The participation of Russian households in the informal economy: Evidence from the VTsIOM data

This study presents the size and structure of secondary employment in Russia, analyses the determinants of Russian informal secondary employment, and discusses differences between job qualifications in a main job and those in a secondary job. We estimate that 27 percent of Russia’s GDP was produced in the informal economy during 1997–98 and informal secondary employment amounts to about 20 percent of value added produced in the informal economy. We found that the probability of holding an informal secondary job as opposed to a formal one is positively associated with higher wage rates and lower education. However, there is little evidence that low income is correlated with holding an informal secondary job. We also found evidence that an informal secondary job requires lower job qualifications as compared to a formal one. Again, low income is not significant in determining differences between job qualifications in a main job and those in a secondary job. JEL classification: J22, J24, O17, P20.     

Pitfalls to avoid when measuring institutions: Is Doing Business damaging business?

Over recent years, both governments and international aid organizations have been devoting large amounts of resources to “simplifying” the procedures for setting up and formalizing firms. Many of these actions have focused on reducing the initial costs of setting up the firm, disregarding the more important role of business registers as a source of reliable information for judges, government departments and, above all, other firms. This reliable information is essential for reducing transaction costs in future dealings with all sorts of economic agents, both public and private. The priorities of reform policies should therefore be thoroughly reviewed, stressing the value of the legal institutions rather than trivializing them as is often the case. Journal of Comparative Economics 35 (4) (2007) 729–747.     

Struggle for Survival in the Deregulated Market: Re-commodification and Informalisation of the Taxi Sector in Stockholm

This paper investigates the process of the informalization of the Swedish taxi industry, focusing on how this process has been manifested in Stockholm’s taxi market. This process has been analysed partly in its particular, local and sector-specific context, as it has been affected by the deregulation of the taxi sector, and partly in its relationship to the broader context of economic and political changes to which all contemporary capitalistic (welfare) states are exposed. This study raises questions about actual common sense discourses on the issue of irregularities in the taxi industry, and offers an alternative perspective both on the ongoing process of informalization, and on the role of various economic actors in that process, including the state.     

金融自由化、经济转轨与农民相对贫困的恶化

金融自由化通过如下机制影响农民相对收入水平:经济增长、金融服务、金融发展和金融危机。转轨经济的特殊性使上述4个渠道都使农民相对收入增长受到不利影响。经济增长的再分配效应是不确定的。在转轨过程中,国有经济和国有银行从农村地区大规模撤退,减少了农民的金融机会和金融服务。在金融发展过程中,农民分享经济增长和金融发展外部性的难度提高。金融危机的再分配效应更是不利于农民。综合效应是,伴随金融自由化的推进,农民金融机会集合变窄,城乡收入差距快速扩大。     

构建稳固脱贫的长效机制

我国实现了世界上最大规模和最快速度的减贫,创造了全人类反贫困事业的伟大奇迹,彰显出中国特色社会主义制度的巨大优越性和国家治理体系与治理能力的生机和活力。但由于贫困成因的复杂性和脱贫的脆弱性,如何从机制设计上巩固脱贫成果、阻止贫困复归,是今后反贫困长期面临的重要任务。本文结合后扶贫时代我国农业农村工作重点,运用规范研究方法,从四个方面提出了有效构建稳固脱贫的长效机制,包括:构建稳固脱贫与精准扶贫政策延续机制;稳固脱贫与乡村产业振兴衔接机制;稳固脱贫与壮大集体经济共促机制;稳固脱贫与\"扶志\"\"扶智\"并举的内生动力和能力机制。     

中国扶贫资金支出结构的动态减贫效果研究

文章从理论上总结扶贫资金支出对农村贫困的减贫效果,构建扶贫资金支出与农村贫困的理论分析框架,提出扶贫资金对农村贫困发生率、农村贫困深度、农村贫困强度具有正向减贫效果的研究假设,以宏观调查数据度量我国农村贫困程度,揭示我国农村贫困的变化趋势,并运用脉冲响应函数分析方法,对扶贫资金支出结构的动态减贫效果进行了分析,结果显示:扶贫专项贷款对农村贫困发生率具有正向减贫效果;以工代赈资金对农村贫困发生率、农村贫困深度以及农村贫困强度具有正向减贫效果;扶贫发展资金对农村贫困深度具有正向减贫效果,而扶贫专项贷款对农村贫困强度的冲击则显示出负向减贫效果;扶贫发展资金对农村贫困强度具有显著负效应。据此,文章提出改善扶贫资金支出结构的相关政策建议。     

基于区域一体化的生态经济发展研究—以京津冀北为例

打破冀北地区生态恶化与经济贫困的恶性循环,是京津冀实现可持续发展的关键.它要求相关行政区域在产业政策、生态治理上加强合作,在区域一体化的基础上发展生态经济.路径在于:通过水权交易和生态补偿,实现生态治理成本的共担;通过项目合作,构建生态型产业体系.基于区域一体化的生态经济发展还要求政府治理形态的嬗变,即从行政区经济和行政区行政转向区域公共治理.     

中国农村居民贫困测度研究——基于山西的调查分析

运用Atkinson（1987）单维贫困测量与Alkire和Foster（2008）多维贫困测量相结合的方法,对山西农村居民贫困情况进行了测度。实证结果表明：从单维视角看,山西农村贫困主要体现在饮用水、消费、收入三个方面,全省三个主要贫困区存在差异;从多维视角来看,山西省农村居民存在多维贫困现象,考虑的贫困维度越多,贫困程度越严重。东部太行山区与北部高寒冷凉区的饮用水问题也比较严重,北部高寒冷凉区相比其他两个地区其教育问题较为突出,北部高寒冷凉区与西部吕梁山区的住房问题也需要关注。因此,山西今后要从多维度识别和瞄准贫困,针对地区贫困特点予以扶持。     

Tax structures in developing countries: Many puzzles and a possible explanation

Tax policies seen in developing countries are puzzling on many dimensions, given the sharp contrast between these policies and both those seen in developed countries and those forecast in the optimal tax literature. In this paper, we explore how forecasted policies change if firms can successfully evade taxes by conducting all business in cash, thereby avoiding any use of the financial sector. The forecasted policies are now much closer to those observed.     

\"绝对的相对\",抑或\"相对的绝对\"——汤森和森的贫困理论比较

英国经济学家彼得·汤森认为贫困是因为缺乏资源而被剥夺了享有常规社会生活水平和参与正常社会生活的权利,提出相对贫困测量方法.但是阿马蒂亚·森对此提出了质疑,认为贫困在能力的范围内是绝对的,相对贫困只是绝对贫困的补充而不能替代绝对贫困,是一种绝对的相对贫困观.本文对两人的贫困理论进行了比较和归纳.     

How do middle-aged children allocate time and money transfers to their older parents in Europe?

This paper analyses the determinants of financial and time transfers from adult children to their older parents using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). It is the first survey containing rich comparable interdisciplinary information about individuals aged 50+ from ten European countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). The first part of the paper highlights the differences in the provision of upward private intergenerational transfers (in terms of both time and money) across the ten European countries. The second part describes the different determinants in the decision to provide time or money transfers to parents and evaluates whether these two types of assistance are substitutes or complements. Results highlight the existence of a substitution between time and money in relation to geographical distance and the existence of a weak substitution regarding the employment status of the middle-aged children.