Towards a global economy

The author, a well known consultant on planning for technology, argues cogently for planning on a global scale. The alternative to widespread recognition and acceptance of the need for global planning is, he says: “the choice of which of the weapons existing we, as a species, shall use to commit suigenicide.”     

Can we have global ethics in a global economy?

With the collapse of the bi-polar world, we live in an increasingly integrated global economy, which includes economic, political, and cultural dimensions. We argue that there is a need for a global ethic commensurate with a global economy, based upon the claims of interdependence, economic insecurity, multiculturalism, and shared problems. The need to identify some common cross-cultural ethical norms is asserted as an important component of a global ethic and various sources and means for such identification are proposed. Finally, we propose reasons why global corporations ought to embrace cross-cultural ethical norms within their own corporate ethics.A version of this paper was first delivered at a joint business faculty seminar co-sponsored by Anadolu University and Baldwin-Wallace College, held at Anadolu University, Eskischir, Turkey, in December 1992. I express deep gratitude to my losts from Aanadolu University and special thanks to Professor Selva Herekman, who painstakingly translated my English text into Turkish.     

Energy and the economy— A reply to Smil and Kuz

In the June 1976 edition of this journal Smil and Kuz discussed the case for saying that there are quite firm relationships between energy consumption and GDP. They argued broadly that there was no general relationship, but, instead, the individual countries are locked into individual patterns of energy consumption. The proponents of the ‘there is a relationship’ school of thought include the author of this reply who is employed in the Economics and Programmes Branch of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority.     

Energy interdependence in the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany

The paper reports an input-output analysis of energy flows in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) economy which includes a capital flows matrix. Results include a quantification of the interdependence of energy with other manufacturing resources, and an estimate of energy and energy-related costs of commodities. An approximate method of estimating the effects of changes in technical coefficients and primary input costs is assessed.     

A model for a new society: Values,ethics, and the global economy

Increasing interdependencies and vulnerabilities in the global economy appear to require a re-examination of our neoclassical economic individualism. The philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead provides a fundamentally new framework for a view of reality based on organic and social models rather than on mechanistic and individualistic ones. This article summarizes Whitehead's central concepts and explores the ethical implications of his social conception of reality for economic behavior. It also draws ecological implications from his thought and makes suggestions for management behavior. This article concludes that a new way of thinking is required to function ethically in a socially interdependent universe.     

Gaining from the global ambitions of emerging economy enterprises: An analysis of the decision to sell a German firm to a Chinese acquirer

This paper examines the issue of cross-border acquisitions by companies from emerging economies in industrialised countries: an important phenomenon that has recently found increasing emphasis in international business research. In analysing Chinese acquisitions of German firms in the machinery and equipment industry, the paper addresses the question of why firms from industrialised countries are sold to companies from emerging economies. Several real and imagined reasons may induce the German side not to sell; nevertheless, this type of acquisition occurs with increasing frequency. Using case study evidence and interview data, the study finds explanations for the decision to sell to a Chinese company. The results show that German firms can gain substantially from the global ambitions of the Chinese firms for advancement of their own business objectives. This is due to complementarities in the motivations for engaging in the deals, as well as the underlying strategic needs of both firms. In addition, the specific nature of the cooperation between both firms instils in the German managers a sense of control and security—either real or merely perceived—creating conditions that are favourable to the selling decision. Most importantly, in the context of emerging economy enterprises acquiring advanced economy firms, motivations on both sides of the acquisitions appear to go beyond the commonly known goals such as capital transfer and additional market access, as the acquisitions provide the companies involved with conditions favourable to expansion into previously inaccessible market segments. The findings of this study provide useful guidance for the development of future strategic relationships between firms from industrialised and emerging economies.     

Investment and the Swedish economy

The causes of the high rate of investment in the Swedish economy are discussed with particular emphasis on the relevance of restructuring; however, restructuring may be more difficult in future. The source of funds and the function of the Investment Bank are described and the debate on the scale of future investment is summarised.     

我国新时期资本形成问题分析

本文以我国社会主义市场经济建设的新时期为背景 ,首先建立了兼顾积累与消费的二元目标最优经济增长模型和两部门最优投资比例模型 ,然后分析了我国资本形成面临的新情况和新问题 .根据模型和分析的结果 ,最终给出了相关的政策建议     

National policy making in a global economy: The case for U.S. economic planning

In 1980 the Joint Economic Committee completed the Special Study on Economic Change. This 20 volume, 3-year project, was premised on the fact that: ‘fundamental economic, social, political, international and technical conditions have changed, and are still changing markedly’. This suggests that conventional wisdom and established economic tools may not be equal to meeting the challenge of making sound policies in the economic sphere. The so-called laws of economics have not been repealed, but all guiding principles presuppose a certain environment of conditions, customs and practices—and when these change, the implementation of new policies and the modes of adjustment have to change also. This paper examines the problem of devising policy instruments for economic management, identifying the facts of the changing economic environment and the main difficulties facing world economic development.     

