The anatomy of fragile states in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Understanding the interrelationship between fragility and indicators of wellbeing

According to most classifications, Sub‐Saharan Africa is the region of the world with the highest presence of fragile states. In this paper we examine the relationship between fragility and poverty, suggesting that countries may become trapped in a vicious circle of fragility and low levels of wellbeing. We consider fragility as a continuum and begin by reviewing available measures. These show the high presence of fragility in Sub‐Saharan Africa and allow the more fragile countries to be identified. There is seen to be a strong association between fragility, poor growth performance, and lower wellbeing in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Building on the strong evidence for the two‐way relationship between economic growth and poverty, we present an analysis of how the vicious circle linking poorer welfare outcomes and fragility may be able to be broken. We argue that building successful institutions is key here, and this can be enabled by specific policy interventions that are both poverty reducing and productive.     

中国共享式经济增长实证研究——基于公共支出、部门效应和政府治理的分析

文章首先基于多维贫困指标SHPI构建了共享式增长指数PEG,然后运用公共支出、政府治理水平和部门效应三个方面的指标来考察共享式增长。文章具体通过协整和误差修正模型分析了长期和短期影响共享式增长的主要因素及其调整机制,并在此基础上重点估计了各部门公共支出对共享式增长的影响。文章发现1978-2008年中国经济增长总体上具有共享性,但是大部分年份的共享程度较低。长期内,在公共支出、部门效应和政府治理水平三大类因素中公共支出方面的三个变量对PEG的影响最大。短期内,政府一般性支出和政府规模对共享式增长程度有非常显著的消极影响。     

物价波动、收入增长和地区差距对中国贫困线的影响

我国贫困线的增长机制是只与物价挂钩,不与收入挂钩。由于食品价格增长高于消费价格指数增长,这种调整机制导致贫困线绝对购买力下降;同时,随着收入的快速增长,贫困线相对购买力急剧下降。另外,贫困线与地区经济发展水平高度相关,造成地区间受助穷人的生活质量相差巨大。     

我国西部欠发达地区发展生态工业的分析与思考

针对我国西部欠发达地区日益突出的生态环境问题,发展生态工业已成为构建和谐社会的重要举措。本文选取有代表意义的民族八省区作为西部欠发达地区的典型进行模拟预测,提出发展生态工业是协调贫困地区经济发展与环境状况关系的必要手段。     

生态补偿对国家重点生态功能区居民可持续生计的影响——基于“精准扶贫”视角

以陕西省调研数据为研究样本,将生态补偿政策引入英国国际发展部的可持续生计能力分析框架,采用结构方程模型研究了国家重点生态功能区的生态补偿政策对居民可持续生计能力的直接影响效应和间接影响效应.结果表明:生态补偿对可持续生计能力的直接影响效应为0.182;通过物质资本、人力资本、金融资本和自然资本对可持续生计能力的间接影响效应分别为0.059、0.104、0.066、0.053,总的间接效应为0.282;生态补偿对可持续生计能力总的影响效应为0.464.因此,精准的生态补偿政策能够实现以可持续生计能力提升为主要内容的"造血式"扶贫.     

集中连片特困地区扶贫产业发展的规模特征及其经济效率评价*——以武陵山片区恩施自治州为例

[目的]在扶贫开发战略中成长起来的特色产业已经成为贫困地区经济发展和农民脱贫致富的支柱产业,特色产业的规模和经济效率直接决定着贫困地区脱贫致富能力。[方法]文章以茶叶、蔬菜代表武陵山片区湖北省恩施自治州扶贫产业,利用集中度指数、扩张弹性系数、单位面积的产值能力和产量能力以及单位产量的产值能力等指标进行扶贫产业发展的规模特征及其经济效率评价。[结果]“十一五”期间以来武陵山片区扶贫产业发展的产业地位逐渐提高、规模扩张优势显著、规模收益递增、投入规模扩张率高于产出规模扩张率、资源配置效率不断提高,比较经济效率差距持续扩大。[结论]扶贫产业亟待根据产业发展的生态化、集聚化和融合化等趋势,在规模扩张中强化特色产品的品质建设和效率优势品种生产专业化程度、提高生产技术水平以及完善产业化组织及其能力建设,提高扶贫产业的经济效率和致富能力。     

Traditional Management Systems, Poverty and Change in the Arid Zone Fisheries of Northern Nigeria

This paper, based on fieldwork results, explores traditional management systems (TMS) in the arid zone fisheries of north-eastern Nigeria with particular reference to their impact on rural poverty. The first section provides a historical background by tracing the evolution of the TMS since the nineteenth century, with reference to government policy on fisheries management and poverty alleviation. The second gives an overview of TMS, including definitions, distribution, principal objectives, regulatory mechanisms and the impact of TMS on the performance of the fisheries and on the livelihoods of rural people. The third considers the perceptions and attitudes of the fishing communities with regards to the fisheries and TMS. The paper concludes, paradoxically, that while TMS provide a basis for the sustainable livelihoods of many fishing people, they also reflect and enforce the social positions of the rich and powerful members of society who oversee them, at the expense of the poor. In the future, poverty alleviation in fisheries will need to incorporate both sectoral and non-sectoral strategies – dealing with the existing 'paradox of TMS' by encouraging appropriate institutional changes and community development, and recognizing the importance of employment creation in other sectors of the economy as a source of alternative income.     

‘I Don't Like My Children to Grow up in this Bad Area’: Parental Anxieties about Living in Informal Settlements

A growing body of research on informal settlements considers the experiences of children, but seldom outlines the daily parenting experiences of adult men and women. At the same time, policy on housing in South Africa points to the ways in which the ‘eradication’ of informal housing will help provide children with better futures. This article explores the social relation of parenting within an informal settlement in Durban, South Africa, bearing in mind the broader difficulties of parenting in poverty, and points to ways in which the material qualities of informal settlements contribute to feelings of anxiety in parents. It questions how these experiences might differ from or be similar to those of parents who live in generic contexts of poverty (but not necessarily informality). It concludes ultimately that living in an informal settlement does actually contribute to particular parental anxieties, but that there is no guarantee that informal housing eradication will remove these concerns.     

欧美城市贫困集中研究述评及对我国的启示

从城市地理学、城市规划学和城市社会学的视角,综合评述了欧美国家城市贫困集中的现象,分析了贫困集中所造成的居民收入和就业机会下降、社会隔离及歧视加剧、社会治安环境恶劣、孩子遭受不良影响和公共配套设施短缺等问题,探究了市场、政府、特殊人文因素和产业结构转型等因素对贫困集中的影响。欧美城市经验为我国城市发展提供了有价值的启示,为了减少贫困集中以及由此引发的社会问题,政府应主动进行调控,缩小居民过大的收入差距,避免经济适用房和廉租房住区的集中布局,建设多样化混合社区,以及使公共住房政策由供给导向向需求导向转变。     

用科学发展观指导丹寨县扶贫开发工作

扶贫开发作为缓解和消除贫困、促进区域经济社会协调发展、最终实现共同富裕的战略举措,必须在以科学发展观为指导下,把维护好、实现好、发展好贫困群众的根本利益作为整个工作的出发点和落脚点,提高认识,创新思路,切实开创我县新阶段扶贫开发工作新局面。