The case for gender mainstreaming Botswana's privatisation process

Botswana embarked on privatisation in 2000 but the programme is yet to be implemented. The objectives of privatisation are to promote citizen economic empowerment and to benefit all. Admittedly, these are well-intended objectives. However, we pose a question: ‘How are these objectives going to be achieved?’ To answer this question, this paper audits the Privatisation Policy of Botswana and Privatisation Master Plan to assess the extent to which they are gender inclusive, and concludes that they are gender blind and do not address the gender dimensions of privatisation. The paper also reviews secondary data such as poverty maps and concludes that women suffer socio-economic disenfranchisement and would not equally benefit from privatisation. In addition, women would disproportionately suffer its adverse effects. For privatisation to produce fair outcomes, there is a need to make it gender inclusive. Making it gender inclusive would ensure the participation and empowerment of socio-economic minorities such as women.     

生育政策、子女数量与中国的性别教育平等

近年来,中国性别教育差距快速缩小并呈现出女性高等教育在校生比重超越男性的现象,文章从生育政策视角对这一现象进行了解释,认为计划生育政策通过改善女性教育获得显著促进了性别教育平等。队列分析显示,生育政策之后的出生队列中女性相对教育水平明显提高,性别教育差距明显缩小。基于生育政策地区差异和出生队列差异构建的双差分模型分析发现,以农村二孩政策地区为参照组,严格的独生子女政策在提高女性相对受教育机会方面更为明显。但相对于二孩政策,一孩半政策在促进性别教育平等方面不存在显著差异,这可能由于在一孩半政策下独女户和双女户数量较少,家庭受性别偏好影响会将资源向男性倾斜,导致政策没有通过控制家庭规模提高女性相对教育获得机会。研究认为,随着中国放松生育政策,农村地区由一孩半政策过渡到二孩政策并不会对女性教育获得产生明显影响,应该关注生育政策调整对严格独生子女政策地区女性教育获得的影响。同时,随着性别教育差距逐步缩小,可以利用劳动力市场政策降低市场性别歧视,进一步提高女性地位并促进性别平等。     

How 'modern' is the modern apprenticeship?

Despite the fact that some sectors of industry are facing major skills shortages, the Scottish labour market continues to be characterised by occupational segregation and a large disparity between the wages of women and men. The concentration of individuals in occupations and training based on their gender effectively restricts the pool of potential recruits to industry and is unlikely to make the best use of human capital. Moreover, it obstructs the pursuit of gender equality by reinforcing the gender pay gap and restricting individual career choices. This paper reports on the government's flagship training policy, the Modern Apprenticeship programme, from a gender perspective. It concludes that, ten years on from its introduction, the scheme represents something of a 'missed opportunity' to tackle occupational segregation and its deleterious effects in the wider economy and in society at large. It is recommended that the government and organisations involved in the development and delivery of Modern Apprenticeships adopt a more conscious and cohesive approach to promoting non-traditional choices at the vocational level.     

当前领导干部社会性别意识的调查分析--基于湖南省的数据

领导干部的社会性别意识在很大程度上决定了他们能否真正贯彻落实“社会性别主流化”的要求。文章基于湖南省领导干部的调查资料,从性别问题的认知、性别关系的评价、性别观念与态度、性别意识的践行四个方面分析了当前领导干部社会性别意识的现状。研究发现,领导干部对男女平等基本国策、社会性别基本概念的认知还有待进一步提高;领导干部的一些性别观念还有待进一步转变;性别意识的践行还存在着诸多缺损的地方。因此,必须通过各种途径,进一步提高领导干部的社会性别意识。     

性别视角引入人力资源开发

将性别视角引入人力资源开发,便于更清楚地分析人力资源开发的政策、措施和实践对男女两性的影响。本文分析了传统的人力资源开发中性别视角的缺位,提出了性别视角引入人力资源开发的具体方法,其根本意义在于科学认识两性差异,最科学合理地开发、利用和整合男女两性人力资源。     

温岭模式与参与式预算的基本特征、原则契合度分析

参与式预算是允许非选举产生的公民参与公共财政的分配决策,以求用"众人之财"更理性地办"众人之事"。参与式预算有五条基本特征和四条原则,我国的先行者温岭参与式预算经过长时间的摸索,取得了很大的成绩,同时为我国很多县市做了很好的榜样,本文结合基本特征和原则分析温岭目前与之的契合程度,同时根据不足提出了一些建议。     

