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Abstract: This paper reflects on the career contributions of Professor Chris Milner to the literature on international trade and economic development. As such, it not only provides an overview of a life's work, but also sets the context for the nine papers which follow. All of these were specially written for this Special Issue of The World Economy, and all relate to different areas that Professor Milner worked in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper explores whether conducting scientific and technical (S&T) research reduces the volatility of output growth. The paper finds robust evidence that output volatility is significantly lowered by a country's production of S&T publications. The results show that the effect of S&T publications on output volatility is particularly strong in middle‐income, OECD and other high‐income countries. However, for East‐Asian, low‐income and sub‐Saharan African countries the effect is either weak or absent. These results provide strong evidence that not only OECD and other high‐income countries are actively engaged in S&T research, emerging developing countries are also conducting S&T research, which is effective in reducing output volatility. The results are robust to adding a host of control variables, various subsamples and different estimation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes the case for the conceptual use of the everyday in economic geography. It does this by firstly demonstrating the explanatory potential that lies in attending to the lived experience of economic development and, secondly, the ability of the everyday to occupy a meso-level analytical position that is sensitive to the agency of economic agents without undermining the role of structural forces. As a result of the in-depth, and detailed nature of the everyday, the explanatory powers offered by this initial focus on the micro-scale is useful to those economic geographers wishing to pursue a more qualitative and holistic understanding of the economy and of economic processes. Therefore, this paper contributes to a much longer project in economic geography concerned with broadening how the economy is defined and therefore studied. Specifically, it compliments and builds on the work of economic geographers engaged in practice-orientated research before turning to the work of Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau in demonstrating the analytical richness of the everyday beyond a focus on social practice. In other words, the paper argues the need for economic geography to also attend to the lived experience of everyday life, the meanings and values ascribed to it, and not just socio-economic practices themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate exists over the role that public investment must play in economic recovery and economic growth. The underlying idea behind this debate has much to do with the value of output elasticity of public capital. This article presents a meta-analysis of this elasticity, which was performed by considering almost 2,000 elasticities previously estimated from 145 papers. In addition, for each elasticity, we also take into account some 30 associated features relative to the methodology used for each case or relative to the characteristics of data samples. The obtained results reveal an average short-term elasticity of 0.13 (0.16 in the long term). We also find evidence of the importance of the methodology adopted for the obtained results, as well as the publication bias. Finally, we find a minor reduction in the value of the elasticity as public capital endowments increase. The results obtained highlight the positive and important effect of public investment on productivity. As a results of the value obtained, public investment will be self-financed in the long-term because of generated returns. But, we also find that the effectiveness of public investment has a clear influence of the institutional context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a request for the submission of reports on sustainable development and identity. The increasing rate of consumption negatively affected the ecological system. Sustainability needs to be contextualized in terms of identities. Identities are influenced by social reality. The papers should examine the aesthetic, emotional. communicative and social aspects of consumption and organizing in different social and cultural contexts. The papers could either be based on empirical findings or be conceptual.

