无锡新区：创新型国际化科技新城

位于无锡市区东南部太湖之滨的无锡国家高新技术产业开发区，是1992年经国务院批准设立的。经过十多年的创业和奋斗，如今的新区已成为长三角地区具有显著影响力的国家高新技术开发区，综合实力跻身全国54个国家级高新区的前列。近来，无锡新区又喜事连台：国内首个软件服务外包专业园区开园；国内首屈一指的IC设计主题科技园区集成电路设计园大厦落成。太湖之滨，一个产业转型新地标已然树起。     

The seductive discourse of development: The Cape Town 2004 Olympic bid

Research on how the decision to bid for the Olympics is made, the resources and processes involved in the bidding process and how a country responds to a failed bid is important. These aspects are embedded in a range of political and economic processes from the local to the global level. The Olympic Games is the ultimate mega-event. This article uses the case study of the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid (CTOB) to examine the above aspects, highlighting the global dimensions of bidding for major events. The CTOB illustrates that contemporary sport associations and structures are strongly influenced by emergent global forces such as global capital and dominance by certain regions. This often results in countries being disadvantaged from one of two sides. Either they cannot afford to participate in the bidding process or they cannot lobby sufficiently to influence the international sport associations.     

市井万象

古装散银女1月15日,在杭州火车站出现了一名古装散银女:她给来自全国各地的农民工免费分发一枚好运一生贺岁喜银,并希望他们能将好运一生的美好祝福带回家与家人一起分享。白居易国际机场近日,在浙江省两会上,政协委员、浙江大学教授蔡天新提案:建议把萧山国际机场更名为白居易国际机场,以此来提高杭州在国     

市井万象

背着债主照片讨薪近日,贵阳街头一男子背块木板,上贴欠债者照片,写着:"XX请速还我人民币3000元。"这一文明讨薪方式受到很多路人追捧,被赞"有文化"。     

市井万象

虐童之殇中国的独生子女政策曾广泛地令人产生错觉:中国儿童仿佛正经历着他们最好的时代。衣食无忧、父母溺爱、社会呵护,乃至于孩子们的骄纵任性也成了过于幸福的明证。但最近,浙江幼教颜艳红揪住幼童双耳上提的虐童照片却公开撕碎了这种假象,随即曝出的还有西安女童因不会算数被老师狂扇数十耳光,四川雅安一小学保安用弹生殖器的手段百般体罚学生。     

Securing the Only Game in Town: The EU's Political Conditionality and Democratic Consolidation in Post-Soviet Latvia

The state of democracy in post-communist Europe has been subject to some debate in recent years; but it needs to take account of longer-term trends. The focus here is on how far the EU's political conditionality has contributed to democratic consolidation using an in-depth case study of post-Soviet Latvia. The record of the impacts of conditionality up to EU entry is examined and then attention turns to whether post-accession tendencies have demonstrated any significant changes after the end of Brussels' monitoring. Using a comparative framework, this article shows that the outcome after four years of EU membership is mixed with both positive and negative results. It is concluded that there is no automatic locking-in effect of European integration; and that conditionality assists democratic consolidation more in structural than in attitudinal or behavioural terms.     

The Hofstad Group: The New Face of Terrorist Networks in Europe

Between 2003 and 2006, members of the so-called Hofstad group planned various terrorist attacks inside the Netherlands, including the assassination of controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Amateurish in its modus operandi and composed mostly of second-generation Muslim immigrants, Hofstad perfectly exemplifies the new terrorist networks that are growing in most European countries. Its perception of Europe as a battlefield of jihad, no less critical than Iraq or Afghanistan, signifies the break from the networks that operated in the continent in the 1990s. Its amorphous structure and lack of ties with international networks make Hofstad the quintessential example of the homegrown terrorism that is worrying European intelligence agencies.     

The New Competition and the New Economy: Poland in the international division of labour

This article examines the role of Poland in the international division of labour where the context of transformation is increasingly competitive, based on knowledge and innovation. It is argued on the basis of statistics and case studies that Poland's integration into the international economy is highly uneven. The logic of trade has shifted Poland towards being an exporter of low technology and basic materials. Foreign investment, however has involved the transfer of some technological and organisational innovations. The advantages of a well educated workforce are undermined by low spending on research and development.     

The Returns to Education in Africa: Some New Estimates

Abstract

We estimate the rate of return to education for 12 African countries using recent data and a range of methodologies, which we apply consistently across all countries. Our findings confirm that the return to basic education is the lowest (7–10%). The returns to upper secondary and tertiary education are similar to one another (25–30%). Accounting for the risk of joblessness increases these rates of return, particularly for basic education and for women at tertiary level. Our results at the country level suggest that great care should be taken in choosing the appropriate methodology to estimate rates of return.     

Town twinning and political support

Does town twinning foster citizens’ political support of the European Union? This study investigates the relation, which is maintained in politics and academics but still calls for empirical evidence. We distinguish between two levels of analysis, namely individual and context level, and differentiate in accordance with David Easton’s modes of political support specific from diffuse support. The corresponding hypotheses are tested with a unique dataset, which embraces survey findings of more than 12,000 respondents from 28 randomly selected municipalities in Germany. The main conclusions that emerge from the analysis are: First, town twinning does promote political support of the European Union on the individual level. Second, there are positive effects on specific and diffuse support. Thirdly, there is no relationship between local activity in twinning affairs and political support.     

Process of Cluster Formation in China: A Case Study of a Garment Town

In China industrial clusters consisting of small and medium enterprises have been proliferating in areas where private sectors have successfully developed. This study inquires into the process of forming a new industrial cluster and the roles of local and distant urban traders in the garment industry in China. We found that the local marketplace, where enterprise managers can easily purchase materials from and sell products to local traders, plays a critical role in stimulating the entry of new enterprises in the early stage of cluster development. As a cluster develops, however, entrepreneurial ability in producing high-quality products and marketing them to urban traders plays a more significant role.