The ‘Cultural Turn’ in Australian Regional Economic Development Discourse: Neoliberalising Creativity?

Regional economic policy‐makers are increasingly interested in the contribution of creativity to the economic performance of regions and, more generally, in its power to transform the images and identities of places. This has constituted a ‘cultural turn’, of sorts, away from an emphasis on macro‐scale projects and employment schemes, towards an interest in the creative industries, entrepreneurial culture and innovation. This paper discusses how recent discourses of the role of ‘creativity’ in regions have drawn upon, and contributed to, particular forms of neoliberalisation. Its focus is the recent application of a statistical measure — Richard Florida's (2002) ‘creativity index’— to quantify spatial variations in creativity between Australia's regions. Our critique is not of the creativity index per se, but of its role in subsuming creativity within a neoliberal regional economic development discourse. In this discourse, creativity is linked to the primacy of global markets, and is a factor in place competition, attracting footloose capital and ‘creative class’ migrants to struggling regions. Creativity is positioned as a central determinant of regional ‘success’ and forms a remedy for those places, and subjects, that currently ‘lack’ innovation. Our paper critiques these interpretations, and concludes by suggesting that neoliberal discourses ignore the varied ways in which ‘alternative creativities’ might underpin other articulations of the future of Australia's regions.     

南方山区经济开发的历史进程与空间展布

历史时期南方山区经济开发的进程,可区分为三个阶段:(1)自原始稻作农业起源,至2世纪末,南方山区的经济形态以采集渔猎为主、原始种植农业为辅;(2)自六朝至北宋末,低山丘陵地区的河谷、山间盆地逐步被开垦成农田,局部地方形成了梯田,建设了中小型农田水利,但刀耕火种性质的烧?仍是南方山区主导性的垦耕方式;(3)自南宋以迄于明清时期,浙闽山地、南岭山地、川东丘陵山地、粤桂山地、秦巴山地渐次得到全面开发,特别是明清时期,各省际交边山区成为主要开发对象,山地利用达到了新的高度。     

Regional Wage Inequality in China, 1996-2010

This paper examines regional wage inequality in China between 1996 to 2010, subdividing that time span into a period of increased wage inequality during 1996-2002 and one of stable to decreasing inequality for 2003-2010. Based on the interplay between wage levels and wage growth, the authors develop a typology whereby China's provinces can be assigned to either peripheral, emerging, lagging, or leading regions. The particular characteristics associated with each type of wage region, and the factors underlying shifts of particular provinces from one category to another between the two periods, enable them to identify specific causes for the reversal (after 2002) of the trend toward increasing wage inequality (the causes especially reflect wage patterns in the mining and energy industries, information and communication technology industries, and foreign-invested enterprises). The recent wage convergence involves instances of both interior provinces advancing from the "emerging" to the "leading" wage category as well as the decline of a few "leading" coastal provinces to "lagging" status.     

100年来东北地区经济地域格局的演变

东北地区经济地域格局的形成与发展受区域环境与经济成本的双重约束。基于100年来东北地区交通网络化过程分析,通过统计分析与现代GIS空间分析方法相结合,作者探讨不同时间序列东北地区的主要经济、社会发展特征,重点分析了37个城市区域的人口、经济等的空间集聚与边缘化特征以及土地利用变化、城市空间扩展等,揭示东北地区不同时期经济地域格局的演化机制,并预测其基本走向。     

中国现代经济发展的初始条件

中华民族历史悠久、文化统一,其文化凝聚力和生存延续力的深度是民族复兴、实现现代化的根基。统一的独立自主的社会主义国家的建立,为在一个经济落后、长期分裂的国家进行现代化建设创造了基本的政治前提条件。丰富的劳动力资源、较高的社会整合能力以及社会一体化水平是中国推进现代化的独特的组织资源优势。中国领导人具有强烈的工业化和现代化意识,而且中国作为一个后起的现代化国家,具有诸多的后发优势。但是,中国工业化启动时间晚,经济发展起点低下,工业基础薄弱,物质和资本资源短缺;人口数量多、增长快,城乡差异巨大,各地区发展极不平衡,教育事业落后,医疗卫生条件差,科学技术水平低,缺乏启动工业化的技术创新力量和吸收新技术的能力。由于中国工业化和现代化的初始条件与发达国家差异很大,决定了中国的现代化将是一个由不断量变的积累进而部分质变的长期过程,中国至少要花100年的时间甚至更长的时间才能逐步缩小与发达国家的绝对差距。     

周恩来经济思想与西部开发的几点思考

本文抓住周恩来经济思想中的整体论、基础论、关键论、求真论等方面 ,联系他关于西部的建设与发展的论述 ,进行了深入的分析 ,这对当前进行西部大开发的工作有重要的启示作用。     

全球化与中国政治发展刍议

全球化的客观现实及西方政治发展理论的启示,促使人们必须对中国的政治发展进行理性的分析。在全球化背景下,要实现我国政治民主化、政治法制化、政治稳定化以及公民民主精神的提升等政治发展的战略目标,必须对在此背景下政治发展中的目标选择、发展动力、发展模式以及途径和方法等进行必要的研究。     

日本发展入境旅游的政策措施与成效

自20世纪90年代开始,日本政府为推进入境旅游发展所采取的政策措施主要有：制定完备的旅游相关法律,成立专门行政管理机构制定并实施观光立国战略,规划建设广域国际旅游特区,加强国际旅游合作,积极申报世界遗产,发展生态旅游与产业观光游等。这些政策措施已经取得较为显著的成效,其中一些成功经验对我国发展入境旅游具有借鉴作用。     

The equally “bad” French and English farmers of Quebec: New TFP measures from the 1831 census

New TFP estimates drawn from the neglected census of 1831 for Lower Canada are used to test the controversial (but still dominant) traditional “poor French farmers” explanation for a prolonged economic crisis. The new evidence shows that French-speaking areas were equally as productive as English-speaking areas, something that upturns the established consensus and reinforces the minority viewpoint that culture had little to do with the crisis. Using a broad range of controls, the researchers find that this conclusion is robust and that other variables such as settlement recency, environment, and economic structure were much more significant determinants of TFP. These results warrant the abandonment of the cultural explanation and a shift toward other explanatory channels.     

池田内阁时期日英的对华政策与互动

由于英国对社会主义国家相对缓和的立场,以及对西欧、英联邦国家甚至是对美国的独特的影响,导致了其在日本的对华政策上具有独特的地位与作用。因此,日本总是通过各种渠道与英国就对华政策进行协调。在池田内阁时期,日英两国在对华政策上主要围绕两个中心进行协调：一是联合国的中国席位问题;一是放松对华贸易问题。在联合国的中国席位问题上,日本的重心在于维护蒋介石集团在联合国的席位,而英国的重心是支持中国取得联合国的席位。在放松对华贸易问题上,双方立场相近,产生了共鸣。