Mega‐city regions (MCRs) have emerged as the main spatial form of China's new urbanization strategy and become the basic spatial units participating in global and regional competition. However, MCRs are not equally capable of boosting regional economic development due to their different levels of development. Therefore, this paper adopts the concept of competitiveness as both a theoretical framework and an empirical model to evaluate the development status of China's MCRs. Based on a review of the existing literature, this paper proposes a multi‐tier evaluation system to calculate the competitiveness of 13 MCRs. The chosen indicators come from the six perspectives of economic development, human resources, infrastructural accessibility, integration into the global economy, capacity for scientific and technological innovation, and sustainable development. The results show that there are great disparities and regional inequalities in competitiveness across different MCRs. The Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan MCRs are the first‐tier MCRs with the highest levels of development and have significant global influence as well. Chengdu–Chongqing, Shandong Peninsula, South‐central Liaoning, and Wuhan belong to the second‐tier of MCRs that show partial advantages and have significant regional influence. The remaining regions belong to the third‐ or fourth‐tier of MCRs that have relatively weak competitiveness. The competitiveness of MCRs largely depends on the concentration of core elements in core cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China‐Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) increased trade between China and Pakistan, however, it also swelled Pakistan trade deficit with China. The empirical findings of this paper suggest that CPFTA positively contribute to Pakistan exports to China and her imports from China but the increase in Pakistan imports was far greater than Pakistan exports after CPFTA. Resultantly, Pakistan's trade deficit with China increased and Pakistan's growth hampered. Constant market share analysis suggests that a better understanding of the Chinese market, efficient utilization of tariff lines and focus on products of the comparative edge are important for Pakistan to benefit from CPFTA. Otherwise, CPFTA is counterproductive for Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minority groups contribute to the economic growth and development of local, regional, and national economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between social trust and long‐run economic growth is well documented. However, which determinants of growth are affected by social trust remains an open question. This paper therefore explores to which extent social trust affects the rate of factor accumulation versus productivity improvements. Previous studies indicate that social trust could affect both the accumulation of physical and human capital and the rate of productivity increases. Existing literature also indicates that part of the growth effects may be due to how trust affects the quality of formal institutions. The effects of trust are estimated in a panel of 64 countries observed in 5‐year periods between 1977 and 2017, using growth accounting to separate patterns of growth. The results unequivocally show that social trust predominantly affects long‐run growth by affecting the growth of productivity and that only a small share of that effect runs through the effects of trust on formal institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frankish customs regulations recorded in the tenth‐century 'Inquest on the tolls of Raffelstetten' have long formed a cornerstone of traditional arguments about slavery's role in the early medieval European economic revival. This paper experiments with the application of a more‐than‐human lens to the Raffelstetten record and other evidence to generate new insights into the intimate experience of enslavement and the interspecies networks of relations that shaped the slave trade and slave markets in early medieval Europe. Human and animal entanglements, as revealed in the Raffelstetten record, determined how enslaved people experienced capture, transport, and sale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing studies usually find that technical change was very important in constraining the economic growth of the Soviet Union. While these studies have been successful in quantifying the extent of technical change, they have been less successful in quantifying its nature. This paper moves a step closer to probing the essence of Soviet efficiency by splitting the aggregate technical change into its subcomponents – namely, capital and labour efficiency. I find that the Soviet Union registered strong labour efficiency gains during most of the postwar period, converging towards the labour efficiency level of the global frontier – the US. Labour efficiency growth did decrease over time, but labour efficiency was not a primary cause of Soviet growth retardation. That retardation was instead caused by a decline in capital efficiency. At a disaggregated level, I find that the decrease in capital efficiency was driven by structures. I hypothesize that labour shortages and an inadequate investment policy resulted in a large stock of unfinished, and hence idle, structures, distorting Soviet economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the evolution of consumption practices in Venice in the long eighteenth century through the combined use of post‐mortem inventories and household budgets. Although Italy experienced a period of relative decline between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, our findings suggest that Venetian households enjoyed a rich and vibrant material culture that was fully comparable with those of the most advanced European urban economies. However, although new products, practices, and fashions were adopted by Venetian society, the architecture of consumption did not undergo sudden and extreme changes; rather, consumption was gradually refined, following