Why Beautify the Plaza? Reproducing Community in Decentralized Neoliberal Peru

Peruvian development and government analysts criticize communities for irrationally using local development funds deriving from recently instituted political decentralization to beautify their villages rather than to improve infrastructural services, education and health, or to alleviate poverty. This paper challenges this critique by explaining why such cosmetic improvements are of interest to rural people. Using a case study of the peasant community of Allpachico, I argue that these projects encourage the return of pensioners and visits from migrants. Residents and migrants are mutually dependent as a result of livelihood strategies based on agriculture and the foreign‐controlled resource extraction sector over the past 80 years. The relative position of these two groups in the social reproduction of the vernacular community has changed with the Peruvian political economy. Currently, in the neoliberal resource extraction economy, residents pragmatically opt to maintain relations with those who have stable wage or pension incomes.     

Is Fiscal Decentralization Conflict Abating? Routine Violence and District Level Government in Java,Indonesia

Utilizing a newly created data set the authors examine the relationship between routine/everyday violence and fiscal decentralization in 98 districts of the Indonesian island of Java. By examining possible relationships between fiscal decentralization and routine violence, this paper fills a gap in the literature where the analysis of the relation between fiscal decentralization and violence is relatively scant. Routine violence, which is different from both civil war and ethno-communal conflict, centres around group brawls, popular justice or vigilante violence. Despite the uniform implementation of fiscal decentralization, subnational entities exhibit varying experiences with decentralization, but a common consequence is the increased size of local government. Fiscal decentralization, and the increased size of local government, can alleviate pent-up frustrations with a centralized state, as local government expenditure is seen to satisfy the needs of communities with which people identify more closely. The authors also find that the greater the share of locally generated revenues, the lower the number of violent incidents; but this capacity to generate more local revenues mainly lies in richer districts. Therefore, richer districts are likely to have a lower incidence of violence.     

The meanings of forest governance in Esmeraldas,Ecuador

Participatory forestry has become the most accepted way of exploiting timber resources in tropical rain forests. This paper shows the links between participatory forestry, sustainable forest management and the continuing objective of reconciling conservation with commercial development in the province of Esmeraldas, one of the poorest and most rapidly deforested regions of South America. I describe and contextualize the evolving logging programme of a leading Ecuadorian wood-processing group to show that the decentralization of the development process, the recognition of local communities as legal entities in the management of natural resources, and the active involvement of profit-oriented firms in biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation all contribute to the emergence of new alliances between the Ecuadorian government, the logging companies, conservation and human rights organizations, and local Black and indigenous communities. My central argument is that devolution in this context leads to conflictive interpretations of regulation. I end with a discussion of the multi-scalar nature of “forest governance”, and highlight the contribution it makes to our understanding of control, regulation and management in new contexts of privatization and decentralization.     

Opposing interests in the legalization of non-procedural forest conversion to oil palm in Central Kalimantan,Indonesia

Demand for forestland for non-forest uses, mostly oil palm, has increased dramatically in the past few years and has become a chief driver of deforestation in Central Kalimantan. In this paper, we aim to shed light on how multiple levels of government create a facilitating environment for oil palm expansion. In our research, we employed three different methods: content analysis of key policy documents, participant observations, and expert interviews. We found that the technical complexities of formal procedures for the conversion of forest to oil palm are relatively easy to bypass. Contradicting laws and regulations have created a situation where the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) and local governments have relatively equal legal mandates and authority over land-use and allocation. This is further complicated by the ambiguity of the decentralization policy. Enabled by the spatial planning law and the decentralization laws, local governments have aggressively issued plantation licenses for forest areas without the formal release of the forest from the Ministry of Forestry. The issuance of plantation permits has also been legitimized by other policies within central government, which have made oil palm a national priority.     

