Impact of Trade on Productivity of Skilled and Unskilled Intensive Industries: A Cross-Country Investigation

This paper examines the effect of trade openness on the productivity of skilled labor intensive and unskilled labor intensive industries in the group of 20 OECD countries. Using panel data and fixed effects approach, we find that skilled workers’ relative gains in productivity exceed those of their unskilled counterpart. Given this differential impact of trade openness on the relative productivity of the skilled and unskilled intensive industries, our findings lend support to the conclusions of past studies that skilled labor is likely to be more pro trade than unskilled labor.Trade openness; Skilled intensive industries; Unskilled intensive industries; Productivity

A Critique of the “Common Ownership of the Earth” Thesis

In On Global Justice, Mathias Risse claims that the earth’s original resources are collectively owned by all human beings in common, such that each individual has a moral right to use the original resources necessary for satisfying her basic needs. He also rejects the rival views that original resources are by nature owned by no one, owned by each human in equal shares, or owned and co-managed jointly by all humans. I argue that Risse’s arguments fail to establish a form of ownership at all and, moreover, that his arguments against the three rival views he considers all fall short. His argument establishes, rather, a moral constraint on any conventional system of property ownership.Dans On Global Justice, Mathias Risse prétend que les ressources premières de la Terre sont la propriété collective de tous les êtres humains de sorte que chacun a le droit moral d’utiliser les ressources premières nécessaires pour satisfaire ses besoins de base. Il rejette également trois points de vue concurrents selon lesquels les ressources premières n’appartiennent à personne ; chaque être humain en est propriétaire à parts égales ; ou elles appartiennent à tous les êtres humains, qui les gèrent conjointement. Je soutiens que les arguments de Risse ne parviennent à établir aucune forme de propriété, et qu’en outre, aucun des arguments qu’il présente contre les trois points de vue concurrents n’est concluant. Son argumentation impose plutôt à tout système conventionnel de propriété une contrainte morale

政府支出与贸易自由化分析

人们研究了贸易自由化对政府在经济中作用的影响。研究显示，与被普遍接受的预测相反，当小型开放经济实行贸易自由化时，其政府的管理范围缩小了。译者单位：厦门大学经济学院国际经济与贸易（361005

Identifying Effective Drivers on Place Identity and Sense of Place with a Futurology Approach (Case Study of Kandovan Village)