the path that it had begun during the Renaissance. We therefore argue that the Venetian economy did not experience a consumer revolution but, instead, consumer evolution. Moreover, this study shows that sophisticated consumption practices were not exclusive to the more dynamic economies of the continent but were widespread even in those regions that were victims of the Little Divergence. We thus suggest that the relationship between consumption development and economic development was not necessarily causal and that the diffusion of new consumption practices throughout society was a necessary, but insufficient, prerequisite for economic take‐off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic impact of resource investments into higher education has been the focus of considerable research in recent years. Many contributions analyse the strength of the connection between economic development and higher education at the local level and the conditions which make certain systems more effective and efficient than others. In this paper, we provide a systematic bibliometric review of the available literature on the subject, various dimensions of this complex issue, constructing and analysing a map of variables used by selected researchers in the field. A summary of knowledge gaps, research limitations, topics explored and applied methods is provided to envisage future research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years concerns have been raised regarding the environmental consequences of over-use of nitrogen fertilizers on a global level. However, the balance between sustainability and agricultural productivity, a central concern for policy makers in developing countries, has not been sufficiently addressed. In this paper, I evaluate farmers' fertilization practices and their effect on yield using unique plot level data from India. I estimate quadratic crop response functions for different crops and cropping systems. To address endogenous input choices, I use input prices and cost shifters from the fertilizer industry as instrumental variables for the fertilization practice. I find that a large share of Indian cultivators overuse nitrogen relative to the other two nutrients, and could benefit from simply reducing the amount of nitrogen used while keeping the other nutrients fixed. This suggests a potential win-win situation where both productivity and sustainability can be improved by changing fertilizer application. The widespread "nitrogen-only" fertilization pattern is rejected as optimal in most cases. [EconLit Citations: Q12, Q15, Q16, E23, C26, C14]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's environmental governance exhibits a significant imbalance with its economic development. To enhance the "green" and sustainable practices of enterprises, employing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles is imperative. The literature examining the correlation between ESG and green innovation (GI) lacks detailed clarity and obscures the different effects of each dimension. Inefficient resource allocation may also result from ignoring the distinct implementation costs associated with each dimension of ESG. Such problems eventually hinder the guidance of corporate practices. Therefore, the promoting or inhibiting effects stemming from each of these dimensions warrant further study. In this paper, we use data from A‐share listed companies in China for the years 2004 to 2020 to investigate the mechanism that links the E, S, and G dimensions of ESG with GI from an externality perspective. We prove a linear or U‐shaped relationship between the E or S dimension and GI, and we explore the mediating effect of financing constraints on these relationships. We compare these dimensions under a unified theoretical framework to clarify their differences in externality and internality. This study's results highlight the importance for enterprises to emphasise environmental issues and social recognition, instead of just corporate operations, to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China joined the Paris Agreement, and the global 2°C and 1.5°C warming targets will be supported by China. In order to achieve these targets, China's CO2 emissions need to be cut deeply by 2050. The present paper presents studies from the integrated policy assessment model for China (IPAC) team about the impact on China's economic development of deep cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in order to realize the Paris climate change targets. With the requirement of deep cuts in GHG emissions in China, China's economic development will also be impacted in moving toward a low‐carbon or zero‐carbon emission‐based economy by 2050. This means the Chinese economy needs a strong transition over the next three decades, a relatively short time. All sectors in the economy need to seek ways to reduce GHG emissions, and this could change activities, industry processes and technologies in order to make the deep cuts in GHG emissions happen. This is the meaning of the economic transition toward to a low‐carbon economy. The findings of the present paper include: a significant transition in the energy supply sector; a high rate of electrification in all end‐use sectors; and a technology transition in the transport sector. Transitions will also occur in the traditional industrial sectors, including steel making, cement manufacture, and the chemical sector. The availability of low‐cost renewable energy could change the allocation of industries, which could potentially have a strong impact on regional economic development. Deep cuts in CO2 emissions in China need not be a burden for economic development, as the IPAC results show there will be a more than 1.5% increase of gross domestic product by 2050 in the deep cut scenario compared with the baseline scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the conversion of the global power economy and energy structure, access to a large amount of renewable energy has led to a decrease in power system inertia. The slight