‘Never take pity’: an average French boxer’s ethnobiography

Based on a long-term ethnographic study of a group of French boxers, this article retraces the biography of one of its members. Éric was an average boxer who never truly mastered the art of dodging his opponents. He never left the ranks of amateur boxing either, although in fact he never truly hoped he would step into the limelight reserved for the very few champions who make it. His anonymous and relentless commitment to boxing was in fact filled with a different meaning that his ethnobiography brings to light. His commitment to boxing can be better understood in light of the trials he faced in “the poor life”, a life he described as flavorless, mired in unemployment and survival delinquency. Despite his repeated defeats in the ring, for him boxing was the only part of his identity that elevated his status and set him apart from those who only had the streets to hang out on. By revealing the meaning he gave to his pugilism, Éric’s ethnobiography offers a new perspective on the links between boxing, violence, and poverty. It also paves the way for exploring the dark side of a leisure activity and its struggles that extend far beyond the ring itself.     

A preliminary theoretical examination of the targeted public distribution system in India

A theoretical model of targeting in the public distribution system is set out. In any system of targeting there could be inclusion and exclusion errors. These errors could be reduced by search by the state. The state aims to minimise the costs of food administration subject to keeping the magnitude of the exclusion error bounded. Targeting involves a consideration of the objective poverty level, the official poverty level and the targeted poverty level by the state. The targeted poverty level could be less than the official poverty level if the extent of search is not adequate. The objective poverty level is an increasing function of the above poverty line issue price of food due to exclusion errors, a decreasing function of the procurement price of food and by definition the below poverty line issue price of food. The instruments in the hands of the state are the official poverty level, the above poverty line issue price for food, the procurement price of food and the extent of search. The comparative static implications of the model are set out.     

Impact of MGNREGA on the livelihood security of rural poor in India: a study using national sample survey data

This paper studies the impact of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) at the all-India level utilizing nationally representative data from the national sample survey (NSS). We propose an alternative methodology for the proper identification of target households in the baseline period using a secondary data source such as the NSS. The programme is assessed in terms of whether it has been successful in ensuring livelihood security for beneficiary households. The study found that the increase in spending capacity of non-beneficiary households was greater than MGNREGA beneficiary households. Moreover, the overall growth trend in spending capacity over time had a greater effect in improving the livelihood security of the target households than the estimated effect of the programme.     

农业产业扶贫应解决好的几个问题

产业扶贫是脱贫攻坚的重头戏。农业是贫困地区的基础产业和民生产业,是贫困人口生活和收入的重要来源。文章分析了当前农业产业扶贫中存在的困难和问题,提出要树立精准理念、选准特色产业、培育新型主体、完善利益机制、编制科学规划、加大投入力度、强化保险支持,确保贫困人口通过产业发展精准受益,如期实现脱贫。     

A NON‐PARAMETRIC MEASURE OF POVERTY ELASTICITY

We estimate the growth elasticity of poverty (GEP) using recently developed non‐parametric panel methods and the most up‐to‐date and extensive poverty data from the World Bank, which exceeds 500 observations in size and represents more than 96 percent of the developing world's population. Unlike previous studies which rely on parametric models, we employ a non‐parametric approach which captures the non‐linearity in the relationship between growth, inequality, and poverty. We find that the growth elasticity of poverty is higher for countries with fairly equal income distributions, and declines in nations with greater income disparities. Moreover, when controlling for differences in estimation technique, we find that the reported values of the GEP in the literature (based on the World Bank's now‐defunct 1993‐PPP based poverty data) are systematically larger in magnitude than estimates based on the latest 2005‐PPP based data.     

科技扶贫过程中利益相关主体的博弈分析

建立由政府、驻村科技人员以及扶贫客体（贫困农户和村委会）组成的三方博弈模型分析科技扶贫过程中涉及的相关利益主体的行为动机。结果表明扶贫效果与贫困主体自身投入的要素资源量成反比,与政府投入的扶贫资源量以及驻村科技人员的努力程度成正比。     

草原牧区生态移民的贫困风险研究——以内蒙古苏尼特右旗为例

进入20世纪90年代中后期,由于草原退化带来的严重生态问题,政府组织了一系列生态移民,但在移民搬迁过程中出现了大量贫困现象。文章以迈克尔(Michael M.Cernea)的贫困风险理论为基础,运用层次分析法,从物质资本、人力资本和社会资本三个方面因素对牧区生态移民可能面临的贫困风险进行研究,通过研究为草原牧区生态移民贫困风险规避提供有益的建议。     

财政支农投入的农村减贫效应研究——基于中国改革开放30年的考察

基于对财政支农投入与农村贫困减少之间关系的考察,理论推导发现:在特定的经济环境和技术水平约束下,财政支农投入增长的农村减贫效应呈现边际递减规律。利用误差修正模型(ECM)的实证研究表明:改革开放30年间,总体上,财政支农投入对农村贫困缓解起到了一定的作用。短期内,财政支农投入增长对农村减贫效果较为明显;而长期内,财政支农投入的农村减贫效果趋于平稳。短期有效长期平稳的减贫效果,要求政府的财政支农投入增长具有持续性。