Bob Brown: ecology, economy, equality and eternity

"Against a backdrop of advancing neoliberalism and globalisation, this timely book examines nine prominent Australians from diverse backgrounds - ʻglobal citizensʾ who have each enhanced public life through promoting universal values and human rights. The book charts over 50 years of campaigning, and espouses perennial causes such as peace, social justice, ecological sustainability and gender and racial equality. Ultimately, this inspiring volume sends a message of hope for Australian society and provides a benchmark for all proponents of change."--Publisher description.

Exploring the increasing role of the real estate sector in the Chinese economy : 1997-2002

The Chinese government launched a series of real estate reform policies in 1998, which further changed the real estate sector from socialist plan-oriented to modern marketoriented. This paper compares the role of the real estate sector in the Chinese economy in years 1997 and 2002 by using the recently published input-output OECD database. Results verify that the Chinese real estate sector played an increasing role in the Chinese economy with higher contributions and stronger push and pull power in 2002 than those in 1997. However, compared with other countries, especially for some OECD countries, the Chinese real estate sector has a relative lower contribution.

Estimating the demand for money in an unstable open economy : the case of the Fiji Islands

In this paper, we estimate Fiji's money demand function for the period 1971-2002 based on the bounds testing approach to cointegration, which is applicable irrespective of whether or not the underlying variables are non-stationary. We estimate models with and without a time trend and for lag lengths ranging from 1-3, but fail to find any evidence for a long-run relationship. Moreover, our structural break analysis suggests that the unstable nature of Fiji's money demand may be due to atypical events, such as coups; the implementation of policies, such as devaluations and value added tax; and the onset of trade liberalisation policies over the last two decades.

Doubling fish exports or garment exports : which would benefit the Fijian economy most? Evidence from a computable general equilibrium model

The need to diversify Fiji's export base has been identified as an important avenue for reducing Fiji's vulnerabilities in international trade. This paper poses the question: Doubling fish exports or garment exports: which would be most beneficial for the Fijian economy? To achieve the goal of this paper, the computable general equilibrium model is used, this being at the forefront of research on 'impact studies'. The main finding is that when garment exports and fish exports are doubled, the benefits to the Fijian economy are greater from garment exports, suggesting that the latter has stronger linkages with the rest of the economy. On the basis of this finding, policymakers should divert resources towards sustaining the garment industry whose future is uncertain due to expiring trade agreements and unstable economic policies.

Capacity building for the principalship : new knowledges for leading and managing learning organisations in the new economy

This paper canvasses current proposals by Australian education departments for capacity building, school renewal, situated learning, resilience and ‘wellness’ in the principalship, and the reflections and responses of current Principals.

Policy in the knowledge economy social network : a social capital redux

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest how enabling policy should be focused in a knowledge economy by developing the concept of a knowledge economy social network (KESN).

Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs an interdisciplinary approach in developing the KESN by drawing on concepts and methodology from economics, political science and social network theory.

Findings – The KESN's social capital is defined. As such, maintaining accountability, increasing cohesion and connections among knowledge actors are suggested as relevant guidelines for policy in the KESN.

Research limitations/implications – The knowledge economy should ideally be seen as having unique needs compared to the traditional economy in devising policy.

Practical implications – The paper suggests using the KESN as a basis for devising policy for a knowledge economy.

Originality/value – The paper uses an interdisciplinary approach to studying the knowledge economy and introduces the KESN.

Changes in arts organisations under the open market economy in Vietnam

The paper examines changes in arts organisations in Vietnam under the context of changes in the arts and culture sector in Vietnam and in the world.

Does monetary policy matter in a less developed economy? Evidence from Bangladesh

This paper explores the role of monetary policy in the context of a less developed economy. Monetary transmission mechanisms in less developed economies can be quite different from an industrialized economy, as unlike industrialized countries, these economies are characterized by the small size of organized financial markets, limited substitutability between money and other assets and weak fiscal and monetary institutions. We utilize the Structural VAR approach to analyze the monetary transmission process and impacts of monetary policy on different macro variables in Bangladesh. Monetary policy shocks are identified using non-recursive contemporaneous restrictions, which are based on the Central Bank's reaction function and the structure of the economy. We found strong evidence for the interest rate channel of monetary policy in Bangladesh. Our findings indicate that monetary policy shocks are important sources of fluctuations in the rate of interest, output and prices. Expansionary monetary policies are found to be harmful for achieving price stability in Bangladesh, as they not only increase the prices permanently, but also make the price level more volatile. We also found the evidence of a long lasting effect of monetary policy on output, which suggests that contractionary policy measures may create sustained recession in Bangladesh.