Russia's Market-Distorting Federalism

An American specialist in Russian regional affairs focuses on distinctions between Russian and Chinese federal relationships in order to examine the relationship between the types of political-economic decentralization and the success or failure of market reforms. The analysis includes an overview of regional differences in Russia in the implementation of key structural and policy changes that are components of the reform program, including but not limited to privatization, price and budget policy, the creation of small private enterprises, and government regulation of local economic activity. Supporting evidence and local press reports extend through October 1997. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 053, P51, R59. 1 table, 21 references.     

Russia's Managers in Transition: Pilferers or Paladins?

Two American economists use their recent (1994 through 1996) survey data to evaluate Russian managers as winners or losers in the country's economic reform. The survey covered 123 enterprises located in Moscow, Tver', Nizhniy Novgorod, Rostov, Taganrog, Volgograd, Volzhskiy, and Novosibirsk. A total of 159 interviews, involving top-level managers, were conducted to elicit information on compensation, decision making, workforce size, structure of overhead costs, asset stripping, and survival strategies. The interviews, most in privatized (N= 107) and private (N= 31) firms, embraced 64 in heavy industry, 35 in light industry, 29 in food processing, 25 in service, and 4 in other industries. The study reports empirical results of the testing of five hypotheses, as well as concluding observations. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D21, D63, Ml 3. 6 tables, 90 references.     

Rethinking State-Society Relations in Vietnam: The Case of Business Associations in Ho Chi Minh City

The growing private sector in the post-reform Vietnamese economy and its new forms of mobilisation have led to newly emergent social forces that have shaped internal state agendas and political deliberations. With a view to exploring the nature of institutional change in Vietnam, I argue that business associations have played a crucial intermediary role between the state and the private sector over past decades. These associations and the spaces of governance that they constitute are neither characteristic of autonomous actors as suggested by liberal theory nor a form of state corporatism. This paper adopts the “state-in-society” approach, which contends that the state and society should be considered through new governance spaces within the state. These spaces create institutional mechanisms for interaction between the government and business, and provide a framework for deliberative engagement between state and non-state actors. This framework will be tested through an examination of associations of small and medium enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City and their connections to the city authorities. I argue that business associations will be accommodated by the state and will coalesce with existing bureaucratic interests. This proposition contributes to the new research agenda that applies the state-in-society approach to post-socialist institutions.     

DOES FIRM OWNERSHIP AFFECT SPILLOVER OPPORTUNITIES? EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE MANUFACTURING

The clustering of economic activity is believed to generate both positive own‐industry (localization) spillovers and negative competitive pressures. Using data on manufacturing enterprises operating in China during 1998–2006, this paper provides evidence on the net effect of opposing spillovers from nearby economic activity. Central to the analysis is the opportunity to distinguish local manufacturing enterprises by state, private, or foreign ownership. Systematic differences in average productivity of these firms enable inferences about differences in the strength of spillovers from one type of firm to another type. Results indicate that spillovers are larger within the same ownership type than they are across them, consistent with localization economies that operate within segmented channels of influence.     

中国共产党关于官僚资本的内涵及其演变

中国共产党对官僚资本内涵的界定,经历了从当初特指清朝洋务派和北洋军阀时期的官办企业到专指国民党私人官僚资本再到国民党政府国家资本和私人官僚资本的演变。我们党对官僚资本内涵的认识及其演变适应了当时政治斗争发展的需要,但其内涵的模糊性又要求中国共产党对官僚资本特别是私人官僚资本必须进行严格的区分和界定。     

Funding Economic Transition in China: The Privatization Option

An American specialist on the economy of China examines whether gradual and partial privatization remains a viable option for the future, or whether rapid privatization of remaining state-owned enterprises is now necessary. The paper presents estimates indicating that rising expenditures stemming from changes in the country's economy, demographics, and technology will increase fiscal pressure on government revenues, resulting in fiscal shortfalls and exposing other vulnerabilities. Privatization is then assessed in terms of its potential to generate additional resources to support the next round of economic growth in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E62, H10, P20. 1 table, 54 references.     

Getting the China Story Right: Insights from National Economic Censuses

Two Hong Kong-based geographers critically interrogate competing interpretations of the nature and dynamics of China's ongoing economic transformation. Based on the data gathered from China's first and second national economic censuses, they examine the pattern and process of ownership transformation in the Chinese economy, focusing on employment, capital assets, and output as well as productivity and industrial innovation. Emphasis is placed on the following critical issues: (1) after three decades of opening, China's national economy continues to be dominated by domestic enterprises (with foreign and overseas Chinese-invested enterprises limited to only a few industrial sectors and highly specific locales); (2) the bulk of capital assets and key large-scale industrial sectors remain in state ownership; and (3) spontaneous, bottom-up privatization of the labor market has occurred without a corresponding privatization of the capital market. In examining these and other issues, the authors argue that the evolving, complex "China story" can be better understood only after abandoning reliance on preconceived theoretical models derived primarily from Western experience. They support their case by first challenging the conventional neoliberal view of privatization as an independent force or predetermined condition, arguing instead that it is conditioned by prevailing social and political influences. Likewise, they posit that rapid expansion of private and individual businesses at the grassroots level has owed more to relaxed state control than to active state involvement envisioned by the thesis of state corporatism. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E22, E23, E24, O11, P20. 8 figures, 6 tables, 87 references.     

