Who are forest-dependent people? A taxo nomy to aid livelihood and land use decision-making in forested regions

The relationship between forests and people is of substantial interest to peoples and agencies that govern and use them, private sector actors that seek to manage and profit from them, NGOs who support and implement conservation and development projects, and researchers who study these relationships and others. The term ⿿forest-dependent people⿿ is widely used to describe human populations that gain some form of benefits from forests. But despite its long history and widespread use, there are substantial divergences in who the term refers to, what each of its constituent words mean, and how many forest-dependent people there are globally. This paper identifies the range of existing uses and definitions of the term ⿿forest-dependent people⿿, and summarizes them in a systematic taxonomy. Our taxonomy exposes the dimensions that characterize the relationships between people and forests, and leads to two conclusions: First, an absolute, universally accepted definition of the term is untenable. Rather, users of the term ⿿forest-dependent people⿿ need to comprehensively define their population of interest with reference to the context and purpose of their forest- and people-related objectives. The framework and language of our taxonomy aims to aid such efforts. Second, conservation and development program funders, designers, and implementers must reconsider whether forest dependence is an appropriate target for policy objectives.     

Using Analytic Network Process and Dominance-based Rough Set Approach for sustainable requalification of traditional farm buildings in Southern Italy

Rural Sustainable Development (RSD) is promoted by the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020, and in particular by the national and regional Rural Development Programmes (RDPs), which are mainly supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). At the sub-regional level, a part of the EAFRD is managed by Local Action Groups (LAGs), which decide how to use their own budget within their municipalities via a bottom-up approach, according to the most suitable projects available within the RDP.Requalification of traditional farm buildings is a possible RSD project for achieving various objectives, including creation of new jobs and economic activities, protection of the natural environment, promotion of rural tourism, preservation of rural culture and traditions, encouragement of a sense of community, improvement of the viability of rural villages, and also to contrast the abandonment of rural areas.Nevertheless, European projects and research show that the different types of requalification carried out are often not related to RSD objectives and that requalification does not usually combine the sustainability dimensions and spatial features of rural areas. Furthermore, the opinions of various stakeholders should be considered to support the generation of RSD policies and strategies.Thus, this research aims to provide a RSD decision making framework that makes it possible to tackle the above issues for identifying which type of requalification to assign to certain traditional farm buildings. Therefore, the results should facilitate the work of LAG policy makers in planning and managing the EAFRD 2014–2020. The framework combines the Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) methods “Analytic Network Process” (ANP) and “Dominance-based Rough Set Approach” (DRSA).This framework was applied to a LAG territory in Apulia Region (Southern Italy) that includes 176 traditional farm buildings. The ANP application identified the optimal quota for each type of requalification and showed that the highest quota is allocated to Facilities and Accommodations for Rural Tourism. The second preferred requalification is Centres for Environmental Education, Recreational and Social Facilities, while the third is Facilities for the Transformation and Sale of Agricultural Products. The DRSA was then applied in a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to choose the most suitable traditional farm buildings for each type of requalification, helping the LAG policy makers to fill each quota.     

Capital investment and employment in the information sector

Estimation of the employment effects of changes in capital investment is a standard tool in public policy debates. Typically, such predictions are based on employment multipliers derived from Input–Output analysis. In this paper, we measure the employment effects of changes in capital investment in the U.S. information sector by econometrically estimating an “employment multiplier” from historical data. The estimated multiplier is 10 information sector jobs for each million dollars in expenditure, and perhaps 24 new jobs per million dollars invested across the entire economy. Employment multipliers derived from the Input–Output methodology average about 16 jobs per million, but the multiplier includes jobs outside the information sector. Including employment spillovers, our estimates suggest the multipliers from Input–Output models are plausible. We also note that information sector jobs have substantially higher median earnings than the private sector average, so the economic significance of changes in information sector employment are greater than might first appear. Our findings may be useful in debates over changes in industry regulation that could affect investment.     

闽南文化海洋性特征及其在海西经济的作用

闽南海洋文化是中华文化在历史传承过程中的延伸,其重商务实的生计传统,冒险开拓的进取精神,兼收并蓄的开放意识和历久不息的乡族观念不但对闽南社会产生了巨大的经济作用,还将进一步对当前推进海西经济社会发展发挥积极的作用.     

中小型民营物业管理企业发展思路初探

民营物业管理企业迅猛的发展势头已引起政府、社会、行业的高度关注，但现阶段民营物业管理企业还不能与老牌物业管理企业直接抗衡。本文从分析民营物业管理企业面临的外部环境入手，探讨中小型民营物业管理企业的发展基础、面临的机遇及发展的策略。     

民营资本进入能源行业的理论基础、现实问题及发展路径

本文分析了民营资本进入能源行业的理论基础,在此基础上剖析了民营资本进入能源行业存在的现实问题,即体制障碍、管理机制和融资难三大难题,并提出解决途径。     

落实科学发展观 促进企业党建工作

文章结合实际，分析了企业党建工作存在的问题，并提出了解决问题的方法。     

新兴市场的汇率制度选择、金融约束与经济增长

本文通过构造一个基于金融环境约束的开放经济体跨期模型,对不同汇率制度面临不同名义冲击下的经济绩效进行了比较,结果发现由于浮动汇率对于宏观经济的冲击吸收能力依赖于该国金融环境的发展条件,因此新兴市场的汇率制度退出和转轨决策应当着眼于克服金融约束的关键性门槛.本文的跨国经验分析也进一步证实了模型的结论.     

区域经济协调发展的GACH-X作用机制的实证研究

笔者从区域经济发展的社会、经济、资源与环境子系统的关联性出发,基于增长、依附、竞争、和谐的内在机理,探讨了区域经济协调发展的GACH-X作用机制。基于结构方程模型,利用全国区域经济相关数据,对该机制进行实证研究,研究结果表明:增长、依附、竞争、和谐4个要素均与区域协调发展之间具有正相关关系。     

适应市场经济发展需要 深化税收制度改革

根据十六届三中全会提出的分步实施税收制度改革精神,本文对深化税收制度改革进行了探讨.文章首先论述了深化税收制度改革的客观必然性,其次分析了税收制度改革的指导思想和基本原则,最后探讨了税收制度改革的基本思路和步骤.