自然资源的民主分权:民众参与的制度化

自然资源在当地民众的生计中具有决定性的作用,他们理应参与当地自然资源的管理和决策。分权改变了当地自然资源管理的制度框架,而民主分权是分权的最有效形式。概述了全球自然资源分权改革的实施情况,并对改革效果进行了评价。认为建立民主的地方机构将成为民主分权的主要机制,而责任、自行决定权和安全性是民主分权的3个基本问题,分权过程中中央政府需要有效的分权配套办法,并发挥重要作用。     

中国农村减贫成效测度、分解及影响因素研究——基于分布动态学框架的CFPS数据分析

测算农村减贫成效并考察减贫成效的影响因素对我国打赢"脱贫攻坚战"具有重要的现实意义。本文基于覆盖我国东、中、西和东北四大地区的CFPS调查数据,在Quah(1997)的分布动态学(Distribution dynamics)基础上构建了完整的减贫成效分析框架。首先测算出各地区农村家庭贫困内部状态的Markov转移概率矩阵,并在此基础上构建了可分解的绝对、相对减贫指数,以综合考察各地区的农村减贫成效,随后本文通过首次构造的"条件Markov模型"进一步考察了减贫成效的影响因素。研究结果发现:(1)样本考察期内,我国各地区的农村贫困状况随着时间的积累逐渐变好,贫困发生率均有所下降;(2)减贫过程中仍存在着脱贫又返贫的现象,农村家庭的深度贫困固化问题比轻度贫困问题更加严重,意味着扶贫开发工作正式进入攻坚时期,扶贫难度加大;(3)家庭成年成员特征、家庭特征以及收入类型对农村减贫成效的影响显著性情况存在着时段和区域的异质性。其中,家庭成年成员受教育水平、家庭中是否有成员从事有薪酬的农业劳动、工资性和营业性收入对家庭的贫困状态变动具有更显著的影响。基于此,政府应贯彻落实精准扶贫,将扶贫重点放在中西部地区和处于深度贫困的家庭,另外应再调整和倾斜扶贫资源与扶贫政策,将提高农民受教育水平、增加非农业就业机会作为主要减贫途径,将促进农村工资性和营业性收入增长作为主要的政策倾斜方向。     

林地征占用中地方政府行为偏失与规范分析

在阐明了地方政府在林地征占用中存在盲目征地与低价征用、创租与寻租、规避与违反国家法律等行为偏失的基础上,深入剖析了地方政府行为偏失的原因——林地产权不明晰、现行的财政分权体制和政绩考核机制、公共利益的界定模糊等,提出了通过明晰林地产权、健全政绩考核制度、确定公共利益的界定规则等矫正这类政府失灵现象的建议。     

宁夏生态扶贫现状与发展战略研究

我国扶贫开发与生态建设的目标和区域间存在高度重叠,需要兼顾减少贫困人口和改善生态环境的双重目标。生态扶贫是新时期一种新的可持续扶贫方式,其目的就是通过加强贫困地区生态环境管理和建设,提高生态系统服务功能和扶贫效益,从而实现社会的可持续发展。该文通过分析宁夏生态扶贫取得的成绩和面临的挑战,提出了宁夏水资源高效利用、生态环境良性循环、生态移民、区域特色产业发展和示范带动五大生态扶贫发展战略。该研究对宁夏建设社会主义新农村和构建和谐社会具有积极意义,同时为其他地区扶贫工作的开展提供了借鉴。     

20世纪90年代的贫困缓解：中国和印度的比较分析

本文通过对中印两国的文献分析，对20世纪90年代两国的贫困缓解进行了比较研究，表明两国在缓解贫困的路上有很多共同之处。可以发现自从自由化改革以来，中印两国的绝对贫困水平已经降低。然而，两国的贫困分布都是不均的，不公平程度在增加，贫困越来越集中在几个地区和群体。由于两国都在进行经济改革，对缓解贫困中的这些共同的行为很值得进一步探讨。     

基于生活水平维度的县级贫困度量研究——以武陵片区北部为例

提高贫困人口瞄准和识别的准确度是农村扶贫开发需要解决的首要问题,近年来从多个角度进行多维贫困的精准度量与分析成为国内外扶贫领域的研究热点。该研究以Sen的能力方法理论为基础,以Alkire和Foster的多维贫困指数(MPI)测算指标体系为参考,结合研究区实际情况,建立了生活水平维度贫困指标体系,利用武陵片北部11个县的贫困农户调查数据进行了基于"A-F"双临界值法的县级贫困人口量算,并通过"维度加总-分解"算法进行了空间分异分析。结果显示:生活水平维度中通电与资产指标对研究区贫困发生率和多维贫困指数影响最小,燃料类型指标影响最大;11个县贫困程度由大到小依次为:巴东县石柱土家族自治县秭归县建始县来凤县恩施市鹤峰县利川市丰都县咸丰县黔江区;依据房屋结构、燃料类型、饮水情况3个指标可将11个县分为甲乙丙3种类型,不同类型县的主要致贫因素不同,当地政府应根据各县具体情况采取差异化扶贫政策。     