建国初期党的"劳资两利"政策评析

基于对新中国建国方针的认识、对社会主要矛盾的判断和利用私营经济发展生产力的考虑,建国初期党和政府把“劳资两利”确定为处理私营企业劳资关系的基本政策。它包括保障私营企业工人的权益、保障资本家的正当权益、努力构建和谐的劳资关系三方面内容。这一政策体现了以毛泽东为核心的第一代中央领导集体勇于探索、开拓创新的伟大精神,极大地丰富和发展了马克思主义劳资关系理论,为构建当代中国非公有制企业和谐的劳资关系提供了有益的借鉴。     

India's Energy Security: Challenges and Opportunities

A noted specialist on India's energy security reviews the range of energy-related issues that will have a bearing on that country's ability to sustain the high current rates of economic growth and development into the future. The author explores the multiple challenges India confronts in securing (through domestic production and external sources) an adequate mix of energy supplies (hydrocarbon fuels, nuclear power, renewable energy sources) and describes as well as analyzes a broad front of actions (both government programs and the activities of private companies) taken to address them. The analysis illuminates India's important role in the production and consumption of several forms of energy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O130, P280, Q400. 5 figures, 64 references.     

我国"长三角"地区民营资本投资旅游业研究

近年来,我国长三角地区民营旅游经济发展迅猛,成为该区域旅游业发展的一大特点.本文选取了长三角39家涉及旅游业务的大型民营企业为研究样本,基于它们近10年来的投资资料,分析了长三角民营资本投资旅游业的特点,论述了民营资本投资旅游业的环境以及发展趋势.     

Distinctions,distinctions: ‘public’ and ‘private’ force?

This article evaluates recent literatures within International Relations on so‐called ‘private force’. It suggests that the conceptual weaknesses of much of this literature can be accounted for, in part, by a misunderstanding of the historical and sociological importance of the way power is organized and legitimated through shifts in the public—private distinction. This distinction is one of the primary mechanisms, if not the primary mechanism, for organizing political, economic and, therefore, military power. For the sake of historical accuracy and conceptual integrity scholars should abandon the terminology of ‘public’ and ‘private’ force. Tracing how public‐private distinctions shift and change as an effect of political power is a joint task for historical sociology and international political theory     

Consuming and living the corner shop: belonging,remembering, socialising

This paper presents findings from an ethnographic case study in Germany investigating the relationship between shopkeepers and customers of small grocery stores owned by immigrants. The focus is on social practices within the shops and how those engaged in these activities make sense of them. Shops become meaningful through shared practices that revolve around selling and buying. However, this process is complex and not without conflict. Moving through the themes of belonging, remembering and socialising, I will show how the everyday lifeworlds of customers and shopkeepers, including their aspirations, expectations and uncertainties, intersect and how the shop emerges as a meaningful space through negotiation. Rather than looking at cultural differences alone, it is concluded that there can be significant other ways to understand multicultural places by focusing on the multiple ways that consumers engage with so-called ‘ethnic’ enterprises.     

Political Decoupling: Private Implementation of Public Policy

Where policy goals can be achieved through regulation of private firms, private provision of public services allows governments to separate public policies from their political costs by shifting those costs to the private sector. Over the past three decades, financial decoupling has emerged as a regulatory strategy for promoting conservation, especially in the energy sector. Decoupling refers to the separation of a firm’s revenues from the volume of its product consumed, which allows companies to pursue resource efficiency free from financial risk. Similarly, when private firms provide public services, they separate public policies from their political costs. This political decoupling allows governments to pursue controversial policies while avoiding their attendant political risks. Applied to environmental policy, this theory implies that potentially unpopular conservation policies are more likely to be adopted and succeed when implemented through private firms. As an initial test of the theory, we analyze California water utilities and their responses to that state’s drought from 2015–2017. Analysis shows that, compared with those served by local government utilities, private utilities adopted more aggressive conservation measures, were more likely to meet state conservation standards, and conserved more water.     

Conceptualising European Privatisation Processes After the Great Recession

A wave of privatisation is unfolding in Europe in the wake of the financial crisis, but it has yet to receive serious scholarly attention. This paper examines the case of Ireland, where an austerity strategy and European Union International Monetary Fund bailout conditionality have given impetus to the transfer of public assets to the private sector. Theoretically, the paper explains the roots of the phenomenon with reference to a reformulated concept of “accumulation by dispossession” whose usefulness lies in emphasising the politico‐economic drivers of privatisation, which have been neglected in the mainstream literature. A typology is presented that argues that accumulation by dispossession manifests itself, in practice, through four main processes: (1) private repossession of assets nationalised during the financial crisis; (2) restructuring of state‐owned enterprises; (3) commodification of assets and services hitherto located outside the market; and (4) privatised stimulus through public–private partnerships. The paper's framework should be useful to conceptualise ongoing privatisation processes in other European countries.     

