The European high-speed train network: Predicted effects on accessibility patterns

The principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the future European high-speed train network on accessibility, by reducing time distance between places and modifying their relative location. We compare the current situation with that foreseen for the year 2010, according to the Outline Plan of the European High-Speed Train Network, in order to analyse which areas will most benefit from construction and improvement of the infrastructure. It is hypothesized that the high-speed train will certainly bring the peripheral regions closer to the central ones, but will also increase imbalances between the main cities and their hinterlands. A weighted average distance indicator is applied for this purpose. This measure identifies the spatial distribution of accessibility in the area of study, emphasizing the infrastructure effects, and locates accessibility changes at the European level. A Geographic Information System (GIS) has been used to carry out this study.     

Bayesian MCMC Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci in a Half-sib Design: a Graphical Model Perspective

Graphical models provide a powerful and flexible approach to the analysis of complex problems in genetics. While task-specific software may be extremely efficient for any particular analysis, it is often difficult to adapt to new computational challenges. By viewing these genetic applications in a more general framework, many problems can be handled by essentially the same software. This is advantageous in an area where fast methodological development is essential. Once a method has been fully developed and tested, problem-specific software may then be required. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the potential use of a graphical model approach to genetic analyses by taking a very simple and well-understood problem by way of example.     

Experiments in Environmental Economics and Some Close Relatives

Abstract.  It is not only the great number of papers written on environment economics that make it worth dealing with this special branch of experimental research, but the environmental problem in all its facets seems to serve as a catalyst for identifying some methodological problems of the experimental method. For this reason, we will not only try to give an overview of recent experiments in environmental economics but also add some thoughts on the methodological implications of this work. We identify three direct connecting factors for the experimental method and environmental economics. First, social dilemmas are, in many cases, at the core of environmental problems. Experiments are able to test theoretical hypotheses for individual behavior in such social dilemma situations. The second connecting factor comes from the field of applied experimental work and can be characterized as the testbedding of institutional arrangements for the solution of environmental problems. The last direct application of experimental methods to environmental economics concerns the individual evaluation of environmental resources.     

福利危机与改革路径——20世纪90年代以来的香港社会救助

作为全球最活跃的经济体之一,香港一直坚持低税制、低福利、高发展的路线,并根据自身情况建立了一套具有香港特色的社会救助制度。但是,20世纪90年代后,经济、社会等领域发生的重大变化导致这一制度面临诸多问题。为此,香港政府进行了一系列改革,改革汲取了当代全球先进福利理念及经验,在许多方面突破了单纯强调收入援助的传统救助模式,而转向一种新的具有社会投资倾向的积极救助模式。     

论乡村社会林业的内涵实质与基本特征

本文通过深入分析和研究,界定和归纳了乡村社会林业这一概念,进一步分析了乡村社会林业发展的基本特点和管理要求,揭示了乡村社会林业的内涵实质与基本特征,认为乡村社会林业本身就是适应乡村综合发展的一种可持续林业,乡村社会林业发展能够为山区社会经济发展提供稳定、高质量的生态环境,并促进农村社会的综合协调与持续发展。     

社会保障制度对财富分配的影响以及在避免贫富差距进一步加大的作用

伴随着经济的增长,贪富差距逐渐加大和财富朝少数人集中是当今社会中出现的一个现象。在本文中,我们基于财富分布是随机性的这个一般性假设,探讨了在经济增长过程中财富分布的最可几状态。通过对财富在随机状态下的分布函数的建立,证明了如果只考虑人均收入时,财富会以负指数函数的方式作为财富分布的最可几态。并且,随着人均财富的增加,贪富差距不仅不能减小,反而还有扩大的趋势,财富会朝着少数人更集中。如果不仅考虑人均收入（算术平均）,还同时考虑几何平均的话。随着经济增长的同时,由于几何平均是不能容许零或负的财富值存在,这正是社会保障系统所起到一个作用。在这种情况下,财富的分布会呈Gamma分布。在Gamma分布中,财富将集中在大多数人中,财富多或财富少的人数在社会总人数中所占的密度较小。     

大饥荒与宗教信仰——基于CGSS数据的微观分析

文章采用2010—2013年中国综合社会调查(CGSS)微观数据,发现大饥荒对于个人宗教信仰选择具有长期影响。实证结果表明,在控制其他变量影响的情况下,成年时期经历过大饥荒的人群更加倾向于选择信仰宗教,并且考虑流动人口、DID方法和安慰剂(placebo)检验下的回归结果也非常稳健。同时,基于宗教社会网络模型和宗教事后保障模型,文章发现社交动机和个人健康状况是两者的重要影响机制。最后,文章提出了相应的政策建议。     

A political ideology lens on social entrepreneurship motivations

ABSTRACT

The traditional literature regarding social entrepreneurship does not question the political dimension. On the contrary, it tends to de-politicize societal issues. A growing number of researchers underline how this perspective cannot address the complexity and the dialogical nature of social entrepreneurship. However, while there may be a case for incorporating a political perspective, there is currently no conceptual framework to systematically inform an empirical exploration of the role played by the political vision of entrepreneurs. In this paper, we use the concept of political ideology to offer a solid framework to show how politics can shape social entrepreneurs’ motivations. More precisely we identify three political profiles – anti-statist, reformist and neoliberal – which shape the motives to engage in social entrepreneurship. We take an embedded case study approach of 17 social entrepreneurs involved in a social innovation boot camp and reveal the existence of both, left and right-wing approaches in social entrepreneurship.     

Reconciling sustainability and discounting in Cost–Benefit Analysis: A methodological proposal

The incorporation of the intergenerational equity objective has rendered the traditional Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach obsolete for the evaluation of projects presenting an important number of environmental externalities and for those whose impacts extend throughout a long period of time.Based on the assumption that applying a discount rate rewards current consumption and, therefore, that it is only possible to introduce a certain intergenerational equity in a Cost–Benefit Analysis, in this work we propose an approach to discounting based on a different rationale for tangible and intangible effects. We designed two indicators of environmental profitability: a) the Intergenerational Transfer Amount (ITA), which quantifies in monetary units what the current generation is willing to pass on future generations when an environmental restoration project is carried out, and b) the Critical Environmental Rate (CER), measures the implicit environmental profitability.These concepts were tested through an empirical case study pertaining to the assessment of an Erosion Control Project in the southeast of Spain. The results yield traditional profitability indicators that are higher — and probably closer — to the real values set by the contemporary society. The information provided by the environmental profitability indicators proposed renders more transparency to the quantification of the levels of intergenerational equity applied, thereby facilitating the difficult reconciliation of the CBA technique with the objective of sustainability.