Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on China's Migrant Workers: A Survey of 2,700 in 2009

An Australian geographer examines the effects of the global financial crisis on China's migrant workers, based on a recent survey of over 2,700 such workers conducted during January-February 2009. The author focuses on the number of migrant workers returning to their home villages for the annual New Year holiday period, the types of workers that were laid off, options available to such workers upon losing employment, and the reasons underlying their subsequent moves. Implications of the findings for labor policy in China are briefly outlined and several directions for future research identified. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E240, G010, J610, J690. 7 tables, 68 references.     

Railways and manufacturing productivity in Italy after unification

This paper contributes to the debate on the effects of transport infrastructure endowment on productivity by adding a historical perspective. This allows us to address the issue in a proving ground where the effects of the existing stock of infrastructure are negligible. At the time of unification, the Kingdom of Italy initiated a large infrastructure project to build railways. We find that railways had a positive effect on manufacturing productivity over the period 1871–1911. Railways also had strong spillover effects in neighboring provinces so that provinces that started with a higher endowment of railways benefited more than those who were newly endowed.     

上海市大型制造业基地开发模式研究

在阐述西方大型制造业基地开发经验和上海市大型制造业基地基本特征的基础上,文章从经济-区位-功能-空间联系的视角,着重分析了上海市大型制造业基地的经济开发、功能开发与空间形态开发。本文总结了上海大型制造业基地发展的4大特征,即规模大型化、产业集群化、结构高级化、运行高效化。在对开发模式得分析中,得出以下主要结论:①根据制造业性质差异性,经济开发分为网络型、子母型与并列型3种模式;②受区位选择制约,功能开发分为城区融合型和纯产业区型;③空间形态开发可分为离散状、带状和组团状模式。另外,通过上海大型制造业基地开发与西方的对比,可以发现两者既有相似的特征,更存在显著的差异。     

江苏沿江地区制造业同构状况及合意性评判

产业空间分工是产业分工在地域上的投影,强调不同地域的产业分工发展及相互关系。按照一般意义,产业地域专业化分工有利于集约利用资源、增强区域竞争力。而产业同构作为产业空间分工的现实问题,存在两面性,即合意与非合意的趋同。以江苏沿江21个市区、县(市)为样本,采用地区相对分工指数、地区间分工指数和地方专业化指数等方法,探析沿江地区产业空间分工趋势和同构程度。并基于合意与非合意产业同构的特征,从市场需求、发挥地区比较优势和环境效益等方面进一步分析江苏沿江地区产业同构的合意程度。     

非正规就业视角下的制造业空间重构——基于2000、2010年地级及以上城市的实证研究

我国制造业的空间重构不仅表现为整体格局和职能强度的变化,更体现在内部构成要素的分化上。我国从事制造业的正规与非正规从业人员比例由2000年的41.7:58.3转变为2010年的29.3:70.7。两者的空间结构差异明显,非正规就业密度由沿海向内陆逐步递减,而正规就业在内陆省会城市存在明显高地。本文分析了制造业重构过程中的六类城市及其分布变化。研究表明,全球化进程和就业门槛显著促进了非正规就业增长;非正规就业也与经济发展存在共生关系,但与制度环境并无显著关联;此外廉价劳动力、市场可达性与规模经济对制造业的区位选择具有显著影响。     

Manufacturing (co)agglomeration in a transition country: Evidence from Russia

We document the geographic concentration patterns of Russian manufacturing using detailed microgeographic data. About 80% of three-digit industries are significantly agglomerated, and a similar share of three-digit industry pairs is significantly coagglomerated. Industry pairs with stronger buyer–supplier links—as measured using Russian input–output tables—tend to be slightly more coagglomerated. This result is robust to instrumental variable estimation using either Canadian or US instruments. Using Canadian ad valorem transport costs as a proxy for transport costs in Russia, we further find that industries with higher transport costs are more dispersed, and industry pairs with higher transport costs are less coagglomerated.     

Space, place and innovation: a distance-based approach

Innovation is increasingly considered a prerequisite for regional development and it is commonly understood that certain regions are more conducive to innovation than others. Regions that do not possess the required institutional and cultural contexts are often encouraged to work on creating them. However, there is increasing evidence that innovation is also a spatial phenomenon: the propensity of establishments to innovate also varies with their location relative to major and minor metropolitan areas, independent of local context. This article investigates whether the geography of innovation is similar for three different types of manufacturing sectors ( high-tech (HT), medium-tech, first and second transformation) and across two different types of innovation (product, process). It is shown that, in Québec, to the extent that geography and innovation are connected, it is principally distance from a metropolitan area that plays a role. Our results lend support to   McCann's (2007)   recent spatial model of innovation and are also compatible with   Duranton and Puga's (2003)   theory of nursery cities. Our results also show that HT innovators behave differently from other manufacturers, with a tendency to internalize their innovation behaviour (perhaps out of necessity or for reasons of secrecy) in more distant locations.     

Revisiting trade and industry policy

This paper introduces some of the recurrent themes of industry policy and debates about what governments can, might and should do – as well as have done – to foster desired patterns of economic development in a market economy. It does so by way of introduction to the four papers on Australian industry policy that make up this symposium.     

Comparison of the Different Types of Qinghua Porcelain from Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty of China (ad 1271–1368) by Micro X‐ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (μ‐XRF) and Microscopy

The Yuan Qinghua porcelain produced in the city of Jingdezhen, in China, mainly includes the gaudy blue type, a blue–grey or grey‐coloured type and the type featuring a blue colour with a slight amount of grey. For a long time, only the gaudy blue type was focused on and discussed, while the other two types, which contain equally important information with regard to recovering the manufacturing technology of Yuan Qinghua, were always ignored by scientific researchers. In this paper, by using micro X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μ‐XRF), spectrophotometry and optical microscopy, all three different types of Yuan Qinghua porcelain are analysed systemically and, based on the analyses of the body, the glaze and the blue decoration, the differences in the materials and the manufacturing technologies of the three different types are discussed. This not only provides a good basis for the reconstruction of the whole picture of the manufacturing process of Yuan Qinghua porcelains in Jingdezhen, but also contributes to database‐building for the identification of Qinghua porcelain.     

Sheep,Cattle, and Specialization: New Zooarchaeological Perspectives on the Taosi Longshan

In this paper, we present a zooarchaeological analysis of the Longshan period sites of Taosi and Zhoujiazhuang (ca. 2300–1900 cal. BC) in southern Shanxi Province, China. We compare the faunal record at both sites in terms of the proportions of wild and domestic taxa; the slaughter patterns for the main domesticates; the types of bones used to produce utilitarian and decorative bone artifacts; and the types of bones used for ritual oracle bone divination. Differences in the faunal records at Taosi and Zhoujiazhuang provide insights into the connections between specialization and early urbanism. Our research also provides clues about how sheep and cattle pastoralism was initially adopted in the Yellow River Valley during the late 3^rd millennium BC. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.