Rural Poverty and Development Strategies in Latin America

Several approaches to the study of poverty are discussed, to learn from their strengths as well as their weaknesses. For this purpose the concepts of marginality, social exclusion, new rurality and rural livelihoods, as well as the ethnic and gender dimensions of poverty, are examined. The debate on the peasantization (capitalization) or proletarianization (pauperization) of the peasantry sets the scene for the analysis of the different strategies adopted by peasants and rural labourers to secure their survival and perhaps achieve some prosperity. In examining the success or failure of interventions by governments, civil society and international organizations in the reduction of poverty, it is claimed that the State has a key role to perform. Furthermore, it is argued that poverty is caused and reproduced by the unequal distribution of resources and power at the household, local, national and international levels. Therefore, the starting point for the eradication of poverty has to be the implementation of a development strategy that addresses such inequalities while at the same time achieving competitiveness within the global system.     

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.     

Selective rescaling,inequality and popular growth coalitions: The case of the Israeli national plan for earthquake preparedness

What happens when a government decides to up-zone an entire country and give apartment owners nationwide incentives to upgrade their homes? Can such a plan benefit everyone? What happens when it does not? We discuss these questions by analyzing TAMA 38, a nationwide statutory plan approved in Israel in 2005. With this plan, the central government encourages apartment owners of older buildings (built before 1980) to make them earthquake-ready by giving them options to add floors and space, and to cooperate with developers who will renovate the properties. The plan is a strictly entrepreneurial undertaking that depends entirely on land values and private market actors. At the same time, to expedite the implementation of the policy, the central government performed a bold scalar jump, bypassing both local and district planning levels and allowing owners to acquire building permits regardless of local plans, conditions, and regulations. We discuss this plan in light of the literature on rescaling in planning. Scholars show that following decades of growing neoliberal decentralization, various central governments are now advocating a variety of centralized-decentralized policies that bypass local decision-making and/or strategically blur national, district, and local planning scales. As in the case of TAMA 38, such methods perpetuate the neoliberal dependence on market agents, and prioritize specific actors, places and projects. By analyzing the implementation of this policy, we show how such methods create uneven development and power conflicts between actors from different planning tiers. Ultimately, we demonstrate that regardless of nationwide goals of earthquake preparedness, planners focus on central locations and affluent actors, while meaningful questions about equality and scale are sidestepped and ultimately forgotten.     

经济、人口视角下的城镇化与贫困：线性与U型关系基于中国省级面板数据的实证分析

目的 城镇化是影响经济增长和贫困减缓的关键要素,对于城镇化和减贫之间关系的探究具有重要的理论和现实价值。方法 文章基于1999—2018年我国30个省（市、自治区,不包括港澳台和西藏）的面板数据,运用固定效应模型、工具变量法等,分别从人口城镇化和经济城镇化的角度出发,对城镇化和贫困之间的关系进行深入研究。结果 （1）城镇化具有显著的减贫效应,人口城镇化和经济城镇化均能有效降低农村贫困程度。（2）人口城镇化与贫困之间呈U型关系,而经济城镇化对贫困的影响是单向负相关。（3）我国城镇化减贫效应的区域差异明显,相对于东部地区来说,城镇化对于中西部地区的减贫效应更显著。结论 城镇化是减贫的重要途径,但过度的人口城镇化会加剧贫困,城镇化减贫的重点在于与人口城镇化相匹配的经济城镇化水平同步提高,方能达致减贫。所以应全面提升城镇化规划的科学性、基础设施的建设质量和经济发展水平,合理推进城镇化的减贫进程。     

