A Failed Reconstruction

Environment, energy and sustainable economic growth

As concerns about energy and environment emerge the concept of sustainable development, this paper develops a five-sector endogenous technological change economic growth model considering sustainable use of energy and pollution control. We introduce energy and environment into production function and utility function, solve the conditions for sustainable economic growth with the optimal control method, further reveal the dynamic relationship which should be met by energy consumption rate, pollution control and sustainable economic growth, prove the possibility of sustainable economic growth and reveal the path and conditions of sustainable economic growth under the dual constraints of energy and environment.

There is continuing demand for more and better major infrastructure to achieve sustainable high quality growth in China. Approval process of major infrastructure projects is vital to the successful construction. Ineffective and inefficient decisions lead to irretrievable results, long duration, great financial loss and waste. Therefore, conducting a research in the approval process of the major infrastructure is quite necessary. This paper is aimed at finding the shortages in the approval process of the major infrastructure in China. Comparative case studies of Australia and China were adopted in this research and documentary analysis was employed as the supplementary to facilitate the analysis. Recommendations are provided for achieving greater uniformity and efficiency in approval process for major infrastructure. The solutions have practical implications for approval process of general major infrastructure projects in China.

In order to continue along its path of sustained economic growth, China will need, probably in just a few years, certainly after 2030, an extremely high number of immigrants. This conclusion, which contrasts with a recent World Bank scenario suggesting that the decline in labor supply due to demographic trends can be faced with sustained growth in productivity, is based upon a demand‐driven model of migration. Moreover, according to the same model, the decline in fertility (and the one child policy that has been partially responsible for it) will end up provoking immigration flows above replacement level. The working age population and the total population will continue to increase, and China will remain the most populous country on the planet. The last part of the paper surveys the policies that China could adopt to reduce its structural need for foreign labor.

Social capability and long-term sustained growth

Changes in the age distribution resulting from fertility declines taking place in countries with rapidly growing populations can help set those countries onto a path of sustained economic growth on a per capita basis. Such growth is essential for creating jobs and lifting people out of poverty. Countries where the fertility level is high but declining can benefit from a “demographic dividend” resulting from the increased concentration of population in the working age range following the decline of fertility. The impact of the favourable age distribution on the rate of economic growth per capita can be amplified by enacting appropriate social and economic policies. Investments in education and health and the promotion of full and productive employment for all, including for women and other groups traditionally excluded from the labour force, can double or even triple the positive economic impact of the favourable age structure created by a decline in fertility.

By developing an endogenous growth model on the base of Lucas (1988) embodying the endogenous labor supply and pollution externality, this paper aims to examine the interaction between negative pollution externalities, endogenous leisure- labor choice, human capital investment and sustainable development. Within this framework, we first study the optimum in the planned economy and derive the conditions under which the sustainable growth path is both feasible and optimal. Furthermore, we show that an increase in the productivity of human capital sector, in the abatement expenditure elasticity of pollution damage reduction and in environment consciousness will stimulate the long-run growth rate. But a rise in leisure consciousness and in the output elasticity of pollution damage incremental will lower the long-run growth rate. Finally, it is also revealed in our model that a government could intervene and bring the market economy onto a sustainable and optimal growth path through conducting public abatement policies or levying Pigouvian taxes.

Are green wall technologies suitable for major transport infrastructure construction projects?

An empirical analysis of contemporary developed and some developing nations reveals significant differences in their growth patterns. For most industrialized nations, historical data reveal that, at low levels of per capita income, the agricultural sector dominated the composition of output and employment. As these nations embarked on a path of rapid and sustained economic growth, resources were transferred from the agricultural sector to the manufacturing sector. Once the economy matured and reached the status of a high-income nation, the contribution of the service sector became more pronounced. Today, for some low-income industrializing nations, this process of sectoral reallocation of economic activity, also known as structural transformation, looks different. In these countries, even at low levels of per capita income, the service sector is a significant source of growth and accounts for much of the economy’s output and employment. Therefore, the role of the service sector has become more prominent at early stages of growth and development.KeywordsService SectorTotal Factor ProductivityTotal Factor Productivity GrowthLabour ShareIndustrial GoodThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

The big question facing Greece these days is whether the conditions are in place for the economy to return to a path of strong and sustainable economic growth. A year after the country signed its third loan and reform program with European partners, many wonder whether the steady and timely implementation of the deal agreement is enough by itself to ensure that, or additional initiatives are necessary. The answer depends on how Greece and the domestic banks navigate four key challenges ahead. Namely: restoring normal liquidity conditions; successfully managing a large stock of bad and problem loans; diminishing official sector interference in banking operations; and tackling the sweeping, transformational changes now gripping the European banking sector as a whole.

Liveability as determinant of health: Testing a new approach for health impact assessment of major infrastructure

‘Diagnosing the Indonesian Economy: Toward Inclusive and Green Growth’ analyzes the critical development constraints facing the country, and proposes policy options to help overcome these constraints and set the country on a path of high and sustained inclusive economic growth in the medium term.

