SPATIALLY INDUCED EFFECTS AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES: IMPLICATIONS FOR ZONES IN PAKISTAN UNDER CHINA PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR

Ayesha KHAN

Chair in Maritime Business and Logistics, University of Bremen, Germanyn, Max-von-Laue-Straße 1, 28359, Bremen and Germany

ayesha@uni-bremen.de

h.c. Hans-Dietrich HAASIS

Chair in Maritime Business and Logistics, University of Bremen, Germany, Max-von-Laue-Straße 1, 28359, Bremen and Germany

hdhaasis@gmx.de

Abstract

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the Belt and Road Initiative projects. Nine special economic zones (SEZs) are proposed under the CPEC and the aim of establishing SEZs is to support and promote local industry as well as other dimensions such as improving energy generation and political stability in Pakistan. The CPEC will facilitate close proximity and collaboration between Pakistan and China, Pakistan can learn from China’s successful experience in SEZs. As this concept zone is ‘regional’ in itself, it is important to analyze this policy from the point of the “New economic geography” theory. This paper explores the existing literature on SEZs in order to identify the role of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the perspective of spatially induced effects of a zone and their implications for SEZs under the CPEC.

Keywords: Special economic zones (SEZs), Sustainability; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), China Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), spatially induced effects; geographical agglomeration

JEL classification: R12, R11

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TERRITORIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF LABOR AS A FACTOR IN THE SUSTAINABILITY OF REGIONAL ECONOMIES

Lidia S. ARKHIPOVA

PhD in Economics, Associate Professor, Department of National and Regional Economics, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow, Russia

lidia.arkhipova@mail.ru

Abstract

One of the factors influencing the sustainability of economic processes is the level of labor force territorial differentiation across the country. In locations with high employment rate among the working-age population, as a rule, the indicators of economic efficiency and sustainability are high. The outflow of labor, in its turn, contributes to a shortage of personnel, a reduction in production and an influx of migrants. Therefore, despite the replaceability of the labor force by robotics and digital technologies, for Russia with its vast space, studying the consequences of interregional inequality can identify strategic areas for economic development. Thus, the purpose of the research is to assess the degree of inter-regional inequality in the provision of the country’s regions with labor as one of the economic sustainability factors. The study of territorial inequalities in the economic space promotes the understanding of the importance of the strategic tasks in economic development of a complex, subordinate and multicomponent regional system of the Russian Federation. The processes of territorial inequality are greatly influenced by the migration flows, expressed in the outflow of the population mainly from the eastern regions. Significant migrations are common among rural migrants from the Far Eastern, Siberian and Urals Federal Districts. Therefore, the main influx of migrants is characteristic of the Central, North-Western and Southern districts. The contribution of the present research to economic science consists in justifying the prioritized support and development of the territories that are losing population and, accordingly, labor force.

Keywords: region (RF subject), territorial differentiation, labor force, development factors.

JEL classification: R23, J610

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HUMAN CAPITAL AND HIGHER EDUCATION AS DRIVERS OF ECONOMY IN ALBANIA

Etleva BAJRAMI

Prof. Assoc. Dr., Pedagogue in Finance Department, Faculty of Economy, University of Tirana

etlevabajrami@feut.edu.al

Brikena LEKA

Prof. Assoc. Dr., Pedagogue in Finance Department, Faculty of Economy, University of Tirana

brikenaleka@feut.edu.al

Abstract

Education is a strong pillar for the qualitative growth and improvement of human capital. Appropriate and necessary education of people will enable business employees to have the necessary knowledge for the activity. The growth of businesses will have its impact on the growth of the country’s economy. People are turning to higher education more and more as a way to enhance their personal wellbeing. Higher education is seen by people as the best way to enable the employment and higher salary in the future. For this reason the focus of this paper is education. The main objective is to understand the impact of higher education in economic growth. This paper analyzes the impact of education through several variables on economic growth in Albania, focusing more on the impact of higher education. The independent variables considered in this paper as representatives of education are mean years of schooling, enrollment in primary education, enrollment in secondary education, enrollment in higher education, while as a representative of growth is used dependent variable Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. From the model we found the variables mean years of schooling and enrollment in higher education are significant and positively related with GDP per capita. The analysis is based on model building with secondary data using the method of least squares.

Keywords: human capital, higher education, school enrollment, GDP per capita

JEL classification: I23, O15, H52

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