The environmental sustainability of protected area tourism: towards a concession-related theory of regulation

Demand for Protected Area (PA) tourism continues to grow, raising concerns for its environmental sustainability. Numerous sustainable tourism guidelines and best practice examples exist for separate aspects of PA regulation and management. However, such efforts are insufficient to reliably and holistically understand how regulation can mediate the relationship between tourism development and PA environmental sustainability. This paper proposes a theory development project, to map the compatibility and interplays among various regulatory approaches, and their consequences for sustainable PA tourism. The project is initiated here by taking the first steps toward a concession-related theory of regulation. The focus on concessions has been chosen because concessions are the most under-researched aspects of PA tourism regulation. Four regulatory aspects are selected and conceptualized in this paper: the approaches to PA planning, the types of monitoring undertaken, the methods of concession allocation and the design of environmental requirements in concession contracts. Methodologically, grounded theory is used, with data collection relying on written sources. The paper develops two sets of narrative statements regarding the prospects for PA environmental sustainability, under particular examples of concession-related regulation. The conclusion articulates several research questions, as an immediate research agenda, and calls for an international research group to be formed.     

Relationship between city size and firm productivity – A new interpretation using the Chinese experience

This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between city size and firm productivity by focusing on agglomeration, selection (market competition), and sorting (presence of firms with diverse productivity) effects using Chinese firm-level data for 1998–2013. Contrary to the existing literature, our parametric regression estimates from nearly two million firms show that when the selection effect is controlled, productivity advantage in big cities is reversed. This outcome is explained through a quantile regression showing the existence of left-sided sorting (inefficient firms sort themselves to larger cities) in big cities which is not captured in existing empirical literature. We further find that (1) left-sided sorting is stronger in exporters than non-exporters; (2) is also generated mainly in enterprises with high asset-liability ratios; and (3) selection has a positive effect on firm productivity, suggesting that market competition is key in an explanation of the rapid growth of big cities in China.     

农村环境治理绩效审计的作用机制与实施路径

农村环境治理是实施乡村振兴战略的重要举措,实施农村环境治理绩效审计是推进环境治理体系和治理能力现代化建设的重要内容之一。目前农村环境治理存在着投资大、周期长、涉及面广、收效缓等问题,亟需开展农村环境治理绩效审计以提升农村环境治理绩效。本文基于农村环境治理全流程,把农村环境治理绩效审计的主要内容分为农村环境政策审计、农村环境资金审计、农村环境项目审计和农村环境监管审计。然后从审计的预防、揭示和抵御功能分析了农村环境治理绩效审计的威慑、纠偏和反馈作用。在此基础上,提出了农村环境治理绩效审计的实施路径:加强审计处理与处罚力度,协同审计追责问责;聚焦审计整改与纠偏控制,统筹审计资源技术;完善审计建议与公开制度,构建审计评估机制。     

乡村集体经济发展的全面振兴价值与实践途径——以福建省南安市蓉中村为例

乡村振兴是时代的使命,乡村振兴的基础是经济的振兴,关键是新时代理念下的集体经济发展。只有集体经济发展了,才能充分体现社会主义农村经济制度的优越性,适应乡村全面振兴的要求,为乡村基层组织提高引领力、组织力和战斗力奠定基础;为乡村经济、政治、文化与环境全面协调发展提供支撑,为乡村居民实现美好生活建立基本保障。而乡村集体经济发展的重要途径在于始终坚持习近平总书记提出的具有普遍指导意义的"晋江经验";在于坚持因地制宜地选择产业、依托龙头企业,在城乡统筹中走抱团发展之路;在于坚持辩证统一观念下的"口袋"与"脑袋"、经济与社会、内涵发展与外在协作的协调与推动。     

干部经历 会影响农户选择电商销售渠道吗?——基于荔枝种植户的实证分析

基于印记理论,选取2020年广东和广西两省荔枝主产区的964户种植户作为调研对象,运用logit模型进行实证分析,探索干部经历对农户选择电商销售渠道的影响。结果显示:干部经历对荔枝种植户采用电商销售具有显著的正向影响,而农户自身具有的销售渠道资源也是荔枝种植户选择电商销售的动力之一,其与干部经历带有的政治资本共同推动种植户选择电商销售。因此,要发挥具有干部经历的农户在农产品电商发展中的带头人作用,培育当地的销售服务团队与提供更多的销售渠道资源,并联合社会多方力量加大对农产品电商销售的培训力度。     

