economic linkages and complementarities among China, Japan and South Korea augur well for the further integration among the three Northeast Asian countries. Establishing a trilateral free trade arrangement (FTA) provide new opportunities to enhance the three countries’ overall growth potential through trade and investment. However, such Northeast Asian regional integration is destined to be a long, drawn out process. The forging of a trilateral trading arrangement between China and her two neighbours remain a long term vision in view of the many outstanding issues and obstacles.     

中部地区高质量发展的成效、特征及对策建议

中部地区高质量发展是加快中部地区崛起之势,促进区域协调发展的重要举措。近年来,中部地区经济社会发展取得重大成就,但发展不平衡不充分的问题依然突出。本文结合中部地区的发展现状,从经济增长、产业结构、创新活动、城乡关系、生态环境五个角度入手,评价中部崛起战略实施以来中部地区发展取得的成效,探讨中部地区当前区域经济发展呈现的新特征。在高质量发展的推进过程中,中部地区必须加快建设国家先进制造业基地;重视跨区域合作,加强紧邻区域辐射带动作用;主动融入新发展格局,以缩小区域间差距,形成东中西区域良性互动协调发展的新局面。     

My Business Pays Me: Labourers and Entrepreneurs Among the Self–Employed Poor in Latin America

Are the independent economic activities of poor people “petty commodity production”—an informal way to earn a subsistence wage? Or are they “microentrepreneurship”, a launching point for capital accumulation and growth? This paper draws on fieldwork in Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala, focusing specifically on the poorest businesses. In–depth interviews indicate that even the smallest–scale producers, merchants and service providers have goals of “improving” their business and “growing” their capital, not unlike their capitalist counterparts. Yet, while growth is desirable, maintaining one's business as a steady source of income is a sufficient achievement for many. Poor self–employed people are both “labourers” and “entrepreneurs”; the key macro–level question becomes, not “Do petty–commodity producers have different goals than capitalist entrepreneurs”, but “What resources are lacking, and what obstacles exist, that keep many microentrepreneurs in low–yield activities, with little opportunity to grow their resources?”     

中国和平崛起与新时期对外关系--访哈佛大学中国基金会主席柯伟林教授?

美国著名的中国历史学家柯伟林教授对当前中国经济发展、中国梦、中国的地缘政治及新时期对外关系提出了一些很重要的见解。柯伟林认为,中国经济一直是在全球化和国际化的背景下向前发展,中国的地理位置可以让它经济上和平崛起,未来中国经济能够引领全球经济发展。实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦必须立足于20世纪中国发展的基础之上。就地缘政治而言,当前中国正处于现代史上最有利的战略地位,中美关系是世界上最重要的双边关系,双方在一些重要领域要坚持合作。     

New Japan–China Relations and the Corresponding Positioning of the United States—History,Values, Realism in a Changing World

After more than a decade of deterioration in the relations between Japan and China symbolized by the visit of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Yasukuni Shrine, the relationship finally turned around in 2006–2007 into a qualitatively different one preparing for a new regional order. This was made possible mainly by the realistic perceptional change of the Japanese public on the regional security environment and the corresponding policy change of the Chinese Government on Japan-related histoty. The USA, as an essential stakeholder in Japan–China relations, also has to change itself in order to maintain its presence and interests in Asia and grasp a golden opportunity to build a more stable regional and international order given the drastic change in Japan–China relations which are still fragile due to structural problems. To this end, the USA needs to reevaluate and understand well the changing Japanese perception of history and of the severe security situation around Japan. Also, a Japan–USA–China trilateral partnership framework is now necessary to create a more stable Asian order by a USA initiative.     

Foreign investment,black economic empowerment and militarised patronage politics in Zimbabwe

This paper seeks to analyse Zimbabwe's economic empowerment policy. It argues that while there is a felt need for Zimbabwe to redress colonially induced injustices and racial imbalances in the ownership of the means of production, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the indigenisation of the economy is fundamentally flawed as it deters investors and may further damage the country's already extremely fragile economy. The implementation of the land reform programme contributed to the decline of Zimbabwe's economy: lessons learnt from the programme and related economic policies of the past 15 years highlight the problems of empowerment policies that are intertwined with patronage politics. The government's negation of basic economic principles and failure to open spaces for critical engagement with all relevant stakeholders epitomises an ill-advised indigenisation and economic empowerment strategy. The policy will not promote and retain foreign investment;nor are there sustainable prospects of internally oriented accumulation strategies on the horizon.     

Exports and terms of trade in Argentina, 1811–1870

Abstract — This research note analyses the evolution of the Argentine external sector between 1811 and 1870. New series of exports and terms of trade are presented. These show the vulnerability of the economy to external and internal shocks, but also the continuous growth of total exports and per capita exports along the period.     

