Manufacturing in the 18th Century

The putting-out spinning of flax for merchants and weaving of kersey in house-manufactories for export are examples of new elements in wool production and manufacturing in late 18th-century Iceland. The import of luxuries also increased, and a broader group of inhabitants acquired these items from the monopoly-trade merchants. The article analyses how these elements can be understood in light of Iceland’s pre-industrial society. How did these changes become visible and have an impact on the country? Did changes in wool production and consumption signify new trends in 18th-century society, or should one interpret them as extensions of structures that already existed within what can be called the ‘Old Society’?     

加拿大二线城市华人新移民经济融合研究——“三重玻璃效应”与移民向下层社会流动

论文对加拿大二线城市卡尔加里和爱德蒙顿华人新移民的主要特点、移民动机和融合过程中的主要障碍进行了分析,探讨了新移民在加拿大向下层社会流动的问题。研究显示,新移民在经济融合过程中遭遇多方面的障碍,尤其在就业和语言方面。他们在移民加拿大之后,经历了去技能化和以前的学历和工作经验贬值,促使他们向下层社会流动,而这种状况反过来又阻碍了他们的融合进程。华人新移民的负面经历可以归因于由玻璃大门、玻璃房门和玻璃天花板构成的"三重玻璃效应"。加拿大政府应采纳融合框架政策,除承认移民的流动自由外,还要保证他们能享有与其他加拿大人一样同等的公民权益。     

从乡村商店到百货商店--1877年至20世纪20年代美国南方乡村的经济生活

随着收成制在战后美国南方的确立,乡村商店成为南方转型初期经济生活的重要部分。它的特点是“靠男性消费者为生,以农作物借贷制为杠杆,商品综合经营”。但是,世纪之交,由于工业化力量的推动和现代消费观念的冲击,乡村商店从南方经济生活中逐渐淡出,“以吸引女性消费者为主,采用现金支付或分期付款形式”的百货商店取而代之,并且广告在经济生活中起越来越重要的作用,南方经济生活逐步走向现代化。     

产地农产品批发市场的功能创新与发展

文章运用产业经济学和市场经济理论,分析了产地农产品批发市场在我国存在和发展的社会经济条件及其在农产品市场流通体系中的重要地位;立足国情,探析产地市场作为农业经济组织所具有的内在特性与社会职能,探索性地提出了产地市场是一个能够长效拉动我国农业经济和农村社会发展的经济组织形式。文章认为,产地农产品批发市场具有组织生产、一体化经营、组织农产品加工、农业科技服务和农民教育培训、提高农产品质量、保障农产品安全、促进农村社会发展等重要功能。     

The Impact of Global Financial Crisis on the Mechanism of Economic Growth in Russia

A noted specialist on the Russian economy presents an assessment of the impact of the global financial crisis on the mechanism of the country's economic growth. Focusing on the demand side of the economic ledger, the author explores the question of whether Russia will be able to re-attain the high economic growth rates of the period from 2000 to 2007 after recovering from the crisis. The paper analyzes the sharp drop in production in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, attributing most of the damage to liquidity problems and declines in the price of oil. Empirical evidence is based primarily on data collected by the author from the Central Bank of Russia and the country's federal bureau of statistics (Rosstat). Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E010, E200, E660, F210, G010. 11 figures, 3 tables, 29 references.     

China's Emergence and Impact on Technology in East Asia: The Case of Machinebuilding

Two Taiwan-based economists estimate the technology content of exports by the machinebuilding industry of the East Asia region during 2004-2008, using comparative analysis to clarify changes in the relative competitiveness of four East Asian nations (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) accompanying the formation of a regional trading bloc and production networks. In particular, they examine the technology content of these countries' machinebuilding sub-industries' exports within the Southeast Asian market (documenting the rise of the machinebuilding industry in China) as well as the penetration of Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese sub-industries into China's market. The results point to areas of emerging competition among China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan for East Asian markets, which can only be expected to intensify in the future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F14, F15, F36, O14, P23. 7 tables, 36 references.     

Can Russia Break the "Resource Curse"?

A noted European economist argues that the Russian economy and its post-2000 growth have been heavily dependent on natural resources, especially hydrocarbons, and are bound to remain so for some time to come. Given that many economists have come to view rich natural resource endowments as a "curse" that undermines development, the question arises as to whether Russian economic development is doomed. The author argues that while the challenges posed by resource dependence are serious, they can be overcome, or at least substantially mitigated, if accompanied by the right economic policies as the examples of Australia, Canada, and the Scandinavian countries demonstrate. He analyzes what these economic policies are for Russia, and how to set up Russian economic and political conditions to facilitate their implementation. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E6, O1, O52, P2, Q43. 4 figures, 2 tables, 50 references.     

Emerging Chinese Role in Shaping St. Petersburg's Urban Landscape: Interscalar Investment Strategies in the Development of a Residential Megaproject

The paper, by an American geographer, discusses the origin and development of a Chinese-financed residential megaproject (Baltic Pearl) located southwest of St. Petersburg's historical district. Viewing Baltic Pearl as reportedly the largest investment project undertaken outside China by a government-sponsored Chinese consortium, the author places it in the context of state-level Sino-Russian relations and Russian unease over the influx of Chinese migrants and culture. Reflecting the author's extensive field work in St. Petersburg and Shanghai, the focus of the paper is on the way the consortium was forced to adopt interscalar (i.e., both state and municipal/urban) strategies responsive to local conditions, providing a potentially useful precedent and model for Chinese and other investors seeking to penetrate Russia's urban markets.     

The Transportation Sector of India's Economy: Dry Ports as Catalysts for Regional Development

Two East Asian specialists review the development of dry ports in India as part of a broader national program to eliminate transportation bottlenecks, improve transport efficiency, and spur the economic development of interior regions by lowering road and rail freight tariffs, and thus decreasing the costs of imports (and making exports more competitive). A key focus is on comparing the relative efficiency of public- versus private-sector operation of dry ports, and on examining the effects on dry port efficiency of current Indian Government policy. The authors test two hypotheses relating to the efficiency of port operations using information derived from their field study/interviews at 28 dry ports in Northwest India (reflecting three different types of ownership/operation combinations) as well as quantitative data measuring port efficiency.     

Going It Alone: Belarus as the Non-European European State

In the second paper of a symposium devoted to the contemporary status of Belarus, a noted American specialist on the electoral geography of the states of the former Soviet Union challenges assertions in the preceding article (Ioffe and Yarashevich, 2011) that only Russia and Ukraine are valid comparators against which to gauge the success of the Lukashenka model. Expanding the scope of comparison to include the three other countries neighboring Belarus (Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland), he demonstrates that a broader range of policy changes can be considered by its leadership in efforts to limit damage from the economic crisis in Belarus and position the country for renewed growth within a global economic frame-work. Examination of a wide range of social and economic indicators and government policies reveals, however, that in many ways an unreformed Belarus is poorly positioned for competition in an increasingly interconnected world, in which the elements for successful development are quite different from those providing economic stability in the past. A closing section of the paper revisits the debate on whether most Belarusian citizens actually aspire to a more "European" way of life or instead prefer the "Eastern" alignment and reliance on a Russian benefactor whose own economic future looks increasingly uncertain.