Employment creation through the provision of social development services: exploring the options

The high unemployment rate in South Africa is a central concern of policy makers. Because there are only a few substantial labour intensive industries, led by the private sector, it has become essential to explore other less mainstream avenues for employment creation. The role of public works programmes has historically focused on the infrastructure sector, but the Expanded Public Works Programme includes the social sector. The government has at its disposal a strong policy instrument – the provision of a range of services to meet basic needs – and so could, in the medium term, create a large number of jobs through social development services, the demand for which vastly exceeds their provision. Basic social development needs programmes target a large number of unskilled unemployed and promise the possibility of affordable employment creation. Such programmes include Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Home and Community Based Care (HCBC) as identified by the Social Sector Plan. This article explores these options.     

Design and implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme: Lessons from the Gundo Lashu labour-intensive programme

This article examines the design and implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme, drawing from the lessons of the Gundo Lashu programme on labour-intensive construction in the road sector. The aim of the study was to examine major barriers to the design and implementation of the programme. The article is based on the analysis of data that were gathered from the Gundo Lashu programme. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, face-to-face interviews with the project participants as well as reviewing key secondary data from the project documents. The study found that the projects under the Gundo Lashu programme have clearly demonstrated the importance of labour-intensive approaches, especially in the road sector. However, these projects were constrained by a wide range of challenges, ranging from a lack of community participation to poor product quality and inadequate planning for sustainable financing.     

The challenges of policy coordination at a programme level: Why joining-up is hard to do

This article examines obstacles to policy coordination to promote development at a programme level. Contemporary efforts to promote coordination or ‘joined-up’ working across government entities highlight attempts to promote policy synergy and resource maximisation for achieving objectives that straddle the sector-specific boundaries of multiple departments. This paper assessed efforts to coordinate the actions of multiple departments towards achieving a single cross-cutting policy objective. Programme-level analysis of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa revealed various reasons why joining-up is difficult to negotiate in practice. This consisted of policy goal and operational incompatibility between specialised entities, which appears sensitive to the specificity and stringency of policy goals and implementation regimens; as well as a host of difficulties related to how coordination is formally defined and designated. This included role definition and confusion, as well as the nature and locus of coordination mandates across and within individual departments.     

The impact of a labour-intensive road construction programme in the Vhembe District,Limpopo Province

This study investigates the distributional impacts of labour-intensive projects under the Gundo Lashu programme in the Limpopo province. The aim was to evaluate infrastructure effectiveness of the Extended Public Works Programme, focusing on the interface between road investment and economic development as the central premise. The objective was to evaluate the impact of the programme on the participants and their communities. Specific areas of impacts investigated are mobility, income, work opportunities, poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods and opening of access to market opportunities. A matched case–control study design was adopted. The study found that the programme had achieved its objectives related to the total number of jobs created and the total road length constructed. However, the programme showed mixed results on communities' socio-economic outcomes and the impacts of the programme on poverty and sustainable livelihoods.     

社会保险缓解了农村老人的多维贫困吗？——兼论“贫困恶性循环”效应

老年人贫困是中国人口老龄化背景下亟需解决的问题,社会保险则在国家反贫与脱贫方面发挥着不可或缺的作用。采用具有代表性的中国老年健康影响因素（CLHLS2011）大样本微观跟踪调查数据,构建Logit计量回归模型,将农村老人贫困分为经济贫困、健康贫困与精神贫困三个维度,从实证的角度,探讨了社会保险与农村老人贫困的关系。研究发现,养老保险与医疗保险在不同程度上缓解了农村老人多个维度的贫困。文章进一步指出农村老人贫困存在“恶性循环”,经济贫困、健康贫困与精神贫困三个维度之间存在显著的相互正向影响,但社会保险对农村老人陷入“贫困恶性循环”起到了的调节效应,即社会保险弱化了不同贫困之间相互的正向作用。这些经验发现可以为政府改善农村老龄人群的贫困状况提供可靠的政策依据。     

