Energy,environment and the rural poor in South Africa

The lack of adequate energy services imposes heavy social and environmental costs on poor rural households. The rural energy‐environment interface, however, is prone to oversimplistic analyses, especially in the case of the ‘fuelwood problem’, and to a lack of research. International experience suggests that deforestation is not necessarily an ‘energy problem’ resulting from the cutting of trees for fuelwood ‐ and therefore that it may not have an energy solution, like planting more trees for firewood. Instead, wood scarcity must be understood under multiple use of wood resources, and policies need to be multifaceted if they are to succeed. South African studies show that wood is becoming increasingly scarce in many areas; here fuelwood collection may contribute to deforestation more than suggested by international experience. In addition to the environmental effects of increasing wood scarcity and its social costs, borne largely by women, another serious problem arises from indoor air pollution caused by wood fires with social and health costs largely unaccounted for to date.     

A model of an Indian village: A study of alternative sources of energy for irrigation

This study analyses the feasibility of various sources of energy for irrigation on the northeast Indian plains. In this region there is a large potential for further use of groundwater, and this paper examines the trade-off between the benefits to agriculture of irrigation, and the costs of the energy and equipment required for pumping.A linear programming model has been developed to predict the effects on agricultural production of several conventional and non-conventional technologies. Only small size pumps suitable for use by individual farmers or small cooperatives are considered.The results show diesel-fuelled pumpsets to have the largest net benefits. The general uncompetitiveness of the other technologies is due to the low energy requirements of irrigation in this area.     

On Measuring Energy Poverty in Indian Households

The relationship between energy and poverty is obvious and goes both ways. Recognizing this, this paper provides a short overview of different approaches to measuring energy poverty. It then presents a novel two-dimensional measure of energy poverty and energy distribution that combines the elements of access to different energy types and quantity of energy consumed. An assessment of the extent of energy poverty and changes in energy distribution pattern are analyzed by applying this measure to Indian household survey data for 1983–2000. The analysis shows a significant reduction in the level of energy poverty and a rapidly developing subcontinent. The new measure is a good complement to conventional monetary measures and is general enough to be applied to other developing countries.     

中国和印度企业将联手竞购能源资产

印度表示，为降低经济增长中的石油消费成本．印度和中国的国有石油企业将联手竞购海外资产，让亚洲这两个增长最快的经济体成为全球能源市场中更强大的竞争者。     

村庄景观构建与植物配置分析——以句容市天王镇金山凹自然村为例

文章以镇江市句容天王镇金山凹自然村为实例,研究现代村庄植物配置与景观构建的方法。通过对金山凹自然村的多次调研,分析其在植物配置与景观构建等方面存在的问题,从公共绿地绿化、道路绿化、水系绿化和庭院绿化等各方面提出切实可行的绿化提升方案,并经过具体实践,营造具有浓郁乡野气氛、适合村民生活的现代新农村。     

红万村的变迁

这是一个全部由阿细人组成的彝族村寨,它以龙鲁斗为头,以雨都来补为中心,以来记来补为心脏,建起的寨子最早叫“红岩村”。他不知过了多少年,多少代,阿细人的民族英雄木邓有了钻木取火的伟大发明,村名也改为“红万村”。     

Taxation and the urban poor in developing countries

Empirical evidence indicated that the poor, and particularly the urban poor, in developing countries pay a substantial part of their income as taxes. This paper examines critically the procedures employed in measuring the incidence of taxation in LDCs, with a particular emphasis on evidence concerning the tax burdens of the urban poor, and presents a summary of some empirical work in this area. It then provides a review and analysis of fiscal policies which at the margin can assist in improving the position of the urban poor by reducing the regressivity, and increasing the progressivity, of existing or potential revenue instruments, including public service prices, and by improving the fiscal position of the poor through expenditure programmes.     

中立新能源走太阳能建筑一体化之路

当“低碳”在这个季节里写满每一条大街小巷，充斥每一张报纸，当“环保”出现在满城的橱窗，占据每一篇网页，我们会忍不住想，有多少人在真正的致力于此？     

Parish apprenticeship and the old poor law in London

This article offers an examination of the patterns and motivations behind parish apprenticeship in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century London. It stresses continuity in outlook from parish officials binding children, which involved placements in both the traditional and industrializing sectors of the economy. Evidence on the ages, employment types, and locations of 3,285 pauper apprentices bound from different parts of London between 1767 and 1833 indicates a variety of local patterns. The analysis reveals a pattern of youthful age at binding, a range of employment experiences, and parish-specific links to particular trades and manufactures.     