AbstractThe present study aimed to identify the effective drivers of place identity and sense of place with a futurology approach in Kandovan's ancient village. This is an applied study based on its objective, and it is analytic and exploratory in terms of nature, with a futurology approach. Data were collected using documents and libraries. Qualitative data were gathered with the use of open questionnaires and document reviews, and quantitative data were prepared numerically by weighting Delphi questionnaires so that indicators and components in different dimensions were first collected and then provided to executive and academic elites who specialized in architecture and planning to identify the most influential factors according to their expertise. The elites were then required to score the identified factors in the framework of the cross-effects matrix using values of 0-3, according to their effectiveness or being affected. Findings based on the state of the dispersion plane of the factors indicate the system instability, with most of the variables dispersed around the diagonal axis of the plane. In addition, given the high scores of the effective drivers and those directly affected, 39 out of the 59 variables considered were eventually identified as Mic Mac output, influencing the future identity and sense of place in Kandovan village. The results show that among the 39 driving variables, originality, identity of the village, having a prominent place in architecture compared to contemporary buildings and commitment to maintaining it, a sense of beauty in the village, rooting and belonging, having a diverse combination of form and activity, simultaneous response to all social, economic and cultural needs, and reminiscence over time were the most effective and important.Keywords: Identity and Sense of Place, Rural Sustainability, Driving Factors, Futurology, Kandovan Village, East Azerbaijan. IntroductionOne of the basic foundations of the stability of living in rural areas is the attachment of villagers to the village environment. In villages, history and collective memory have made the issue of identity and sense of place to be of special importance. Therefore, identifying the factors that increase and develop the dependence and spatial connection of villagers is an important action and can be used as a guide for rural planners, designers, and decision-making institutions. Based on this, the main goal of the current research was to identify these factors and variables in Kandavan village through the science of future studies. Materials and MethodsThe current research is analytical and exploratory based on the method and practical based on the goal. The data collection method is documentary and library. The statistical population of this research includes two groups of executive and academic elites and heads of rural households in Kandavan village. To select the sample size, the snowball sampling method was used among elites, followed by the targeted sampling method, and finally, 30 people were selected as a sample. To investigate the point of view of the local community, with the factors affecting the identity and sense of place, the opinions of 155 heads of households were used in full. To examine the issue in the first stage, 72 selected variables in the form of 14 factors were provided to experts. After reviewing their opinions in the second stage, 59 variables in the form of 13 factors were selected as the final list. In the next step, a questionnaire was formed in the framework of the matrix of cross-effects between the factors, based on the degree of influence and effectiveness, and the experts were asked to rate each of the variables with numbers from zero to three. The number 0 indicates no effect, the number 1 indicates a weak effect, the number 2 indicates moderate effects, and the number 3 indicates a high effect, and the potential relationship between the variables was indicated by the letter (p). On the other hand, to examine the views of household heads, Friedman's test was used in SPSS 26 software. Research FindingsThe findings showed that after entering the questionnaires, the results after four times of cross-effects data rotations had 100% favorability, which indicates the favorable validity of the questionnaire. The filling rate of the matrix is 91.73% and this indicates that more than 90% of the factors influence each other. Out of the 59 investigated variables, 17 variables are in the influencing variables group, 23 variables are in the two-dimensional category, three are independent variables, seven variables are in the dependent variables group, and finally six variables have regulatory status. To calculate the direct effects, after increasing the matrix by the software, 39 variables were selected as the key factors of identity and sense of place, which had the most direct and indirect effects. Also, among these key factors, the variables of originality and identity of the village, having a prominent position in architecture compared to contemporary buildings and the commitment to maintain it, the beautiful feeling of movement in the village, rootedness, and belonging, etc. have the greatest impact on identity and feeling. The results of 155 questionnaires distributed among the heads of households in Kandavan village based on Friedman's test showed that social interaction factors with an average rank of 9.33 and recognition with a rank of 9.27 were at the highest level. On the other hand, indifference to the place was evaluated with a rating of 3.40 at the lowest level. Examining the significance results of this test shows that the chi-square value of 432.816 was less than 0.05 and the significance level was 0.000. This statistic shows that there is a significant difference between the frequencies of the group and these differences are statistically confirmed. Discussion of Results and ConclusionThe results of the research findings showed that the things that were chosen as drivers influencing the sense of place create this sense consciously and unconsciously among people and have caused the stability and durability of the village over many centuries and many years. By creating a favorable environment, these cases have created social life in this village. Also, emphasizing the values and identity in the village has led to the creation of a high-quality and memorable space that affects the perceptual quality of architecture, collective memory, and sense of place. By establishing social interaction, the villagers felt the pleasure of life in the village. This has provided a suitable platform for their life, which is the result of internal communication and environmental characteristics, and plays an important role in attachment to the village and maintaining a sense of place. The existence of various combinations of forms and activities has caused the sameness and uniformity to decrease, and because of the structural-physical characteristics of the special elements in the village, it has a special prominence compared to other places. It can be said that the existence of stone houses and special symbols in the village has added to the memorability of the place. In this village, the presence of native and regional values, traditional activities, and jobs has given it a special value and has made it of special importance from the political, economic, and social point of view, so that while taking the current physical organization of the village, its expansion can be done in an orderly manner as a part of the country's management system, given the opportunity to save the village as a living and dynamic heritage phenomenon

Donation without Domination: Private Charity and Republican Liberty

Contemporary republicans have adopted a less-than-charitable attitude toward private beneficence, especially when it is directed to the poor, worrying that rich patrons may be in a position to exercise arbitrary power over their impoverished clients. These concerns have led them to support impartial public provision by way of state welfare programs, including an unconditional basic income (UBI). In contrast to this administrative model of public welfare, I will propose a competitive model in which the state regulates and subsidizes a decentralized and nonstatist provision of support for the poor. This model will fix the historically objectionable features of private provision by having the state prevent collusion among private charities, deliver information to recipients about alternative sources of assistance, and give substantial grants to charities as well as tax incentives and vouchers to donors. I will contend that such an approach would do a better job of minimizing domination of the poor than traditional welfare states and may prove more politically feasible than a UBI, at least in the near term in certain national contexts

The Circumstances of Intergenerational Justice

Some key political challenges today, e.g. climate change, are future oriented. The intergenerational setting differs in some notable ways from the intragenerational one, creating obstacles to theorizing about intergenerational justice. One concern is that as the circumstances of justice do not pertain intergenerationally, intergenerational justice is not meaningful. In this paper, I scrutinize this worry by analysing the presentations of the doctrine of the circumstances of justice by David Hume and John Rawls. I argue that we should accept the upshot of their idea, that justice is context sensitive, even if this at first sight seems to invalidate intergenerational justice. On the basis of moral constructivism, I subsequently provide a fresh reading of the doctrine according to which it conveys the idea that justice is the solution to a practical problem. However, as the problem background is evolving, we need to properly characterize the relevant practical problem in order to make ethical theorizing relevant. Contrary to what has been claimed, the circumstances of justice do not then clash with intergenerational justice, but are the necessary presuppositions for its advancement