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.

少数民族地区经济开发应走循环经济之路

我国少数民族地区的生态环境非常脆弱,且已遭到严重破坏,尽管少数民族地区走循环经济之路存在着许多困难,但是国内外的压力、少数民族地区的现实状况和缩小地区差距等要求,使得少数民族地区开发只有走循环经济之路,才能实现少数民族地区的可持续发展。     

贵州经济起飞的条件与路径研究

西部欠发达地区如何实现经济起飞是我国经济发展的一大战略难题。本文从个案分析入手,阐述了西部欠发达的贵州省未来20年将进入经济起飞阶段,并探讨了贵州省经济起飞的条件与路径。     

2020年香港经济形势分析及未来展望

报告从宏观层面对2020年香港经济形势进行了分析,对2021年香港经济发展前景做了展望,对香港经济中期发展面临的风险和机遇进行了研判,并提出了一些对策和建议。分析表明,香港经济在2020年陷入深度衰退,在2021年将迎来复苏,复苏程度取决于疫情防控状况。香港经济未来几年的发展风险与机遇并存:一方面,中美竞争加剧、社会贫富差距加大、政府财政赤字持续等是不利因素;另一方面,我国"十四五"规划的出台和粤港澳大湾区建设的深入推进将帮助香港进一步融入国家发展大局,获得更广阔的发展空间。     

与中国有关的专属经济区渔业争端及其解决途径之思考

近年来,与中国有关的渔业争端有增多的趋势。对于因沿海国在其专属经济区扣押中国渔船引起的渔业争端,可以借助《海洋法公约》的有关规定,充分运用协商谈判、调解之解决程序,并考虑利用海洋法法庭在解决“迅速释放”问题方面具有强制管辖权的优势,就这方面的渔业争端接受海洋法法庭的管辖。而中国与周边国家存在的涉及领土主权事项和划界争议所引起的渔业争端,其治本之策在于解决划界问题,对此,可以声明不予适用强制程序,而是通过谈判,在“搁置争议,共同开发”的基础上渐进地予以解决。     

经济法学科学化的法教义学路径

科学化是经济法学科发展的关键。法教义学呈现了法律科学的逻辑性、体系性和可验证性的基本要素,为经济法学的科学化提供了体系化的可能路径。根据法教义学"价值-规范-事实"的研究框架,在价值层面,经济法的社会功能是一种社会对国家经济治理权的想象和期待,旨在以正当、合理的经济介入方式维持和恢复经济系统的良序运行,经济介入的积极形式是培育市场功能条件,消极形式是对经济系统自主运行失序状态的纠正。在规范层面,经济法律规范体系可分解为四组经济法教义学的"理想类型",从而构建起由社会功能、公正优先和法律义务三个要素组成的法律命题体系。在事实层面,经济法应实现立法的体系化与司法的操作化,达成法教义与法治实践的良性互动。     

大国博弈、双层均势的亚洲时刻--俄罗斯智库对中美经贸摩擦的认知与政策立场

俄罗斯智库对中美经贸摩擦有着独特的认知和期待,并与克里姆林宫的官方立场互为表里。总体上,俄方智库的观点是,在经贸摩擦的背后,是中美两国对军事、政治、科技、地区和全球领导权的竞争;两国的国内议程和对外政策,将因此受到深远影响并产生溢出效应--在亚洲区域内形成两极结构。即使两国会因国内和国际政治因素,在经贸问题上达成妥协,但中方不会放弃获得世界科技领导者的雄心,美方也不会打消遏制中国发展动能的战略意图。俄罗斯应与中国继续保持经济与军事合作,避免与美国和西方关系的继续恶化,并在亚太地区推动"大欧亚伙伴关系"倡议。俄罗斯政策分析界基于自身利益的演绎,将中美经贸摩擦定性为大国博弈,相应的政策建议反映出俄罗斯以在全球和亚洲分别制衡美中为目标的双层均势策略。俄罗斯将在有亚洲其他国家参与的情景下扮演战略平衡手角色,借中美全面对抗之势,在中美俄三边关系之外扭转不利的外部发展环境。俄罗斯对亚太国际局势的盘活作用,将催生双边和三边竞合新模式的建立。     

欧亚经济联盟的多重一体化目标及其法治困境

欧亚经济联盟作为区域一体化组织中的新成员,其政治、经济、社会、法律、文化等多重一体化的目标趋势与愿望在不同领域表现出功能性差异,即经济的先导性、政治的战略性、社会认同性、法律保障性、文化融通性等。在全球治理、互联互通和全球产业链正在生成的背景下,如何立足联盟多重发展目标,更好地发挥出欧亚经济联盟的应有作用,尚存诸多法治困境:从超国家制度与主权国家制度的衔接到成员国间的基础性不平衡对一致性规则形成的制约,再到联盟法律与成员国法律对接的阻却性因素的存在,以及联盟从初级一体化规则向高级一体化规则演进的迫切需求等。面向未来,欧亚经济联盟呈现出初级、中级和高级三阶段过程性发展的趋势,基于历史文化的多重合法性根基将促动多重一体化目标的实现,同时决定在国际法治与国内法治的交错并存中构建联盟法制机制,并促动规则治理的深化均是可期的。     

Taxing Digital Economy: A Critical View around the GloBE (Pillar Two)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) proposal for taxation of digital economy constitutes one of the most ambitious projects in the field of taxation and may lead to the most significant reform to international tax rules in the 20th century. Based on a two-pillar approach, Pillar Two of the proposal suggests the adoption of Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) provisions that are aimed at introducing a worldwide minimum tax. In this article, a critical analysis is based that the GloBE proposal suggests that it represents a shift in the OECD policy. As compared to base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), it jeopardizes the tax sovereignty of jurisdictions and it raises fundamental challenges of implementation, both in terms of amendments to domestic law and conflicts with tax treaties.     

Increased economic salience or blurring of responsibility? Economic voting during the Great Recession

There is a puzzle which emerged following the Eurozone crisis: whereas the salience of the economy suggests an increase in economic voting, the realization that economic policies have become Europeanised may blur the responsibility of national governments, thus decreasing economic perceptions' weight on electoral choices. Do these mechanisms exclude each other? Do they refer to different groups of the electorate? We first examine the longitudinal trends of economic voting from 2002 to 2015 in three bailed out countries, namely Ireland, Portugal and Spain, to see if the economy's salience during the Great Recession increased the relevance of the economic perceptions in these countries. Secondly, making use of a unique media dataset of the last 16 years we test whether exposure to major mainstream newspapers that focus on the EU mitigates economic voting. On average, economic voting increased following the crisis. However, individuals who are more informed about the EU tend to use economic voting to a lesser extent, given they are more aware of the national government's limited room for manoeuvre.