Ethnic bias,favouritism and development in Africa

The leadership in many African countries, with their ethnic diversities, is characterised by ethnic bias and favouritism, and citizens are thus treated unequally in many respects, particularly when it comes to national resource allocation and political representation. This breeds resentment and creates conditions for an ultimate rejection of the state by the frustrated and politically conscious masses. It is also tantamount to corruption, weakening the ability of the state to function efficiently, and is therefore anti-developmental. This paper argues that the socio-economic crises in many African countries are aggravated by practices of ethnic bias and favouritism that have consistently violated the principle of the impersonality of economic agents, caused resentment among the marginalised ethnic groups, fuelled conflicts and retarded development on the continent. It is recommended that a strong and credible judicial body, with powers to investigate crimes against citizens and prosecute and punish offenders, be established by the African Union.     

Gender and child sensitive social protection in South Africa

Drawing from a 2010 study of women receiving the Child Support Grant in an urban area of South Africa, this article discusses the link between social protection, women's empowerment and the well-being of children. It appears that the Grant enhances women's power and control over household decision-making in financial matters, general household spending and child well-being. At the same time, the data show that women continue to bear the greatest burden of care in the household and that these responsibilities significantly heighten gender inequalities. Therefore, while the Grant has benefits for child well-being and women's empowerment, it cannot on its own transform unequal and unjust social relations of power. It should be working in concert with other public programmes not only to focus on children's needs but also to strive for gender equality for poor women.     

Budgeting in Times of Economic Crisis

This article examines how corporate reliance on budgets is affected by major changes in the economic environment. We combine survey and archival data from the economic crisis that began in 2008. The results indicate that budgeting became more important for planning and resource allocation but less important for performance evaluation in companies affected more strongly by the 2008 economic crisis. Additional evidence from interviews and data gathered in a focus group further illustrate these results and show the changes organizations have introduced to respond to the economic crisis. Taken together, and contrary to more general conclusions from the literature such as an overall increase or decrease in the importance of budgeting, we find that companies emphasize certain budgeting functions over others during economic crises.     

Women's work and wages in the sixteenth century and Sweden's position in the ‘little divergence’

We use a unique source from the Swedish royal demesnes to examine the work and relative wages of women in sixteenth-century Sweden, an economic laggard in the early modern period. The source pertains to workers hired on yearly contracts, a type more representative of historical labour markets than day labour on large construction sites, and this allows us to observe directly the food consumed by workers. We speak to the debate on the ‘little divergence’ within Europe, as women's work and gender differentials in pay is a key indicator of women's relative autonomy and seen as a cause for the economic ascendency of the North Sea region during the period. We find small gender differentials among both unskilled and skilled workers, indicating that Sweden was a part of the ‘golden age’ for women. We argue that despite superficial equality, women's economic outlooks were restrained in many other ways – including their access to higher-skilled work and jobs in the expanding parts of the economy – adding important nuance to the discussion about the relationship between women's social position and economic growth in the early modern period.     

性别视角下我国养老保险制度再思考

随着老龄化社会的到来,我国养老保险问题已经日益引起政府、学者和社会各界的关注。但是,养老保险制度中存在的性别差异却一直受到忽视。相比于男性来说,女性养老保险的覆盖率和养老金的受益水平都较低,使得老年女性陷入贫困的概率远高于男性。鉴于此,本文从社会性别视角对我国现行养老保险政策进行分析,指出了养老保险政策在计发办法与待遇水平上存在性别盲点,损害了女性养老金的利益分配,进而提出在构建和谐社会的进程中,将养老保险制度纳入性别视角,有利于进一步完善我国的养老保险制度。     

More Rights but Less Gains: Relaxed Birth Control Policy and the Loss for Women

In view of its aging population, China initiated in 2012 a relaxed birth control policy after a three-decades-long implementation of the restrictive one-child policy. This paper examines how China's relaxed birth control policy leads to gender inequality. It specifically focuses on migrant workers because they account for a significant portion of the working group. Using the National Migrant Population Dynamic Monitoring Survey from 2014 to 2016, we found that China's two-child pilot policy reduced female labor force participation by 1.4 percentage points. This negative effect was more pronounced for women with higher educational levels or working in the private sector because employers foresee greater risks of productivity decline. We demonstrated that the gender pay gap increased from RMB956 to RMB1,053 during this same period. Pinpointing these unintended consequences brought about by the relaxation of the one-child policy helps provide a more complete picture of inequality and make sense of persistent relative poverty in Chinese society. To counteract gender discrimination, females are advised to work outside their home jurisdictions and take advantage of positive peer effects.     

