Value-Added Tax (VAT) Development and Reform History—A Study of VAT Evolution Around the World and in China

Value-added Tax (VAT), a turnover tax levied on the value appreciated in commodities production, circulation and sale, has been widely practiced by economies worldwide for its neutrality. From the international perspective, European Union VAT and New Zealand VAT stand out as characteristic models of VAT development and reform history. With changing economic development models and the growth of e-commerce businesses, VAT systems have been upgraded to meet taxation challenges brought about by the digital economy. Recently, VAT policies and measures have been introduced particularly to combat the COVID-19 impact. In China, the VAT system has been reformed constantly over the past 40 years and has been converging with international practice. China now needs to address emerging VAT issues through legislation, tax incentives, and tax-rate grades so as to meet challenges in VAT collection and management and to suit the “new normal” of economic development.     

经济新常态下的刘易斯转折点演进路径研究

Based on the utility decision model of family,this paper selects the following parameters: the relative price of agricultural and non-agricultural products, total factor productivity,labor output elasticity in agricultural sector and non-agricultural sector,and designates three states:low, medium and high. And on this basis,we have constructed a model of Lewis Turning Point evolution path based on the general equilibrium model to forecast its movement with the method of numerical simulation in this “new normal” economy. Results show:the Chinese economy will not meet Lewis Turning Point in 2025,but an increase in non-agricultural sector output will accelerate the coming of Lewis turning point; the influence of capital elements is similar to industry production; the efficiency variance of two sectors is negative to the Lewis Turning Point. The efficiency gap is not only in microscopic system,such as the mode of production, advanced technology acquisition and other inputs,but also in macro system of household registration, employment and social security.     

Transformation and Upgrading of Professional Market under the Background of Network Economy in Zhejiang

With the coming of internet economic era, the traditional professional market faces a huge shock from the new internet trading mode, which is mainly represented by e-commerce. And this new mode also provides strategic and historic opportunity to the transformation and upgrading of professional market. The utilization of new technology and new model of network to assist the realization of the innovation drive has become a crucial step to promote the transformation and upgrading of professional market. Based on the connotation, significance and the research of current situation of professional market transformation and upgrading in Zhejiang province, three models of transformation and upgrading of the professional market (e-commercialization, globalization and integration) are proposed in this paper from the perspective of innovation theory to make use of the technology, service and supply chain. The research helps to push the upgrading and transformation of professional market in Zhejiang province, lays theoretical foundation to solve the problems such as hard transformation and slow upgrading, and provides strategic reference to promote the implementation of the objective of making Zhejiang province “to go ahead and to seek new”.     

美国农业保护制度的政治经济学分析

美国是世界上农业最发达的国家之一。在世界农产品贸易中,长期以来一直是世界农产品最大的进出口国,其农产品贸易政策对世界农产品贸易制度具有主要的影响。近年来,美国的农业保护制度不断完善和加强,不但与其他国家多边农业谈判的自由化主张背道而驰,也是多哈农业谈判久谈不决的主要原因之一。从政治经济学的角度分析,在未来,其农业补贴政策会有所减弱。但不可能完全消除,国内农业政策改革难度很大,非传统的隐蔽性更强的限制性措施将成为农产品市场准入中的主要措施。因此,美国在多哈农业谈判中不可能做出太大的让步。     

中国与东盟的金融发展对温室气体排放的影响

本文以中国与东盟5国为研究对象,运用面板数据计量分析方法研究了金融发展对于温室气体排放的影响。结果表明,金融开放程度的提升会降低温室气体排放,金融中介的发展有助于降低温室气体排放,但金融市场的发展对于温室气体排放的影响不确定。榻应的政策建议足：提升中国与东盟各国的金融对外开放与合作程度,发挥金融对低碳产业的支持作用,建立起资本市场对环境信息的披露合作机制,促进中国与东盟碳金融市场一体化发展,推进中国与东盟的清洁能源投资合作等。     

Worker Influence on Capital Account Policy: Inflow Liberalization and Outflow Restrictions

How do workers impact openness to international investment flows? This article distinguishes between two types of openness: openness to inflows and openness to outflows of investment. Workers benefit from inflow openness due to increases in wages, productivity, and efficiency and due to reductions in borrowing costs, which are associated with investment inflows. Workers are hurt by outflow openness, as investors gain investment options, and therefore bargaining power, when outflows are permitted. Labor rights help workers overcome collective action problems, and democratic institutions increase policymakers’ responsiveness to labor organizations and make their commitment to labor rights credible. The theory thus predicts that, particularly under democratic institutions, labor rights are positively correlated with inflow openness and negatively correlated with outflow openness. Evidence from time-series, cross-sectional data is consistent with the theoretical expectations.     

Political transformation in Japan as a source of insight

Abstract

This article is based on the assumption that the Japanese political system is fully comparable with the systems of other major systems, and that its analysis may afford useful insights for the understanding of political systems more generally. Its focus is upon five successive transformations of the system since the late nineteenth century that, in sequence and taken together, have created the present system. These are: (1) the revolutionary changes of the Meiji period (1868–1912), leading to modernisation, militarism, and ultimate defeat in war; (2) occupation, democracy, economic resurgence and single-party dominance (1945–1990); (3) low growth, electoral reform and neo-liberalism (1991–2006); (4) Liberal Democratic Party decline and the opposition in power (2006–2012); and (5) authoritarian leadership with weak opposition (2012 onwards). The article concludes with a discussion of three issues: (1) ambiguous aspects of strong leadership; (2) the chronic weakness of Japanese political opposition and its implications for democracy; and (3) the significance of radical transformations for the understanding of a political system.     

柬埔寨经济特点与中柬合作的机遇

农业、制衣业、旅游业和外国直接投资等四大因素对柬埔寨经济影响明显。柬埔寨经济发展的挑战与机遇共存,中柬合作面临良好的机遇。     

宏观经济相互依存与东亚货币合作可行性

东亚地区存在两个层面的宏观经济相互依存。第一个层面是东亚与美国经济的相互依存,第二个层面是东亚区域内部经济的相互依存。全球性金融危机充分体现了东亚和美国之间经济相互依存的不对称性,而这种不对称性是不能够长期持续的,全球性金融危机促使东亚加强区域、国际的经济协调,验证了相互依存理论的合理性。相互依存的东亚需要通过政策的协调解决宏观经济政策的外部性和溢出效应问题,因而东亚地区进行货币合作的可行性较高。