An extended peer communities’ knowledge sharing approach for environmental governance

This paper is devoted to propose an approach to implement the idea of extended peer knowledge to environmental governance by means of engaging the «extended peer communities». Socially robust knowledge relies on transparency and citizen participation. These two underlying elements take the form of both assessment and post-assessment decision support systems. Initially, during the assessment process citizens and stakeholders are engaged in the framing, proposal of alternatives, and evaluation criteria. Then the analysts assessed the alternatives proposed by means of DSS. Then, in a second stage, the analysts inspired in the idea of transparency, gave back the assessment result to the «extended peer community» who were able to give their opinion regarding the results and suggest potential parametric changes that were used for sensitivity analyses. The authors explore the proposed extended peer communities’ knowledge sharing for environmental governance assessment using a case study applied to a sustainable mobility planning process carried out in Tenerife (Canary Islands). The results gathered highlight that this approach is of use for guaranteeing the robustness of complex environmental decisions under high levels of uncertainty.     

THE GINI CONCENTRATION INDEX: A REVIEW OF THE INFERENCE LITERATURE

More than a century ago, Corrado Gini proposed his well-known concentration index for measuring the degree of inequality in the distribution of income and wealth. His index is still extremely relevant and widely used in several fields of research and application. In this paper, we focus on the inferential properties of the Gini index, and discuss the main directions of analysis proposed in the literature. The aim of the paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the main developments on the inferential aspects of the Gini concentration ratio. We feel that this work can provide a valuable contribution to those scholars who are approaching the large amount of literature on the inferential properties of the Gini index.     

Brand effect on extended warranty valuation: Subjective value versus popularity

In five experiments, we explore the effect of brands on warranty valuation and the conditions under which two mechanisms – liking based and availability based – determine the effect. We explore the moderating role of focused deliberation, which accentuates the brand effect under availability mechanism but reduces the effect under subjective value-based mechanism. In Experiment 1, we consider brands that vary in terms of both subjective value and popularity. When a brand is better in both subjective value and popularity, it commands higher warranty WTP. Focused deliberation moderates this effect of brand on warranty valuation. In Experiment 2, we consider brands that vary only in terms of subjective values (but not popularity). While the warranty valuation of the two brands does not differ under no deliberation, deliberation decreases WTP for brands with higher subjective value. In Experiment 3, we consider brands that differ only in terms of popularity (and not subjective value). In this context, deliberation increases warranty WTP for the more popular brand. Experiments 2A and 3A use warranty choice as the dependent variable and conceptually replicate the effects obtained in experiments 2 and 3, respectively.     

The impact of agricultural policy on farm income concentration: the case of regional implementation of the CAP direct payments in Italy

One of the objectives of agricultural policy worldwide concerns the support of farm income. Common Agricultural Policy direct payments (DPs) are the main instruments to support farm income in the European Union. This article addresses their role in the concentration of farm income. This is done by calculating the Gini coefficient and its disaggregation in a large sample of Italian farms in the period between 2006 and 2007. Although this approach has been used to develop ex‐post analysis in previous studies, this article is innovative given that it is used here in an ex ante analysis aimed at evaluating the likely impact of a recent reform proposal. This latter requests changing the current model to a regional model of DPs application to make payment rates (i.e., payment per hectare) homogeneous among farms in the same region. The analysis shows that DPs and farm incomes are both very concentrated but that DPs allow for an income concentration reduction in Italian farms. The shift to a regional implementation reduces DPs concentration and, to a limited extent, farm income concentration. Of the considered regionalization scenarios, those that redistribute DPs among regions are the most effective in reducing concentration. The extension of the Gini considered approach to an ex ante setting seems effective because it provides insights that could feed the policy debate regarding the forthcoming reform.     

