农地权益保障与农业转移人口市民化

研究目的：明晰农地权益对农业转移人口市民化的影响，进而揭示当前全国各地对农业转移人口农地权益保护状况。研究方法：基于Probit模型的实证分析。研究结果：（1）从全国范围来看，农业转移人口的农地权益只得到部分保障；（2）农地权益保障状况存在较大的地区差异，区域经济越发达，农地权益保障越完善；（3）农地权益只得到部分保障对推动农业转移人口向城市迁移起着促进作用，但却对农业转移人口市民化有着显著负面影响。研究结论：农地权益保障是农业转移人口市民化的重要影响因素，农地权益的不充分保障对农业转移人口市民化具有负面影响，而经济越不发达的地区这种影响越显著。     

新时代中国城市土地集约利用若干问题的再认识

研究目的：基于中国城市土地集约利用研究现状，面向新时代要求，重新审视与厘清城市土地集约利用理论认知、评价标准、影响机制和优化调控等基本问题，为中国土地集约利用的理论完善和实践创新提供支撑。研究方法：理论分析法和推理演绎法。研究结果：（1）城市土地集约利用在理论认知上应由“三个阶段”转向“三个时期”；（2）城市土地利用集约度的评价标准应由静态指标转向动态耦合；（3）城市土地集约利用的影响机制研究应由封闭区域转向关联传导；（4）城市土地集约利用优化调控策略应由极限集约转向最优集约。研究结论：进入新时代，城市土地集约利用理论上可实现“不增地，多增效”甚至“地减量，效增加”，未来相关研究应重点关注存量和减量规划中建设用地与经济发展之间关系的变化特征，以及国土空间规划与土地利用计划管理改革下新的城市土地集约利用问题。国家相关规程中的集约评价标准须结合区域发展阶段进行“匹配性”修正，政策制定要考虑区域间的“关联性”和“传导性”进行精准化设计，治理方案应按照最优集约度的“动态性”进行差异化调控。     

城镇群空间结构与要素集聚

依据城镇化发展过程中要素空间集聚理论，展开区域经济发展的空间经济结构研究。通过城市引力、克鲁格曼指数计算，比较分析城镇群内部城市吸引力和城市产业分布的差异性，通过人口与生产空间分布集中度指标和不一致系数的测算，分析了山西省城镇群空间要素集聚效应。研究表明，山西省的城镇群规划与要素空间集聚趋势整体一致，城市间产业分工体系基本形成，城镇群的要素集聚效应明显，但人口与生产分布仍存在不一致性。研究认为，山西省城镇群发展应该继续明确各城市的产业分工和特色，引导劳动力和资本要素的合理流动，实现人口与生产空间分布的一致。     

Polycentric development in the Cape Town city-region: Empirical assessment and consideration of spatial policy implications

The concept of the ‘polycentric urban region’ has been popularised both as a theoretical concept for understanding regional urban systems in an era of reduced transport and communication costs, and as a normative policy objective in its own right. This paper explores its relevance to the rapidly urbanising Cape Town city-region. First, empirical evidence for the emergence of polycentric regional development patterns was considered. Shifts in relative settlements sizes (morphological polycentrism) over the period 1991–2011 were examined using population data, and patterns of inter-settlement interactions (functional polycentrism) were explored by analysing commuting information. Contrary to expectations, trends toward polycentric development were found to be weak. Second, the paper considers the relevance and value of polycentric development thinking for regional economic and spatial planning policy, concluding that there are insufficient grounds for policy intervention aimed at encouraging polycentric regional development or countering the dominance of Cape Town in the region.     

人口结构与地方政府义务教育公共支出——基于中国省级面板数据的研究

利用我国2007-2011年间31个省市地区的平衡面板数据,从供给和需求两方面出发实证分析我国义务教育公共服务支出影响因素。在影响供给的因素讨论中,考察了财政收入、财政分权程度、转移支付、政府竞争力等因素。在影响需求的因素讨论中,探讨了人口自然与非自然结构,人口家庭结构对义务教育公共服务需求的影响。最后将我国分为东部、中部、西部三个地区,进一步剖析我国义务教育公共服务支出影响因素的区际差异。     

