Biological Adaptation in Human Societies: a ‘Basic Needs’ Approach

The groundzero premise (so to speak) of the biological sciences is that survival and reproduction is the basic, continuing, inescapable problem for all living organisms; life is at bottom a survival enterprise. It follows that survival is the paradigmatic problem for human societies as well; it is a prerequisite for any other, more exalted objectives. Although the term adaptation is also familiar to social scientists, until recently it has been used only selectively, and often very imprecisely. Here a more rigorous and systematic approach to the concept of adaptation is proposed in terms of basic needs. The concept of basic human needs has a venerable history – tracing back at least to Plato and Aristotle. Yet the development of a formal theory of basic needs has lagged far behind. The reason is that the concept of objective, measurable needs is inconsistent with the theoretical assumptions that have dominated economic and social theory for most of this century, namely, valuerelativism and cultural determinism. Nevertheless, there have been a number of efforts over the past 30 years to develop more universalistic criteria for basic needs, both for use in monitoring social wellbeing (social indicators) and for public policy formulation. Here I will advance a strictly biological approach to perationalizing the concept of basic needs. It is argued that much of our economic and social life (and the motivations behind our revealed preferences and subjective utility assessments), not to mention the actions of modern governments, are either directly or indirectly related to the meeting of our basic survival needs. Furthermore, these needs can be specified to a first approximation and supported empirically to varying degrees, with the obvious caveat that there are major individual and contextual variations in their application. Equally important, complex human societies generate an array of instrumental needs which, as the term implies, serve as intermediaries between our primary needs and the specific economic, cultural and political contexts within which these needs must be satisfied. An explicit framework of Survival Indicators, including a profile of Personal Fitness and an aggregate index of Population Fitness, is briefly elucidated. Finally, it is suggested that a basic needs paradigm could provide an analytical tool (a biologic) for examining more closely the relationship between our social, economic and political behaviors and institutions and their survival consequences, as well as providing a predictive tool of some value.     

社会保障税的税制思考

开征社会保障税势在必行。作为筹集社会保险资金的主要途径,社会保障税具有强制性和固定性,在社会、经济发展过程中起着特殊的作用。社会保障税的设计要充分考虑劳动者和政府的利益。结合一些国际经验和我国的实际情况,对符合我国国情的社会保障税制基本框架作一些研究和探索。     

基于EAI构建企业外部服务平台

企业信息化过程逐步从优化内部管理转向提高外部服务，许多企业开始实施CRM和SCM，并进而实现B2B电子商务。EAI的目标是实现企业不同系统之间的集成，通过EAI的实施，可以使企业服务系统获得以ERP为代表的企业后台系统的支撑。     

面向电子商务的现代物流管理信息系统的开发

结合现代物流技术发展趋势，分析探讨了面向电子商务的现代物流管理信息系统的开发技术路线，关键技术内容，功能体系结构设计及分层逻辑模型设计。     

体制变革背景下的服务业增长：一个定量分析框架

1978-2006年，中国服务业的高速增长与经济体制变革存在着直接的关系。体制变革是过去20多年中服务业增长的一个最重要因素。体制变革一方面通过放松管制提高了服务业占GDP的比重，另一方面，体制变革通过民营化进程降低了服务业的内部产业X-无效率，提高了服务业的金要素生产率。     

The Economics and Bioeconomics of Folk and Scientific Classification

Synopsis This paper is the product of a collaboration between a biologist (Ghiselin 1997) who works on the philosophy of classification and an economist (Landa 1981, 1994) who works on the ‘Economics of Identity’: how and why people classify people based on identity in the context of a theory of ethnic trading networks. In developing the ‘bioeconomics’ (the synthesis of economics with biology) of classification, we crossed a number of disciplinary boundaries—anthropology, economics, sociology, biology, and cognitive psychology including evolutionary psychology’s ‘fast and frugal’ heuristics. Using a bioeconomics approach, we argue that folk classifications—the classifications used by ordinary persons—have much in common with scientific classifications: underlying both is the need for economy of information processing in the brain, for the efficient organization of knowledge, and for efficiency of information acquisition and transmission of information to others. Both evolve as a result of trial and error, but in science there is relatively more foresight, understanding, and planning.     

转型时期弱势群体的社会救助

在社会保障制度的建立和发展过程中,社会救助最早建立.但是,现代的社会救助与早期的社会救助有本质上的区别.转型时期弱势群体的社会救助,是建立在一定的法规之上,具有社会性、制度性和强制性的社会保障制度.     

武汉市人口与零售商业网点分布优化配置研究

本文根据湖北和武汉统计年鉴等资料中的人口数据和社会商品零售额数据 ,拟合出反映人口分布和商业网点分布的计量模型。然后根据模型的含义 ,并综合考虑其它影响商业网点配置的因素 ,提出适合武汉市人口分布的商业网点优化配置的合理性建议     

中国服务出口比较优势与出口结构的变化——基于显示性比较优势指数的实证分析

20世纪80年代以来,中国服务出口有了长足的发展,在全球的位次也大大提升。但是,以改良的显示性比较优势指数为基础的分析表明,中国的服务出口在整体上仍然不具备比较优势。具体观察各个服务部门可以发现,旅游服务的比较优势有较大提高,运输服务从具有比较优势变为不具有比较优势,其他服务虽然处于劣势地位,但这种劣势在不断减弱。从出口结构来看,中国服务出口从80年代的以运输服务为主转变为目前的以旅游服务为主,运输服务的出口比重迅速下降,而旅游服务的出口比重则大幅提高。     

嘉兴农村社会阶层分化对基层民主政治建设的影响

改革开放以来，嘉兴农村社会阶层发生很大的变化，出现了许多新的阶层。这对促进农村政治民主化的发展、完善目前正在实施的村民自治制度具有重要的作用。但应当看到目前嘉兴农村基层民主建设尚存在一些问题，这些问题的存在与农村阶层分化不到位，以及群体性和组织性不强有着直接的关系。正确认识农村社会结构变化的规律，不断增强它的群体性和组织程度，对促进农村政治发展的民主化具有重要意义。