Can China escape the middle-income trap?

Can China continue its relatively rapid economic growth and rise to the high-income status in the coming decade? In this article we address this question by examining three issues. One, is the current slowdown mainly a cyclical or a structural phenomenon? Two, can China successfully transform its growth model? And, three, what does China need to do to foster its capability of technological innovation and industrial upgrading? We conclude that, with necessary reforms, such as improvement in the education and research capability, liberalization of the financial system and introduction of a more transparent and accountable political system, China will most likely be able to escape the middle-income trap in the next 10 years.     

Impacts of protected areas on local livelihoods: Evidence of giant panda biosphere reserves in Sichuan Province,China

Given the debates about whether Protected Areas (PAs) exacerbate local poverty or might contribute to poverty alleviation, there is a critical need for evidence to examine the impacts. In this study, we have conducted a household investigation of 560 rural households in 7 PAs of Sichuan province of China. We used matching method to value impacts of PAs on local livelihoods. The results showed that compared to the Average Treatment Effect, the results of traditional regression model exaggerate the negative impacts of the PAs. However, we should notice that the overall impact of PAs on local household wealth was still negative. Households inside the PAs had more Non-timber Forest Products gathering income and compensation, but fewer crop production income and forestry income. Better conservation policies need to be initiated to realize the harmonious and concurrent development of ecological objectives and livelihood objectives.     

Neighborhood Effects and Regional Poverty Traps in Rural China

The present paper investigates how neighborhood effects are connected to chronic poverty. We examine a large sample of groups of households and find that neighborhood effects are significant in a majority of groups, especially in the poorest groups. People living in poor communities tend to suffer from poverty over time. It is of theoretical and empirical importance to explore how neighborhood effects are interrelated with chronic poverty and the channels through which this occurs. Unlike other econometric analyses, we establish a multilevel econometric model to show that： （i） it is difficult for an individual living in a neighborhood with a high proportion of agricultural labor, low education levels, and poor transport and telecommunication infrastructure to escape from poverty traps; （ii） neighborhood effects dominate in poor communities; and （iii） although poverty is affected by group-level factors, individual factors still play a dominant role in regards to escaping poverty when income surpasses a threshold level Therefore, policy priority should be given to providing social protection and public services, especially in poor rural areas.     

以要素禀赋结构升级促进产业链延伸：走出“比较优势陷阱”

从要素禀赋结构、产业结构及贸易结构三者之间的关系出发,看出要素禀赋结构升级不但决定着产业结构升级和贸易结构升级,而且能促进产业链延伸,进而对走出＂比较优势陷阱＂起着重大的作用。     

居民货币需求的“结构性流动陷阱”及其对我国物价变动影响之研究

由于当前经济改革中的一些结构性问题使我国居民存在对货币需求的"结构性流动陷阱"."结构性流动陷阱"是我国近年来城乡居民储蓄存款高速增长的根本原因,也是对我国自1997年以来物价变动产生重要影响的一个基本因素.文章首先对当前转型期我国存在的居民货币需求"结构性流动陷阱"形成原因进行分析,其次,依据这个观点对我国近年来出现的通货膨胀和通货紧缩的基本原因和特点进行深入的分析和系统的研究,并就我国未来短期内物价走势进行分析和预测.     

普惠保险发展的路径选择及其优化——基于小额保险的国际经验

保险“十三五”规划要求大力发展小额保险等普惠保险,但我国小额保险发展相对滞后,制约着普惠保险的全面发展。本文基于对印度等五国经营小额保险的经验研究,比照我国普惠保险发展实际情况,期望借此破解我国普惠保险发展困局,优化普惠保险发展路径。研究发现:我国普惠保险发展在政府推动力度、法律法规完善程度、政策支持力度及发展模式上均可进一步强化改善。结合国际经验和中国实践,我国普惠保险发展应重视法律法规等正式制度建设,顺应各地风俗文化等非正式制度,出台“小额保险条例”作为普惠保险的配套支持政策,利用合作代理销售模式和科技创新手段,控制普惠保险交易成本,开发符合消费者实际利益的普惠保险险种。     

社会资本、扶贫政策与贫困家庭福利——基于贵州贫困地区农村家户调查的分层线性回归分析

根据社会资本分层、数据嵌套的特征,采用分层线性模型,利用贵州省贫困地区农村家户的调查数据,分析不同层级的社会资本影响包括扶贫政策在内的中间变量、进而对家庭福利产生的不同效应及其交互作用。研究表明,在物质资本和人力资本都比较贫瘠的农村贫困地区,社会资本在一定程度上发挥了"穷人资本"的功能,其减轻贫困、改善家庭福利的作用不仅显著,而且还存在进一步发挥的空间。     

经济全球化、中国收入分配与“人口红利陷阱”

文章从经济全球化影响中国收入分配的各个层面入手,通过数理推导和实证分析探讨了贸易全球化、生产与投资的全球化、金融深化、科技进步、教育水平等对中国国内收入分配的影响。结果发现,贸易全球化短期内会加剧中国的收入差距,原因可归结为人口红利陷阱,但长期内将有助于缩小中国的收入差距;生产与投资的全球化也会扩大收入差距,而金融发展与深化对中国收入分配差距的影响最大;技术进步、受教育程度提高和劳动力由低阶部门向高阶部门的转移则能在一定程度上缓解收入差距过大。     

后金融危机时代农民工权益贫困化与出路的深层次思考

后金融危机时代农民工权益贫困化问题凸现,其实质是合法权益实现的贫困化。用权力行为的公正维护农民工合法财产权益,体现制度优越性;用劳动的正义捍卫体面劳动,实现劳动权益的合法性;用人权的神圣捍卫农民工自我发展权,体现和谐社会"以人为本"的价值理念。这需要在机制改革、制度建设与政策调整上的政治共识和政治智慧。     

Impact of formalisation of property rights in informal settlements: Evidence from Dar es Salaam city

This paper aims to study the responsiveness of the informal property market and management systems towards the introduction of land registration for informal settlements in Tanzania. City governments are increasingly recognising the need to strengthen legal rights for the urban poor as a means to bring them more effectively into the urban economy and ensure better provision of water, sanitation and other primary services. The research focuses on Tanzania and in particular two case studies within Dar es Salaam. The findings of the work suggest that the introduction of residential licenses whilst potentially assisting in creating legal certainty has not resulted in the financial sector accepting them as full security against loans. Accessing credit by the poor however has not yet been fully realised resulting in some further hurdles for the financial sector to overcome. Finally, and of some significance is the registration of property in the informal settlements has provided the opportunity of formal property transactions within these settlements.