Foreign Direct Investment in a Recent Entrant to the EU: The Case of the Automotive Industry in Romania

A U.S.-based geographer presents the results of a survey of car and parts manufacturers in Romania with a focus on the role of foreign direct investment in the restructuring of the sector. Using a questionnaire and personal interviews, the author investigates and identifies the main factors attracting foreign automakers to Romania, which experienced a difficult transition after the collapse of the country's command economy and the ensuing loss of automotive exports to the neighboring states of CMEA. The paper covers the development of foreign ownership of vehicle assembly and car parts manufacturing plants, as well as the effects of foreign investment on Romania's national and local economies. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D20, F21, L62. 1 figure, 2 tables, 68 references.     

民国时期祁门红茶贷款案与银企关系的建立--关于上海金融资本对周边产业经济之控制

祁门红茶与上海交通银行贷款关系的成立 ,标志着农业产品的生产与销售活动受到金融资本的支配与控制。而在战前区域经济关系中 ,也说明中国内陆地区农业产品的生产者与贸易组织同沿海出口口岸的关系更为密切。本文重点考察作为中国出口大宗产品的祁门红茶与银行银企关系建立的过程、原因 ,及其金融支配与控制关系对于出口产品生产与销售的影响 ,以期说明农业产业组织的变迁与沿海及内陆区域经济关系形成问题。     

美国历史上的土地测量制度

土地测量是美国公地处理中的一项重要制度,它为地产的划分和土地的买卖提供了强有力的支持手段.土地测量在美国西部大开发过程中起到难以估量的巨大作用.美国土地测量中的村镇制度经历了村镇移植到村镇划分的嬗变过程,即由先前的人的移植变为后来纯粹的土地的划分.     

辽代方胜蜂花飞雁锦袜的修复

介绍了辽代锦袜的基本概况,包括锦面和衬里的形制、尺寸、纹饰、组织结构。根据锦袜的破损状况,保护师采用传统的方式,对其进行了清理、平整、针线修复法的复原工作。     

《徐文长文集》与《徐文长三集》的读者之争及其版本问题

本文通过考察《文集》与《三集》在万历后期的读者之争,得出了关于其版本关系及版本优劣的以下几个结论：1．二集在万历后期的读者之争中形成了互动的版本关系。2．钟氏《文集》最终压倒《三集》而成为最流行的版本,靠的不只是袁评,还有许多诸如定位得当等方面的自身优势。3.《文集》袁评是否出于伪托,目前尚无有力的证据,当以存疑为是。4．商氏《三集》忽视市场因素,定位失当,其在与《文集》的读者之争中一败再败,有其自身原因,大可不必迁怒《文集》。5．万历47年修改重印25卷本非残本,乃是商氏有意推出的两个“新”版本之一。     

The Rolt Memorial Lecture 2015: Defining the Vintage Car: L.T.C. Rolt,the Vintage Sports Car Club and the Rise of Motoring Heritage

This paper examines the role played by the engineering historian, biographer and pioneer of canal and railway preservation, L.T.C. Rolt, in the development of an appreciation of motoring heritage. It concentrates on his involvement with the Vintage Sports Car Club in the 1930s, in which he played a key role in defining what a vintage car was. It examines the way in which this helped develop many of the themes that ran throughout his writing and gave him the practical skills needed in his later campaigning for the preservation of industrial heritage.

It also looks at the way in which Rolt's views on the car's impact mirror those held by others, and at the difficulties this posed to someone who was passionate about engineering and yet was horrified by the consequences of industrialisation. His advocacy of the vintage car was the beginning of his lifelong campaign to uphold craftsmanship and skills and to commemorate the role of the engineer and the craftsman in Britain.     

广州批发市场的销售物流网络空间研究——基于基本—非基本经济活动视角

经济基础理论是解释城市增长的经典理论之一,但实地数据的缺乏使得相关实证研究效果不佳。结合实地调查数据,从基本—非基本经济活动的视角对广州市批发市场的销售物流网络空间进行研究,得出基本经济活动与非基本经济活动的比率高达4.27,反映出城市经济活动外向性的特点;基本经济活动网络总体上形成了以广州为中心,珠三角和省外城市为重要支点的星型流动格局;非基本经济活动网络呈现出城市中部强、南北弱的货流格局。最后,采用R型和Q型因子分析方法,对销售物流网络进行流场识别,深入刻画网络的空间特征。结果显示销售物流网络中形成了一个综合活动场、五个基本活动场以及两个非基本活动场。     

China's Dynamic Industrial Sector: The Automobile Industry

Two leading Beijing- and Singapore-based economic geographers examine the recent developments and spatial change in China's automobile industry (currently the world's third largest). The paper covers changes in market share among major automobile transnational corporations as well as domestic assemblers; industrial restructuring in the form of product diversification (SUVs to hybrid cars) and production concentration; the massive increase in exports of motor vehicles; and the rise of new automobile production centers. Also included in the paper is a case study of the firm Chery to illustrate the development path of Chinese domestic car assemblers. The embeddedness of transnational corporations and deregulation by the Chinese government are advanced as the two major factors that shape the car industry's geographic distribution in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D20, F21, L62. 15 figures, 2 tables, 46 references.     

A Chronicle of Failure Foretold: The UK,Israel and Arms Sales to Argentina in the Era of the Falklands War

In spite of fierce British protests, Israel supplied Argentina with arms both during the Falklands war and with greater intensity after the fighting. While the weapons sales were vital for Israel's economy and its arms industry, recently declassified papers suggest that the Begin government viewed the arms supplies to Argentina as a bargaining chip to exert pressure on Britain to halt its own sale of weapons to Israel's Arab adversaries and to end London's arms embargo against the Jewish State. Britain's restrictions on arms sales had long cast a shadow over Anglo-Israeli ties, and Israeli resentment towards Britain was exacerbated by anger over London's strong condemnation of Israel's invasion of Lebanon and its leading involvement in the EEC Venice Declaration of June 1980 which recognized Palestinian self-determination and a role for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The Israelis also perceived the arms supplies as a means to influence the junta in its treatment of Argentina's Jews. Yet, there was actually a rise in the level of anti-Semitism in Argentina during the period in question. At the same time, Britain's approach in attempting to dissuade its allies from selling arms to Argentina was riddled with inconsistencies and ultimately misconceived.     

Promoting Investment in Russia's Regions

The paper, based on extensive field interviews in 2009, examines regional investment policies in Russia, focusing on the Novgorod and Kaluga regions. The author, a Finland-based geographer specializing in Russia's economy, argues that some Russian regions (including the ones not well endowed with natural resources) can succeed in promoting investments despite the generally unfavorable economic environment. He also questions the ability of so-called regional "growth machines" to be sustained over the long term, by contrasting the cases of Novgorod and Kaluga, whereby Novgorod represents a region transformed from a leader in promoting investment into a corrupted autarchic regime. Kaluga, on the other hand, is presented as a successful region on the basis of an innovative but somewhat risky investment promotion strategy.