Trading Places: Competitive Cities in the Global Economy

This paper reports the findings of an ESRC funded study of innovation in five European cities. It is argued that the contemporary emphasis on local production clusters as the basis of economic growth provides only a limited explanation, in certain types of cities, of what drives growth. The argument developed here is that export base theory should be revisited as a more likely explanation of virtuous circles of growth. The evidence presented suggests that such circles are composed of innovation and trade in the context of the types of externalities found in core metropolitan international gateway cities.     

近代广西城镇商业经济的地域特征——基于地方志书的考察

地方志书是区域经济史研究的重要依据。通过地方志书,可揭示出近代广西城镇商业经济浓厚的地域特征,诸如外来商人对广西城镇商业经济的垄断;以谷米贸易和圩镇贸易为主的地方贸易形式;商业经济发展的巨大地域失衡与波动等。这些特征的形成主要受到地方社会经济发展水平和特点、地理交通条件及人文社会因素的制约,也由此导致了近代广西城镇商业经济缓慢发展的总体格局。