Institutions and Caribbean Economic Performance: Insights from Jamaica

We explore the impact of social institutions on economic performance in Jamaica through a reinterpretation of the plantation economic model. In its original form, the plantation model fails to develop a causal link between the plantation legacy and persistent underdevelopment. Despite its marginalization, the model remains useful for discussions on growth and development. Consequently, we offer a reappraisal using the causal insights from Kenneth Sokoloff and Stanley Engerman. We use two examples to demonstrate how inequality encourages the formation of institutions that are inconsistent with growth, and an empirical analysis to confirm the hypothesized relationship between inequality, institutions, and economic development. Since inequality is expected to influence growth indirectly, we use a structural specification, which follows William Easterly’s recent test of Sokoloff and Engerman’s argument. Our reliance on a time-series specification is unique. We demonstrate that the expectation that, on average, inequality and growth is negatively related and that institutions may compromise growth are accurate for Jamaica, the most cited Caribbean nation in the current discourse. Our results carry several policy implications, including support for the recent calls in Jamaica for political restructuring. However, both the paucity of similar studies and the importance of the implications for sustainable growth and development demand further analyses.

工会的四种模式与中国特色社会主义工会

工会发展的模式大体上可以概括为四种：工团主义工会,革命性工会,生产辅助型工会和中国特色的社会主义工会。每种模式都嵌入特定的社会制度并且反映其存在的时代背景。中国特色社会主义工会也是依据中国现阶段的基本国情而形成的,既有工会的共性,又有其独特的内涵。     

The More Assertive and Pragmatic New Energy Policy in Putin’s Russia: Security Implications for Northeast Asia

The article examines Russia’s New Energy Policy (NEP) and its impact on Northeast Asian security and the development of the Russian Far East. In contrast to analyses highlighting competition between China and Japan for Russian resources, to the contrary it is argued here that greater cooperation among consumer states in Northeast Asia would be beneficial for Russia. Although the NEP has resulted in changes in the composition of foreign investors in Russian energy projects, the author suggests that Moscow is interested in multinational cooperation in the energy sector because it would help diversify the regional energy market and contribute to the development of the Russian Far East and eastern Siberia.

洪大容和“古杭三才”的友谊与东北亚文化

洪大容和"古杭三才"的儒家"益者三友"思想,是东北亚文化交流的组织基础;以追求真正学问之道为文化取向;他们的友谊和文化交流为东北亚文化的发展和东北亚精神家园建设在历史上产生了积极影响。洪大容作为朝鲜的实学家在北学中国,接受西方文化中,确立了"学问的多元化",追求着自主意识,他为东北亚文化在朝鲜的个性发展所作的贡献恰恰丰富了东北亚文化的精神家园,并在历史上起到了承前启后的作用,为东北亚各国各民族的自觉、自立、自信、自强一直产生着积极的影响。     

日本政府对企业人力资源开发支持政策变迁对我国的启示

以"终身雇佣制"为基础的"企业培训"为日本的经济发展提供了人才保证,可以说是日本经济实现高速增长的支柱之一。但随着日本国际、国内经济环境的变化,为实现从后发展经济向工业化经济转变而形成的日本型经济体制开始动摇。支持日本经济发展的强有力的"日本型企业培训"由于失去了制度保障而受到了很大的冲击。针对上述情况,为促进企业积极、持续地进行人力资源开发,以保持日本经济发展的可持续性。日本政府在支持企业人力资源开发方面政策采取了一些政策,值得我国政府学习和借鉴。     

论苏联解体后的“核遗产”及核扩散危机

苏联解体后其庞大的核武库也一分为四,在核武器系统、核材料、核科学家及核技术等三个层次都出现了失控的核扩散危机。以美国为首的国际社会从各个方面给予了大力援助,使前苏联庞大的"核遗产"得到了妥善的处理。因苏联解体而一度出现的核国家增多的问题得以解决,核扩散危机也基本得到消除。这不仅有效地捍卫了国际核不扩散体制,而且在实践上也是对国际核不扩散机制的补充和发展,对人类社会的和平与安全也是重大的贡献。当朝鲜和伊朗核问题屡成危机而长期困扰国际社会时,我们重温这段历史,也具有深刻的现实意义。     

图们江地区开发开放再度升温

在区域合作一体化成为新一轮发展新模式的时代,东北亚地区间国际关系的改善和各国经济形势的好转,延边内生动力的驱动,为图们江地区开发创造了良好的条件。由此,UNIDO、国家、省、州对图们江地区开发的关注再度升温,周边国家的开发热情再度升温,延边由"主动参与"演变为"主导发展"的角色。为了提高图们江地区开发的深度与质量,提出了创新国际合作开发体制的新机制,并制定了建设新的增长点与畅通的对外通道、建立综合配套改革试验区与金融支撑体系等对策建议。     

明治时期日本政治精英的中国观——以原敬为中心

日本近代政党政治家原敬(1856—1921)的中国观具有典型的时代烙印,即"适时适机"地从中国牟取利权。同时,原敬的中国观亦有其独特的思维模式和见解:"对清政略即对欧政略,对欧政略即护国政略。"另一方面,原敬在这一时期已经将目光更多地转向日本资本主义在中国的经济利益。从重视经济利益和国际竞争的角度出发,原敬认为日本在外交上不能采取强硬的举措,要注意和中国官民"友好相处",在中国维持一种对日本而言比较和平的氛围。     

Ordering Disorder – On the Perplexities of the Partnership Literature

The literature on public‐private partnerships (PPP) has proliferated in recent years. However, confusion about the actual meaning of PPP still abounds. As a consequence, contradicting findings and statements about PPP flourish in the literature. This article reviews the literature, and argues that there are different streams of PPP research which operate with qualitatively different notions of the PPP concept. Accordingly the literature is divided into four different PPP ‘approaches’. By doing so the article offers some clarification concerning an increasingly complex concept. The article concludes that an authoritative definition of PPP – one that can encompass all the different variations of the concept currently in use – is not logically possible.     

抓住机遇促进发展 公路客运大有可为

分析我国公路客运良好的发展形势和存在的问题,指出公路客运面临的挑战和机遇,提出加强公路客运建设的几点意见,并展望公路客运广阔的发展前景.