改革开放以来集体林权制度改革的分权演化博弈分析

在维护国家生态安全和农户生计等方面,中国集体林发挥着不可或缺的重要作用。改革开放以来,中国政府启动了多轮集体林权制度改革,本文采用分权多中心决策主体演化博弈理论,研究了集体林权制度变迁的动态过程。分权多中心决策主体的观念改变是集体林权制度改革的前提,分权多中心决策主体采取功能、权力、自适应学习和同构等形式,开展了集体林权制度改革的重复演化博弈,中央政府为多轮集体林权制度改革的主要介入者,集体林权制度改革所呈现的间歇性均衡和多重均衡是分权多中心决策主体持续演化博弈的结果。     

印度森林资源管理与消除贫困考察报告

对印度森林资源管理、林产品贸易及加工、联合森林经营和消除贫困等情况进行了考察。联合森林经营是印度最重要的社会林业形式,对于恢复退化林地、增加当地居民收入、消除贫困、保障林产品需求等有较大贡献;印度政府将反贫困作为重要目标之一,制定有不同阶段的具体措施,并积极依靠民间科技力量扶贫,成效显著。印度森林资源管理及消除贫困的经验值得我国借鉴。     

政府贫困治理的多元逻辑与精准扶贫的逻辑弥合

政府主导是中国贫困治理的重要经验和基本特征,理解精准扶贫实践中的偏离现象需要从政府贫困治理的逻辑入手。本文研究了从中央到地方的多层级政府在贫困治理当中遵循的主导行动逻辑及其在贫困治理中的主要表现。研究发现,不同层级间政府拥有差异化的贫困治理逻辑,其中中央与省级政府在贫困治理当中主要遵循政治逻辑,地市级地方政府主要遵循行政逻辑,而县乡(镇)地方政府主要遵循治理逻辑,不同的贫困治理逻辑在实践中形成紧张关系甚至是带来目标冲突,进而导致精准扶贫实践的偏离。因此,解决精准扶贫的实践偏离问题,本文认为需要系统地弥合多层级政府贫困治理的逻辑张力,形成责权利深度融合的贫困治理机制,强化对基层政府贫困治理逻辑的支持,避免行政逻辑对贫困治理逻辑的不当干预,以此形成政府贫困治理的强大合力,推动脱贫攻坚任务的早日完成。     

Formal mining investments and artisanal mining in southern Madagascar: Effects of spontaneous reactions and adjustment policies on poverty alleviation

The main political concern in the southern areas of Madagascar is poverty alleviation. To alleviate poverty in the area, the government has chosen to enforce adjustment policies of the World Bank Group. According to the World Bank Group's argument, while artisanal mining is supposed to create significant economic, social and environmental problems, large-scale mining investment results in economic and social prosperity. This paper focuses principally on a re-analysis of the debates regarding the relationship between artisanal and large-scale mining and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Further, the paper offers an alternative viewpoint on these issues based on the example of Madagascar. In the last decade, Madagascar has experienced a significant increase in mining activity. Towards the end of the 90s, informal and artisanal mining emerged as one of the most important economic activities of the area with the development of the Ilakaka frontier. At the same time, foreign investments began to benefit from adjustment policies implemented by the government, and large-scale mining operations also commenced. As the local socio-economic system was deeply affected by these developments, it is wise to monitor the effects of each type of mining operation on poverty alleviation. On the one hand, it appears that governance insufficiency has hampered possibilities for broader economic prosperity through large-scale mining investments. On the other hand, while artisanal mining is frequently condemned by scholars, the negative comments seem to be overly pessimistic, as this activity can be demonstrated to provide considerable economic opportunities for both the native and migrant populations.     

我国地方政府创新研究:现状、热点与展望

随着"中国地方政府创新奖"的设立,地方政府创新逐渐成为政治学、公共管理学的热门研究内容,研究成果丰硕。基于文献计量分析,文章对近二十年来中国地方政府创新的研究成果进行分析、归纳,试图准确把握当前我国地方政府创新研究的热点及其未来趋势。在对我国地方政府创新研究现状进行分析的基础上,对地方政府创新动因、扩散及可持续性等热点主题予以总结,进而发现当前我国地方政府创新研究存在研究深度不够、理论体系缺乏等薄弱之处,并对地方政府创新研究的未来进行了展望。