THE NATURE OF THE MANPOWER PROBLEM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIBERIA

The traditional picture of the economic development in Siberia presents a formidable obstacle in the form of a manpower deficit and high labor turnover. The official policy to combat this problem has been to give priority to the development of social and cultural amenities. Substantial changes in wage differentials and other economic and non-economic benefits seem to be a measure of the past. This article presents an overview of the situation and suggests that if any public policy is to be effective, it has to combine accelerated development in the social and cultural spheres and economic and noneconomic benefits as well. Furthermore, these measures have to be more differentiated regionally and among worker categories. Any such policy would require massive investment. The question is whether Soviet society can bear this huge burden in view of more immediate needs. Another question is whether the additional investment required would be compensated by a comparable increase in the productivity of labor. In view of substantial cost increases, capital productivity is likely to decline if not compensated by a change in the calculated prices on Siberian products, especially oil and gas, which seems doubtful in view of the present international situation.     

西北干旱区城市建设与可持续发展

概述了西北干旱区城市发展现状,系统地分析了其城市可持续发展面临的主要问题,进而提出了西北地区城市可持续发展的设想及其对策,为缩小我国东西部发展差距提供了科学的决策依据     

THE SIZE OF NATURE RESERVES AND COSTS OF THEIR MAINTENANCE

A paper devoted to nature reserve size in the USSR, and more specifically to whether the areas of such reserves are adequate in particular natural zones and for particular species, determines that too many zapovedniki presently are too small to carry out their intended functions properly. In fact, until quite recently, in spite of a dramatic expansion of the total area and number of nature reserves, average reserve size has decreased. A trend toward decreasing reserve size and increasing per hectare maintenance expenditures can be noted as the level of economic development characteristic of particular natural zones increases (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

SWEDISH EXPLORERS,IN-SITU KNOWLEDGE,AND RESOURCE-BASED BUSINESS IN THE AGE OF EMPIRE

The period from 1870 to 1914 plays a unique role in the history of natural resource exploration and extraction. This article analyses, from a Swedish viewpoint, the connections between two actor categories of special importance in this context: scientific-geographical explorers and industrial actors. The article examines their activities in three broadly defined regions: the Arctic, Russia, and Africa. We show that the Swedes generally had far-reaching ambitions, on par with those of the large imperial powers. In some cases, notably in Africa, Sweden was not able to compete with the larger imperial powers; but in other cases, such as the exploration of the Arctic – from Spitsbergen to Siberia – and the industrial exploitation of coal at Spitsbergen and petroleum in Russia’s colonial periphery, Swedish actors played a leading role, in competition with players from the larger European nations. Our paper shows that scientific exploration and industry were closely linked, and that foreign policy also influenced the shaping of these links. We distinguish different types of knowledge produced by the Swedish actors, pointing to local, situated knowledge as the most important type for many resource-based businesses, although modern, scientific knowledge was on the increase during this period.     

EVALUATION OF SPATIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE SETTING OF NORMATIVE GUIDELINES FOR PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION

Official normative guidelines used in the Soviet Union in the design, planning and construction of economic development projects are not adequately differentiated to reflect regional differences in physical and socio-economic conditions. The guidelines are closely tied in with the country's administrative structure, and tend to be spatially more specific in areas where the administrative structure is fine-meshed, and less specific where the structure if wide-meshed. Accordingly, there is a particularly urgent need for enhancing the regional reliability of normative documents in the Asian part of the Soviet Union, especially Siberia, where normative data often apply to vast areas with widely differing physical and socio-economic settings. A set of geographical coefficients is proposed to correct existing normative indicators. Illustrative examples are given.     

ROMAN KNOWLEDGE OF SCANDINAVIA IN THE IMPERIAL PERIOD*

Summary. This paper aims to provide a framework of literary evidence as a basis for study of the relations between the Roman Empire and Scandinavia from an archaeological point of view. It covers the period from Augustus to the end of the fourth century.