Consistent poverty comparisons and inference

Building upon the cost of basic needs (CBN) approach, an integrated approach to making consumption-based poverty comparisons is presented. This approach contains two principal modifications to the standard CBN approach. The first permits the development of multiple poverty bundles that are utility consistent. The second recognizes that the poverty line itself is a random variable whose variation influences the degree of confidence in poverty measures. We illustrate the empirical importance of these two methodological changes for the case of Mozambique. With utility consistency imposed, estimated poverty rates tend to be systematically higher in rural areas and lower in urban areas. We also find that the true confidence intervals on the poverty estimates—those incorporating poverty line variance—tend to be considerably larger than those that ignore poverty line variance. Finally, we show that these two methodological changes interact. Specifically, we find that imposing utility consistency on poverty bundles tends to tighten confidence intervals, sometimes dramatically, on provincial poverty estimates. We conclude that this revised approach represents an important advance in poverty analysis. The revised approach is straightforward and directly applicable in empirical work.     

Food market liberalization: History and prospects

Abstract

Government intervention has been a feature of food markets in both industrialized and agrarian economies. However, the last 10 years have seen reforms aimed at reducing intervention; these have been a characteristic of ‘structural adjustment’. The process of reform has involved the replacement of administered by market‐determined prices and the abolition of trading parastatals or the removal of their monopoly. Despite an almost complete consensus that reforms are necessary and the absence of coherent local opposition, the pace and extent of reforms have varied. Moreover, views about liberalization tend to be polarized. Proponents argue that continued intervention is inefficient, unaffordable and distorting; antagonists suggest that unmodified markets lead to unacceptable inequalities, and expose producers and consumers to unacceptable risks. Moreover, weak fragmented markets do not constitute a sufficient base for sustained growth. This paper reviews the experience. It concludes that simple solutions of substituting public with private trading are not necessarily possible nor desirable, and argues that the nature of the debate may be misleading. The way forward may not lie in a choice between private market supremacy and conventional government intervention.     

Political dynasties and poverty: measurement and evidence of linkages in the Philippines

Political dynasty refers to a situation in which an incumbent official has at least one relative in elected office in the past or the present government. In the Philippines, for example, political dynasties comprise over 70% of its Congress. The impact of political dynasties on socioeconomic outcomes such as poverty is an important empirical question (do political dynasties exacerbate poverty?), and this paper presents some evidence. The analysis of data from the Philippines finds a worsening effect of political dynasties on poverty in provinces outside Luzon.     

Social isolation and its relationship to multidimensional poverty

While the multidimensionality of poverty is well-recognised, one dimension of poverty which has been often overlooked is weak social connectedness. This paper draws on conceptual, participatory and measurement literatures to show that social connectedness appears to be an important missing ingredient of multidimensional poverty analyses, with social isolation being a feature which exacerbates the condition of poor persons. To provide contextual detail as to its impact on persons in marginalized communities, we present qualitative primary data from South Africa and Mozambique and review pertinent studies of the First Nations of Canada and among persons with disability. A policy challenge for social isolation is that it is often seen as stemming from an individuals’ capacity rather than resulting from the broader social context. The closing section outlines areas for policy.     

Managing China's pastoral lands: Current problems and future prospects

China has the second largest area of pastoral land in the world, and these lands and their peoples play a very beneficial role in the global environment. Because of China's huge population, rate of social reform, and economic development, the pastoral ecosystems are at a critical turning point. There is a conflict between national benefit and the land users (mainly herders) benefit. This paper introduces the scale of pastoral land, the history of its management institutions, past and current projects and programs, as well as the current framework of policy and law as relevant to land management. The challenges for pastoral management in terms of institutions, administration, technology and their shifting role in regional economies of scale are also analyzed. Opportunities for sustainable development in China's pastoral lands are presented. Finally, this paper highlights the available approaches for enhancing livelihoods and conserving pastoral land, including establishment of law and policy framework at the national level, redefining use rights for community management, promoting Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM) as a basis for natural resource utilization, preserving and respecting cultural aspects of pastoral peoples, and shifting the focus from GDP generation to environmental protection.     

农业产业化经营是提高农业竞争力的重要途径

我国即将加入世界贸易组织。这对于我正处在发展新阶段的农业和农村经济来说,是一次重要和严峻挑战。面对激励的国际、国内市场竞争、必须采取有效措施,做好各项应对工作,提高农业和农村经济的竞争力。从国际国内的经验看,发展农业产业化经营,对于提高产业,农村经济素质,带动产业经营主体进入国际国内市场,增强农业竞争力具有重要作用。     

Agricultural and afforestation controls: Conservation and ideology

Agriculture and upland afforestation have caused major changes to the landscapes of the UK as well as severe damage to nature conservation interests since the second world war. The major task now is to secure greater influence over the activities of farmers and foresters. This article reviews the calls that have been made over the last 25 years by national environmental bodies for the extension of planning controls to agricultural operations and to afforestation. The advocacy of controls is now a party political issue and the implications of this are considered.     

农业标准化与农产品质量分等分级

本文从标准化的概念入手，明确了农业标准化的内涵和作用，在分析农业标准化和农产品质量分等分级的国际经验基础上，结合我国农业标准化工作的实际，指出农业标准化并不等同于食品安全，应将其工作中心转向农产品质量分等分级管理，并以此降低农产品市场的交易费用，规范市场秩序，促进市场竞争，也为农产品期货市场、批发拍卖市场的运行奠定基础。     

贫困地区农村人口疾病发生状况及影响因素分析——来自四川贫困县的农户调查

本文利用四川省东北秦巴山区的阆中市2969户农户的调查数据,考查农村人口的疾病发生状况,并利用计量模型对影响农村人口疾病发生状况的主要因素进行分析.研究表明,该地区农村人口的疾病发生状况令人担忧,年龄、性别、婚姻状况、是否参加体检、家庭人口规模、家庭经济状况、农户的饮水习惯等因素对农村人口疾病发生的影响在1%水平上显著;文化程度对农村人口疾病发生的影响在5%水平上显著;卫生服务的可及性对农村人口疾病发生的影响在10%水平上显著.文章最后提出了加强农村医疗保障的相关建议.