abnormal disturbance in the distribution network may have a significant impact on social and economic development. Aim at enhancing power stability and system resiliency; this study focuses on the detection and location of multiple abnormal sources in the distribution network. Most traditional methods use models relying on precise line parameters, subject to poor adaptability to the distribution network with a large number of nodes, and rapidly changing topology. Therefore, this study proposes a novel random matrix model, driven by monitoring data from phasor measurement units distributed on the overhead transmission lines. In this model, linear shrinkage (LS) theory, and Marchenko–Pastur law are combined for noise reduction to ensure the dynamic character and anti-noise ability. Moreover, data dimensions and sample points may be at the same level in an extensive scale network. The LS and standard condition number rule (SCN) are used for estimating the number of abnormal sources. Finally, the effectiveness of this paper's model is verified in PSCAD. The results indicate that the method has specific dynamic performance and anti-noise ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tracks the financial growth in Tunisia over the period 1984–2016 with a special focus on the shadow economy. Using Tanzi's measures, we worked on a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to test the impact of the informal economy. The results suggest that the long‐run effect of the financial growth becomes negative if there is a positive change in the shadow economy and the opposite holds. While changes in the shadow economy have no significant influence on the links between financial development and economic growth in the short run, they play a significant role in the Tunisian economy in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of the real exchange rate (RER) on international trade, economic development and growth. We summarize the main conceptual issues, briefly discuss the relevance of the RER as an instrument of development policy, provide an overview of the macroeconomic and microeconomic mechanisms that link the RER to trade and long‐run growth and development, analyse the challenges – especially the disconnect between theory and data – that often arise in empirical applications, and discuss new avenues for future research. In the process, we present some updated estimates and illustrative figures. The mechanisms through which the RER influences long‐run growth and structural change remains a promising area of research and the relevance of individual channels in different contexts deserves much more careful investigation. Greater data availability should help fill some of these gaps in our understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the effect of financial development and renewable energy consumption on consumption‐based CO2 emissions in Chile while controlling for economic growth and electricity consumption. Based on the aim of the paper, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds with Kripfganz and Schneider's (2018) approximations, fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and gradual shift causality tests are applied in this study. The outcomes clearly reveal that while financial development and renewable energy consumption reduce the consumption‐based CO2 emissions in Chile, economic growth and electricity consumption increase consumption‐based carbon emissions. The gradual shift causality test provides consistent results with ARDL, FMOLS, and DOLS estimators. Therefore, policymakers in Chile should dynamically encourage the research and development of low‐carbon technologies and renewable energy investments while imported nonrenewable energy sources level should be targeted, and especially those sectors which are more energy‐intensive and causing to increase in consumption‐based CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Policy & Internet is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the early part of the twentieth century, South African cities were segregated in accordance with British city planning concepts that embodied the belief that social order can be manipulated through the urban form. This paper surveys the history of South African planning practices to understand the spread of segregation policies and practices. Whereas scholars tend to agree that the apartheid city (post−1948) is a more highly organized and structured version of the colonial city (pre−1910), the literature lacks consensus on the development of the segregated city (1910−1948) within South Africa. How did concepts of segregation circulate and why was it implemented with such consistency? Accordingly, this paper employs concepts of policy mobilities to trace historical configurations in South Africa to international influences. The focus on the circuits of knowledge explains how concepts and designs transplanted from elsewhere helped create the form of South African cities today. Understanding the movement of planning ideas through policy mobilities furthers geographical understandings of historical circulation processes, the role of the local actors, and policy mobilities failure. This history of learning also challenges the assumption that South African cities are unique and in so doing opens the doors for knowledge sharing between postcolonial cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the importance of good institutions in harnessing the growth effects of the bulging economically active population in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper utilizes a panel dataset comprising 39 countries over the period 2002–13. Based on the system generalized method of moments estimator, this paper finds that an increase in the relative size of the working‐age population has no direct significant impact on growth, except through the presence of strong and high‐quality institutions. The paper also finds that control of corruption, rule of law and political stability are the specific aspects of institutions that matter