Natural Resources and Decentralization in Nicaragua: Are Local Governments Up to the Job?

Both decentralization and natural resource management literature suggest that natural resources could benefit from the redistribution of centralized management authority. Yet, neither has sufficiently examined the processes already underway in numerous developing countries to decentralize resource management from central to municipal government authorities. This study reviews the role of 21 local governments in forest management in Nicaragua. It finds that most interventions are economically motivated, and that three key factors are needed for local governments to be good resource managers: capacity, incentive and long-term commitment. These three factors are part of a process in which civil society can play a critical role.     

Redistribution,demand structure and factor requirements: The case of India

This paper investigates the hypothesis that a redistribution of private consumption expenditure from rich to poor, or from urban residents to rural residents, would bring about an increase in employment and reduce capital and import requirements, through its impact on the structure of aggregate demand. The simulations reported here, using Indian data, do not provide much support for the ‘redistribution promotes employment’ argument. The analysis suggests that even ‘radical’ redistributions of private consumption expenditure would have no significant impact on the level of employment, either directly through increasing labour requirements or indirectly through reducing scarce resource requirements.     

A South African national economic and environmental policyframework

Most contemporary economic theories upon which conventional national accounting is based regard man‐made assets as productive capital to be depreciated against the value of production. Such production, without replenishment or renewal of the asset or capital stock, is not sustainable. Natural resource assets, however, are not valued in the same way. There is no accounting mechanism to reflect the decrease in potential future pro duction as the resource diminishes or deteriorates. In 1993, the United Nations adopted its guidelines for a ‘System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting’ (SEEA), which allows for the adjustment of the System of National Accounts (SNA) for natural asset stripping and degradation, providing a format for national accounting which assesses the viability and sustainability of economic growth. The concept of an SEEA for South Africa was pursued in 1994 as a pilot study. The framework to be devel oped was termed the South African National Economic Environmental Planning (SANEEP) model. The framework can be used to predict the environmental impact, in terms of natural resource use and degradation, of economic growth, both nationally and at the sectoral level. In addition, it can be used to test the sectoral economic impact, and thus the desirability of certain types of environmental economic instruments such as pol lution taxes, or the imposition of royalties on mineral extraction. Hence, the SANEEP framework has the potential to become a broad‐based, integrated environmental and economic planning tool. This article describes the SANEEP model, its information requirements and applications.     

Economies of size in sugar cane production in KwaZulu‐Natal

This article examines how efficiency of resource use on sugar cane farms varies with the size of a farm business, and what implications variations in performance may hold for the reallocation of resources between size‐groups in the pursuit of land redistribution. A non‐parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) research procedure is employed to analyse farm‐size efficiency using inputs valued at opportunity cost. Results indicate that sugar cane farms producing less than 500 tons of cane exhibit substantial economies of size, and require significantly more resources to produce a rand's worth of output than farms producing more than 2 500 tons of cane. Therefore, if commercial farms are subdivided in the land resettlement programme, significant loss of efficiency may occur if the resettled farms produce less than 500 tons. Finally, results of an econometric model suggest significant links between scale efficiency and farmers’ education, managerial adeptness, training, age, and the size of farm holdings.     

什么决定了居民对再分配的需求

本文利用微观调查数据,分析居民再分配需求的决定因素。研究发现：穷人比富人更加支持再分配,但收入的边际效应很小,收入分配问题并不会随收入的增加而自然解决。认为当前社会总体不公平的居民对再分配的诉求更高,且其边际作用最大。与同辈相比社会经济地位更低的人对再分配的需求更高。向下的流动性会增加人们对再分配的需求,这部分支持了＂POUM＂假说,并提醒我们应该警惕＂流动性红利＂减弱所导致的再分配需求上升。中国社会特殊的转型特征与再分配需求密切相关。西部地区比东部地区,事业单位比党政机关的居民对收入调节的诉求更强烈。与新型都市社区的居民相比,其他类型社区的居民都更加支持均富的收入调节政策。此外,一些人口统计学变量也有显著影响。     

PPP项目再谈判中的利益再分配研究

利益再分配是PPP模式再谈判中的一项重要问题,合理的利益再分配能促进再谈判以及整个PPP项目的进行。基于Rubinstein讨价还价模型,建立了PPP模式下利益再分配模型,并对模型进行求解,得出了减少自身的出价时间等手段可以提升再谈判中利益再分配公平合理性的结论。     

Economic growth and redistribution in South Africa

The debate over appropriate methods of reducing racial income and wealth inequalities in South Africa has thus far yielded two opposing schools of thought. ‘Growth through redistribution’ and ‘redistribution through growth’ make countervailing claims concerning the efficiency gains and losses attendant upon redistribution. But the relation between economic growth and the redistribution of income and wealth may be more complex than commonly realised. From the literature surrounding Olson's (1982) Rise and Decline of Nations, especially Brock & Magee (1984) and Magee et al (1989), it can be shown that redistributive behaviour can actually increase the rate of economic growth in the short term, and depress growth in the longer term.     

