Invasive plants – friends or foes? Contribution of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) to livelihoods in Makana Municipality,Eastern Cape,South Africa

The negative impacts of invasive alien species on the environment are well documented. However, despite the predominantly negative perceptions associated with invasive species, it is evident that a number of these plants have been part of the landscape for generations and have numerous commercial and non-market uses. Consequently, there is a need for research that considers the impact of invasive species on the livelihoods and well-being of local communities. The authors investigated the contribution that the trade in prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), an invasive alien species, makes to the household income streams of poor trading households. The research highlights the apparent conflict of interests and trade-offs that exists between local traders, for whom the sale of the prickly pear provides a livelihood source, and the South African Government, who are actively seeking to remove the plant from the landscape.     

西藏农村公共服务的提供和贫困的减少(英文)

I. IntroductionThrough observing the basic public services that the farmers and herdsmen have obtained,this paper is devoted to an evaluation of the efforts made by the local government for thealleviation of poverty in rural Tibet. Firstly, the role of the agricultural support system inrealizing food security will be identified. Secondly, the public services that could directlyimprove the household welfare of farmers and herdsmen will be examined. Finally, we willexplore the possibilities for…     

城乡基本公共卫生服务均等化:经验观照与下一步

推进基本公共卫生服务均等化,是建设服务型政府的必然要求,也是维护社会公平正义、确保社会稳定和健康发展的必然选择。经过多年的发展,日本形成了一整套符合自身国情的公共卫生设施建设管理体制和政策体系,其在基本公共卫生服务均等化方面的一些做法值得借鉴。推进我国城乡基本公共卫生服务均等化,应构建公私医疗卫生机构在基本公共卫生服务供给中的合作治理机制,健全基本公共卫生服务均等化的制度保障体系,确保基本公共卫生服务均等化的财力投入长效稳定化,加快公共卫生服务人力资源建设,搭建城乡统筹的基本公共卫生服务信息管理系统。     

基于WoS和CNKI的生计脆弱性可视化知识图谱分析

通过绘制生计脆弱性领域的可视化知识图谱,分析生计脆弱性研究的发展过程,厘清研究现状,识别研究热点,把握演变趋势并展望未来研究方向,为后续生计脆弱性研究提供有益参考。使用CiteSpace可视化分析软件,比较分析2008—2024年WoS(Web of Science)和CNKI(中国知网)数据库中以生计脆弱性为主题的研究发展历程、研究内容及前沿动态。研究发现：生计脆弱性领域的文献数量呈现稳步增长态势,形成以法国与英国为核心的研究网络,学者和机构合作紧密,早期主要关注气候变化、自然灾害及农户生计状况的研究;近年来,研究热点主要聚焦于地区、实证、生计资本、脱贫农户、可视化、乡村振兴、返贫风险、生计韧性等方面。未来生计脆弱性研究须从研究合作、研究主题和研究方法3个层面不断深化,坚持挖掘和提炼中国农村反贫困经验,助力乡村振兴战略全面推进。     

公共财政扶贫支出绩效评价研究——基于国家扶贫重点县数据

文章运用2003-2010年国家扶贫工作重点县数据,实证评价了公共财政扶贫支出绩效,并基于标杆管理思想设置了评价标准。研究发现,近年来公共财政扶贫支出绩效基本呈持续上升趋势,但是在财政资金带动和配置结构方面亟需改进,同时应大力改善贫困地区住房、医疗和教育条件,并提高扶贫对象的自我脱贫能力。     

Child Mortality: Is Aid Fungibility in Pro-Poor Expenditure Sectors Decisive?

If development assistance targeted at specific sectors is not used as intended, aid is said to be fungible. Using country-specific estimates of the degree of aid fungibility in “pro-poor” government expenditure sectors, I assess the effect on child mortality. Results indicate that fungibility within these sectors does not help to explain differences in mortality. However, when separating the sample into democracies and non-democracies, results suggest that pro-poor expenditures influence mortality in non-democracies only and that aid treated as fungible tends to be used efficiently in democracies. JEL no. F35, O11, O23     

政府采购残障公共服务的现实困境与对策——以长沙市为例

为应对日益增长的残障公共服务的需求,政府购买非营利组织所提供的残障公共服务是必然选择。本文以长沙市作为个案研究,从购买残障公共服务的现状与困境出发,探讨中国政府购买残障公共服务的经验与不足之处,并提出了相应的对策。     

农村公益性小额信贷现状研究——基于贫困户需求视角的分析

文章基于对山东省嘉祥县3个乡镇(卧龙山镇、大张楼镇、马村镇)小额信贷情况的农户调查数据,从需求视角出发,分析得出小额信贷需求的影响因素和贫困农户需求不足的原因。发现以扶贫为设计初衷的农村小额信贷项目实际参与对象已从中、低收入贫困户转向进行非农生产性经营的中等偏上收入户和高收入农户,并且生产性小额信贷资金多被农户用于消费性支出。最后,文章尝试提出了一些公益性小额信贷的新思路和新模式。     

The poverty trap: The dual externality model and its policy implications

This paper analyzes poverty traps in a monopolistic competition general equilibrium model with aggregate demand externality. In our model, the central hypothesis is represented by the introduction of externalities in fixed costs that firms have to incur in order to industrialize as a spillover across sectors. By this we mean that the fixed cost incurred by a firm in order to start production can reduce the fixed cost that firms in other sectors of the economy must incur. With such an assumption, we can show the possibility for an economy to be locked in at different stages of development. We then proceed to discuss the policy implications and the possible role for government intervention. To this end we provide a potential framework of reference that, if properly developed, may be useful in policy design.     

Public assets and services delivery in South Africa: Is it really a success?

Poverty alleviation remains a pressing concern for South African policy-makers. Implementing effective anti-poverty policies requires a clear understanding of the nature and extent of poverty. The extant literature on South African poverty dynamics shows a decline in the headcount ratio over the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, the prior research largely adopts a narrow money-metric approach, or uses multi-dimensional indices that include welfare indicators based on private assets (e.g. television sets) or those that are provided publicly (e.g. access to water). This paper uses multiple correspondence analysis to measure non-income poverty trends for the period 2005–12. The novelty in this undertaking lies in an attempt to include a measure of the perceived quality of public assets and services to complement the standard indices. This provides some measure of ‘success’ of public service delivery, accounting for both changes in access and quality.     

低碳经济视角下的北京公共交通发展研究

全球变暖导致一系列社会问题,而交通运输排放的二氧化碳是其主因之一。如何建立低碳排放的公共交通运输体系对于北京低碳城市的发展和解决交通堵塞问题具有重要的意义。文章在计算各种交通方式碳排放强度的基础上,认为发展快速公交系统和轨道交通,可以降低碳排放强度,最后提出了北京发展低碳交通方式的对策。