读《贫困与饥荒》 看“丰裕中的贫困”

丰裕中的贫困一直是世界关注的问题,1998年诺贝尔经济学奖得主阿玛蒂亚·森的著作《贫困与饥荒》中给出了识别、治理“丰裕中的贫困”的新视角和新方法.本文在对阿玛蒂亚·森的理论进行总结、分析的基础上进一步探讨阿玛蒂亚·森的理论对中国治理贫困的启示.     

论快速增长与“丰裕中贫困”

一、理论的背景 “丰裕中贫困”是凯恩斯在《就业、利息和货币通论》中所用的“poverty in the midst ofplenty”一语的译文。在《通论》中,他指出,     

中国区域经济的"资源诅咒"效应:地区差距的另一种解释

国际上许多研究显示，自然禀赋与一些国家的经济增长之间存在显著的负相关关系，由此形成所谓的“资源诅咒”效应。本文在回顾相关文献的基础上，提出中国区域的经济增长在长周期上也存在着“资源诅咒”效应的假说，并把它看作是地区发展差距的一个重要原因，论文通过构建一个以能源资源为代表的资源丰裕度指数，重点考察我国不同省份之间资源禀赋与经济增长的相互关系。结论表明，1978-2003年我国资源丰裕的地区经济增长速度普遍要慢于资源贫瘠的地区。对此现象，论文用“资源诅咒”的四种传导机制作出解释，同时也为我国资源丰裕地区加快经济发展提供了一些具体的政策建议。     

西部地区能源资源利用效率的经济学研究 ——基于"资源诅咒"命题

西部地区资源丰裕,当经济增长缓慢,出现"富饶的贫困"现象,即所谓的"资源诅咒".本文通过众多学者关于"资源诅咒"假说的讨论,归结出"资源诅咒"要素传导机制,并基于各要素提出破解"资源诅咒"的政策建议,以实现"资源诅咒"转化为"资源福祉"的目的.     

没有心肝的社会

在美国这样的“丰裕社会”中,贫困问题不仅仍未得到解决,而且丰裕本身就演化成贫穷的社会和政治条件。在过去的岁月中,通过自己的政治参与,富人们使国家实行了有利于自己的经济政策。同时,他们对穷人的境遇要么漠然置之,要么就用各种方式将贫富分化的状况合理化。作者认为,要解决贫困问题就必须依靠穷人自身的政治觉醒,穷人应该更积极地参与政治,通过选票改善自身状况。     

金融空洞化与"贫困恶性循环"

基于纳克斯的“贫困恶性循环”理论，笔者认为，资本形成状况对经济发展具有重要影响。我国区域金融空洞化现象的出现，对欠发达地区的经济发展也产生了恶性循环的影响。防范金融空洞化，抑制“贫困恶性循环”，仅仅依靠市场的力量是无法做到的，政府相关政策的采用至关重要。     

城市"低保"对象就业决策分析

随着我国城市化进程的加快，我国“低保”人群的贫困问题更加凸显，城镇贫困居民生活处境可能更加困难，贫困群体的数量也有增大的趋势。此外，最低生活保障制度在保障贫困群体最低生活水平的同时，也引发了一些社会矛盾，例如长期福利依赖和隐性就业问题等，已成为最低生活保障制度中难以解决的主要矛盾。为了促进我国和谐社会的构建和完善，维护我国社会保障制度的可持续发展，本文深入研究城市“低保”制度与低保对象就业决策的关系，以防止长期依赖和社会排斥，提高“低保”对象的就业意愿和能力。     

基于中国省际层面的“资源诅咒”效应研究

自然资源是一个国家财富的重要组成部分,是经济赖以发展的重要物质基础。通常具有较高自然资源禀赋的国家有着更大的发展潜力。本文基于我国省际层面的数据,选取各省名义GDP年均增长率和自然资源丰裕度为指标,运用散点图、快速聚类法对各省经济增长速度和资源丰裕度进行对比分析得出,我国在省际层面上存在着“资源诅咒”现象,并提出加快制度建设、整合特色产业、建立生态补偿机制等政策建议。     

