New evidence on subjective well-being and the definition of unemployment in South Africa

Access to new nationally representative, individual-level panel data from South Africa has allowed for the revalidation of Kingdon and Knight's discussion on the definition of unemployment. This paper investigates subjective well-being as a measure of comparison between labour-market statuses. It finds that on the grounds of subjective well-being the non-searching unemployed (or ‘discouraged’) are significantly worse-off than the not economically active. Moreover, evidence suggests that, with regard to the relationship between life satisfaction and labour-market status, the non-searching unemployed consistently are the worst-off. This is especially true of both the young and senior non-searching unemployed; however, the findings are largely driven by the African subsample. This paper does not advocate for a change in the official definition of unemployment but does advocate for the inclusion and recognition of the non-searching unemployed in policy relating to labour and development in South Africa.     

Non-income effect of land ownership and tenure on subjective wellbeing in South Africa

Aside from the very high inequality of land ownership, South Africa is characterised by a dual land tenure system comprising of private ownership and communal land ownership. Using waves 4 and 5 of the National Income Dynamics Study longitudinal data set, a set of econometric methodologies is employed to quantify the impact of ownership and tenure on an index of subjective wellbeing (SWB) constructed from eight self-reported responses covering general life satisfaction, contrast, social capital, mental health and hope for future. Controlling for the income effect and other pertinent drivers of SWB, the study highlights the non-income impact of land ownership and tenure on the subjective wellbeing of individuals. To account for possible endogeneity and self-selection, instrumental variable and matching method-based treatment effects are computed. This paper has two main findings in relation to land tenure in South Africa: (a) land owners have on average a higher index of SWB compared to those not owning land, and (b) owning land privately, compared to owning land communally, has a positive impact on subjective wellbeing within land owners. These results are consistent and statistically significant across the various estimation strategies and provide additional motivation for expediting land reforms in South Africa.     

养老保险水平对农民工主观幸福感的影响

中国经济发展迈入新平台,更加注重经济发展的质量,增强全体人民的“幸福感与获得感”是高质量发展的重要体现。基于2019 年中国家庭金融调查数据（CHFS）,本研究利用倾向得分匹配法,深入探讨了养老保险及其相关水平如何影响农民工的幸福感,并以消费支出为中介,进一步考察了具体的影响机制。研究发现,在我国大力推动普及养老保险的背景下,养老保险的幸福促进效应不明显,而养老保险的相对水平是影响农民工幸福感的重要因素,相对于参加低水平养老保险的农民工,参加高水平养老保险的农民工幸福感高出20.8%-23.8%。同时消费支出在参加高水平养老保险对幸福感的影响中发挥着中介作用,即参加高水平养老保险能够通过促进消费支出来提升农民工的幸福感。对此,研究认为政府要着眼于养老保障的公平性,妥善提升农民工养老保险的保障水平,有效促进农民工的消费支出,增强其幸福感。     

Changes in the Distribution of Household Income in Brazil: The Role of Male and Female Earnings

Annual survey data spanning three decades and a non-parametric technique for constructing counterfactual distributions are employed to analyze the relationship between earnings and the distribution of household income in Brazil. Results show that significant changes in the structure of female earnings reflecting rising wages and participation rates had limited equalizing consequences but considerable poverty-reducing effects. These developments counterbalanced poverty-increasing changes in the structure of male earnings. A stable macroeconomic environment was associated with a consistent but a limited fall in inequality and a strong decline in poverty mainly related to rising earnings among women at the lower end of the household income distribution.     

Decomposing inequality and poverty in post-war Rwanda: The roles of gender,education, wealth and location

This paper provides an overview of poverty and inequality in post-war Rwanda. Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has recently become one of the most unequal. High levels of poverty and inequality have important implications not only in terms of evaluations of social welfare, but also for management of social tensions and the propensity for violent conflict in the future. This paper uses the first two available and nationally representative rounds of household surveys –EICV1 2000 and EICV2 2005 – to decompose and identify the major ‘sources' of poverty and inequality in the country. I find stark differences in vulnerability to poverty by region, gender and widow status of the head of household. I additionally find important changes in the ‘income generating functions' of Rwandan households, and that distribution of land and financial assets are increasingly important in determining the inter-household distribution of income.     

中国资产价格财富效应的比较与检验

文章对1991--2006年中国住宅和股票市场价格波动的财富效应进行实证检验,并利用脉冲响应函数和方差分解进一步分析消费对资产价格波动冲击的动态响应过程。结论表明,现阶段中国住宅市场和股票市场价格波动的财富效应整体上均呈现为负向效应,且住宅市场价格波动对消费的影响滞后期较长,影响力度高于股票价格波动的影响力度。因此,必须采取有力措施保持资产价格与经济基础的均衡关系,防范负财富效应对我国整体经济造成的负面影响,为资产价格发挥积极财富效应创造良好市场环境。     

对中国股票市场货币传导效率的实证分析

文章从理论上阐释了财富效应形成机理及其股市货币政策传导机制,然后选择上证综合指数和社会消费总额数据为变量,运用格兰杰检验分析我国股票市场的发展是否有助于刺激居民消费和企业投资,是否有利于货币传导效率。研究发现,我国股市不具备财富效应,货币传导机制还不能从股市     

新时期县域小康社会建设评估指标及推进策略研究

新时期全面小康社会建设中,县域建设具有重要作用。在借鉴全国范围的统一的指标体系下,建立适用于县域建设小康社会的指标体系。在该体系中,共包括经济发展、社会发展、生活质量、民主法制、文化教育、生态环境六个子系统,同时设定了18个具体的相关指标。立足于县域发展现状,根据各个指标所反映出的问题,就县域小康社会的建设提出具有针对性的政策建议。     

办公任务中软颈托对人体生物力学负荷及舒适度的影响

坐姿办公的普及提高了颈痛的发生率,非医疗建议下的颈部护具使用需求逐渐增加。为了评估软颈托在典型办公任务中的干预作用,探讨其日常使用价值,31名健康受试者分别在佩戴和不佩戴软颈托的情况下,完成规定的坐姿交互任务,记录运动学参数、表面肌电值及主观评价。结果显示：软颈托仅影响个别任务的头颈屈曲角和手腕水平最远运动距离,其余运动学参数无显著差异;不同任务中,竖脊肌、胸锁乳突肌、上斜方肌活动均有所下降;后颈部不适减少,但前颈部新增轻微不适。因此,软颈托不能矫正姿态,但能够降低颈部肌肉负荷和疲劳不适感,且不会对日常造成阻碍,虽然有组织界面压力风险, 但仍适合作为日常辅助干预措施被使用。