The impact of de-globalization on China’s economic transformation: Evidence from manufacturing export

The economic transformation is an important policy practice of economic development in China. In the context of “deglobalization”, it is critically important to better understand the impacts of increasing trade costs on China’s economic transformation from the perspective of firms’ exports. In this study, we measure the trade costs of specific manufacturing sectors and provinces. We employ Heckman (1979) two-stage method and the data from China’s manufacturing firms to investigate the impacts of trade costs on heterogeneous firms’ exports. Based on these results, we further explore the impacts of trade costs on China’s economic transformation and discuss policy advisories. Our results indicate that the increase in trade costs have adverse impacts on China’s economic transformation. Specifically, increasing trade costs hinder firms’ export behaviors and export scales. However, these impacts are heterogeneous on different types of firms, which refers to the ownership reforms, manufacturing sector upgrades and coordinated regional development. In particular, increasing trade costs do not affect coordinated regional development in China, but they are not conducive to ownership reforms and manufacturing sector upgrades. Altogether, our findings provide the first evidence on the impacts of trade costs on China’s economic transformation from the perspective of firms’ exports, and also shed light on policy implications for promoting firms’ exports and economic transformation in the “deglobalization” period.     

超越嵌入性范式：金融社会学的起源、发展和新议题

金融处于当代社会生活的核心，可视为一种社会现象。自M.韦伯开始，古典社会学已论证了社会学研究经济和金融领域的正当性。随着美国新经济社会学的兴起，社会学学者在新经济社会学框架下，以“嵌入性”为理论起点，从社会结构和社会建构两个理论维度研究了金融现象。欧洲学者则挑战了美国新经济社会学的嵌入性范式，为我们提供了研究金融现象的新视角。在新技术和全球化背景下，社会学能从更多角度对金融领域展开研究。     

Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans: What Might a Sociological Embeddedness Perspective Offer Disaster Research and Planning?

The Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans situation was commonly called a "natural disaster"—an anomalous "event" that disrupted lives, spaces, and organizations. Research and planning attention then focused on particular aspects of the event and on restoring order. In contrast, sociologists and similar-thinking scholars have increasingly viewed disaster situations from multiple locations and histories, often using systems theory. Here, reanalysis of empirical material from ethnographic research in New Orleans pre- and post-Katrina suggests that a sociological embeddedness perspective illustrates the dynamic seamlessness of past, present, and future economic contexts and social actions. The perspective's constitutive concepts of weak, strong, and differentiated ties highlight the role of local knowledge, intermediary-led workforce networks, and sustained participatory planning in creating a robust economic environment. Toward this end, disaster research, planning, and theory building could incorporate network tie assessments into social vulnerability protocols, compare embeddedness with other perspectives, and learn from related international experiences.     

Causes of Civil War in Asia and Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Comparison*

Objectives. This article explores the extent to which economic development, ethnic and religious fractionalization, domestic governance, and international trade openness affect civil war in postcolonial Asia and Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) from 1950 through 1992. Methods. We estimate a set of multivariate logit models with the generalized estimating equation (GEE) method for time‐series cross‐sectional (TSCS) data. Results. Both in Asia and in SSA, civil war is less likely with increased economic development and trade openness, while mixed autocratic‐democratic regimes raise the likelihood that states will experience civil war. Although neither ethnic nor religious fractionalization has any statistically significant effect on civil war in SSA, civil war in Asia is more likely with greater ethnic fractionalization. Conclusions. Despite cross‐regional variation in causes of civil war, economic development and trade openness seem to play a consistent role in reducing civil war.     

Cross-national differences in effects of social embeddedness on trust: A comparative study of German and Dutch business transactions

Embeddedness theory stresses the importance of concrete personal relations and networks of relations in economic life. Recent sociological research shows that effects of embeddedness may differ between social settings, and recent experimental anthropological findings reveal that levels of cooperation and norm-enforcement differ between cultural settings. We extent these lines of research by examining whether effects of embeddedness on trust differ between two social settings, namely Germany and The Netherlands. To examine our research question we use a comprehensive database consisting of 925 Dutch and 929 German purchase transactions. We find evidence that some aspects of social embeddedness indeed have different effects in the two countries. In Germany sharing a history of previous transaction and the existence of alternative partners had a larger effect on trust than in the Netherlands. We offer a potential explanation and discuss its implications for future research on embeddedness.     

