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.     

Gender Differences in Time-Poverty in Rural Mozambique

Based on time-use data from a 2013 primary household survey, this study examines the nature and extent of time-poverty experienced by men and women in peasant households in Mozambique. The main findings indicate that while women's labor allocation to economic activities is comparable to that of men, household chores and care work are almost entirely women's responsibility. The heavy burden of responsibilities leave women significantly time-poorer compared to men. Women's time-poverty worsens when the burden of simultaneous care work is taken into account. In addition, due to multitasking, the work tends to be more taxing. The examination of determinants of time-poverty shows that common measures of individual economic power, such as assets and education, do not necessarily affect the time-poverty faced by women.     

Models for relief routing: Equity, efficiency and efficacy

In humanitarian relief operations, vehicle routing and supply allocation decisions are critically important. Similar routing and allocation decisions are studied for commercial settings where efficiency, in terms of minimizing cost, is the primary objective. Humanitarian relief is complicated by the presence of multiple objectives beyond minimizing cost. Routing and allocation decisions should result in quick and sufficient distribution of relief supplies, with a focus on equitable service to all aid recipients. However, quantifying such goals can be challenging. In this paper, we define and formulate performance metrics in relief distribution. We focus on efficacy (i.e., the extent to which the goals of quick and sufficient distribution are met) and equity (i.e., the extent to which all recipients receive comparable service). We explore how efficiency, efficacy, and equity influence the structure of vehicle routes and the distribution of resources. We identify trends and routing principles for humanitarian relief based on the analytical properties of the resulting problems and a series of computational tests.     

中国农村反贫困指标评价新体系的构造

从中国国情出发,中国农村反贫困效益应由生态效益指标、经济效益指标、社会效益指标组成。在遵循综合性、可行性和易操作性的原则下,在借鉴现行中国农村反贫困效益指标的基础上,增加生态、生活福利等指标,才能成为较完整的中国农村反贫困效益指标体系。     

信贷、保险、“信贷+保险”的扶贫效果比较研究

农村金融是农村经济发展的重要内生动力,创新金融扶贫体制对我国农村深度贫困地区的脱贫攻坚工作具有重要意义。本文基于多重均衡模型,对比研究信贷、保险、"信贷+保险"三类金融产品的扶贫效果,在不同的信贷和保险产品结构下得出陷贫概率,进而得出金融扶贫产品的精准设计,以创新金融扶贫体制,从而解决我国深度贫困的问题。研究表明:单独信贷产品扶贫无效;保险能够帮助阈值以上人群摆脱潜在贫困,但对深度贫困无效;"信贷+保险"能解决一定程度的深度贫困问题,比单独信贷或单独保险的扶贫效果更好。     

新型农村社会养老保险对贫困群体生活的影响——基于 CHARLS2011～2015面板数据的分析

本文探讨了新型农村社会养老保险是否对低收入的贫困群体的生活产生更显著的效用,从而论证该制度是否助力扶贫工作。因为养老金是收入的组成部分,而收入有边际效用递减的特点,因此养老金对不同收入群体的效用可能存在差别。本文按家庭人均收入水平区分贫困与非贫困群体,基于CHARLS 2011 -2015年数据,采用多维贫困指标,使用断点回归发现新农保养老金对贫困参保群体在食品消费方面产生更显著的效用,有助于扶贫工作。并使用含复杂时变效应的二元变量模型,进一步发现该效用在养老金开始发放时显现。本文结论有利于认识新农保政策对扶贫的作用,并将扶贫工作和已有的社会保险政策结合,以提高扶贫工作效率。     

"绝对的相对",抑或"相对的绝对"——汤森和森的贫困理论比较

英国经济学家彼得·汤森认为贫困是因为缺乏资源而被剥夺了享有常规社会生活水平和参与正常社会生活的权利,提出相对贫困测量方法.但是阿马蒂亚·森对此提出了质疑,认为贫困在能力的范围内是绝对的,相对贫困只是绝对贫困的补充而不能替代绝对贫困,是一种绝对的相对贫困观.本文对两人的贫困理论进行了比较和归纳.     

行政复议前置、税法确定性与税收治理现代化

行政复议前置的制度功能之一是保障税法确定性,这是税收治理现代化的内在要求。在税务法院全面设立以前,在专业机构完成税收争议的初次处理能够保障税法的统一解释与适用,提升税法的确定性。行政复议前置不仅可以将事实认定功能留给行政机关,让法院(无论是否设立税务法庭)能专事法律问题,而且在税制改革的背景下,能发挥过滤争议数量和争议焦点的作用,提高税收救济制度的效率。这种立场,并不损害纳税人的权利,相反保护了抽象和整体意义上的纳税人权利。