Search

With the rapid advance of industrialization and urbanization and the intensified impact of global climate change, the contradiction between the global water shortage and economic growth has become prominent. This paper, taking Henan province as an example, analyzed the influence of water resource policy on regional economic growth through a calculable general equilibrium model and further discussed the relevant policy recommendations. The results showed that the improvement of water supply, water efficiency and water technology could promote the growth of the regional economy and result in a positive effect on regional GDP, employment and resident income. However, the rise of water price has a negative impact on regional economic development, mainly reflected in regional GDP, employment and household income. The improvement of water price, water efficiency and water conservancy technology would lead to a decrease in regional water consumption, while only the increase of the water supply would lead to an increase in water consumption. Accordingly, the paper puts forward policy suggestions, such as accelerating the improvement of water conservancy facilities, establishing a reasonable water price mechanism and actively exploring experience in water conservation and emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the first-ever White Paper issued by China on April 21, 2011, titled "China's Foreign Aid." It provided an overall picture of the country's foreign aid activities over the past decades. The White Paper was issued by the Information Office of the State Council and it introduced China's foreign aid policy and the financial resources that the aid has drawn upon in the past. The author lists the eight forms on how China offers foreign aid such as complete projects, goods and materials and technical cooperation.

Purpose This paper aims to understand and explore the causal relationship of elements responsible for the macro vicious cycle of poverty in Guinea-Bissau, and discuss policies to break it.Design/methodology/approach The methodology used in this study is based on the system dynamics simulation paradigm.Findings Breaking the Guinean poverty cycle requires a multifaceted approach involving more resources and the building of several national capabilities. Traditional approaches tend to fail.Research limitations/implications Limitations come from the level of abstraction used in the model, which does not detail the processes for building specific capabilities and their interrelationships, and the necessary exclusion of variables that may have an impact in the process. Considering implications, the study models the evolution of human development index (HDI) in Guinea-Bissau, linking it to the economy and political sectors and allowing the simulation of different scenarios.Practical implications The study presents a critical stance towards common recommendations from international agencies, and it provides a blueprint for development of more effective public policies.Social implications Overcoming the poverty trap in sub-Saharan countries remains a challenge for the international community. The study aims at helping in the process of integrating different frameworks into a compact and manageable model.Originality/value The study contributes to the system dynamics and economic development literatures by presenting an integrative model of human development in Guinea-Bissau. There is no study in the system dynamics literature modelling the relationship of HDI to economy and political sectors while different and contradictory points of view characterize the economics literature, leaving well-meaning public officials in Guinea-Bissau at a loss of mental models to tackle the poverty trap in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to research the status quo and future trends of the income elasticity of the consumer demand of Chinese rural residents. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses model ELES and model GM (1,1) to analyze and predict the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China. Findings – The findings show the indicator that the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China is quite large at present, but most sub-categories of the indicators show a declining trend in the future. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for the relevant departments to adjust the economic polices timely and reasonably according to specific form based on the findings above. Originality/value – The income elasticity of consumer demand is an important indicator, reflecting the relationship between consumer demand and income, so it is of great significance to research it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses what Western countries can learn from developing nations through knowledge of their cultures. Recount of the authors' visit to Papau New Guinea where technology helped produced successful entrepreneurs, but also resulted in villagers' sentiments that those entrepreneurs no longer contributed to the common good of the community; Assessment of visits to cultures throughout the Pacific, where community and cooperation were more important than economic development of individuals; Reference to the book "Cultural Transition," a collection of papers edited by Merry White and Susan Pollak, exploring the concept of community and cooperation in indigenous cultures.

Presents an interview with Fang Ning, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Political Science under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, on the issuance of the first white paper on political democracy by the State Council Information Office on October 19, 2005 in China. Late publication of the white paper due to Chinese Government's alleged reluctance to develop democracy despite its successful economic restructuring policies; Identification of the white paper as China's first government document on its political democracy with focus on consensus building; Purpose of the white paper to help people fully and correctly comprehend the sound development of China's political democracy, recognize reasons for the country's adherence to socialist political democracy and to strengthen their determination to be firm on the path.

This article focuses on United States Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, whose term ends in January 2006. At this year's meeting of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, a collection of central bankers and economists, distinguished even by the elevated standards of Jackson Hole, Wyoming paid tribute to Alan Greenspan's 18 years as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Greenspan gave warning that an unusually long period of economic stability might have encouraged investors to accept lower risk premiums and thus inflated the prices of assets, such as shares and homes. Moreover, Mr Greenspan, who until recently gave short shrift to the idea of a housing bubble in America, said that the property boom was an "imbalance" and that prices of homes could fall. He argued that in future the Fed will need to pay more attention to asset prices. Despite Mr Greenspan's caution, the gathering preferred to focus on his past performance. His chief examiners were Alan Blinder (a former vice-chairman of the Fed) and Ricardo Reis, both of Princeton University, whose paper concluded that "he has a legitimate claim to being the greatest central banker who ever lived". According to Messrs Blinder and Reis, the main ingredients of Mr Greenspan's tenure have been intellectual flexibility, scepticism of economic models and forecasts and a preference for discretion over formal policy rules such as inflation targeting. Mr Greenspan's Fed sees monetary policy as risk management, looking not only at the most likely path for the economy but at all the possible paths it might follow. In any case, Mr Greenspan's words of caution at Jackson Hole were surely an attempt to lean against the current housing boom. Perhaps he is showing more intellectual flexibility on how to respond to asset prices than Messrs Blinder and Reis give him credit for.

The article offers policy suggestions for economic growth in developing countries. Over the past 15 years or so, economists have developed a long list of now-familiar remedies for developing countries hoping to grow their way to prosperity. This "Washington Consensus" includes the removal of trade protection and the introduction of deregulation, as well as fiscal and monetary discipline. Meanwhile, other economists have suggested that development depends not on specific policies but on "institutional" factors, such as a respect for property rights, which constrain the powers of the state. Two studies argue that institutional overhaul and broad economic reforms are not necessary to spur economic growth. In one of these papers, Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economist, and three co-authors question several prominent studies that treat institutions as a wellspring of development. Researchers at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government looked at 83 instances between 1957 and 1992 in which annual gross domestic product growth increased by at least two percentage points and the higher growth was sustained for at least eight years. These bursts of growth were not normally preceded by a big shift in policy, or by full-blown economic and political reforms--such as liberalisation or a move towards democracy. What struck the authors was the humble nature of the initial triggers of growth. These usually consist of nothing more than relaxing specific constraints on private activity.

The article focuses on the newly formed Commonwealth of Independent States, which was launched by three Slav republics, Russia, Ukraine, and Belorussia, in the Belorussian capital, Minsk, on December 8, 1991. It has already done two valuable jobs. One was to provide the means of a quick, dignified death for Russia. The Commonwealth's other use has been to offer a forum for resolving, or at least discussing, the problems bequeathed by Russia to its successor states. A couple of the most pressing issues have already been settled, on paper anyway.