Suchergebnisse

We suggest a methodology that combines a refined conceptual approach with a theoretically-inspired empirical assessment, to analyse how Sinicised Marxist theory as well as practice has invariably emphasised Marx's philosophy of history, rather than any version of Marxist egalitarian political philosophy, and therefore developed a culturally distinctive version of Marxism as totalitarian and subsequently authoritarian (rather than democratic) socialism. We argue that Chinese socialism has appropriated and applied socialist ideals to China's post-cultural-revolution development into an economic reform agenda without political transition. We suggest that China today runs an ethically and politically problematic regime under which the people enjoy neither sufficient social justice nor decent community values. Such lack of equality and community represents a major inherent contradiction of "socialism with Chinese characteristics," which has to accept and even accommodate increasing inequality to drive future growth. This contradiction also makes the so-called Chinese Dream more one of national aggregate prosperity than a dream for the Chinese people.

AbstractThis paper explores the structural changes in the international organization of automotive production since the early 1990s. We apply descriptive network measures to international trade data for the period 1993–2013 for three automotive component groups with different technological intensity, with the aim of understanding (1) how the automotive international trade network has changed since the beginning of the 1990s; (2) whether regionalization has increased over time; (3) how the role that rising powers play within and between regions interacts with regionalization patterns. Our findings suggest that the structure of trade has changed significantly over the last two decades in all components. The network for electric and electrical parts and engines has evolved to become more hierarchical, with a cohesive core tied to hangers-on in the periphery, while the opposite has happened for rubber and metal. Regionalization patterns also show important differences across components. Finally, we have found an apparent association between the strengthening of regionalization patterns and the role played by traditional players and rising powers.

This paper investigates the evolution of specialization patterns for the Italian provinces over the period 1995-2005 by analysing the dynamics of the sectoral distribution in the Balassa index of revealed comparative advantages. The results show that underlying a relatively stable distribution of national comparative advantages over time, there are wide variations in local performance: only a few provinces demonstrate any stability in their specialization over the last decade, with the majority showing decreased specialization. We find a higher average degree of persistence for provinces with districts, but no systematic differences between provinces with or without industrial districts. District provinces show wide variation, with a few concentrating on their past comparative strengths, but many diversifying.