THE IMPACTS OF DEREGULATION AND AGRICULTURAL RESTRUCTURING FOR RURAL AUSTRALIA

As a leader in the Cairns Group of Nations, Australia has been advancing deregulation in agri‐food trade. Successive governments have assumed that Australia would benefit from a greater deregulation of international trade because this would allow increased access to world markets for primary agricultural commodities. But regulation exists, at least in Europe, to protect the social value of the rural landscape. Australian governments, strongly influenced by economic rationalist ideology, have given insufficient consideration to the rural social landscape. Little critical reflection has taken place about whether Australia, and its farmers, would actually benefit from deregulation, or what the social impacts of this trend might be. Deregulation inevitably invokes structural adjustment, forces farmers out of agriculture, depopulates rural areas, and creates social hardship. There are also environmental ramifications. The exit of farmers from agriculture has not been as fast as was expected by economists and policy‐makers, with many farmers adapting to new situations.     

创新的局域性研究综述:基于经济地理学视角

创新具有本地化特征。早期的经济理论中,熊彼特强调企业家在创新中的关键性作用,传统的集聚理论从外部规模经济的角度解释了企业在有限的地理空间集聚的原因,但关于创新的局域性问题,相关研究尚少。新产业地理理论认为社会关系、根植性和交易成本的节约是企业集聚创新的原因。现代演化经济学在不确定性、路径依赖等概念下探讨了企业的区位选择问题。区域创新体系强调企业和其他机构的相互联系、交互行动对创新能力的影响。     

It Takes Two to Fight in School,Too: A Social Relations Model of the Psychometric Properties and Relative Variance of Dyadic Aggression and Victimization in Middle School

Aggressive behavior has been well studied in terms of interindividual differences among aggressors and victims, but has been understudied, especially within naturalistic contexts, in terms of aggressor–victim relationships. The social relations model (SRM) is a powerful conceptual and analytic tool for studying dyadic phenomena, and we describe the use of multivariate SRM to study aggression. Boys and girls (N = 210) in middle schools (sixth and seventh grades) completed a newly created dyadic aggression and victimization inventory (DAVI). Results support the reliability and validity of the DAVI in assessing inter‐individual and inter‐dyadic differences in aggression and victimization. Occurrences of aggression were accounted for primarily by inter‐dyadic variability, indicating the importance of considering aggressor–victim relationships. We discuss the implications of this relationship focus for future research and intervention efforts.     

From Classroom to Dyad: Actor and Partner Effects of Aggression and Victim Reputation

This study examined whether early adolescents’ classroom aggression predicted their aggression in a one‐on‐one dyadic setting, and whether early adolescents’ classroom victimization predicted their victimization in the dyadic setting. After completing peer nominations for aggression and victimization, 218 early adolescents (M age = 11.0 years) participated in a dyadic paradigm in which they were led to believe that they played against a same‐sex classmate for whom they could set the intensity of noise blasts. Analyses with the actor–partner interdependence model by Olsen and Kenny showed that peer‐nominated physical aggression for boys and relational aggression for girls predicted noise blast aggression in the dyadic setting. For girls but not boys, peer‐nominated victimization predicted victimization in the dyadic setting.     