the most in reaping the dividend. These results do not only highlight the primacy of strong institutions but also shed light on the key institutional pillars that need to be strengthened to rake in the positive effects of an increasing working age population on economic growth in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British Government's economic strategy for post‐Brexit Britain of achieving balanced regional growth by "driving growth across the whole country" echoes the objectives set by the Barlow Report of 1940. The regional policies that followed the Barlow Report were heavily influenced by papers written for the Commission by G D A (later Sir Donald) MacDougall. The first of these papers was included as an appendix to the report itself and introduced the shift‐share methodology to the analysis of regional employment growth, and subsequently shown to be flawed. The second paper considered the urban hierarchy and growth but was never fully developed. Consequently post‐war regional policy focussed on the contribution of industrial structure to employment growth without fully taking into account the urban hierarchy or regional locations of that employment. This article replaces the flawed shift‐share methodology with multifactor partitioning (MFP) and applies it to regional employment growth for the period 1971‐2012, a span of special interest because it largely coincides with British membership of the European Union (EU). The deficiencies in the second paper are addressed by introducing allometry to measure the employment growth of each region relative to that of Great Britain and then regression analysis to relate the allometries to distance from London. The results of the two sets of analyses highlight the need for a multiple‐factor, comprehensive, and integrated approach to regional policy and provide a benchmark against which to gauge the success of Britain's post‐Brexit policy of driving future growth across the whole country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Having reviewed 1259 papers on cluster theory, we find that current cluster studies primarily discussed cluster phenomena from either a microlevel or mesolevel. We argue that studying relations among clusters would increase our understanding of clusters, and such a research topic is worth becoming a new research orientation for cluster theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A more polycentric global development landscape has emerged over the past decade or so, rupturing the formerly dominant North–South axis of power and knowledge. This can be traced through more diversified development norms, institutions, imaginaries and actors. This paper looks at one trend within this turbulent field: namely, the ways in which ‘Northern’ donors appear to be increasingly adopting some of the narratives and practices associated with ‘Southern’ development partners. This direction of travel stands in sharp contrast to expectations in the early new millennium that the (so‐called) ‘traditional’ donors would ‘socialise’ the ‘rising powers’ to become ‘responsible donors’. After outlining important caveats about using such cardinal terms, the paper explores three aspects of this ‘North’ to ‘South’ movement. These are (i) the stronger and more explicit claim to ‘win‐win’ development ethics and outcomes; (ii) the (re)turn from ‘poverty reduction’ to ‘economic growth’ as the central analytic of development; and (iii) related to both, the explicit and deepening blurring and blending of development finances and agendas with trade and investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an alternative approach to penalized regression for model selection in the context of high‐dimensional linear regressions where the number of covariates is large, often much larger than the number of available observations. We consider the statistical significance of individual covariates one at a time, while taking full account of the multiple testing nature of the inferential problem involved. We refer to the proposed method as One Covariate at a Time Multiple Testing (OCMT) procedure, and use ideas from the multiple testing literature to control the probability of selecting the approximating model, the false positive rate, and the false discovery rate. OCMT is easy to interpret, relates to classical statistical analysis, is valid under general assumptions, is faster to compute, and performs well in small samples. The usefulness of OCMT is also illustrated by an empirical application to forecasting U.S. output growth and inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stochastic framework for coordination of macroeconomic policies is introduced in this paper. It is suggested that: (i) measures of policy accountability should allow for the climate of uncertainty that surrounds policy decisions, and (ii) most models of aggregate economic activity impose arbitrary specifications of uncertainty that do not appear to be empirically justifiable. Ambiguities in interpreting the Humphrey-Hawkins reports of policy authorities are sketched in section II; a proposal for maximizing the ex ante prospects of policy objectives is illustrated in section III; finally, nonstationary allocations of uncertainty are discussed in sections IV and V. This paper provides a brief survey of ongoing work by members of the Federal Reserve Board staff on the role of uncertainty in policy forecasts. It suggests that policy discussion could be improved by more explicit consideration of the allocation of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on a paper published within the issue, "Capital Formation and the Recent Productivity Slowdown," by Peter Clark. The author also discusses results from his own research in "Accounting for United States Economic Growth, 1929-1969," and applies it to Clark's paper. It is suggested that an abrupt rise in energy prices may have affected growth rates during the mid-1970s. The author also looks at a similar analysis made by John Kendrick, who focuses on the U.S. postwar period of 1948-1966.

