Assessment of the effects of targeted poverty alleviation policy on differently poverty-stricken households: A multi-propensity score weighting model

Eliminating poverty is a multifaceted global challenge and a focal point of global development governance. With the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation (TPA), China's poverty alleviation efforts have had significant achievements. This study provides a new perspective by classifying poverty-stricken households based on poverty root causes at the household level, a multi-propensity score weighting model based on counterfactual inference is employed to examine the poverty reduction effect and policy precision on six non-equivalent poverty-stricken household groups in a Chinese county. The results reveal that the poverty reduction effects differed among poverty-stricken households with different root causes of poverty. Specifically, households impoverished due to disability have the lowest income of the six groups. The assistance policy effects also vary significantly and are found to be poorly suited to poverty-stricken households a lack of labor force and funds. A robustness test confirms this conclusion and a more nuanced analysis reveals that these differences are reflected in the wage and transfer incomes. Therefore, to ensure the stability of poverty reduction and the sustainability of income for poverty-stricken households, relevant associated aid policies need to place different emphases based on their household characteristics.     

Examining energy poverty in Chinese households: An Engel curve approach

This article is first to model energy poverty in Chinese households using an Engel curve approach. To analyse the determinants of energy poverty and energy expenditures across households, we avail the 2015 wave of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). Possible presence of endogeneity is accounted for in the model specification as well as by using the Lewbel heteroscedasticity identified endogenous variables estimator. In addition, we are the first to scrutinise disparity and discrimination by conducting the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition of energy poverty model by gender, ethnicity, region (Eastern vs. non-Eastern provinces), and urbanisation status (rural vs. urban residents). Our analysis shows: (i) education is the key determinant of various energy poverty measures and energy expenditure shares across Chinese households; (ii) other determinants including fossil fuel mix and electricity price discrimination are found to worsen energy poverty, on average. However, fossil fuel mix is found to increase expenditure share of total energy, electricity, and coal and decrease that of biomass; and (iii) the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition analyses show no statistically significant gender or ethnic discrimination in energy poverty rates. However, there is substantial divide between Eastern and non-Eastern provinces and between rural and urban households—with these groups also discriminated against when accessing clean cooking fuels and technologies. The Blinder–Oaxaca results also generally support the logistic and the Lewbel energy poverty model findings.     

The Australian Economy in 2022–23: Inflation and Higher Interest Rates in a Post-COVID-19 World

Record levels of domestic and global stimulus during the COVID-19 pandemic years helped to mitigate largely unparalleled downside risks. Post-COVID-19, inflation surged in Australia due to overseas factors such as the war in Ukraine, and domestic factors such as COVID-related backlogs in the construction sector. To constrain inflation, the Reserve Bank shifted to a phase of aggressive monetary policy tightening in 2022. There are, however, cost of living ramifications associated with tighter monetary policy. Looking forward, there is significant uncertainty about the rate at which inflation will normalise, and the spending response of consumers to higher interest rates.     

林业生态效率:时空特征与影响因素--基于我国31个省份数据的实证分析

利用2007—2018年我国31省份的面板数据,使用三阶段DEA模型和多元线性回归模型探析我国林业生态效率的时空特征与影响因素。实证结果表明:我国林业生态效率呈现明显的时间波动趋势,先下降后上升;东北部地区林业生态效率值最高,其次是东部地区、西部地区和中部地区;林业用地面积、营林固定资产投资、林业从业人数和林业能耗对林业生态效率产生显著影响。     

Business ethics in China and Iceland—Contrasts and convergence

It is generally accepted that cultural differences affect individuals' approaches to ethics, but how are the effects of culture manifested in perceptions of ethics? Further, how are cultural differences displayed in such ethics-related actions as recommendations for business ethics education? Managers' responses from two starkly different cultures, China and Iceland, reveal, somewhat surprisingly, that one group's top business ethics concerns and business ethics education recommendations are at the bottom of the other group's rankings, and vice-versa, yet each appears reasonable given the cultural background. This shows how nuanced the expression of cultural differences in the realm of ethics can be and how potential practical steps may rely on perceived “top” ethical issues. Together, these findings imply that there is more to explore about the role of culture on ethical reasoning and behavior than researchers have examined to date. We provide suggestions for further research and practical applications.     

基于t检验的星基增强系统完好性数据核验

针对星基增强系统（SBAS）高完好性的服务需求，提出了一种SBAS广播参数用户差分伪距误差（UDRE）的完好性核验方法。利用监测站实测全球定位系统（GPS）和地球静止轨道（GEO）卫星信号，解析GPS电文和SBAS广播差分及完好性信息，对观测量修正误差得到实测UDRE，使用t检验成对二样本分析法验证给定置信区间内广播UDRE′与实测UDRE的符合性，从而完成伪距域完好性参数UDRE的核验。伪距域的核验避免了以往位置域核验计算量大、多卫星故障检测能力差的缺点，有更好的故障检测与隔离能力。采集日本多功能GPS卫星星基增强系统（MSAS）数据并对提出的t检验方法进行验证，结果表明，所建立的统计检测量能有效地反应被监测卫星广播UDRE参数的完好性，通过确定卫星99.9〖WT《Times New Roman》〗%〖WTBZ〗置信度下的判决门限，对广播UDRE与实测UDRE判别，验证伪距误差的可信度。该结果验证了所提方法应用于UDRE核验的可行性，为SBAS完好性验证提供了技术支撑。