"城镇化热"中的新贫困现象及其根源

(一)“城镇化热”中的新贫困现象。1.物质贫困。(1)“失地 无业”带来的物质贫困。城镇化率的提高带来非农业用地需求的大量增加,使得数以万计的农民加入“失地”阵营。目前一些地区的城镇化进程中,农民不仅没有享受到真正的市民待遇,而且连最基本的生活资料——土地也被“剥夺”了,农民陷入了新的贫困。表现为:①对农民土地使用权的无偿“剥夺”,造成农民生活难以为继。在有些地区,“失地”农民根本没有拿到相应的征地补偿款,基本生存资料的丧失和缺少相应的补偿使农民陷入了新的贫困。②缺乏产业发展的城镇化无法为失地农民创造新的就业岗…     

自然资源丰裕度与经济增长关系分析——基于省际层面数据

自然资源是一个国家财富的重要组成部分,是经济赖以发展的重要物质基础。通常具有较高自然资源禀赋的国家有着更大的发展潜力。基于我国省际层面的数据,选取各省名义GDP年均增长率和自然资源丰裕度为指标,运用散点图、快速聚类法对各省经济增长速度和资源丰裕度进行对比分析,发现我国在省际层面上存在着"资源诅咒"现象,并提出加快制度建设、整合特色产业、建立生态补偿机制等政策建议。     

The "Inability to be Self-Reliant" as an Indicator of Poverty: Trends for the U.S., 1975–97

In this paper we present a new concept of poverty, Self-Reliant poverty, which is based on the ability of a family, using its own resources, to support a level of consumption in excess of needs. This concept closely parallels the "capability poverty" measure that has been proposed by Amartya Sen. We use this measure to examine the trend and composition of the Self-Reliant poor population from 1975 to 1997. We find that Self-Reliant poverty has increased more rapidly over this period than has official poverty. Families considered to be the most vulnerable—those headed by minorities, single women with children, and individuals with low levels of education—have the highest levels of Self-Reliant poverty. However, these groups have also experienced the smallest increases in poverty. Conversely, families largely thought to be economically secure—those headed by whites, married men with children, and highly educated individuals—have the lowest levels of Self-Reliant poverty, but have experienced the largest increases in poverty. We also find that the Self-Reliant poor is increasingly composed of vulnerable groups relative to the composition of the official poor. The labor market, demographic, and policy sources of the divergent trends in Self-Reliant and official poverty, and of the gender, race and family structure changes in poverty rates are explored.     

Instability and Crisis in Financial Complex Systems

This paper contrasts the Efficient Markets Hypothesis with Hyman Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH), taking into account the dynamic complexity of financial markets. This approach offers analytical tools that can account for crisis through processes endogenous to contemporary economies. Recent work, notably by J. Barkley Rosser, has suggested that complex dynamics is a strong foundations for Keynesian models and results. Group dynamics enter into the analysis in at least two ways: they provide an independent source of fundamental uncertainty which, as discussed by Keynes himself, can lead to speculative bubbles in asset markets, and they can cause overreactions in both lenders' and borrowers' attitudes toward risk. These aspects can lead to financial fragility and instability following a variety of complex dynamics. I shall argue that a financially complex system is, according to the FIH, inherently flawed and unstable: in the absence of adequate economic policy boom and bust phenomena, in financial markets which are fuelled by credit booms and busts, may generate endogenous instability and systemic crisis, such as the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis.

[O]ur economic leadership does not seem to be aware that the normal functioning of our economy leads to financial trauma and crisis, inflation, currency depreciations, unemployment, and poverty in the midst of what could be virtually universal affluence—in short, that financially complex capitalism is inherently flawed. (Minsky, 1986, p. 287; our emphasis)     

对我国"旅游扶贫"的几点思考

无论从自然资源还是人文资源来看,我国中西部地区都具有发展旅游业的独特的优势。因此,许多地方政府实行旅游扶贫的政策,十几年来取得了显著的成效。如今,我国实行西部大开发,中央要求中西部地区努力发展自己的特色产业,缩小与东部地区的差距。在这种新的经济形势下,我们又该如何来看待“旅游扶贫”呢？本文从怎样理解“贫困”;旅游扶贫是否一扶就灵;旅游扶贫与政府的关系;旅游扶贫与可持续性发展;旅游扶贫与创新等五个方面对贫困地区如何发展旅游业提出了自己的看法。     