The trend of the Gini coefficient of China (1978–2010)

ABSTRACT

This study proposes a new approach to analyse the effects of an overlap term on the calculation of the overall Gini coefficient and estimates China’s Gini ratios since the adoption of the economic reform and open-door policies. A decomposition of the Chinese Gini coefficient for 1978–2010 reveals that the key factor contributing to income inequalities is the income disparity between rural and urban inhabitants. We further investigate the features of this income inequality between rural and urban areas and employ statistical approaches to evaluate the effects of urbanisation and rural-to-urban average income on nationwide income inequality. The results show that accelerating the pace of urbanisation is mainly responsible for decreasing China’s income disparity. Drawing on these results, we conclude with suggestions for related policies.     

我国社会保障支出的地区差异分析

文章首先运用GE指数分解法,分析我国社会保障支出区域差异及贡献率;然后运用GINI系数分解法,分析社会保障各项支出对总体差异的贡献率。结果表明:三大区域总体、区域内及区域间的差异基本呈下降趋势,期间略有起伏,但区域内差异远远大于区域间差异;东部、中部和西部地区差异变动趋势不一致,且对总体差异的贡献率差别较大;社会保障各项支出的贡献率差异较大,其中社会保障补助支出成为总体差异的主体因素。文章最后对实际测算结果作进一步分析,并提出相应的政策建议。     

经济发展对环境资源公平配置的影响研究

伴随着我国经济的持续高速增长,地区之间的经济差距逐渐扩大,势必影响到地区之间的环境资源配置状况。对经济发展、经济公平与环境公平之间的相互关系进行了探讨。通过构建环境基尼系数来定量分析我国环境资源配置的公平状况;根据经济增长与环境质量之间的环境库茨涅茨经验曲线假定,采用数值分析方法研究了人均GDP、经济基尼系数对环境基尼系数的影响。我国1996～2008年SO2省际排放差异的实证研究结果与数值分析结果基本一致,表明随着我国经济发展水平的不断提高,经济基尼系数变大的同时,环境基尼系数反而呈现下降趋势。     

农地流转对土地使用权分配的影响研究

本文利用2006年中国综合社会调查问卷中的农户数据分析了农地流转对土地使用权分配的影响。通过计算农地流转前后的土地分配基尼系数,测度了农地流转影响土地使用权分配的结果,研究显示:农地流转促进了土地使用权的集中,但集中的速度并不快,各区域之间存在差异。在市场化农地流转中,土地较少而又贫穷的农民缺乏能力和优势转入土地,导致土地使用权集中。农地流转难以解决公平问题,农民获取土地仍然主要依靠村组集体的初次分配和二次调整。在符合农民认同、规则明确稳定的条件下,村组内部的土地调整能做到公平与效率相容。因此,村庄集体需要积极培育民主、发展农民自治组织;基层政府需要抑制自己调整土地的冲动,同时在一定程度上认同、支持和监督村组内部的土地调整。     

我国现阶段贫富差距的经济学分析

改革开放以来,在经济增长的同时我国的贫富分化现象也日益严峻,体现在基尼系数的变化、城乡收入差距的扩大、行业差异、地区差距、居民家庭财产集中度等一系列领域。传统城乡二元经济结构的存在、不合理的社会保障模式、经济领域的不平等竞争是导致贫富差距扩大的主要原因。政府必须利用各种经济、法律手段调节收入分配,缔造公平的竞争环境,同时加强以社会保障为主体的制度建设。     

江苏省区域经济差异测度分析——基于基尼系数分解

系统地计算了1978--2009年江苏省县域人均GDP的基尼系数,并将其分解为三个部分：区域内经济差异、区域间经济净差异和区域间经济逆差异。结果表明：江苏省区域经济差异总体上呈波动性的扩大趋势。在小尺度县域单元上,江苏省区域经济差异主要受一般县市经济差异的影响,市辖区的差异变化不大。在大尺度区域单元上,苏南、苏中、苏北三大区域间的经济净差异决定着江苏省区域经济差异,随着区域间经济逆差异越来越小,苏北、苏中人均GDP高的县市逐步被苏南入均GDP的低的县市赶上和超过。要积极壮大苏中和苏北县域经济,实施有利于缩小经济差异的区域政策和措施。