Towards regional scientific integration in Africa? Evidence from co-publications

Regional scientific integration is a critical pathway for the development of an integrated African research area and knowledge-based society. On the African continent, progress in scientific production and integration has remained limited, mostly led by a global or international agenda, and bound to a few top publishing nations. The high-level policy commitments and the accumulated policies and strategies developed and pursued under the various intertwined sub-regional economic groupings have, to date, only diversely contributed to policy alignment and coordination in the area of science, technology, and innovation (STI) across Africa. In this context, this paper provides a first and hence original assessment of the role of region-specific factors in shaping scientific collaboration on the continent. For this purpose, our study builds upon the proximity approach to analyse the determinants of scientific collaboration between African countries, using co-publications data from Thomson Reuters' Web of Science database as a proxy of such collaboration. Our results suggest that the majority of African regional economic communities (RECs) have not yet had a significant effect on scientific co-publication. Nevertheless, some important region-specific factors do seem to be at play, such as a shared ethnical language, membership in the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES), and the presence of a common European partner as a third partner in co-publication. Existing policies aimed at the development of an Africa-wide research area should aim to leverage existing and emerging regional excellence networks and novel coordination models to accelerate the process of scientific integration in Africa.     

Policy mixes for business model innovation: The case of off-grid energy for sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa

Business model innovation (BMI) is often complementary to technological innovation and offers novel and sustainable value creation opportunities. Enabling BMI through policy is difficult, however, and not yet well understood in practice or theory. We build on the quickly evolving literature on policy mixes to develop a theoretical model which explains how policy strategies and instruments shape the conditions for BMI. We derive the model inductively by studying the emergence of an off-grid renewable energy BMI in sub-Saharan Africa which proposes to actively create sustainable development in rural areas as opposed to merely increase energy access, drawing from 61 interviews with companies and industry experts as well as policy documents across six African countries. Our model has three core theoretical implications. First, focusing on policy strategies, policy instruments and their respective interactions, we uncover a set of mechanisms that explain how policy mix elements combine to create conducive conditions for BMI. Second, we shed light on the role of multiple objectives and goals within a policy mix for fostering BMI, which, if balanced appropriately, can create a productive tension between support and constraints. Third, we suggest the distinction between sector-specific and society-wide policy mixes as an analytical tool to study these tensions in policy mix research.     

ICT access: Testing for convergence across countries

Our objectives for this article are twofold: first, to examine the convergence of nations with regard to ICT access; and second, to see whether countries in the same continental region (South and East Asia, West and Middle East Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania) or having same initial ICT access have coalesced into groups. We constructed an ICT access index using three indicators (mobile phone, Internet, and broadband use per 100 population) for a sample of 198 nations for the 16-year period from 2000 to 2015. Results show that digital divide has declined in relative terms, but not in absolute terms. The countries, starting at lower ICT levels, are not adopting ICT faster than the leaders. Continental region-wise analysis also shows that the catch-up is maximum for already developed countries, and minimum for countries in African and Oceania continental regions.     

非洲粮食产量波动时空格局的定量化研究简

本文采用经验模态分解方法,从洲际、区域、国家等多个尺度,定量分析了1980-2010年非洲粮食产量波动的时空格局,并通过比对粮食产量与粮食单产和播种面积的拟合度,探讨了近30年来非洲粮食产量波动的主要影响因素。结果表明：①1980年以来,非洲粮食产量总体呈上升趋势,短期波动以3年周期为主,长周期约为10年;粮食单产为非洲粮食产量短期波动的主要影响因子;②就各个地区而言,南非地区粮食产量短时间序列波动周期相对较长,为3.75年,并呈缩短趋势;其他各地区短期波动周期均在3年左右,与非洲整体波动水平相近;从长时间序列看,东非长周期时间序列最长,约10年,并呈变长趋势;南非地区次之,约为7.5年;北非和中非地区居末,约为6年;除北非粮食产量波动主要受播种面积影响外,其他地区多受粮食单产影响较大;③就国家水平来看,非洲约71.15%的国家粮食短时间序列波动周期在3年左右,与非洲整体水平相当;非洲绝大部分国家长时间序列波动周期低于10年,强于非洲整体水平;粮食产量水平越高的国家,其粮食产量的波动越小,反之亦然;占非洲耕地64.42%的31个国家粮食产量短期波动主要影响因子为粮食单产,少部分国家为播种面积。     

晋陕蒙接壤区人口发展与劳动力资源转移的分析

晋陕蒙接壤区是我国资源重点开发区之一。随着区内资源的大规模开发，区内人口将聚增，劳动力资源将不断转移。人口发展和劳动力资源转移是研究该地区资源开发和环境整治重大课题中的一个重要问题。本文着重探讨了晋陕蒙接壤区人口和劳动力的历史发展、转移规模及转移类型。     