大力扶持"微型企业":我国民营经济发展中需要重视的一问题

作者在对“微型企业”的含义及其在解决贫困和失业方面的重要作用说明的基础上,重点对我国在促进民营经济发展中应如何借鉴部分国家和地区的经验,建立起包括“技术(业务)支持和商业服务体系”、“微型金融服务与支持体系”和“政府政策支持体系”等三个构成部分的“微型企业”综合培育体系作了研究。     

ASPECTS OF POVERTY IN MALAYSIA

This paper is concerned with the definition and measurement of poverty in Malaysia. A poverty line is estimated after considering both the absolute and relative approaches to the definition. Various indices of poverty are discussed, ranging from the simple "incidence of poverty" measure to others which take account of the "poverty gap". There is a derivation of a new index due to Sen, and alternative normalizations are suggested for it. Estimates of all these measures are presented for Malaysia. Finally, the simple "incidence of poverty" measure, which is decomposable, is adopted to construct a "profile" of the poor in Malaysia.     

A FEMINISATION OF POVERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN?

In most industrialised nations, women are over-represented in the ranks of the poor. Furthermore, it is often argued that this gender-based disadyantage has increased over time. In this paper the author tests this so-called "feminisation of poverty" hypothesis in Great Britain. Cross-sectional data from three years of the Family Expenditure Survey (1968, 1977 and 1986) are used. A poverty measure that is additively decomposable with population share weights, and is consistent with Sen's axiomatic approach to poverty measurement, is used to decompose the "total" amount of poverty into male and female "shares." Somewhat surprisingly, this decomposition lends no support to the feminisation of poverty hypothesis.     

Absolute and Relative Deprivation and the Measurement of Poverty

This paper develops the link between poverty and inequality by focussing on a class of poverty indices (some of them well–known) which aggregate normative concerns for absolute and relative deprivation. The indices are distinguished by a parameter value that captures the ethical sensitivity of poverty measurement to "exclusion" or "relative–deprivation" aversion. The indices can be readily used to predict the impact of growth on poverty. An illustration using LIS data finds that the United States show more relative deprivation than Denmark and Belgium whatever the percentiles considered, but that overall deprivation comparisons of the four countries considered will generally depend on the intensity of the ethical concern for relative deprivation. The impact of growth on poverty also depends on the presence of and on the attention granted to concerns over relative deprivation.     

ECONOMIC TRANSITION AND SUBJECTIVE POVERTY IN URBAN CHINA

Market-oriented economic reforms have substantially changed the Chinese economy. A policy of "allowing some to get rich earlier" clearly has benefited some regions of the country more than others. The purpose of this paper is to investigate changes in regional urban poverty during this period of policy transition. Our approach is based on survey responses to minimum needs (i.e., the "subjective method"). For the richest (Coast) and poorest regions (North West) we find unambiguous declines in poverty between 1988 and 1995 for the registered population. For the Central and South West regions we find that changes in poverty over time are sensitive to both the poverty line selected and the poverty index employed.     

ON MEASURING POVERTY

This paper investigates the properties of various measures of poverty and of the "difficulty of alleviation of poverty". It is found that the ranking properties of both kinds of indices can be quite counter-intuitive and that they could be misleading if used for policy evaluation. An alternative index is proposed; it is compared to the other indices and seems to fare rather well. To illustrate, a special reference is made to S. Anand's recent article on poverty in Malaysia.     

ESCAPING POVERTY THROUGH WORK: THE PROBLEM OF LOW EARNINGS CAPACITY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1973–88

This paper documents the changes in earnings capacity poverty that occurred between 1973 and 1088. Families are "Earnings Capacity Poor" if they are unable to generate enough income to lift them out of poverty, even if all working-age adults in the family work full-time, year-round. Data from the March 1974 and March 1989 Current Population Surveys indicate that earnings capacity poverty increased more rapidly than official poverty. Much of this increase can be attributed to the rise in earnings capacity poverty among whites, intact families, and family heads with more than a high school diploma. Most alarming, the percentage of children in earnings capacity poor families is considerably higher than it is among persons over eighteen; in 1988, nearly 15 percent of children under six lived in families that could not have escaped poverty even if the adults in their family were working and earning at their full capacity levels.