生计资本、社会环境与贫困人口务工就业意愿

实现贫困人口务工就业作为脱贫攻坚时期贫困人口脱贫的主要方法,在巩固脱贫攻坚成果时期,同样具有可行性和有效性。因此,研究贫困人口务工就业意愿对巩固脱贫攻坚成果具有重要现实价值。本文从可持续生计和社会学习的角度建立二元Logistics回归模型,分析生计资本与社会环境对贫困人口务工就业意愿的影响。研究发现,在贫困人口的生计资本中,人力资本、社会资本和金融资本是影响贫困人口务工就业意愿的关键资本。同时,在社会环境中,贫困村的务工就业氛围对贫困人口的务工就业意愿呈显著正相关。在巩固脱贫攻坚成果时期,鼓励贫困人口务工就业措施更应聚焦贫困人口的类型特征,以实现政策的精确和高效。     

The Discount Rate for Public Sector Conservation Projects in South Africa

Abstract: South Africa, in an attempt to reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty, has implemented a number of public sector conservation projects: the largest one being the Working for Water Programme (WfWP). Sound economic decision‐making regarding the economic feasibility of these public sector conservation projects require that they be subjected to economic assessment in the form of cost‐benefit analysis. One aspect of cost‐benefit analysis, which is often neglected, is the choice of the social discount rate. This paper addresses the issue of what the social discount rate for public sector conservation projects should be and provides an example of how to derive a social discount rate for a public sector conservation project, namely the WfWP.     

我国农村扶贫政策的协调配套问题研究

扶贫是一项系统工程,扶贫效益的最大化有赖于各项政策之间的协调、配套。当前农村扶贫政策的协调配套问题比较突出,无论是财政投入、扶贫信贷资金投放、对扶贫龙头企业的扶持,还是对贫困地区人口自身发展能力的开发都存在着一些问题,某些惠农政策、生态工程以及社会保障等政策也还存在着对贫困地区关注不足的问题,因此,财政税收、金融、产业、人力资源、社会保障等各种政策的制定和实施过程中,都应考虑扶贫开发工作的实际需求,做好协调配套。这是提高扶贫效率的必然要求。     

基于农户感知的森林碳汇扶贫效应分析

伴随着集体林权制度改革的深化和森林碳汇项目时间的深入,项目实施区域农户在森林碳汇项目实施、持续发展中的主体作用日益突出。农户对实施森林碳汇项目开发的价值评判决定其行为态度,在实现应对气候变化与减贫双赢中起着关键性作用。文章借鉴感知价值理论构建了农户森林碳汇扶贫效应感知价值理论模型,基于典型民族地区抽样调查数据,运用结构方程模型实证检验了农户对森林碳汇项目开发扶贫效应感知价值与其支持项目后期运营意愿的关系。研究结果显示,（1）大规模造林再造林项目开发取得较为明显的扶贫效应,包括正面影响和负面影响。（2）农户对森林碳汇扶贫开发利大于弊的赞成率为72.56%,农户愿意支持森林碳汇项目后期运营的赞成率为69.82%,利大于弊的感知价值对农户支持项目后期运营的意愿具有显著正向作用。（3）感知利益和感知风险直接影响森林碳汇扶贫效应感知价值。其中,感知利益具有显著正向影响,影响程度依次为感知经济利益 > 感知社会利益 > 感知生态利益,农户对触及自身切身利益的森林碳汇扶贫开发经济利益感知最高,尤其是对森林碳汇项目开发对外来投资引入的最为敏感。感知风险具有显著负向影响,影响程度依次为感知情境风险 > 感知心理风险 > 感知经济风险,鉴于长期、大面积的林业生态建设衍生负面影响日趋扩大和农户对近期、客观风险感知的敏感性使得农户对情景风险的感知最为强烈。     

A World Bank Intervention in the Sri Lankan Welfare Sector: The National Development Trust Fund

In 1991 the World Bank moved to streamline the Sri Lankan welfare sector by funding a poverty alleviation project which promoted the role of non-government organization (NGOs) and decentralized government agencies and replaced traditional consumption-oriented transfers with an emphasis on household self-reliance through productive activity. The project's design was based on a model which depends for its success on key conditions—guaranteed political independence and a well-developed NGO sector—which did not exist in Sri Lanka in the early 1990s. Additional problems included management deficiencies and failure to provide key supports for production-related poverty reduction.     