Urbanization,Rural Mobility,and New Class Relations in Darjeeling,India

Throughout the developing world, rapid urbanization is leading to new social relations and new conflicts between urban and (formerly) rural populations. This paper examines this process of change through a detailed examination of changing rural–urban relations in the town of Darjeeling, in the Himalayan foothills in Eastern India. In Darjeeling, increased rural mobility, accelerated rural-to-urban migration and the increased participation of rural people in local politics have led to major changes in the town. We demonstrate that the upward trajectory of rural classes who were previously subordinate is leading the more established urban residents to feel threatened, resulting in a redrawing of local political issues along rural–urban lines and a reconfiguration of class consciousness and social relations. The urban middle class, whose opportunities in the town have stagnated or declined, see rural migrants as a source of competition for increasingly scarce resources and blame them for the overall decline in the quality of urban life. They mobilize their (predominantly cultural) capital to reinforce markers of cultural distinction between them and the rural migrants and to delegitimize the political gains they have made. We argue that rural–urban conflict is emerging as the chief source of tension in the town and that this tension is largely grounded in class issues.     

State Discourses, Police Violence and Democratisation in Argentina

Police violence is a persistent problem throughout Latin America despite the return of electoral democracy; it is pervasive and includes torture, murder and disappearances. Certainly institutional reforms aimed at changing police practice are important. However, it is equally important that state actors maintain a clear and relatively consistent discourse in favour of democratic policing. This article argues that, in the case of Argentina, state actors do not maintain a consistent position in favour of democratic policing and instead oscillate between denying the occurrence of police violence, justifying such police action and absolving themselves of responsibility.     

Historical Institutionalism and Economic Policymaking – Determinants of the Pattern of Economic Policy in Brazil, 1930–1960

From 1930 to 1960, Brazil adopted a pattern of economic policy marked by strong state intervention, high levels of protectionism, disregard of exports and a permissive treatment of inflation. These policies distorted the model of industrialisation and had a negative impact on the prospects for economic development. This article employs a historical institutionalist approach to investigate how the international context, the ideology of the policymakers, the role of the technocrats and the pressures of various social groups, especially the industrialists, influenced decisions on economic policy, contributing to the consolidation of the pattern described above.     

Covid-19 Pandemic,Social Mitigation and Taxation: The Open Veins of Inequality in Latin America

The pandemic of Covid-19 has exposed the veins of inequality in Latin America. With a socioeconomic disaster looming, social emergency policies seemed inevitable. Yet while governments argue over the continuity of such policies and whether the fiscal rules in place should be respected, no sustainable response has come out. This essay problematises whether the pandemic could represent a critical juncture to forge ahead with political narratives that highlight tax exemptions and privileges enjoyed by the rich. We analyse the mitigation measures adopted by Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay and their repercussions on the debate surrounding progressive tax reforms to fund social schemes.     

我国行政体制改革的动因、进展与路径选择

当前国际环境日趋复杂,信息技术革命日新月异,社会主要矛盾发生深刻变化,新一轮开放高水平推进,这些新情况新变化对深化我国行政体制改革,推进政府治理现代化提出了更高要求。党的十八大以来,我国行政体制改革向纵深发展,突出政府职能转变的主线,稳步推进大部门体制,深入推进放管服改革,决策科学化、民主化和法治化进程加快。按照党...     

平衡、融合与引导——试析新世界秩序构建中的中国作用

频繁的世界危机凸显出全球化时代下国际问题不可阻挡的跨国溢出与无序的世界治理秩序之间的深刻矛盾。从能源到气候变化问题,从大规模杀伤性武器的扩散到传染性疾病的防治,从国际金融系统的稳定到跨国宏观经济协调,政治、经济、安全问题复杂交织,世界越来越陷入动荡不安之中。当前处于世界新秩序重构的重要转型时期,中国不断增加的国家实力、声望和影响力赋予其在世界新秩序的构建中举足轻重的地位。本文旨在阐述中国在新秩序构建中的力量平衡、制度融合与理念引导作用。     

民族主义、国内政治权力结构变迁与南海争端国对华对冲差异

在国际体系变迁的背景下,东南亚三个主要的南海争端国越南、菲律宾和马来西亚普遍采用对华对冲战略以应对中国崛起带来的不确定性。但是,三国的对华对冲差异何以存在仍是个尚需进一步澄清的理论问题。在政治结构具有较高自主性的情况下,民族主义诉求强度以及国内政治权力结构变迁是影响三国对华对冲差异的主要因素,导致三国分别实施了对抗、均衡与合作三种不同类型的对冲。二者通过执政者的合法化战略影响对冲的实际演化,弱民族主义诉求推动争端国采取合作型对华对冲,但随着民族主义诉求增强且政治权力结构趋于集中化,争端国将采取均衡型对冲;在民族主义诉求增强且政治权力结构趋于分散化的情况下,争端国将采取对抗型对冲。国内政治权力结构的未来演变可能导致南海争端国实施更具对抗性的对华对冲战略,推动南海局势发生于中国不利的变化。