The effect of intellectual property rights on international trade and investment

The Effect of Intellectual Property Rights on International Trade and Investment. — The widespread debate regarding extended recognition of intellectual property rights across borders has not been matched by empirical investigation regarding the effect of such international recognition of intellectual property as exists in the status quo. In this paper, the effects of membership in intellectual property treaties is investigated in the context of U.S. exports, foreign affiliate sales, and flows of royalties and license fees. Membership in intellectual property treaties increases the flows of payments and receipts for intellectual property as long as domestic patent protection is sufficiently strong. U.S. parents export more to subsidiaries in countries which do not adhere to such treaties, but their impact on arms’-length exports and foreign investment is minimal.     

公平与再分配--基于个体再分配偏好的实验研究

越来越多的经济学家利用实验经济学方法对公平和再分配问题进行了研究。这些研究基于个体再分配偏好视角展开。现有的实验结论表明,个体的再分配偏好是利他动机、自利动机以及风险保障动机综合作用的结果;社会的税收成本、效率、表决机制、收入决定机制以及个体的信念、性别等因素都会对再分配偏好产生影响。实验研究方法有助于充分了解再分配偏好的影响因素,能够为宏观层面再分配制度的设计提供微观依据。     

Leveling the Playing Field or Just Lowering Salaries? The Effects of Redistribution in Baseball

In an attempt to even the playing field, Major League Baseball has considered a number of different redistribution programs. To successfully address the problem of imbalance in the league, redistribution must affect teams' marginal revenue functions. Previous theoretical work has shown that efforts to redistribute revenues from rich to poor teams will lower the marginal value of winning of all teams, thus reducing the payments to labor. But it remains an empirical question as to whether the net effects of such programs have improved balance. In this paper we provide an empirical assessment of whether redistributive efforts between 1996 and 2001 succeeded in reallocating talent to less advantaged teams by estimating the effect of redistribution on the marginal revenue functions of small- and large-market teams. Our results indicate that redistribution lowered salaries by approximately 22% without affecting league balance.     

The Timing of Redistribution

We investigate whether late redistribution programs that can be targeted toward low income families, but that may distort savings decisions, can “dominate” early redistribution programs that cannot be targeted as a result of information constraints. We use simple two‐period overlapping generations models with heterogeneous agents under six policy regimes: a model calibrated to the U.S. economy (benchmark), two early redistribution (lump sum) regimes, two (targeted) late redistribution regimes, and finally a model without taxes and redistribution. Redistribution programs are financed by a labor tax on the young generation and a capital tax on the old generation. We argue that if the programs are small in size, late redistribution can dominate early redistribution in terms of welfare but not in terms of real output. Better targeting of low income households cannot completely offset savings distortions. In addition, we find that the optimal transfer and tax policy implies a capital tax of 100% and transfers exclusively to the young generation.     

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.     

A conceptual framework for the growth and redistribution debate in South Africa

It is possible to identify two generic schools of thought on the emotive question of the racially skewed income and wealth distribution in South Africa. Some economists argue in favour of ‘growth through redistribution’, and postulate that redistributive policies can enhance economic growth, especially by increasing labour productivity and generating greater political stability. Others support ‘redistribution through growth’, and emphasise the efficiency losses attendant upon any meaningful redistribution of existing income and wealth. The debate between these two schools of thought can be examined and evaluated within a common analytical framework. In so doing, it appears that, although proponents of both points of view have some compelling theoretical arguments, the matter can only be settled empirically.     

Fairness and the Unselfish Demand for Redistribution by Taxpayers and Welfare Recipients

We theoretically illustrate how the aversion to unfairness triggers an unselfish though rational demand for redistribution. This leads the well-off to demand positive tax rates and the “poor” to reject extreme progressivity. We prove that the “rich” and the “poor” adjust their demand for redistribution in opposite ways when their sensitivity to fairness increases: while agents with above average expected income raise their demand for redistribution, agents with below average income lower it. We then provide empirical evidence of these behaviors using a nationally representative survey from Italy. The estimates confirm that a stronger aversion to unfair distributive outcomes is associated with a higher support for redistribution by individuals with high income and to a lower demand for redistribution by those with low income.     