International security and the world economy

The recent increase in international tension associated with Iran and Afghanistan raises many questions about the longerterm health of the international economy. There is growing concern about potential conflicts affecting sources of key raw materials, serious problems in the international payments system and growing domestic priorities on defence production. Strategic political decisions rather than private business decisions are likely to affect the future course of the world economy. This is especially true because of the increasing political dependence of the industrial countries on developments abroad. The author examines the historical setting of inter-dependence, the current dilemmas created by it and the policy steps likely to dominate the next decade.     

Competitive analysis for two-option online leasing problem under sharing economy

With the booming development of sharing economy, decision makers must consider the effect when making decisions with uncertain demands. In the leasing problem, people are faced with several leasing options. Participating in the shared leasing option can reduce the cost of the lessee, which makes it a good choice. This paper considers the online leasing option under sharing economy. By applying competitive analysis to the two-option online leasing problem, the optimal competitive ratios of the deterministic and randomized strategies with market interest rate are obtained, respectively. The theoretical results show that the strategies’ competitive performance is improved under sharing economy. Furthermore, numerical examples are performed to illustrate that considering the shared option has a significant influence on the two-option online leasing problem.

     

Energy analysis: A review of methods and applications

The paper describes the aims and applications of energy analysis, emphasising its role as a complement to conventional financial analysis. It is shown to provide useful insights in applications such as forecasting price rises due to a fuel price rise, calculating the net costs of fuel obtained from unconventional sources, forecasting energy demand and evaluating energy conservation schemes. Although the field is still young, and most activity is in compiling reliable data bases, its systems approach and methods promise to make it a useful tool for evaluating patterns of resource uses.     

合资企业对我国工业经济作用的实证研究

首先从国家工业与民族工业的区别、生产力的隶属关系、合资企业的产品价值链构成、合资企业的资产构成、合资企业的溢出效应五个方面论证了合资企业是我国工业经济的重要组成部分．在此基础上将我国工业分为全部工业、合资企业、其它企业三个系统,通过对三个系统的总产值及其贡献率,总产值增长速度及其贡献度等经济总量的分析、证明：合资企业发展对我国工业经济增长具有重要意义;并通过对三个系统技术水平及其变化率的评价与比较,证明：合资企业技术水平的提高对全部工业总体技术水平的提高具有重要作用,合资企业技术进步对促进我国工业总体技术进步已产生显著影响     

全球价值链贸易网络分析与国际风险传导应对

在全球化生产不断演进的背景下，参与国际分工各国在共享分工福利的同时，如何避免 外部世界的冲击?关于这一问题，若从一国所处的与其他国家的价值链贸易网络的视角给予 考察，或许能够得到一些答案.本文基于2000年~2014年世界投入产出数据，研究发现全球价值链贸易网络具有“小世界现象”和“无标度特性”等复杂网络性质，且整个网络的演化是一个循序渐进的过程.接着指出，在全球生产网络分析框架下，一国可通过强化其在全球价值链贸易网络中的集约性和广延性特征，实现自身重要程度的提高，弱化来自外部波动的影响.最后，从进口(投入)和出口(产出)两个方向对上述结论给予验证，即一国可通过增加上下游贸易对象数量并降低贸易强度分布集中度，做广做均全球外贸发展布局，弱化内外部之间风险互相传导的冲击，稳健全球价值链贸易网络.     

A national risk analysis model (NRAM) for the assessment of COVID-19 epidemic

COVID-19 has caused a critical health concern and severe economic crisis worldwide. With multiple variants, the epidemic has triggered waves of mass transmission for nearly 3 years. In order to coordinate epidemic control and economic development, it is important to support decision-making on precautions or prevention measures based on the risk analysis for different countries. This study proposes a national risk analysis model (NRAM) combining Bayesian network (BN) with other methods. The model is built and applied through three steps. (1) The key factors affecting the epidemic spreading are identified to form the nodes of BN. Then, each node can be assigned state values after data collection and analysis. (2) The model (NRAM) will be built through the determination of the structure and parameters of the network based on some integrated methods. (3) The model will be applied to scenario deduction and sensitivity analysis to support decision-making in the context of COVID-19. Through the comparison with other models, NRAM shows better performance in the assessment of spreading risk at different countries. Moreover, the model reveals that the higher education level and stricter government measures can achieve better epidemic prevention and control effects. This study provides a new insight into the prevention and control of COVID-19 at the national level.     

县域超常规发展之惑

以创新的方法“创造”的优势,不应仅仅是知名度,更应该是结合实际．顺势而为,建立起局部优势,最终赢得发展格局上的整体优势。