改革开放初期湖南省民营经济发展的历史考察(1979～1989年)

1979～1989年,湖南省个体私营经济由点到面的不断发展壮大经历了艰难的历程:20世纪80年代初期,湖南省个体私营经济集中在零售商业领域,在同行业里所占份额小,但增长速度快;1982～1985年,中央相继颁发了一系列文件,湖南省逐渐放宽了对个体私营经济经营范围与经营方式的限制,个体私营经济发展速度明显加快;1986年后,湖南省根据中央精神,采取了一系列鼓励发展个体私营经济的措施,个体私营经济发展的环境日渐宽松,形成了改革开放后个体私营经济发展的第一个高峰。改革开放后湖南省个体私营经济的兴起,是新时期我国思想解放运动的产物,它的发展进步与党和政府的关心、支持紧密相连。1979～1989年湖南省民营经济发展的过程以及人们思想的变化在一定程度上是当时全国的一个缩影。     

The spatial economy of North American trade fairs

Through a study of trade fairs, this article illustrates that relational approaches to economic geography are not limited to the sphere of economic and social relationships. These relationships are influenced by and, in turn, shape material realities, such as specific infrastructure and the labour market, in a reflexive manner. Trade fairs are “relational events” that bring together regional, national, and often international producers, users, suppliers, and other agents of a value chain or technology field for the purpose of exchanging knowledge about technological and market developments, building partnerships, and maintaining existing networks through learning by interaction and observation. However, these events are also situated in space and time, grounded in the contexts of particular industries, trade patterns, public and private investments, as well as the economic geographies of places. Focusing on North America, this article presents and analyzes data on the economic geography of trade fairs and their regional economic impact (number of events, exhibitors, attendees, exhibition space). It explores regional trade fair patterns and dynamic changes in major trade fair cities by emphasizing the role of history and industry context.     

改革开放初期河北省高阳县社队企业转型和农村私营企业兴起的考察

20世纪70年代末80年代初,在国家政策扶持下,社队企业在集体所有制下实现了较快发展。农业实行包干到户之后,社队企业迅速转型,或直接转化为个体、私营企业,或实行了各种形式的责任制。社队企业转型与农村私营企业兴起之间有着密不可分的关联,前者成为后者的起点。社队企业向农村私营企业的转型为以后城镇中小型企业转型积累了宝贵的经验和教训。     

The Spatial Evolution of the Polish Biotech Industry: A Path-Dependent Process?

In Poland, similarly to other Central and Eastern European countries, the development of the biotech industry dates back to the late 1980s, when the first private companies were established. The political and economic transformation of 1989 enabled mass development of private enterprises, but over the course of 20 years of development, only a couple of dozens biotech firms have emerged in Poland. The spatial evolution of the industry shows a strong concentration in Poland's six largest urban centres, which are characterized by the best scientific base, access to financial capital, and a well-developed local entrepreneurial culture. Given that all biotech clusters are also important centres of the pharmaceutical industry, despite the fact that there are no strong direct relationships between Poland's biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the authors of this paper put forward the thesis that the institutional environment of the pharmaceutical sector also affects the development of the biotech industry.     

Changing public accountability mechanisms in the governance of Dutch urban regeneration*

Contemporary urban planning dynamics are based on negotiation and contractual relations, creating fragmented planning processes. On the one hand, they trigger technocratic forms of governance, which require the ‘legal instrumentalisation’ of planning in a piecemeal approach ensuring legal certainty. On the other hand, these processes require flexibility to enable easy, fast and efficient forms of implementation due to the increasing involvement of private sector actors in urban development. This article unravels the influence of these conflicting dynamics on the fundamentals of urban planning practices by focusing on changing public accountability mechanisms created through contractual relationships between public and private sector agencies. Dutch urban regeneration has demonstrated changing governance principles and dynamics in the last three decades. Representing instrumental and institutional measures, we connect accountability mechanisms to these changes and argue that they ‘co-exist’ in multiple forms across different contexts. This article embeds this evolution in wider theoretical discussions on the changing relationships between public and private sector actors in urban governance relative to the changing role of the state, and it addresses questions on who can be held accountable, and to what extent, when public sector actors are increasingly retreating from regulatory practices while private sector actors play increasingly prominent roles.     

Women and the Nationalisation of Literature: Text and Image as Parallel Narratives with Multiplied Meaning in a Hindi Periodical (1927–1941)

The early twentieth century is a period in colonial Indian history marked, among other things, by nationalist explorations of what was commonly described as the upper middle‐class, Hindu high caste ‘woman's question’. In the process, gender roles and responsibilities in public and private spheres were being contemplated and negotiated in oral and written forms. This essay explores the text‐image combinations and relationships in a mainstream Hindi literary periodical published in North India in the 1930s. It focuses specifically on the gendered visual narrative that emerged from this periodical's engagement with the role of women in the Hindi public and private spheres. It argues that through the combination of text and image, the reader of the Hindi periodical Sudha was presented with verbal and visual messages that were deeply embedded in debates on literary and cultural nationalism.