Traditional fuel usage and the rural poor in Bangladesh

Food and fuel production in the rural environment of developing countries are linked to income, and both are fundamental to welfare. It is difficult to measure the condition of the overall traditional fuel resource, but in Bangladesh the usage of village trees can be used as an indicator. Traditional fuel consumption per capita in the country seems to be more or less what would be expected for a country of this type, but it also seems that, at these levels of usage, serious shortages must soon appear. Because of the existing socio-economic structure of the rural population, the poor, landless stratum will be disproportionately affected by such shortages. Within the political and implementation constraints that exist, certain steps can be taken to offset the fuel shortage. These might at least include the rural poor, if not distributing all benefits directly to them.     

Affirmative Action and Productivity in the Indian Railways

Critics of affirmative action policies often claim that increasing the representation of members of marginalized communities in jobs comes at the cost of reduced productive efficiency. This paper reports on a systematic empirical analysis of productivity in the Indian Railways - the world’s largest employer subject to affirmative action - in which we examined whether or not higher proportions of affirmative action beneficiaries in employment reduce efficiency in the railway system. We found no evidence for such an effect; and some of our results provide tentative support for the claim that greater labor force diversity boosts productivity.     

由石榴庄村拆迁引发的思考

说到底，拆迁纠纷的根本还在于“利”字上。如果大家都不那么“势利”，拆迁引发的诸多问题可能就不存在了。事实上，有些利益方的利益诉求应该是一致的，比如政府和民众     

Firm-level export performance in an inward-looking economy: The Indian engineering industry

This paper investigates some influences on export activity by the 100 largest engineering enterprises in India in the period 1966–1968 to 1976–1978. Among the interesting findings are that exporting is negatively correlated with profitability and technological activity, but that there are some major exporters who find exporting increasingly profitable and relate their R and D activity more to exporting over time. In general the findings illustrate at a disaggregated level the anti-export bias of the industrialization strategy pursued by India.     

贫富混居 姥姥不疼舅舅不爱

今年，上海、北京、宁夏、重庆、广西等地，已经或即将开始在商品房项目中“配建”限价房、廉租房、经适房，强制推行“贫富混居”模式，但却结果是“富人不买账、穷人不领情、开发商反对”     

Stabilization, adjustment, and the poor

This paper attempts to survey the recent literature on the impact of stabilization and adjustment programs upon the poor and to consider some of the key issues in the context of a particular equity-oriented low-income country. Tanzania. After looking at some of the approaches of earlier studies, this paper analyzes the effects of restructuring policies, macroeconomic restraint, and strategic policy change. The author then reviews available evidence on the recent experience of Tanzania with external shock, efforts at stabilization, and relations with the IMF.In conclusion, the author argues that in order to better understand their impact on poverty we need more detailed analyses of specific countries' experience with different kinds of macroeconomic imbalance and different short- to medium-term policy responses. However, he does indicate with some certainty that when equivalent external blows impact upon very low-income countries, there must be a presumption that, other things being equal (including the distribution of income), the proportion of households and people pushed over the line into “absolute poverty” will be greater than in middle-income countries. The international community should provide external finance to aid these low-income countries in limiting the negative impact on the poorest.     

The village midwife program and infant mortality in Indonesia

Indonesia introduced over 50,000 midwives into villages in the 1990s to provide primary care to women lacking easy access to health facilities. It seems plausible to argue that the significant reduction in infant mortality that occurred from about 1993–94 was a consequence of this. The paper estimates the village midwife program's impact on infant mortality, using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey. Regressing mortality outcomes against choice of services would lead to biased estimates because of the correlation between service choice and unobserved individual characteristics. Furthermore, non-random placement of midwives could bias estimates of their impact on infant mortality. This study overcomes such endogeneity problems by aggregating mortality outcomes and program prevalence at district level and taking account of district fixed effects in estimating the program's impact. Surprisingly, the results do not support the hypothesis that the midwife program was responsible for the observed decline in infant mortality.     

Caste and Religion-Based Wage Discrimination in the Indian Private Sector: Evidence from the Indian Human Development Survey

Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey, we examine evidence of caste and religion-based discrimination in the Indian private and public sector. Both Dalits and Adivasis show significant results of discrimination in the private sector, and benefit disproportionately from working in the public sector. This is strong evidence that at least some of the affirmative action policies in the public sector are proving effective. The policy implications are relevant: should similar affirmative action policies be implemented in the private sector? Further, this research suggests a path for further research to understand why protected castes do not benefit from affirmative action programs to the same extent as Dalits and Adivasis.     

Identifying the poor in the 1870s and 1880s1

Poverty lines devised throughout England and Wales in the 1870s and 1880s defined ‘the poor’, a new class not recognized by the poor law. This article provides an account of the poverty lines adopted, mainly by school boards, in about 40 different places; the context in which they were developed; and what has been retrieved of the reasons determining the adoption of specific poverty lines. In particular, it examines the principal controversies surrounding them, and the challenge they posed to the poor law; and, incidentally, compares them to the poverty lines proposed, many years later, by Booth and Rowntree.