关于近代民事立法中男女平等问题的研究

平等原则是我国民法中最基础和最本原的原则。男女性别的平等也是其中一项重要的内容,男女平等的思想已经日益成为社会变革的要求。本文就近代民事立法中有关男女平等问题的研究作出具体讨论。     

关于社会成本问题的评述

本文通过对科斯的《社会成本问题》和《社会成本问题的注释》,以及盛洪的《〈社会成本问题〉的问题》等文章的评论,指出“科斯定理”的核心是认识到社会成本问题的交互性以及权力转移的重要性,并且在交易费用为正的条件下,不同制度安排的选择会影响资源配置的效率,所以制度安排至关重要;另外,本文认为在盛洪的《〈社会成本问题〉的问题》一文中有几个问题值得商榷,即需要根据交易费用是否为零来讨论产权界定不同对收入分配的影响。以及最佳产权的存在性问题。     

Financial Globalization in Botswana and Nigeria: A Critique of the Thresholds Paradigm

Since the Asian financial crises, economists are more circumspect in their advocacy of ‘financial globalization’. A new consensus emerged which contends that increased financial liberalization and capital account openness may only produce economic benefits when countries are open to trade and have good institutions and policies in place. This paper critically reviews this consensus, which we term the ‘thresholds paradigm’, through a survey of the available literature and a comparative case study of two African countries that have undertaken financial and capital account liberalization: Nigeria and Botswana. The paper argues that the thresholds paradigm leaves important theoretical and policy-related questions unresolved, in particular, the origins of good institutions and policies. Further, while at first glance the paradigm appears to capture the divergent outcomes of financial globalization policies in Nigeria and Botswana, a deeper investigation reveals important factors that are neglected and occluded. The paper concludes that economists need to be more methodologically ambidextrous and must integrate institutional factors in their theoretical frameworks in order to better understand the outcomes of ‘financial globalization’ and to provide useful policy advice to developing countries contemplating financial reforms in the future.     

Flying Ducks? Girls’ Schooling in Rural Vietnam

Using the Vietnam Living Standards Survey 1992–93, this paper has found significant gender differences in children's education – parents are less likely to keep girls in school. The method of Doiron and Riddell (1994) is applied to decompose the predicted probability gap of being in school between boys and girls. Their method takes into account the nonlinear nature of the probit model. The decomposition result suggests that most observed gender differences in the predicted probability gap may be driven by discrimination, which may be due to Confucian values. Girls are colloquially referred to as 'flying ducks' as they are regarded as a loss to the family upon marriage. Cultural values could shape the parents' perception of the rate of the children's income transfer to the parents. If the cultural norms dictate that sons provide old–age security to the parents, while daughters marry and provide no support to the parents, parents may not be willing to invest as much in girls' education relative to boys. Promotion of gender equality and reduction of the reliance on sons in providing old–age security to parents are necessary to ensure that girls have equal opportunities to receive education.
JEL classification : I 2; J 16; J 71     

Efficiency and distribution of rural construction land marketization in contemporary China

Since 2015, a national trial on rural construction land marketization has been conducted in 15 counties in China; this trial is regarded as the most significant step taken to date to reform the extant rural-urban dual land governance system. The trial aims to investigate the performance of an integrated rural-urban construction land market in facilitating land resource allocation efficiency and land revenue distribution equality. The objective of this paper is to understand the ongoing rural construction land marketization in China, with a particular focus on its efficiency and distribution effects. To this end, the theoretical model for rural construction land marketization is extended based on Tan, Qu, Heerink, and Mettepenningen (2011), a partial equilibrium model is developed for the empirical analysis, and recent rural construction land marketization practices in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, are examined for empirical evidence. The study concludes that 1) rural construction land marketization indeed improves land allocation efficiency, and 2) rural construction land marketization also leads to a welfare gain for the rural sector, in particular by inducing redistribution effects from the urban to the rural sector.     

Gentlewomanly capitalism? Spinsters,widows, and wealth holding in England and Wales,c. 1800–1860

This article examines the demographic and geographical importance of wealthy middle-class women. It argues that in certain towns and cities, notably London, such women were of sufficient importance to merit attention in their own right. Drawing upon a sample of wills, it describes the types of wealth owned by these women. By examining women's investment in government securities, it argues that women's wealth was of crucial importance to the British state. Its findings challenge conventional understandings of the relationships between gender ideology, wealth holding, and economic development.     

试论性别语言差异的影响因素

性别语言差异一直是各学科领域关注的焦点，本文从性别语言差异的表现形式入手，对影响性别语言差异的因素进行了分析。