This paper argues strongly in favour of a re-examination of the term 'sustainability' in international development research, policy and practice. It demonstrates that the term is understood pluralistically, being both environmental and economic. Within economic interpretations, this paper identifies three clear understandings of 'sustainability', which effect programme design and, ultimately, their impact on poverty significantly. The paper argues that the ramifications of this definition go far beyond semantics and have a significant impact on the development outcomes realised by programmes that incorporate the term. Having evaluated these conceptions, the paper argues for sustainability in development as being interventions that alter the causes of poverty so that the process through which change occurs is improved in an adaptive and permanent way, a permanent increase in adaptability. Evidence is drawn from a review of the literature and policy documentation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue comes from the Development Studies Association (DSA) 30th Anniversary conference in 2008. The theme was ‘Development's Invisible Hands’, focusing on the forces likely to influence global change and re-shape development agendas over the next 30 years. The first section comprises brief invited thinkpieces mainly from DSA past presidents. Interestingly, while some focus on Adam Smith's original ‘invisible hand’ analogy and others discuss a range of non-market issues, several invoke Karl Polanyi on the limitations of market society. The second and third sections consist, respectively, of ‘synthesis’ papers on parallel panel themes and papers developed from the best panel presentations. The papers demonstrate the range of issues raised by questioning the future of development and development studies—while the limitations of future gazing are pointed up by the unexpected challenge to current development models presented since the conference by the global financial crisis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which economic development decreases a country's risk of experiencing climate-related disasters as well as the societal impacts of those events. The paper proceeds from the underlying assumption that disasters are not inherently natural, but arise from the intersection of naturally-occurring hazards within fragile environments. It uses data from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT), representing country-year-level observations over the period 1980-2007. The study finds that low-income countries are significantly more at risk of climate-related disasters, even after controlling for exposure to climate hazards and other factors that may confound disaster reporting. Following the occurrence of a disaster, higher income generally diminishes a country's social vulnerability to such happenings, resulting in lower levels of mortality and morbidity. This implies that continued economic development may be a powerful tool for lessening social vulnerability to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an integrated overview of the literature linking institutions, financial development, and economic growth. From the large body of research on institutional development, the paper first selects those contributions that make it possible to study the role of institutional arrangements in ameliorating/worsening the information frictions and transaction costs that characterize the development of financial markets. The paper then investigates the theoretical mechanisms by which these specific frictions affect economic growth and presents the stock of empirical evidence quantifying the impact of institutions on growth through financial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fair trade has never been more popular, with worldwide sales soaring. This editorial to the special issue of Sustainable Development on ‘Fair trade, business and sustainable development’ introduces the topic and papers within the special issue. It discusses the success of the ‘fairtrade’ brand and the impacts of fair trade schemes as well as the future of the brand. The paper concludes that this alternative trading system does work in practical terms and in helping marginalized producers in developing countries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editors of the journal "Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics" call for papers for a special issue on the topic 'Innovations in the public, co-operative and social economy.' The texts should integrate a theoretical argumentation and empirical data in a qualitative or quantitative analysis perspective. They must make a significant original contribution on the subject of social innovation. Texts may be in English or French, with a maximum of 20 pages.

This paper examines the effect on economic development of whether a country's policymakers adopt a long‐term vision. We use a novel institutional variable that indicates whether policymakers have a long‐term strategic vision. However, the difficulty in estimating a causal effect is that long‐term vision is endogenous to economic development. Therefore, we use the future‐time reference language variables introduced in American Economic Review, 103, 690; 2013 as instrumental variables for long‐term vision. To account for endogeneity, the paper conducts two‐stage least‐squares estimations where the language instruments are used in the first stage to find an exogenous source of variation in long‐term vision. The results show that long‐term vision, instrumented by future‐time reference, explains cross‐country variations in economic development. These results are robust even after the inclusion of control variables and after the exclusion of outliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A total of 94% of lemur species are currently threatened with extinction and more than 17 species of giant lemur are already extinct. To help prevent the extinction of Madagascar's remaining lemurs, Dr. Patricia Wright initiated conservation programs in the Ranomafana region of southern Madagascar in the 1990s. These continued and expanded, and in 2003 were consolidated with Dr. Wright's research activities when Center ValBio ("CVB") was founded in 2003. CVB believes in the "One Health" approach in understanding the relationship between humans and the environment, and one of their core principles is that effective conservation is