The gender politics of economic competitiveness in Malaysia's transition to a knowledge economy

Abstract

Many academic commentators have pointed to how the widening and deepening of a neoliberal reform agenda in Southeast Asia has brought about the end of developmental forms of state governance and the emergence of less directly market interventionist states pursuing economic ‘competitiveness’. In this paper, I note how notions of competitiveness are increasingly fused with ideas regarding the contribution of gender equity and women's empowerment to national economic success. However, drawing upon a case study of Malaysia, this paper highlights how government policies stressing both the marketisation of social reproduction and the need to expand women's productive roles are constantly brought into tension with embedded social structures. Such an emphasis is essential to any understanding of the role of the Malaysian state in economic development – a role that has been fundamentally shaped by a localised politics of ethnicity. The paper draws upon examples from government policy-making that conceptualise women as key workers in the emerging knowledge-driven economy and as microentrepreneurs driving pro-poor economic growth and illustrates how such policies are brought into tension with traditionalist discourses concerning the appropriate role of women in society.     

How to change other people's institutions: discursive entrepreneurship and the boundary object of competition/competitiveness in the German banking sector

Abstract

The paper explores recent public debates about the structure of the financial system in Germany. It pays particular attention to their symbolic-strategic dimension, that is, to attempts by several institutional entrepreneurs to reformulate the criteria of organizational legitimacy, concentrating on the sense-making and legitimization processes involved in institutional persistence or change. The paper discourse-analyses a campaign by institutional entrepreneurs – mainly representatives of commercial banks – who attempted to homogenize the criteria of organizational legitimacy in the German banking sector by questioning the fundamentals of the three-pillar system and the non-commercial banks. Institutional entrepreneurs are understood as discursive entrepreneurs whose actions refer to institutionalized generalizations of value. In the case of the financial sector in Germany, it was the generalized value of competition/competitiveness that served as a discursive device to legitimize the attempts of commercial banks to alter the institutional structure.     

桂林市旅游业发展模式的理性思考

地市合并为桂林旅游业提供了广阔的发展空间，文章从发展理念，项目建设，市场主体培育，区域合作，环境建设等方面分析了桂林旅游业10年发展历程所取得的成就和经验，从旅游发展规律上探讨了实施政府主导旅游发展，转变发展方式，改革创新，协调发展等策略的重要意义。     

我国工业国际竞争力现状考察及提升对策

提高工业国际竞争力是新型工业化道路的目标和途径。目前我国工业国际竞争力整体水平虽然有所提高,但与发达国家相比仍有不小差距,工业竞争优势主要表现在劳动密集型产业上,资本、技术密集型产业的发展水平较低,影响了我国工业国际竞争力。因此,需要从市场体系构建、产业重组、结构转换和企业运营等方面着手,采取切实措施,提升我国工业国际竞争力。     

公共服务改革视阈中的地方政府竞争力探析

在社会转型的关键时期,我国地方政府的公共服务能力已成为政府竞争力的核心要素。公共服务的特殊职能使地方政府间的竞争越来越从过去仅仅或特别重视经济和政治方面的竞争转向更重视社会性公共服务的竞争。本文认为,地方政府公共服务竞争取胜的关键在于其公共服务的竞争力,公共服务竞争力是现实能力与未来潜力的统一。当前,需要通过改革创新,继续转变政府职能,切实转变发展方式,不断改进服务机制,加快基本公共服务均等化进程以及加强绩效管理等途径提升地方政府公共服务竞争力。     

基于创意产业的城市竞争力评价体系研究

创意产业的兴起是后工业化社会中的一个新生事物,它创造价值的巨大能力引起了全球经济对创意产业的无限关注,已成为一个城市未来竞争的制胜法宝。目前的文献资料多是从理论的角度研究,仅有的一些实证研究中评价体系也不够完善。基于创意产业对城市竞争力影响的评价体系研究,最终得出以创意产业为二级指标的城市竞争力评价体系,可为进一步的实证研究打好基础。     

解读政府竞争力

随着世界经济一体化的日益加剧以及经济全球化的日益深入,20世纪80年代以来,兴起的竞争力理论也日益得到广泛的关注。各国的政府机构、学术界以及企业团体等都尝试通过对该理论的深入研究与实践应用来提高自身在复杂局势面前以及应对未来更为激烈复杂挑战的竞争力水平。本文将从相关概念出发,探讨政府竞争力的实质内涵及其研究价值,旨在通过对政府竞争力的分析解读,为当前政府的改革与发展提供借鉴。     

我国涉农企业知识产权战略研究——以提升涉农企业核心竞争力为起点

伴随着经济高度全球化、知识化，知识产权保护显得尤为重要。我国虽然是一个农业大国，但在涉农企业的知识产权保护方面依然很薄弱。在提升涉农企业核心竞争力的研究起点下，解读我国涉农企业知识产权保护中存在的问题，从培育保护意识、培养专业人才及我国涉农企业知识产权保护基本内容等方面探索相应对策，以期为我国涉农企业知识产权战略的建立提供一定借鉴。     

我国城市商业银行竞争力实证研究

随着金融体制改革的不断深入,我国商业银行面临很多的机遇,同时遇到新的挑战。本文运用因子分析法,对我国16家城市商业银行的竞争力状况作了综合评价和排名,并且分别比较16家城市商业银行各自的竞争优势。结果显示,城市银行的竞争力主要依靠整体水平的提高来实现,而且规模水平在竞争力中占极大的比重,风险管理能力次之。因此,规模水平和风险管理能力是制约商业银行竞争力提高的主要瓶颈。