Strategic Bundling of Development Policies with Adaptation: An Examination of Delhi's Climate Change Action Plan

A growing number of cities in the global South are taking proactive action on climate change. Their plans provide insights into the potential for strategically bundling long‐term development policymaking with the climate agenda. In this article I study the case of Delhi, the first city in India to adopt a climate change action plan. Drawing on the literature on urban ecological security, I examine: (1) the adaptation challenges that Delhi faces; (2) the multiple motivations that underlie early action; (3) the key actors, strategies, and associated action domains outlined in the plan; and (4) the extent to which the plan seeks to bring about systemic change. Proactive action at the city level serves multiple strategic goals. Delhi's case is significant in illustrating how it has leveraged emergent opportunities to advance its short‐term development agenda, given the tight fiscal constraints and governance challenges it faces. The plan has been strategically formulated to enhance competiveness, facilitate image‐building, garner support for pet projects and access alternative sources of funding. But the short‐term orientation of the plan and its limited mechanisms for citizen engagement have severely restrained its capacity to address underlying social vulnerabilities or bring about transformative change.     

辽河三角洲湿地景观格局脆弱性变化

目前湿地开发利用日益加剧,本文结合全局自相关、局部自相关进行空间关联分析的研究方法进行分析。虽然辽河三角洲区域脆弱度逐渐减弱,仍有部分地区存在高脆弱度值。数据表明2015年低脆弱度区基本覆盖整个辽河三角洲区域。     

基于乡村振兴视角下西部绿洲流转农户生计脆弱性影响因素研究

［目的］乡村振兴战略中，保障民生是重中之重，而生计脆弱性可综合全面地反映生计特征，因此对西部绿洲流转农户生计脆弱性的影响因素探究，是保障民生、促进农户生计可持续发展的关键举措。［方法］文章以西部绿洲区沙湾县为研究区域，构建“暴露—敏感—适应性”框架，通过熵值法和多元线性回归模型探究转入与转出户生计脆弱性的微观动因。［结果］（1）转入户的生计脆弱性低于转出户； （2）转入户生计脆弱性与家中劳动力数量、家庭收入对耕地资源的依赖程度、耕地机械化程度、流转交易费用、家庭成员有公职人员数量、经营管理能力的程度、获得种植技术援助机会显著相关； （3）中大型生产性工具种类数、家庭中非农就业的人数与转出户生计脆弱性在1%的置信水平上显著相关。［结论］通过加强非农就业技术培训，促进生计选择多元化； 加大惠农政策支持和宣传，推进农村的社会保障体系建设； 组织农技交流会，提升经营管理技术水平； 完善流转交易管理体制，提供相关法律援助的对策，切实保障西部绿洲区流转农户的生计安全，推动区域社会经济的稳定发展。     

传统旅游城市经济系统脆弱性研究——以桂林市为例

文章将经济系统脆弱性理论引入旅游城市研究,以我国传统旅游城市桂林为例,构建旅游城市经济系统脆弱性指标体系,采用因子分析法确定权重,测度1999～2009年桂林经济系统的脆弱性。研究表明,旅游城市经济系统的脆弱性本质上是结构型脆弱性,产业多元化发展总体上能够降低旅游城市经济系统的脆弱性,但桂林产业多元化是围绕旅游业建立,旅游业的波动必然带来城市经济的震荡,表现出较高的脆弱性。根据研究结论,文章认为产业多元化并非旅游城市可持续发展的唯一途径,也非旅游城市发展的唯一诉求。如果城市发展能够更多地照顾社区利益,藏富于民,改善就业情况,减少劳动者负担,提高劳动者素质,也能够降低经济系统的脆弱性。     

Tempering effects of (dependent) background risks: A mean-variance analysis of portfolio selection

In a mean variance framework, we analyse risk taking in the presence of a (possibly) dependent background risk, exemplified in a linear portfolio selection problem. We first characterise the comparative statics of changes in the distribution and dependence structure of the background risk. For unfair, undesirable and loss-aggravating increases in background risks (both dependent and independent), we then present necessary and sufficient restrictions on preferences such that greater background uncertainty leads to reduced risk taking. With mean-variance preferences, these restrictions boil down to simple conditions on the marginal rate of substitution between risk and return. They can be easily related to familiar notions such as risk vulnerability, properness or standardness.     

An intersectionality framework for transformative services research

The authors introduce the theory of intersectionality which refers to the interactivity of social identities such as race, class, and gender in shaping individuals’ experiences. Intersectionality is explored using cases and examples from healthcare services, which involve high contact encounters with consumers who may possess multiple disadvantages (e.g. low income, illness, immigrant status) and therefore make for interesting contexts for intersectional analyses. Intersectionality is proposed as a framework that can shed light on the experiences of consumers who belong to multiple disadvantaged social groups, such as being black and low income, immigrant, and in poor health. Detailed guidelines for conducting intersectionality-driven services research are provided, which take into account the interconnected nature of multiple disadvantages. The authors emphasize that intersectionality offers a holistic look at the co-created nature of services and it can be instrumental in designing tailored and fair services to improve consumer and societal well-being.     

Decomposing Vulnerability to Poverty

This paper applies the decomposition of the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke poverty index to the measurement of individual vulnerability to poverty. I highlight that poverty risk can be expressed as a function of expected incidence, expected intensity, and expected variability below the poverty line, three essential aspects for improving the design of appropriate risk‐management policies. An empirical illustration is provided using the British Household Panel Survey and the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth.     

Unpacking the interplay between organisational factors and the economic environment in the creation of consumer vulnerability

ABSTRACT

Access to credit is a key enabler of modern life. Yet many consumers face factors beyond their control which sometimes render them unable to borrow from mainstream lenders. This paper documents how firm-related factors determine lending thresholds and shape who is, or is not, a creditworthy customer. The impact of the 2008 economic recession on lending decisions is explored, an aspect that has been insufficiently discussed even though recessions are cyclical events. Drawing on semiotics and using multiple case studies, the study captures not only the groups that were excluded but also the reasons for exclusion. Empirical support is offered for the notion of vulnerability as a fluid state and the role of the timing of decisions as a source of vulnerability is described.     

寻计残疾人家庭脱贫与小康建设———基于中残联抽样调查数据的实证研究

文章借助世界银行的家庭贫困脆弱性定义和家庭消费理论,使用2007-2012年残疾人联合会抽样调查数据,对7266个家庭户混合横截面数据进行了消费模型估计和贫困脆弱性计算,并对2010年国务院“两个建设”政策进行了效果评价。研究发现,该项政策实施后,残疾人家庭贫困脆弱性整体上明显降低。智力残疾、教育水平低、生活在西部地区以及农村的残疾人所在家庭贫困脆弱性较高,这种特性决定了政府在制定和贯彻残疾人扶持政策过程中应分类规划、区别对待。