On the value of foreign PhDs in the developing world: Training versus selection effects in the case of South Africa

When seeking to improve science in emerging economies, uncertainty exists whether PhD training in an emerging economy can yield comparable results to PhD training in the developed world. Scientific achievements may vary because of excellent training at good universities, but also because excellent students select (and are selected by) good universities. This paper compares the career effects of overseas and domestic PhD training for scholars working in an emerging economy, South Africa. We differentiate between and examine both selection and training effects for PhDs from three tiers of South African and two tiers of foreign universities. South African academics with PhDs from universities in industrialised countries generally achieve greater career success than those with local PhDs, but training by universities in industrialised countries is not necessarily better than local training. Our results suggest that the perceived superiority of foreign PhD training stems from selection rather than do training effects, and pure selection effects in fact explain career outcomes better than training effects. Focusing on training rather than selection, PhDs from top South African universities produce a similar quantity and quality research output to those trained by the leading universities in the developed world. From the perspective of an emerging economy with limited resources wishing to advance science, the development of local universities should thus be stressed, although it is clear that individuals who are able to study for a PhD abroad gain personally when they return.     

南非农业支持政策及启示

虽然同为发展中国家,但是南非实行农业支持政策的历史却早于我国。从种族隔离政策时期以商业农场作为主要支持对象发展到民主选举后以家庭农场作为主要支持对象,南非农业支持的主要对象发生了根本调整。另外,为履行在WTO农业协议中的承诺,南非逐步降低农业支持水平,2005—2007年南非总体支持水平和对生产者支持水平不仅低于美国和欧盟等发达国家,而且低于中国。本文通过研究南非农业支持政策,为完善我国农业支持政策提供借鉴。     

新兴市场国家标准化与创新互动赶超模式及路径研究:以印度、南非为例

随着新兴市场国家在国际经贸、政治和科技领域扮演着越来越重要的角色,以标准的形式参与全球创新竞争的实践引发了国际社会的关注。印度和南非的标准与创新互动赶超实践,揭示了不同类型标准下的不同创新模式及各自不同的赶超路径。这为包括中国在内的新兴市场国家提升创新与标准化能力,理解和参与全球价值链的分工与治理提供了理论支撑和有益的借鉴。在实证分析印度和南非的标准化与创新互动赶超案例的基础上,总结了印度疫苗业最低质量安全标准、南非酒业的品类削减标准,以及医疗信息业的兼容及接口标准,分别通过证明、规模和协调模式来推动创新。在互动赶超路径上,印度疫苗业在识别出发展中国家基础疫苗短缺这一机会的基础上,将国际采购视作技术学习和创新的需求工具,并通过标准化将国际采购标准内化成国家产业政策;南非酒业是通过削减品种、科学种植、现代工艺酿造、严格酒标管理;而南非医疗信息业则是通过创造一个吸引子,构建一套自适应系统的层级结构型标准体系,并利用网关来克服基础设施的异构性。研究发现,在标准化与创新的互动赶超过程中,政府、企业、科研机构、行业协会等各主体扮演着不同,且协同的角色;协同之外,政府和行业协会的合作支撑尤为重要;企业的创新战略重点,取决于标准化在互动创新中的机制定位。     

Education of medical biochemists in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In this paper we would like to briefly introduce readers to the situation in the field of laboratory medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a focus on training in the field of medical biochemistry. As in some of neighboring countries, term Medical biochemist is the usual name for the Clinical biochemist or Clinical chemist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the difficult period through which the profession had passed in the last two decades, laboratory work, particularly clinical biochemistry, has managed to retain the necessary quality and keep pace with the developed world. In post war period, Society of Medical Biochemists of Bosnia and Herzegovina held regular meetings each year as a part of "life long learning" process, where both scientific and vocational lecturers presented their work. A single law on the state level would provide us with more defined and precise answers, such as: who can get a specialization, how long should last the training for medical biochemistry specialists (duration in years). This law should be in consent with the program described in EC4 or other documents given by the EFCC (European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine) and IFCC (International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine).     

Reinventing the public sector in Africa through knowledge management

There is extensive coverage in literature of knowledge management (KM) implementation based on private sector entities. Although recent trends have been characterised by a shift towards understanding KM in the public sector organisations, there is very little focus on the public sector entities in Africa. KM has become popular in modern organisations because it is capable of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of entities if properly implemented. While the explosion of the internet has seen the emergence of public sector transformation programmes such as e-government plans, most African states have wholly adopted these without due consideration to the structural constraints they would face in their implementation. Having observed that e-government is technology-based and most African states lack the necessary information technology (IT) tools to effectively implement it, my proposition in this paper is that the most viable option of transforming the public sector in Africa could be through KM, rather than e-government. Nevertheless, e-government plans in African states should be implemented as a component of the overall KM strategy.     