science‐based. CVB's environmental education (EE) programs (discussed herein) operate in various primary schools surrounding Ranomafana national park (RNP). The all‐Malagasy team consists of long‐term conservation educators as well as young intern teachers, who together address the issues of valuing lemurs and the forests that they require to survive. In this paper, we will describe three of CVB's EE programs and evaluate their impact. The primary tool used to assess impact was an analysis of pre‐ and post ‐intervention test scores evaluated using a Kruskal–Wallis test. We show that these programs (1) are popular, (2) produce concrete outputs that can change rural villages, and (3) improve local knowledge on the importance of biodiversity and sustainable development. Highlights: Local communities benefit from the conservation of a protected area through an environmental education program that has broad goals.Environmental education generates concrete outputs that can change rural villages for the better.Environmental education improves local knowledge about the importance of biodiversity, and offers paths towards sustainable development and income through tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has recently experienced a series of policies seeking economic development and intensive methods of social coercion. A unique leader, Chen Quanguo, brought these changes to the XUAR in 2016. This paper seeks to examine the effects of Chen's regime. We specifically examine three outcomes: GDP per capita, arrest rates, and spending on public security. Using the synthetic control method, we find that Chen's regime had no significant effect on the development. However, his policies led to much higher rates of arrest and larger spending on public security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the granularity hypothesis in a large emerging economy, Kazakhstan. We use a new longitudinal dataset at the firm level and at quarterly frequency between 2012 and 2018 to document the size distribution of firms and to provide evidence that it follows a power law. We find that the largest 30 firms explain nearly 80 percent of the growth in aggregate total factor productivity. This confirms earlier research for the U.S. and other developed countries. However, the granular nature of the Kazakh economy is even more outspoken than in other countries. Thus idiosyncratic shocks and the way they ripple through the production network matter to understand changes in aggregate productivity growth. Moreover, since these granular firms are concentrated in the oil industry it exposes the vulnerability of the economy more to unexpected shocks in one industry in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature highlights the importance of export sophistication for economic development. Given the newness of the literature on export sophistication, its determinants are under‐exploited. As a pioneer study, this paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining the effect of infrastructure development on export sophistication. Based on a panel of 45 African countries over the period 2003–2016, the results of the different estimations show that infrastructure, including transport, electricity, ICT and access to water and sanitation, improves export sophistication in Africa. Our results also show that the effect of infrastructure varies at different intervals of the export sophistication distribution. Therefore, improved infrastructure would allow African countries to not only improve their export structure but also achieve sustainable and durable growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper optimises the definition and measurement method of export stability and analyses the impact of export structure on export stability. The main results show that (1) an increase in the export share appears to reduce the export stability of goods, by changing the importer's elasticity of import demand; (2) exporters can reduce the impact of export structure on the export stability of goods by increasing the technical complexity of export products, improving the trade freedom level and signing free trade agreements (FTA) with importers; (3) export share has a negative impact on the export stability of services; and (4) the development of intra‐industry trade (IIT) in services and the digitisation of services can reduce the impact of export structure on the export stability of services. The results can provide a reference for the management of export instability against the background of export specialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A call for papers or a special issue of the journal on research into training and development in Africa is presented.

Economic historians have recently treated Islamic institutions as "growth retarding," "averse to change," "path dependent," "lacking creative destruction" and "extractive" rather than "inclusive" and blamed their failure to change for the underdevelopment of the Middle East. This paper argues for a different approach to Islamic institutions which implies that they boosted economic growth. The paper explores changes in economic structures, a transition in population levels from high to low and a transition to individual property rights and provides economic indicators of growth. Articulated via Islamic law, legally sanctioned birth control and women's property rights were instrumental in assuring low fertility rates and equitable and well‐distributed income in the population. The paper concludes theoretically and empirically that Islamic institutions were innovative, amenable to change and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argentina is the only country in the world that was developed in 1900 and developing in 2000. Although there is widespread consensus on the occurrence and uniqueness of this decline, an intense debate remains on its timing and underlying causes. This paper provides a first systematic investigation of the timing of the Argentine debacle. It uses an array of econometric tests for structural breaks and a range of GDP growth series covering 1886–2003. The main conclusion is the dating of two key structural breaks (in 1918 and 1948), which we argue support explanations for the debacle that highlight the slowdown of domestic financial development and trade protectionism (after 1918) and of institutional development (after 1948). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]