新中国70年中国农村社会保障制度的演进逻辑与未来展望

新中国成立以来,得益于我国综合国力的快速提升和中国特色社会主义的制度优势,我国农村社会保障事业取得了巨大成就,但仍存在社会保障制度城乡不均衡发展等重要问题。本文依据多源流模型和公共产品理论构建了我国农村社会保障制度演进的分析框架进行分析表明,我国农村社会保障制度演进大概经历了制度萌芽与停滞、恢复与探索、改革与发展、完善和提高四个阶段,人民日益增长的美好生活需要、党和国家"以人民为中心"的发展理念、政策试点与政策研究、经济体制改革与综合国力提升共同构成了农村社会保障制度演进的动力机制。针对农村社会保障制度演进面临的重要挑战,提出了加强农村社会保障治理体系现代化建设等未来展望。     

A Livelihood and Farming System approach for effective conservation policies in Protected Areas of Developing Countries: The case study of the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique

Effective conservation requires that conservation policies and management decisions first target local actors who are dependent on natural resource use in Protected Areas (PA) of Developing Countries (DC). In rural areas of DCs, these actors are mainly farmers who also rely on off-farm activities such as harvest of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to complement their livelihoods. Here, we propose a novel approach to support the development of policy interventions aimed at achieving conservation goals through the sustainable development of local people in PAs of DCs. The approach consists in identifying the main Livelihood and Farming Systems (LFS) and select those that are more conservation-friendly, and that may contribute to solve conservation and development problems such as Human-wildlife conflict. Identifying the existing LFS can also help in searching for conservation-relevant improvements that can contribute to local people wellbeing, considering the existing FS as the starting point for a sustainable development strategy in PAs of DC. Data from the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the largest PA in Mozambique, were used to develop this LFS approach. Measures of effort applied in harvesting NTFPs and in managing agricultural inputs and outputs were collected from 329 households through a structured survey. Cluster analysis was performed to identify and characterise the main LFS in the NNR. Based on the cluster results, we have identified four livelihood systems (LS): gatherers, hunters, farmers and employees; four farming systems (FS): specialized in maize, rice and sorghum, and a mixed FS. A Multinomial Logistic Model was also applied to understand the drivers of LFS choice. Livelihood systems were mainly driven by household-level socio-economic factors, while FS were driven by village-level biophysical conditions. Households who were employed and had diversified farming and off-farm activities were better off and more resilient to climate change and crop-raiding animals. Intensification appears to occur gradually but has found to be limited by rainfall availability. Based on our findings, we propose that conservation experts and policy-makers should use a LFS approach to re-frame the conservation narrative in PAs of DCs and promote the existing practices that can better protect biodiversity while improving livelihood and welfare of local people.     

新疆农村产业融合发展研究

现运用面板回归模型结合产值贡献度的方法评价了新疆农村产业融合度,结果表明,新疆农业与农产品加工业融合度、农业与农业服务业融合度均较低。通过地理信息可视化表达发现,新疆农村产业融合度且存在明显的区域差异。最后,结合新疆农村产业融合发展所面临的困境,提出了需要完善农业教育服务体系;培育区域特色品牌;加强对各种利益联结方式的监督引导等建议。     

亲子亲合对农村留守儿童孤独感的影响研究

根据亲子沟通频率(高-低)、亲子亲密度(强-弱)将亲子亲合分为积极型亲子亲合、消极型亲子亲合、默契型亲子亲合、放任型亲子亲合四种类型。通过采用西安交通大学课题组与西南财经大学课题组2017年在四川省金堂县联合开展的留守儿童调查数据,探讨亲子亲合对农村留守儿童孤独感的影响。调查发现,四川省金堂县农村留守儿童存在较高的孤独感问题,基于logit模型进行实证分析发现,不同亲子亲合类型对农村留守儿童孤独感的影响存在差异,积极型亲子亲合有利于缓解农村留守儿童孤独感,默契型亲子亲合对农村留守儿童孤独感的缓解作用不显著,放任型亲子亲合加剧农村留守儿童孤独感。提出鼓励多元主体参与构建农村留守儿童关爱服务体系,促进农村留守儿童的健康成长。     

Capitalization of land development rights in rural China: A choice experiment on individuals’ preferences in peri-urban Shanghai

The capitalization of land development rights is acknowledged as the key to improving compensations for rural landholders and ameliorating land-related social conflicts in peri-urban China. Investigations into reasonable as well as feasible compensation standards and the capitalization mechanism are yet to be done. This study uses a survey-based choice experiment to empirically estimate the value of land development rights in peri-urban Shanghai for three forms of rural land conversion – acquisition, consolidation and (informal) sale. The results show that heterogeneity across individuals’ preferences translates into different utilities from land development, which affects individual’s willingness to participate in this process. This effect is found to be the strongest for land sales on the informal market. If, however, land conversion is managed by local governments and rural collectives, the expected utilities of individuals have no significant effect on the amount of land development. The results suggest that capitalizing land development rights under consideration of land attributes and individuals’ preferences would lift compensation standard to a level that strikes a balance among competing land-related interests. In addition, it would promote China’s land development by bypassing the institutional constraints imposed by the current land tenure system.