The role of government in developing the biotechnology industry: a South African perspective

Biotechnology has been identified as one of the key sectors for future economic growth in many countries, with South Africa being no exception. Consequently, the South African government introduced the National Biotechnology Strategy (NBS) in 2001 to modernise the government’s biotechnology institutions and to develop the biotechnology industry, given a changing political and technical environment. An important product of the NBS was the establishment of biotechnology regional innovation centres (BRICs) in 2002, which aimed to develop and commercialise the biotechnology industry. The BRICs, however, were effectively replaced by the creation of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) in 2008, which also formed part of the 10-year plan of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The TIA’s aims are to develop South Africa’s ability to convert local research and development (R&D) into commercial products and services. This paper will explore recent changes in the role of the South African government in its attempts to support and develop the biotechnology industry.     

基于地缘战略的南亚地区科技合作思考

南亚既是世界四大文明发源地之一,又是佛教、印度教等宗教的发源地,总面积约503万km2,2009年总人口超过14亿。平均每平方公里约280人,是世界上人口最稠密的地区之一。包括印度、巴基斯坦、孟加拉、阿富汗、斯里兰卡、尼泊尔、不丹与马尔代夫8个国家。从地理条件看,南亚处于欧亚大陆外缘新月形地带的中间地带,扼守亚洲和大洋洲通向欧洲和非洲的水上交通要道,靠近波斯湾产油区,俯视着东西方重要的石油通道,其战略地位非常重要,直接攸关中国的“通道安全”。进入新世纪,南亚经济快速发展,但由于恐怖主义、能源安全、气候变化等全球性问题与地区传统矛盾、社会贫困等相互交织,使南亚的政治、经济、军事、外交等局势渐趋复杂化,地缘战略地位和地区影响也相应上升,是中国推进睦邻外交、构建和谐周边的重点和难点。当前,有关大国在该地区的各种渗透活动十分活跃。基于南亚地区地缘战略十分重要,涉及到我国依托阿拉伯海的贸易战略,有必要从国家长期战略利益出发,加强对该地区的综合影响力。以科技先行的南亚科技合作对促进其他领域多边关系的发展具有积极的现实意义和长远的战略意义,应成为我国地缘战略的新视角和关注点。     

图书情报学OA资源的分布研究

通过对OSD、DOAJ等OA期刊目录上176种图书情报学OA期刊以及OpenDOAR上56个图书情报学OA仓储的地理、语言以及出版频率等分布情况的分析,发现图书情报学OA资源的分布较为失衡,大部分OA资源都集中在北美和欧洲发达地区,且大部分OA资源均采用国际通用学术语言英语出版。在文献数量方面,56个OA仓储中典藏了1 536 913份文献,远多于176种OA期刊中典藏的大约35 000篇文献。     

制度环境、创业自我效能感与创业意愿

如何促进创业是近年来学术和实践领域广泛关注的议题。基于制度理论和社会认知理论,本文研究了创业自我效能感对创业意愿的影响,以及制度环境在该过程中所起的调节作用。利用来自28个国家跨越2009-2013年的面板数据构建分层广义线性模型。结果发现,创业自我效能感正向影响创业意愿,制度环境中支持创业法规、金融资本可得性、教育资本可得性和腐败控制正向调节二者关系,社会文化价值观负向调节二者关系。论文从跨层视角探索了创业自我效能感与制度环境对创业意愿的交互作用,拓展了对企业家精神的研究。最后,本文从创业者和政府层面提出管理启示,以激发企业家精神,促进创业发展。     

生活能源消费的人口敏感性分析——以中国城镇家庭户为例

人口可能不是能源消费的决定性因素或主要因素,但它作为能源消费系统中不可缺少的基础性参数,除了要关注人口数量,人口的结构性因素,以及对引起这些结构性因素变动的人口微观过程,都应该进行科学研究.本文构建了生活能源消费与人口敏感性关系的理论模型,并运用住户调查数据、人口普查数据,以及中国能源统计宏观数据对理论模型进行了实证检验.研究发现,即使是在相同的宏观人口水平下,不同微观人口变动也可能会导致完全不同的生活能源消费情景.人口自然变动、城镇化和老龄化对生活能源消费具有敏感性,人口老龄化的敏感性为负值.但除老年年龄组(60岁及以上)外,年龄结构并不敏感,而人口敏感性的关键钮带是“规模效应”.正是由于人口的结构性因素对生活能源消费有着多重敏感性,不能简单的以人口数量的增减作为判断生活能源消费量变化的唯一指标.事实上,作为结构性因素的人口城镇化已经超过了数量性因素的敏感性强度.最后,将研究结果用于情景分析,对2015年的生活能源消费进行了微观人口分析,并对进一步研究方向提出一些建议.     