Invisible capital: The contribution of communal rangelands to rural livelihoods in South Africa

Communal rangelands (including their woodland component) contribute significantly to rural livelihoods in that a variety of natural resources are utilised for direct use and for exchange in local and more distant markets. Natural resources are also valued for purposes which are not ‘economic’ (eg for ceremonial and aesthetic reasons) and because of their ecological functions. The fact that many of these uses are not monetised means that their true social and economic value is often underestimated and not taken adequately into account when assessing, for example, the viability of land redistribution projects. The ecological dimension is as crucial as the socio‐economic: how sustainable is this multifold use of communal rangeland resources? More positively, can the productivity of ‘natural capital’ be increased, and how can the benefits of multifold utilisation activities be more widely distributed to help address rural poverty? This article discusses conceptual models drawn from the general literature which may be of relevance; reviews some of the southern African evidence on rural livelihoods and natural resource use; and attempts to draw out the lessons for poverty assessments and land reform policy.     

The Effects of Differential Income Replacement and Mortality on U.S. Social Security Redistribution

We study redistribution via the U.S. Social Security retirement system for cohorts of men born during the second half of the 20th century. Our focus is on redistribution across race and education groups. The cohorts we study are younger than cohorts studied in previous, similar research and thus more exposed to recent increases in earnings inequality. All else equal, this should increase the degree of progressivity of Social Security redistribution due to the structure of the benefit formula. However, we find that redistribution is only modestly progressive for individuals born as late as 1980. Differential mortality rates across race and education groups are the primary explanation. While Black–White mortality gaps have narrowed some in recent years, they remain large and dull progressivity. Mortality gaps by education level are also large and unlike the gaps by race, they are widening, which puts additional regressive pressure on Social Security redistribution.     

地方政府项目竞争对工业绿色化发展的影响

分税制改革以来中央政府在财政再分配和宏观经济调控中采取的竞争性项目分配形成了独特的项目制模式。在此模式下,地方政府为获取财政资源而展开的项目竞争通过收入效应、资源配置效应和挤出效应,对工业绿色化转型发展产生影响。基于中国2002—2017年省际面板数据的实证研究表明：项目制总体上抑制了工业绿色化发展,并且在东中西部地区对工业绿色化发展均存在不同程度的抑制,在西部地区的抑制程度相比较而言要高于东中部地区;规范政府竞争行为可以在一定程度上减弱项目制的负面作用,促进工业绿色化发展。     

The Poverty of Politics: How Income Redistribution Hurts the Poor

In spite of the significant research literature identifying a tradeoff between income redistribution and economic growth, massive public programs have been implemented to help the poor by transferring income to them. Since Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty began in 1964, over 3.5 trillion dollars have been transferred. However, the possibility that everyone, including the poor, may in fact be made worse off by the transfer has largely been ignored. With a simple algebraic model, the authors demonstrate that, over time, both high and low-income groups are harmed by redistribution. In addition, social mobility, as well as political concerns with relative poverty and international income redistribution increases the damage to all income groups produced by redistribution.     

我国个人所得税的再分配效应及国际比较

个人所得税是调节收入分配差距的重要手段之一。文章认为：整个考察期间,除2006年外,我国个人所得税制发挥了正向、且进一步加强的再分配效应。但与其它国家相比,其调节效果非常有限。主要原因在于：我国个人所得税没有发挥主体地位,在制度设计上存在严重缺陷,而且在税收征管上也存在许多漏洞。因此,为了更好地发挥其应有的再分配效应,全面的个人所得税制改革迫在眉睫。     

Allocating and taxing rights to state-owned minerals

Is Indonesia using the most effective possible strategies to derive revenue from its mineral resources? Auctions and work program bidding are the main ways of allocating mineral leases. In addition to the company taxes applied to all companies, governments can raise revenue from minerals owned by the state through auctions, royalties and rent taxes paid by private firms, and through dividends from state-owned firms. Indonesia uses work program bidding to allocate leases, and its production-sharing contracts are roughly equivalent to a rent tax at a high rate. This paper considers these options for raising revenues from mineral resources. It argues that efficiency and government revenue would both be increased if Indonesia relaxed direct controls on the operations of mining companies, and allocated leases by means of auctions, combined with a much lower rate of rent tax or, better still, a royalty.