Natural Resource Dependence of Communities around the Giant Panda Protected Land Based on Livelihood Capital

As the flagship species of biodiversity protection, the giant panda has an umbrella protection function. China is committed to building a natural protection system with national parks as the main body to achieve sustainable development. In this paper, the sustainable livelihood analysis framework is used to study the livelihood of farmers in the surrounding communities of the giant panda protected land. Based on the data obtained from the field survey, the evaluation index of the natural resource dependence of the community farmers is established, and then the measurement model is constructed to analyze the main factors affecting the natural resource dependence of the communities. The results showed that: (1) The food dependence of farmers around the giant panda protected area is the highest (46.32%), followed by energy dependence (37.67%), and income dependence is the lowest (27.91%). (2) In terms of regional characteristics, the natural resource dependence of farmers is the lowest in Minshan and Qionglai, followed by Daxiangling and Xiaoxiangling, and Liangshan is the highest. (3) Physical capital has no significant effect on the natural resource dependence. The influence of human capital, natural capital, and social capital on the natural resource dependence is significant.

The Impact of Smart City Construction on the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment in China

As a new model of urban development, it is important to scientifically analyze the impact of smart cities on the quality of foreign direct investment (FDI). This article constructs a difference in differences’ model to test the impact of foreign direct investment quality in smart city construction based on panel data of 226 prefecture-level cities from 2006–2017. Study shows the following. (1) The construction of smart cities has significantly improved the quality of FDI utilized in pilot cities. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that smart city construction significantly contributes to the quality of FDI in the western city subsample and a subsample of cities with low natural resource dependence. After a series of robustness tests and placebo tests, the above conclusions still hold. The results of the study suggest that China should further promote the construction of smart cities to optimize the quality of foreign direct investment and promote high-quality economic growth. The findings of the study also provide theoretical and practical references for the construction of smart cities in China and other countries around the world.

Fenomena Natural Resource Curse dalam Pembangunan Wilayah di Indonesia

Although the phenomenon of natural resource curse is suspected to have occurred at the regional level in Indonesia, no measurement of such a phenomenon has been carried out yet. This research is aimed to provide an index of measuring the degree of natural resource curse at provincial level in Indonesia. Two indices, the natural resource dependence index and regional sustainable development index, were used to formulate index of regional resource curse (RRCI) using geometric mean of conditional weighted product method. The results found that provinces with richer in mining tend to have higher resource curse index compared with those with less extractive resources. ------------------------------------------ Meski fenomena natural resource curse diduga terjadi di tingkat daerah di Indonesia, pengukuran terhadap fenomena tersebut belum pernah dilakukan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur besaran natural resource curse di tingkat provinsi di Indonesia. Dua indikator, yakni indeks ketergantungan sumber daya alam dan indeks pembangunan daerah berkelanjutan digunakan untuk menghitung regional resource curse index (RRCI) menggunakan rerata geometrik conditional weighted product method. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa provinsi dengan sumber daya alam tambang yang lebih kaya cenderung menghadapi fenomena resource curse yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan provinsi dengan sumber daya ekstraktif yang lebih sedikit.

The Dual Dependency of Natural-Resource-Rich Labor Markets in Contemporary Society

This article presents an integrative theoretical framework of subnational natural resource dependence. I argue that rural natural resource dependence represents a special case of the core-periphery relationship, where rural, resource-rich labor markets form a dual dependency on both the global capitalist economy and the local natural environment. This occurs because the contradiction between spatially fixed natural resources and the mobility of capital prompts both external interests and local power elites to use their power to pressure rural labor markets in directions outside their best interest and to exploit rural labor. I argue that both extractive (e.g., mining, timber, agriculture) and nonextractive (e.g., tourism, real estate) forms of natural resource development share this contradiction. Although pushing different uses of the resource base, extractive and nonextractive development do not fundamentally vary in their exploitative relationship with rural labor markets.