Public sector information management in east and southern Africa: Implications for FOI, democracy and integrity in government

Sound management of information contained in records and other information systems in the public sector is the sine qua non of democratic governance. For effective access to government held information, Freedom of Information (FOI) legislations impose significant duties and responsibilities on public authorities to give access to information. FOI legislation is premised on the principle that effective records management enables authorities to enforce wider government agenda to increase openness, transparency, trust and accountability in the public sector. Effective access, management and exploitation of official information are the means by which governments can demonstrate accountability and transparency in the use of public resources, expose corruption and fraud, protect citizens’ rights, as well as improve overall service delivery to citizens.This paper reviews management of public sector information contained in records and implications for enhancing freedom of access to information, democracy and integrity in governments within east and southern Africa. The authors point out that as democracy and good governance gain momentum especially in developing world, governments in east and southern Africa have one critical factor that is yet to receive adequate attention, namely the role played by information management in enhancing democracy, transparency, accountability and integrity in government. Besides, though constitutions of most east and southern African countries provide for the right and freedom of access to information as a tool to enhance democracy and good governance, state interference from time to time hampers such rights and freedoms to be exercised. The authors proffer the way forward for east and southern Africa.     

全球贸易隐含碳净流动网络构建及社团发现分析

采用Eora数据库和MRIO多区域投入产出模型对2000年与2015年189个国家（地区）的国（区）内需求隐含碳排放量、出口隐含碳排放量和进口隐含碳排放量进行测算;在此基础上构建全球贸易隐含碳净流动网络,基于网络视角对全球贸易隐含碳流动及社团划分问题进行全局分析,揭示不同国家（地区）在全球贸易隐含碳流动网络中的地位及关系演变趋势。研究发现：①贸易隐含碳净流出是中国、印度、伊朗、哈萨克斯坦、阿尔及利亚、南非等发展中国家碳排放快速增长的关键原因之一,隐含碳净进口则对美国、日本、德国、英国、法国等发达国家的碳排放量下降贡献了重要力量;②虽然美国、日本、法国等国家的隐含碳净进口总量趋于下降,但是从中国、印度等主要隐含碳净进口地流入的隐含碳排放量却一直在增长,净进口来源地呈现集中趋势;③2000年与2015年全球隐含碳净流动网络均包含4个主要社团,社团核心由中国、俄罗斯、沙特阿拉伯、伊拉克转变为中国、印度、俄罗斯和沙特阿拉伯,其中中国和印度的社团核心地位加强,主导的社团规模不断扩大,俄罗斯和沙特阿拉伯的社团辐射能力则有所减弱。由于处于同一社团的各贸易国（地区）的隐含碳流动更为密切,因此,社团内部成员国可作为国际应对气候变化的重点支持对象。     

雄安新区资源环境承载力评价和调控提升研究

设立河北雄安新区,是以习近平同志为核心的党中央作出的重大历史性战略选择,是千年大计、国家大事。为支撑雄安新区规划建设,中科院地理科学与资源所"雄安新区资源环境承载力评价和调控提升研究"课题组,基于卫星与无人机遥感、定位观测及历史文献资料,从历史、现实、未来多个维度,开展了新区3县(雄县、安新、容城)资源环境承载力评价和调控提升研究。结果表明:(1)新区区位优势明显,土地资源丰富,但水资源短缺,地表水质污染较为严重,洪涝灾害风险较高,如维持现有的生产、生活、生态模式,新区3县资源环境承载力已接近自然上限。(2)人口与产业规模上升将显著加大新区资源环境压力,当人口规模达到500万时,城镇建设和产业用地需求分别为670和130平方公里,年用水11.6亿立方米,约一半建成区存在洪涝灾害风险。(3)实现新区建设目标,需科学调控、提升区域水资源和生态环境承载力,具体方向包括:人口规模控制在500万以内;多途径调水,适度控制湿地和森林面积;加大减排治污力度,提高生态环境质量;提高防洪标准,科学选址建设项目。     

Multiple sets of features for automatic genre classification of web documents

With the increase of information on the Web, it is difficult to find desired information quickly out of the documents retrieved by a search engine. One way to solve this problem is to classify web documents according to various criteria. Most document classification has been focused on a subject or a topic of a document. A genre or a style is another view of a document different from a subject or a topic. The genre is also a criterion to classify documents. In this paper, we suggest multiple sets of features to classify genres of web documents. The basic set of features, which have been proposed in the previous studies, is acquired from the textual properties of documents, such as the number of sentences, the number of a certain word, etc. However, web documents are different from textual documents in that they contain URL and HTML tags within the pages. We introduce new sets of features specific to web documents, which are extracted from URL and HTML tags. The present work is an attempt to evaluate the performance of the proposed sets of features, and to discuss their characteristics. Finally, we conclude which is an appropriate set of features in automatic genre classification of web documents.