Equality Bargaining: Where,Who, Why?

It is common to identify a role for trade unions in combating sex inequality at work through collective bargaining. This article uses a survey of paid union officers to identify the context in which equality bargaining by unions is likely to occur, using the specific issue of bargaining on equal pay. It concludes that equality bargaining is a function of women’s voice within unions, the characteristics and preferences of bargainers themselves and of a favourable public policy environment. Bargaining on equal pay is also more likely in centralized negotiations that cover multiple employers.     

How culture influences foreign trade: evidence from the U.S. and China

Using a gravity model of trade and the U.S. and Chinese panel data, I present evidence that supports the views that linguistic links have become more important in foreign trade than geographical proximity and that linguistic influence on trade is more significant in China than in the U.S. The estimated result based on a broad panel of economies shows little overall relation between religious similarity and foreign trade in both the U.S. and China. But there is an indication that the religious dissimilarity tends to retard foreign trade with poor countries and regions and to encourage foreign trade with richer places. I also found that, although religious retardation on foreign trade is more significant in China than in the U.S., religious dissimilarity tends to retard the US export more than that of China; by contrast, it tends to retard the Chinese import more than that of the U.S. At last, the socio-economic implications of the estimated results are discussed.     

Book Reviews

Book reviews: Rosemary Crompton (ed), Restructuring Gender Relations and Employment: The Decline of the Male Breadwinner Susan Eisenberg, We’ll Call You If We Need You: Experiences of Women Working in Construction Fiona M. Wilson, Organizational Behaviour: A Critical Introduction Rohan Collier, Equality in Managing Service Delivery Joyce K. Fletcher, Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power and Relational Practice at Work Miriam Glucksmann, Cottons and Casuals : The Gendered Organisation of Labour in Time and Space     

论近代甘宁青皮毛贸易发展的影响性因素及特点

本文立足于对甘宁青近代皮毛贸易发展历程的前期研究,从时代环境和国内外市场需求、区域政治环境和贸易政策及民族和交通状况三方面剖析了影响其发展的主要因素,进而对皮毛贸易发展中所表现出的特点作了较为细致的阐述。     

基于熵值法的贸易可持续发展指数——以浙江省的实证研究为例

贸易可持续发展成为我国经济和社会可持续发展的重中之重。文章从贸易可持续发展的定义出发,提出由贸易升级指数、贸易稳定指数和贸易环保指数构成的贸易可持续发展综合评价指数,再运用熵值法实证测算浙江省贸易可持续发展指数,结果表明浙江省2002-2004年实证研究结果符合该时期的实际情况,表明该指数和评价方法是科学合理的。     

Trade, education, and innovation: Prospects for the U.S. economy

This paper examines international trade issues as vital indicators of the economic prospects of the United States and other developed economies. In particular, it challenges misuses of the doctrine of mutual gains from trade and instead argues that comparative advantage does not guarantee increases in benefits to both trading partners—especially when one partner seeks to distort the market mechanism in its favor. In the face of such mercantilist or protectionist practices, efforts to advance innovation, without retaining manufacturing jobs, will not ensure continued prosperity, as the number of jobs entailed in the invention process is small compared with the number of jobs associated with manufacturing an innovative product for mass consumption. These matters call for the urgent rethinking of trade policy by the United States and other developed nations, if they are to balance their imports and exports and ensure continued economic growth.     

国际贸易统计研究中的几个基本关系

为使国际贸易统计和贸易平衡的研究更为深入和更好地开展,本文建议在研究中要处理好以下三个基本关系：经济发展与统计体系建设的关系,中国贸易统计的国际接轨与促进国际统计制度变革的关系,贸易统计数据生产与贸易统计数据使用的关系。     

开放经济对碳排放的影响 ——-基于中国地区与行业面板数据的实证检验

研究开放经济下外商直接投资、对外直接投资以及国际贸易对我国碳排放的影响具有十分 重要的现实和理论意义。研究发现,外商直接投资的增长可以减少我国的碳排放,对外直接投资也有助 于降低国内的碳排放量,而出口贸易则会在一定程度上带来国内碳排放量的增长。但开放经济对碳排放 量的影响在不同的地区和行业呈现出不同的特征,地区间碳排放差异显著,与当地的经济发达程度和主 导产业相关,另外行业特性也决定了碳排放量的高低。因此,政府应不断提高环境保护标准,监督企业遵 照执行,改善国内生态环境,还要加大经济结构调整力度,对高排放类行业实施严格的环境管理政策,促 使企业改进生产技术,减少排放。     

加入WTO后中国法律服务贸易制度的完善

法律服务是一种特殊形式的商业服务,法律服务实际上主要是律师所提供的服务。中国服务业发展存在严重的不均衡状态,根据WTO的有关原则,发展中国家的缔约国可享有分阶段、分程序地逐渐开放其本国内的服务市场的权利,但必须尽以法律法规的形式通知其他缔约国的义务,所以,中国应相应调整、补充现有的法律服务规则,将从WTO中受到的相关法律服务优惠待遇用法律法规的形式固定下来,以便在一个有序的法律环境下,发展自己的法律服务业。     

论统一商事立法中的商业账簿制度

根据国内外立法对商业账簿制度的规定,结合商事实践中的经验、教训和需求,未来统一商事立法中关于商业账簿的规定应当包括五个方面的内容:商人制作商业账簿的义务,商业账簿具体制作和保管责任人,商业账簿的合法性、真实性、完整性和效力,商业账簿的提交,商业账簿的保管期限。