The role of higher educational institutions (HEIs) in sustainable regional development is becoming a subject of attention of researchers and policymakers. Apart from clear inputs such as sustainable education and promotion of renewable energy sources, HEIs can act as partners and consultancies for the local authorities helping them to embark on the path of sustainable economic and social growth. Our paper looks into the role of higher education in sustainable development of regions. We identify HEIs as the hubs of knowledge and know-how spill-overs as well as active players in industry-university connection. Our results confirm the importance of higher education in promoting the decarbonization of economy, helping the transition to the renewables and the creation of wider social acceptance of sustainable development.

The recent financial and economic meltdown in Lebanon is the result of 30 years of social, economic, financial, and fiscal mismanagement, amplified by the Covid‐19 pandemic and further exacerbated by the Beirut port explosion. Lebanese citizens’ trust, as well as the international community's trust in the government, have unfortunately been destroyed. Consequently, Lebanon's sole option is to rebuild confidence in the government and public institutions by implementing economic reforms and to seek an IMF program to pave the way for additional financing from other international sources. The most important confidence‐building step is a clear financial and economic plan that has the support of all key stakeholders. This article presents a road map for a reforms‐driven, export‐led growth strategy for Lebanon. Ultimately, the goal is to jump‐start the economy and put it on a path of sustainable, inclusive, and equitable economic growth. Such growth should be grounded in a small, open‐economy model and driven by low tariffs, a flexible exchange rate regime, and a dynamic export sector built on competitive and comparative advantages. This plan partially builds on proposals and recommendations provided by previous economic plans and policy notes.

I examine the Koizumi Junichiro era in Japan to derive lessons for the current Abe Shinzo administration that vows to get Japan back on the path of sustainable growth. Standard growth theory identifies total factor productivity (TFP) as the key to sustainable growth. The existing empirical evidence clearly indicates that economic recovery during Koizumi's tenure was accompanied by robust growth of TFP. To account for this improvement in TFP performance, I focus on developments during Koizumi's term: promotion of competition by introducing market discipline to various sectors of the economy, effectiveness of market entry and exit, and use of foreign competitive pressure to enhance domestic efficiency. KEYWORDS: Japanese economy, Koizumi Junichiro, Abenomics, total factor productivity.IN THE MIDST OF MOUNTING FEAR OF A THIRD LOST DECADE OF growth for Japan, newly elected prime minister Abe Shinzo aptly placed the priority of his first cabinet on reviving the economy following the landslide victory of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the general election of December 2012. His government has unveiled three of his economic program, dubbed Abenomics. The first two arrows involve pursuit of a dramatic regime change at the Bank of Japan as well as big fiscal spending to reflate the economy and jump-start its growth. Although these expansionary macroeconomic policies have thus far been effective in giving an initial boost to aggregate demand and reversing the deflationary trend, their initial impact may already be waning. In order to get the economy firmly back on a sustainable growth path, the Abe administration has yet to fill in the third arrow before its first two arrows eventually fizzle out.According to standard growth theory, total factor productivity (TFP) is the key to long-term economic growth as its growth rate represents the slope of the steady-state growth path. Economic growth is not sustainable and is destined to wind down if it is not accompanied by TFP growth. Therefore, the theory suggests that in order for Japan to have a successful growth strategy, the third arrow of Abenomics should aim at improving the country's TFP. Since reform proposals offered so far in Abe's two attempts to shoot the third arrow were generally viewed as modest and ambiguous, the third arrow obviously requires a more focused approach so that it clearly demonstrates the potential to liftthe country's TFP.I argue that Prime Minister Abe may not have to look further than the immediate predecessor of his earlier term in office to find valuable lessons for his growth strategy. Under the premiership of Koizumi Junichiro (2001-2006), Japan was poised to exit its long-running recession and head toward sustainable growth. To be sure, Koizumi's term was never free from controversy and is still the subject of frequent criticism. However, careful analysis of this period through the lens of standard economic growth theory reveals interesting policy implications.The Japanese Economy Under KoizumiKoizumi the Reformer?One word that was never in short supply in public discourse throughout Koizumi's term was reform. Entering the race for the premiership in 2001, Koizumi presented himself as a true reformer who would pull Japan out of its economic malaise. He pledged to put an end to the bad debt problems of the banking sector, clean up the decadelong financial mess, and stand up to the entrenched government bureaucracy by (among other things) privatizing the country's postal savings system.Koizumi was not the first prime minister to talk about the country's need for structural reform. The Big Bang in the Japanese financial sector had already started as early as November 1996 when then Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro announced wide-ranging financial deregulation measures. In fact, deregulation was already high on the policy agenda under the premiership of Murayama Tomiichi, a predecessor of Hashimoto. …