Do political connections affect corporate poverty alleviation decisions? Evidence from China

Programs to alleviate poverty by corporations are increasingly popular as a new form of corporate social responsibility. This study examines how the political connections of a firm's chairperson are associated with decisions to alleviate poverty based on a sample of listed Chinese firms from 2016 to 2018. We find that the chairperson's political connections increase the probability of participation and the amount of investment in programs to alleviate poverty. This positive relationship is mainly manifested in firms with high agency costs and low regional economic conditions. In addition, the chairperson's political connections are not related to the efficiency of the poverty alleviation program. Politically connected firms receive less government recognition with an increase in investment in poverty alleviation. Our findings are consistent with the notion that firms participate in poverty alleviation programs for reciprocal favor exchanges, but they fail to manage these programs efficiently.     

社会组织与农村贫困主体消除的多元化

贫困所描述的现象是由于制度缺失而导致的诸多社会现象中的一种。消除贫困是摆在中国政府面前的一项艰巨任务。我国目前农村贫困现象非常严重。政府一直是消除农村贫困的唯一主体。由于其自身所具备的特点,身处国家体制外社会组织参与扶贫对于缓解和消灭农村贫困现象,提高农村贫困救助的效率,实现农村贫困救助主体的多元化有良好的促进作用。     

Payment for Environmental Services： The Sloping Land Conversion Program in Ningxia Autonomous Region of China

China＇s Sloping Land Conversion Program has been implemented since 2002. It aims to achieve goals of ecological recovery and poverty alleviation, by retiring steeply sloping land from crop production and freeing surplus agricultural labor for off-farm activities. Given the huge investment that has been poured into it, and its ecological and social impacts, this government-initiated program has attracted significant academic attention and triggered a flood of debate. Since 2004, the debate has concentrated on the sustainability of the program. Although targets have been overachieved in some provinces, concern has still emerged regarding the livelihood of farmers after subsidies stop. The present paper analyzes the implementation of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in Ningxia Autonomous Region, with a focus on the required social capital for sustained participation o f farmers and the development of off-farm economic activities.     

基于外部性理论的中廖村旅游扶贫研究

旅游扶贫是解决旅游资源富集地区贫困问题的有效途径。通过实地调查与访谈，厘清了中廖村旅游扶贫现状，总结了扶贫工作的已有成效，认为尚有部分村民没有实现真脱贫。然后，立足于外部性理论探究当地旅游扶贫中的外部影响，发现旅游扶贫有助于增加居民收入、改善生活环境，但是也会增加社会治理成本、产生交通问题，甚至引发公地悲剧。因此，认为可以从政府主导、经济调节、公众参与三个方面来降低负外部性。     

Social exclusion and rural transport: Gender aspects of a road improvement project in Tshitwe,Northern Province

This article presents a case for a reorientation of the way in which rural transport needs are perceived, planned and provided for, with a view to improved targeting of interventions, particularly with regard to addressing the mobility and accessibility needs of rural women. In addition, it seeks to critically appraise the sustainability of poverty alleviation properties attributed to the labour-based road works, especially in respect of their impact on women. It also explores the role that non-motorised modes of transport could play in reducing the transport burden of the Tshitwe community.     

Social security for young people amidst high poverty and unemployment: Some policy options for South Africa

South African youth experience extremely high levels of unemployment and poverty. Currently there is no social assistance for low-income young adults in South Africa unless they are disabled. Interventions are needed that can achieve widespread poverty alleviation, as well as help facilitate economic participation to improve lifelong earnings. In this article, six examples of social security policy options are considered, including five grants ranging from an unconditional non-means-tested grant for young people to a conditional grant for young people in training or education, plus an ‘Opportunities voucher’ that is administered through the social security system but paid out to organisations offering youth education or work opportunities. Using a tax and benefit microsimulation model to simulate the five grants, we estimate the potential numbers reached and cost, as well as the impact of these six options on poverty.     