国际贸易的文化解读

文化是国际贸易中的重要内生要素,把握国际贸易需要从文化视角进行解读。商品是价值、使用价值和文化价值的统一体,国际贸易实质上也是商品文化价值的交换过程;文化差异是国际贸易产生的重要根源和依据;文化比较优势是推动国际贸易的增长和发展的现实动力。这一研究为我国新时期国际贸易的发展提供了新的视角和新的启示。     

Children's Observed Interactions With Best Friends: Associations With Friendship Jealousy and Satisfaction

This study examined the role of friendship jealousy and satisfaction in nine‐year‐old children's observed interactions with their best friends. One hundred five dyads (51 female, 54 male) participated in a 30‐min closed‐field observational setting and reported their jealousy and satisfaction within the friendship. The Actor–Partner Interdependence Model was used to estimate the effects of friendship jealousy and satisfaction on children's own and their friends' behavior. Friends were highly similar in observed behavior and friendship characteristics. Many observed dyadic behaviors were associated with overall levels of jealousy within the friendship, but differences in friendship satisfaction were only predictive of conflict resolution in boys. Children's reports of their friendship jealousy were strongly related to their own behavior in the dyad and the behavior of their best friends. Gender differences were discussed. The results further illustrate the importance of a dyadic perspective on friendship interaction.     

认知、文化和结构的三重嵌入：草根非营利组织“绿”的个案研究

本文以一个草根非营利组织为个案运用嵌入性理论对其发展图景进行解读，从结构、认知和文化三个层面讨论嵌入的机制。论文发现，草根非营利组织是嵌入到复杂的结构、文化和认知机制之中，且这三者是交织在一起的。为了促进草根非营利组织的发展以回应弱势群体的需要，政府应推行有利于草根非营利组织发展的政策，并将具有回应性的草根组织服务纳入发展型社会政策框架。     

核心-外围论对中国的分析--贸易条件-贸易结构-国民经济结构分析

核心-外围论一定程度上反映了在开放的经济中发达国家和发展中国家的关系.文章从贸易条件角度,对核心-外围论进行了实证分析,并使用包括净贸易条件、收入贸易条件和要素贸易条件,对我国贸易状况进行了具体分析.贸易结构是贸易条件的重要影响因素,而贸易结构是依附于生产结构的,经济或生产结构决定了贸易结构的合理程度.文章在此基础上分析核心-外围论在中国的适用性及其意义.     

A social welfare perspective of market‐oriented social enterprises

The article analyses market‐oriented social enterprises from a social welfare perspective, within the context of the innate conflict between business and welfare orientations. After defining the concept of market‐oriented social enterprises and presenting some successful examples on such entities that employ different marginalised populations, particularly people with disabilities, the article asks three interrelated questions: (i) What policy environment is needed to encourage the development of social enterprises? (ii) Given the innate tension between the social and economic objectives in social enterprises, what structural principles are needed to enable them to meet those dual objectives? Lastly, (iii) What intervention modalities are best suited to help individual participants in those frameworks? Answers to these questions are discussed within conceptual frameworks from the worlds of welfare and business that jointly provide a base for a social welfare rationale for market‐oriented social enterprises.     

Covid-19 and the euthanasia of interest rates: A critical assessment of central bank policy in our times

We compare the New Keynesian and Austrian explanations for low interest rates in the light of the Corona crisis. From a New Keynesian perspective low interest rates are the result of structural changes in the society and the economy as well as the cyclical downswing triggered by the Corona pandemic. In contrast, from the perspective of Austrian economic theory, interest rates have been pushed down on trend by central banks for a long time to stimulate growth, with the global financial crisis of 2007/08 and the Corona crisis of 2020 acting as powerful accelerators of the euthanasia of interest. New Keynesian theory would suggest that interest rates can be adjusted upward again when conditions change, without creating economic and financial disturbances. Against this, Austrian theory finds that central banks have backed themselves into a corner by creating persistent low-interest expectations.     

Trade liberalisation and urban–rural linkages: a CGE analysis for Ethiopia

Using a rural–urban computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, this paper examines the impacts of trade liberalisation on structural transformation and overall growth of the Ethiopian economy. The simulation experiments suggest that the impacts of trade liberalisation depend on wage-setting conditions in the urban region. With a fixed urban real wage, trade reform adversely affects overall economic growth mainly because of large contractions in the urban region. If urban nominal wage is flexible, both rural and urban regions experience expansion in GDP. An important policy implication of this analysis is that the success of trade liberalisation critically depends on the extent to which product and labour market reforms are synchronised. On the other hand, simultaneous implementations of nominal devaluation and reductions in external trade tariffs would not enhance structural transformation of the economy. However, this policy conflict does not necessarily arise if the introduction and implementation of different policy instruments of trade reforms are appropriately sequenced.     