气候障碍因子对城市绿化适生树种选择的 影响——以上海世博公园为例

通过对上海近30年的气候因子汇总分析，结合对上 海世博公园主要绿化树种生长状况调查和年度生物量计算，通 过典型相关性分析发现，极端高低温、强风和暴雨等5个气候 因子对树木的生长产生了不同程度的影响，有些因子严重阻碍 了树木的正常生长，成为障碍因子。经过10年的绿化实践验 证，上海世博公园对骨干树种的选择，以乡土树种为主，群落 结构较为稳定，且气候障碍因子对乡土树种的影响较小。在引 种外来树种时，采用气候相似植物区系法，结合植物耐寒、耐 热带图，把种源地划分为2个气候带和3个植物区系，并确定了 最南引种线，成功引种了红花槭等20种观花色叶乔木树种。     

The Urban–Rural Gap of Chinese Household Finance

Using data from a large household survey, we investigate the size of China’s urban–rural gap in ownership of bank deposits, risky financial assets, and credit cards. We further examine the factors underlying the gap using decomposition analysis. Compared to their urban counterparts, rural Chinese are much less likely to own a variety of financial products. Both demand-side barriers and supply-side barriers to financial inclusion exist in China. More, we use instrumental variable analysis to address the endogeneity of the local supply of financial service. Above all, our study indicates that a large financial services vacuum in rural areas needs to be filled.     

Do pensions foster education? An empirical perspective

The paper examines the effect of population ageing on public education spending. On the one hand, ageing is expected to have a negative effect on education, as an increasing number of retirees results in ‘intergenerational conflict’ and, hence, the condemnation of education expenditure. On the other hand, ageing, in combination with pay-as-you-go pension systems, offers incentives for the working-age generation to invest in the public education of the young in order to ‘reap’ the benefits (that is, higher income tax/contributions) of their greater future productivity. Empirical evidence derived from the application of a fixed effects approach to panel data for OECD countries shows that the increasing share of elderly people has a non-linear effect on education spending. This indicates a certain degree of intergenerational conflict. Nevertheless, we find that future population ageing, which reinforces the mechanism linking public education and pensions, reflects positively on education expenditure. Furthermore, by disaggregating total education expenditure by educational levels, we observe that this effect is led by levels of non-compulsory education, probably as a reflection of the direct connection to labor productivity.     

Being Good Parents or Being Good Citizens: Dilemmas and Contradictions of Urban Families in Middle‐Class Enclaves and Mixed Neighbourhoods in Germany

In recent years, cities have become ever more attractive to middle‐class families. On the one hand, middle‐class families tend to withdraw into (often newly built) socially homogeneous middle‐class neighbourhoods. On the other hand, they are also known to move into inner‐city and socially mixed areas, thus triggering processes of gentrification. Academic literature has often denounced these housing choices as being either ‘separatist’ or ‘revanchist’, more broadly categorized as strategies of ‘middle‐class disaffiliation’. Although there is a grain of truth in these interpretations, the reality is certainly more complicated. In our research on middle‐class parents’ housing and neighbourhood choices as well as their patterns of neighbourhood use, carried out in each of the two types of residential area mentioned above, we have only very rarely found an explicit desire to draw boundaries that exclude those ‘beneath’ them. We rather argue that the housing choices and neighbourhood‐related activities of middle‐class family households are heavily influenced by the specific dilemmas the interviewees face as (working) urban parents. While a significant number of respondents worry about the social sustainability, justice and cohesion of urban society, they are also concerned about the future prospects of their children. Many find it difficult to reconcile these conflicting normative demands under the prevailing circumstances.     

Political budget cycles revisited: Testing the signalling process

A widespread view in the ‘political budget cycles’ literature is that incumbent politicians seek to influence voters’ perceptions of their competence and/or preferences by using the composition of the fiscal budget as a signalling tool. However, little is known about whether voters actually receive and perceive the signal in that way. To empirically assess the relevance of the signalling channel at the municipal level, we conducted a survey among 2000 representative German citizens in 2018. Only a small fraction of voters feel well-informed about the fiscal budget signal and use the information it contains to decide whether to vote for the incumbent politician. Persons paying more attention to the signal sent by local politicians live in smaller municipalities, are more satisfied with their economic situation, are more educated, and do not feel that they are being electorally manipulated. Our analysis raises doubt about the relevance of budget composition as a signalling mechanism for voters at the local level.