The Vendian–Cambrian Cyclometric Stratigraphic Scale for the Southern and Central Siberian Platform

—The general Vendian stratigraphic scale of Siberia, with the uncertain age of the Vendian base ranging from 600 to 630– 640 Ma in most of recent publications, remains worse constrained than the Cambrian scale, in which the boundaries of epochs and stages have been well defined. However, the imperfect classical stratigraphic division has been compensated by data on the cyclicity of the Vendian–Cambrian sedimentary section. The Vendian stratigraphy of the Siberian Platform and the related deposition history with cycles of sedimentation and gaps, as well as the hierarchy of sedimentation processes, can be inferred from the succession of alternating clastic, carbonate, and salt units. The cyclicity of geologic processes and their recurrence are attributed to periodic oscillatory motions of the crust. The ranks of these motions correlate with the cyclicity of sedimentary strata, including regocyclites, nexocyclites, and halcyclites separated by gaps. Each Vendian long-period oscillatory motion begins with a regocyclite and ends with a regional-scale gap. The Cambrian section includes one pre-Mayan regional gap at the end of the early Cambrian long-period cycle. Cambrian regocyclites are composed of carbonate subformations and formations in the lower part and alternating salt and carbonate beds in the upper part.

The Regional Uneven Development and the State Intervention to Reshape the Spatial Hierarchy

The central question in this study concerns the way in which the state intervention is strong enough to reverse the tide of regional uneven development that has been intentionally created by the state. To answer the question, we conduct a case study of the Innovation Cities in South Korea. We use the K-means Cluster Analysis and a Two-way Analysis of Variance with well-defined three indices on regional economic competitiveness. The results reveal that the development of Innovation Cities does not have a desirable impact on converging the regional disparity between core and periphery regions. At best, the regional gap has not widened. The outcomes also imply that the trickle-down effects have not been observed during the time-period of study. The findings suggest that policymakers carefully consider diverse full-factors toward periphery regions with consideration of the regional heterogeneity rather than focusing on the homogeneous approach.

Regional inequality of resident income and its determinants: A case study of Zhejiang Province, China

This paper focuses on the regional inequality of resident income in local China at the county or district level, and Zhejiang Province is set as the empirical case. It takes a geographic approach to detect the spatial distribution pattern of resident income, and explore the relationship with regional-specific socio-economic factors. The analytical framework proposed by us has been proved appropriate by the case study. Our study results show that in terms of the resident income level, there exists great regional gap in Zhejiang with the northeast wealthy cluster and much poorer cluster in the southwest. The disposable income of residents is mainly determined by commerce prosperity, urban intensity and technological capacity of local areas, while the effect of regional income, household deposits and industrial production are much less or no significant. Our findings for Zhejiang lead us to suggest that those local states seeking to improve people’s livelihood and income should not solely rely on the industrial or manufacturing expansion, but pay more attention to business environment, urban construction and indigenous innovation. Also, to narrow the significant regional gap of resident income, extra efforts should be made to push the regional cooperation system in economic development.

Evaluation and Dynamic Evolution of Eco-Efficiency of Resource-Based Cities—A Case Study of Typical Resource-Based Cities in China

Evaluation and dynamic evolution of eco-efficiency of resource-based cities is of great significance for ecological restoration, industrial transformation and sustainable development of resource-based cities. Based on the data of 40 resource-based cities from 2012 to 2017, we first study eco-efficiency of resource-based cities from both static and dynamic aspects by super-efficiency DEA and the Malmquist index. Additionally, then, we analyze its dynamic evolution trend by Kernel density estimation. The main results are as follows: First, the eco-efficiency shows a steady growth trend; growing cities are the highest, followed by regenerative cities and mature cities, declining cities are the lowest. Second, technological progress has the greatest contribution to growth of eco-efficiency, and scale efficiency restricts its growth. Third, efficiency distribution of resource-based cities with different life cycles show different characteristics of evolution, and the regional gap is narrowing gradually. Finally, management implications are put forward based on the empirical conclusions.

Italian students’ performance and regional decomposition

We relate students’ math scores in the OECD-PISA test to school characteristics. The average math score for Italian students has been increasing in 2009. The determinants of this growth are analyzed by the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, that is particularly useful in comparing groups. The progress in educational attainments shows a different composition between northern and southern schools. In the North-Center regions, improvements are explained by school endowments, while in the South they are also driven by external factors that are not explained by the estimated model and are linked to improvements in students' attitude to education leading to a more favorable disciplinary climate. The regional gap decreases but does not disappear.

Regional gap in human capital: determinants of education and urbanization

This paper studies the regional gap in human capital. Specifically, it focuses on the important determinants of this capital represented by such key factors as education and urbanization. We stress the importance of human capital for the economic growth and show how it can be important for the effective development of both urban and rural areas. This study examines the regional distribution and dynamics of human capital. Human capital is credited with a crucial role in the creation of economic growth. Additionally, we investigate how the exposure to the urban or rural environment affects the educational success of people worldwide. In addition, our paper studies the effects of migration on urbanization and education. Our results show that institutional factors can be a good proxy for explaining the relationship between human capital development and urbanization. Furthermore, it can be concluded that return to education is higher in urban areas compared to rural areas, and higher in highly educated cities compared to smaller towns. All of these creates some important implications for urbanization and education that can be used by the policy-makers and urban and rural planners for narrowing the regional gap in human capital and increasing the overall well-being and economic growth.

Regional differences in mainland China after the 1970s economic reform

Relevance. In recent years, China’s GDP has continued to grow, however, the regional gap in socio-economic development is still huge. It is, therefore, crucial to investigate the reasons behind regional disparities and the possible solutions to this problem. Research objective. This paper aims to examine the patterns of regional differences in mainland China after the economic reform of the 1970s. Data and methods. The study relies on the methods of comparative analysis and the data from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China and the Statistical Yearbook Sharing Platform as well as the information from the national media portal - Xinhua News Agency. Results. The Chinese government’s application of differentiated measures, strategies and policies to different regions exacerbated the existing disparities. This paper elaborates on the future regional economic adjustments and plans and thus can be of interest to investors and business activists in China and other countries.