参与精准扶贫与企业创新——基于外部融资视角的分析

为实现消除农村贫困和区域贫困的目标,在党和国家的号召下,越来越多的上市公司参与到精准扶贫战略中,然而学术界对企业参与精准扶贫经济后果影响的相关研究还有待进一步丰富和拓展。以2016-2018年沪深A股上市公司为样本,文章实证检验了企业参与精准扶贫工作对其创新绩效的影响。研究结果表明,参与精准扶贫显著提高了企业的创新产出和创新效率。在改变变量度量方法、更换模型以及使用安慰剂检验和PSM模型控制内生性问题等一系列稳健性检验后,结论仍然成立。进一步探讨其中的作用机制发现,企业参与精准扶贫通过缓解融资约束进而提升了创新绩效,而资源效应（降低债务融资成本和提高税收优惠）和声誉效应（增加媒体正面报道数量）是参与精准扶贫所发挥的外部融资作用。最后,基于宏观社会层面、中观市场层面以及微观企业层面的异质性分析表明,参与精准扶贫对企业创新的正向影响主要存在于地方扶贫压力较大、资本市场信息环境较差的企业以及非国有企业中。通过理论分析和实证检验,本文不仅丰富了参与精准扶贫和企业创新领域的相关研究,也对充分发挥资本市场在服务国家脱贫攻坚战略中的作用以及深入实施创新驱动发展战略、发挥企业在技术创新中的主体作用具有重要的启示意义。     

宁夏回族自治区乡村旅游扶贫研究

乡村旅游扶贫是我国扶贫工作的重点。宁夏民族地区以其独特的自然优势将乡村旅游扶贫工作发挥的淋漓尽致,不仅帮助了贫困户实现脱贫,还带动了产业的转型。针对宁夏回族自治区为分析其贫困现状和导致贫困的原因进行了研究,以及展开对乡村旅游扶贫的优劣势和面临的阻碍。根据分析结果,探讨了宁夏乡村旅游扶贫的问题与对策。     

征地补偿与农村减贫

征地后农业收入及土地权益的减少会阻碍农户家庭经济水平的提高,但征地补偿的存在可以扩大农户生产经营的可选集,为持续提高农户家庭经济水平,促进农村减贫提供了必要前提。基于中国家庭收入调查中2013年的农村住户数据,文章设立了以家庭财富为基础的农户经济水平的衡量指标,并建立三元联合分布计量模型,在处理了内生性问题的基础上研究了征地和征地补偿对农户贫困的影响。研究发现,征地过程中减贫效应起主要作用,征地能够显著增加农户财富,促进农村减贫。征地的减贫效应存在异质性：征用宅基地形式下的减贫效应最为显著,征用耕地时效果则会下降;不同补偿方式下的减贫效应存在差异,资金补偿和非资金补偿组合下的征地减贫效应最强,而单独资金补偿的减贫效应最弱;征地减贫效应在东部地区、市场化水平较高的情况下及高财富农户中更加明显。处理效应结果表明资金补偿和非资金补偿的组合能够为农户带来最多的财富收益,具体为233578.8元。最后文章还检验了征地的影响机制,发现征地补偿是征地减贫效应的重要实现途径之一,但不是唯一途径,补偿在征地的减贫效应中起部分中介作用,其效应所占比重约为59.5%。文章结论表明政府征地不仅有助于国家现代化建设,还具有促进农户减贫,推动农村发展的作用。     

农村贫困线的测度与优化

贫困测度是监测贫困状态和制定反贫困政策和战略的重要依据.农村是我国反贫困的主战场,如何准确地界定贫困村,特别是如何科学地确定贫困线,是全面描述和正确评估农村贫困的现状和脱贫进程,及时把握扶贫政策对缓解农村贫困的实际效果的关键,并成为当今理论研究和反贫困实践的热点.文章对贫困线的构成要素、测定方法、演变过程和调整方法作了初步的探讨.