Karl Polanyi for Historians: An Alternative Economic Narrative

The purpose of this essay is to provide the historian with a generic understanding of the term economy by examining some aspects of the work of the Hungarian “economic historian” Karl Polanyi (1886–1964). It does not seek to explain Polanyi's economic ideas to economists nor does it seek to locate his ideas within the discourses of the academic discipline of economics; there is abundant academic literature which carries out those tasks. This essay is intended to help fill a void in the historical understanding, especially the modern historical understanding, of the term economy, and of how the characteristics associated with it are generally understood. Yet, in reality, it is the neoclassical paradigm of economics which is typically and uncritically taken to be the touchstone for understanding the economy. This circumstance is problematic, however, when referring to the economy of societies earlier than the late nineteenth century or of societies whose culture differs radically from that of the advanced capitalist “west.” Polanyi's insights may help historians avoid the risk of either distorting or anachronistically misunderstanding the economy of such societies.     

Foreign Aid and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis

After more than forty years of foreign aid programs and numerous studies of the impact aid has had on economic growth in recipient countries, the strength and nature of the aid-growth relationship is still unknown. This study contends that results from previous studies have in aggregate been inconclusive largely because of methodological limitations and that a significant aid-growth relationship does exist. Further, the nature of the relationship (for example, positive or negative) varies across the level of economic development in aid-receiving countries. The expansion method is used here to expand initial models of economic growth into models which better explain the aid-growth relationship by incorporating the relationships that aid may have with other determinants of economic growth.     

Categories of Local Economic Development: An Empirical Analysis

In examining local economic development incentives, scholars have found it useful to employ typologies of development practices. Such typologies have been based on assumptions that techniques reflect functional categories, such as marketing and financial incentives, or can be organized by the nature of costs and benefits, or by the nature of incentive goals. While useful heuristic devices, little effort has been made to test these typologies empirically. This research note provides an empirically based typology of local economic development incentives, using data from 967 cities collected by the International City Management Association.     

China and East Asia: An Appraisal of Regional Economic Integration

Three Taiwan-based economists evaluate regional economic integration in East Asia, using trade indicators to analyze the degree of trade concentration among East Asian nations, and employing the gravity model to identify key factors influencing bilateral trade flows among them. China is expected to play a key role in East Asia's economic development, and empirical analysis for the period 1990-2005 indicates that East Asia has already evolved into a trading block, expected to become one of three dominant blocks in the global economy. The study, which highlights the key role played by geographical distance and market size, suggests that the impact of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for East Asian trade will remain limited in the future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F15, F31, O53, P33. 7 tables, 41 references.     

Composing our careers: Susan Hanson's contributions to geography and geographers

Susan Hanson's career exemplifies the notion that our lives are compositions rather than predictable, linear trajectories. In this essay I argue that Susan's career is an empowering example of a collage of woven-together life experiences, substantive research interests, feminist values and progressive professional practices. I illustrate these ideas through three compositions that I trace throughout Susan's career: networking gender; caring geography; and reproducing geography. Susan's work connects and validates the diverse elements of our lives through her scholarship, her commitment to feminist values and her disciplinary leadership.     

An Attempt to Delimit the Main Economic Zones of the Mongolian People's Republic

The authors participated with Mongolian specialists in a joint project to delimit economic regions in Mongolia (June-July 1961). The three-region scheme that emerged from the project is designed to facilitate long-term economic planning and the future agricultural and industrial development of the country. The three economic regions or zones are mapped and described in the latter part of the article. The translation does not include small introductory sections not directly related to the central theme of the paper.     

经济学视角下的政府旅游管理职能研究

纯粹的市场经济存在着信息不对称、“公地悲剧”、外部性问题和合成谬误等自身难以克服的缺陷。需要政府对旅游经济运行进行干预,因而在旅游发展过程中政府主导力量起着重要的推动作用。然而政府本身并不完美,其掌握信息的不充分、行政能力的有限理性和部门间的利益冲突决定了其在进行旅游行政管理时的局限性。因此,需要在旅游发展过程中,根据不同阶段特征对政府计划和市场两种手段进行有效的组合,并建立多中心体制来保证旅游业的健康持续发展。