Partnership and Performance of Community-Based Organizations: A Social Network Study of Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Community-based organizations (CBOs) generally face challenges of meeting clients’ complex needs with limited resources. Partnership development can be a strategy for the CBOs to expand capacity and improve performance. However, relevant evidence is scant and tends to lack a theoretical base. This study examines the relation between networking and performance of a CBO from the perspective of social network analysis. The sample consists of 15 CBOs relying on volunteers to provide primary care services for older adults in a suburban area of Taiwan. Data analyzed include an expert evaluation record, a sociomatrix data set denoting the CBOs’ relationships, and a focus group of the social workers supporting the CBOs’ services. The breadth, brokerage, and embeddedness of networking are measured by centrality indicators and are hypothesized as being beneficial for service performance in terms of effectiveness and innovation. The study reveals that brokerage and embeddedness of networking are positively associated with effectiveness. A CBO may enhance its performance by bridging less connected organizations that need the relationship or by partnering with other organizations that bring in information from many others, but a wide social network is not necessarily helpful. Future studies can strengthen the findings by employing large samples and advanced statistical methods.     

Some thoughts on the restructuring of North-South interaction

The theory of international trade presents trade as a positive-sum game for all participants. Yet, most of the negotiations between the developed and the developing countries seem to have been conducted under a perception of reality that views North-South relations as a zero-sum game. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a general framework for institutional and structural changes to benefit all participants. A number of original proposals for international reforms to support equitable development in developing countries are presented. The major element of the proposals include a Land Reform Fund, a rural and industrial development package for LDCs, support for trade liberalization of impacts from land reform countries, and an industrial Assistance Fund to help industrial countries to restructure production pattern.The proposals contain obviously far reaching national and international political implications whose impact is assessed in the concluding part of the paper. There the claim is made that unless both sets of countries find cooperation mutually attractive, they will be unable to embark in development strategies characterized by the highest chance of success and with the fewest economic and social disruptions.     

Indigenous land and sea management programs: Can they promote regional development and help “close the (income) gap”?

Throughout the world, there is growing recognition of the important role Indigenous people play in natural resource management and conservation. Indigenous Land and Sea Management Programs (ILSMPs; which provide funds to Indigenous people to support Indigenous land management activities) are also known to generate social and economic benefits, although relative few of these co‐benefits have been quantified. Using northern Australia as a case study, we analysed data on ILSMP expenditure within three regional input–output tables, learning more about the size and distribution of their associated regional economic benefits. We found ILSMPs make a significant contribution to regional economies—with multipliers commonly exceeding that of other key regional industries such as agriculture and mining. We also found ILSMP expenditures make a larger contribution to Indigenous household incomes than they do to non‐Indigenous incomes—thus helping to close the (income) gap. They will continue to do so, provided the proportion of ILSMP money spent on Indigenous (compared to non‐Indigenous) incomes does not fall below a threshold amount. Rather than finding evidence of a trade‐off between socio‐ecological and financial/economic goals, our results suggest ILSMPs, known for their ecological importance, can also make a vitally important contribution to economic development in rural areas.     

Exploring dyadic teacher–child interactions,emotional security,and task engagement in preschool children displaying externalizing behaviors

Based on attachment theory, we tested whether the link between dyadic teacher–child interactions and task engagement operates through a child's security with the teacher. In a sample of preschoolers (N = 470) rated by their teachers as exhibiting elevated disruptive behaviors, the quality of dyadic teacher–child interactions and children's security were observed using a standardized task. Children's engagement with tasks was both observed in the preschool classroom and rated by the teacher. Results indicated that the quality of teacher–child dyadic interactions was associated directly with teacher‐reported task engagement, and indirectly associated, through a child's security, with observed task engagement. We discussed the contribution of these findings to our understanding of how the quality of dyadic teacher–child interactions may serve to regulate children's behavior in the classroom for children whose teachers perceive them as displaying early externalizing behaviors.