Resource Accounting in Measures of Unsustainability: Challenging the World Bank's Conclusions

The World Bank has recently published acomprehensive study of environmental and resourceaccounting, covering 103 countries (World Bank1997a). The study concludes that many Sub-Saharan,Northern African and Middle East countries have hadnegative `genuine' saving rates over the last 20years and therefore fail to pass the test of weaksustainability. This paper argues that the Bank'sconclusions depend on a method for computing usercosts from resource exploitation that is challengedby two competing ones (the `El Serafy'-method andthe method of Repetto et al.) and is inferior to oneof its rivals. Resource rents are re-computed usingthe `El Serafy'-method for 14 countries and theSub-Saharan and Northern African and Middle Eastregions. The results are that both regions andalmost all countries either stop exhibiting signs ofunsustainability or their unsustainability can beexplained without having recourse to resourceaccounting. However, for Congo, Ecuador, Gabon,Nigeria, Mauritania and Trinidad and Tobago there isa lesson: These countries did not adequately use theopportunities they were given through their naturalresource endowments and should learn from theirmistake for the future depletion of their remainingreserves of natural resources.     

人口老龄化与养老模式选择

当今世界,人口老龄化与养老问题日益受到关注.各国都在积极探索有效的养老模式以应对老龄化问题.虽然国际上现有的三种主要养老保障模式对解决和应对老龄化问题发挥着重要作用,但也都面临诸多困境.     

The effect of a wife’s retirement on her husband’s mental health

This article examines the effect of wives’ retirement on their husband’s mental health in Australia. By exploiting the exogenous variations in women’s retirement induced by the age pension qualifying ages, we find that spousal retirement status has a positive impact on the mental health of older men. This beneficial impact is found to strengthen with wives’ time spent in retirement. We show that wife’s retirement affects the constituents of her husband’s mental well-being in different ways. We also have identified four channels for the positive linkage between older women’s retirement and the mental health of their spouse.     

劳动力转移背景下农村留守老人养老问题:挑战与出路

近年来,随着农村青壮年劳动力的大量外出务工,使农村产生了留守老人这一群体.农村留守老人养老保障问题能否得以妥善解决,不仅关系到这一群体自身是否"老有所养",也关系到新农村建设的成功与否.文章分析了我国现阶段农村劳动力大量外流的现状及其对农村留守老人养老冲击,在此基础上,提出了完善我国农村养老制度、解决农村留守老人养老保障问题的若干对策建议.     

后危机时代农村社会养老保险体系化建设的财政政策研究——以辽宁为例

农村社会养老保险制度的完善与居民消费之间呈现显著的正向关系。后危机时代的＂碎片化＂农村社会养老保险制度,削弱了农村居民的消费信心从而抑制了国内消费需求,也影响到城乡一体化和公共服务均等化与农村社会养老保险制度的可持续性发展。提出政府从财政政策角度———财政补贴、财政转移支付、财政引导机制、财政专户管理和财政监督———逐步将农村社会养老保险由＂碎片化＂转为＂体系化＂,增强农村居民消费信心。     

医疗保险体系隐性负债:概念、规模、因素与化解方式——一个基于国内外研究的述评

医疗保险隐性债务问题是医疗保险制度改革的核心问题。随着人口老龄化、医疗费用快速增长、疾病谱转变等,医疗保险体系隐性债务显性化速度不断加快。基于研究需要,借鉴国内养老保险隐性债务的研究,从概念界定、规模测算、影响因素、化解方式四个方面全面梳理了国内外学者就医疗保险隐性债务的研究。大量文献研究发现,学术界对于医疗保险隐性债务的研究非常匮乏。运用精算方法,评估政府财政所肩负的隐性负债和基金负债成本非常必要。     

计划生育政策对居民储蓄率的影响

本文在选取相关分析指标的基础上,采用我国省际面板数据,实证分析了计划生育政策对居民储蓄率的影响。分析结果表明：计划生育政策的实施将引起居民储蓄率的下降,计划生育政策下的独生子女家庭对储蓄的偏好较弱。本文发现,独生子女家庭具有“高风险、低储蓄”的特征,抗风险能力十分低下。想要化解独生子女家庭的风险,就必须继续放开现行的计划生育政策。本文的研究价值在于,为我国长期人口经济政策的制定与现行政策的调整提供参考与依据。     

西方“前近代经济-社会史”的理论范式及其“中国化”：一个历史与逻辑的述评框架

关于“前近代经济-社会史”的研究,西方学界首开其端,形成若干种流派。进入中国以后,与本土问题相结合,表现更加多样。本文根据语义分析学中“同一‘能指’背后的‘所指转换’无限可能,以及在‘能指冲突’中理解‘所指’”的方法,一方面将各流派对前近代经济社会结构的理解作为一个维度,形成“共同体本位”与“个体本位”之事实差异;另一方面,将各流派对自由的态度作为一个维度,形成“对自由的认同”与“对反自由的认同”之价值差异。两维交叉,构成一个历史与逻辑的述评框架,从中或许可以窥见各派之间的共同点与分歧所在。     

浅谈养老金融发展的路径选择

我国已快速进入老龄化社会,高龄老年人口、失能老年人口、慢性病老年人口、空巢老年人口、无子女老年人和失独老年人口数量的持续增长,势必给经济增长模式、产业结构和社会结构带来复杂影响,在银发经济带来诸多机遇的同时,也带了诸多的压力和挑战。建立好养老金融体系,对我国养老事业的稳步发展具有积极推动作用。     

完善个人所得税税率制度的政策建议

税收公平原则是公平价值在税法领域的具体体现。个人所得税税负具有不易转嫁、税率超额累进等特点,能够有效调节收入差距,但从税收公平角度来看,仍存在着种种严重的不公平现象。本文主要从税率角度入手,首先解剖了我国个人所得税法在税率结构方面存在的不合理因素,然后介绍了外国个人所得税税率设计中的先进经验,最后提出了完善我国个人所得税税率制度的对策。