社会福利指数构造的理论和方法初探

 社会福利指数的构造已成为学界研究的热点问题。为了对社会福利指数进行正确的构造，文章首先对森所构造的福利指数的理论渊源及其局限性进行了探究；其次对国内学者所构造的社会福利指数进行了评析，指出其存在着严重的方法论上的缺陷，在此基础上，文章就社会福利指数构造的理论和方法论框架提出了基本的看法。     

阿马蒂亚·森之福利经济学的意义

1998年荣获诺贝尔经济学奖的印度经济学家———阿马蒂亚.森对正统的福利经济学提出了挑战。他在对福利主义(welfarism)的狭隘性、价值免谈、社会福利函数理论以及财富万能观点逐一进行批判的基础上,提出了能力观、基本价值判断、社会选择理论和森贫困指数,从而为福利经济学的发展培植了新的生长点。     

饥荒根源于权利失败——阿马蒂亚·森福利伦理思想评价

作为一个有良知的经济学家,阿马蒂亚·森对福利经济学的研究具有独到的见解,尤其突显了他对权利的独到见解与重视:他把造成“饥荒”的根源看作是权利的丧失,这也正是其对福利伦理的贡献。     

On the estimation of female births missing due to prenatal sex selection

This research note is prompted by a paper by Kashyap (Is prenatal sex selection associated with lower female child mortality? Population Studies 73(1): 57–78). Kashyap’s paper, which provides 40 original estimates of missing female births, relies on an alternative definition of missing female births, leading to estimates of about half the magnitude of other estimates. There appears, therefore, a real need to take stock of the concept of missing female births widely used by statisticians around the world for assessing the demographic consequences of prenatal sex selection. This research note starts with a brief review of the history of the concept and the difference between Amartya Sen’s original method and the alternative method found elsewhere to compute missing female births. We then put forward three different arguments (deterministic and probabilistic approaches, and consistency analysis) in support of the original computation procedure based on the number of observed male births and the expected sex ratio at birth.     

透视阿马蒂亚·森的自由发展观

阿马蒂亚·森不仅是一位全球知名的经济学者,而且有着对伦理学哲学问题的深层思考,在经济研究中沟通了经济学和伦理学。其经济伦理思想的一个重要方面就是自由发展观,他从分析人的权利问题入手提出了"以自由看待发展"的观点,这一发展观对我们以科学发展观全面建设小康社会具有极其重要的意义。     

对"帕累托最优"的伦理诘问

经济学与伦理学有着深刻的内在关联,但是在经济学发展的历程中,经济学抛弃了它的伦理学渊源,逐渐脱离和淡化伦理学的影响,以"自利最大化"为理论前提、以"社会效用"为标准的"帕累托最优"就是在这种背景下产生的.现代经济学家阿玛蒂亚·森对拒绝伦理考虑的"帕累托最优"提出质疑和挑战,并努力在经济学的研究中重新引入价值判断和道德哲学的智慧,在这个基础上提出新的衡量经济发展的标准.     

Truncated Midzuno–Sen Sampling Schemes for Estimating Distribution Functions

We consider a truncated Midzuno–Sen sampling scheme. The proposed method can be used to estimate the distribution function of a study variable assuming that the distribution function of an auxiliary variable is known. The ratio estimator for estimating the distribution function is shown to remain unbiased. We introduce the first- and second-order inclusion probabilities under the truncated Midzuno–Sen sampling scheme. Numerical examples are provided to support our theoretical results.     

Amartya Sen's entitlement approach: empirical statement or conceptual framework?

In this article, the theoretical and methodological status of Amartya Sen's entitlement approach is discussed. The point of departure for the discussion is Caf Dowlah's criticism in this issue of the International Journal of Social Welfare of Sen's analysis of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh. In his article, Dowlah criticises Sen for not giving a full empirical account of the socio-political situation, primarily the widespread corrup-tion in Bangladesh at the time of the famine in question. In my view, even if this criticism is correct, it is not strictly essential to the factual and normative status of Sen's entitlement approach. I argue further that Dowlah's reading of Sen in this context implies an empiricist standpoint that is in general alien to Sen's entitlement approach. I contest the normative claim that by neglecting to give substantial treatment to the wide-spread corruption in Bangladesh Sen had trivialised the con-ditions of the population, and offer an alternative hypothesis; namely, that factual accounts of corruption, however relevant, seldom fulfil the requirements of methodological rigour char-acteristic of the discipline of economics with its deductive models. The article examines the formal, legalistic focus of the entitlement approach and discusses its consequences. The article takes up the problems of validation and falsification in relation to an empiricist interpretation, and a deductive ration-alist interpretation, respectively, of the entitlement approach. The conclusion is that both interpretations have distinct problems. The empiricist interpretation must contend with the problem of what constitutes the empirical basis of inductive generalisa-tion; the deductive interpretation must contend with the problem that the universal applicability of nomenclatures is more defini-tional than explanatory.     

沈德潜的格调说与对唐诗的评价问题

沈德潜的“格调”是一个融合着气格、风骨、才力、声调等多元素质的概念。格调说是沈氏评论唐诗的基石。据此 ,沈氏对盛唐诗予以高度评价 ,并展示了李白、杜甫作为盛唐巨擘格调的丰富内涵。沈氏在推崇格调的同时 ,对影响较大的神韵说并未忽视且有所借鉴 ,从而使得他在对唐诗的评论中表现出较高的艺术眼光     

论送别诗创作的模式化倾向——以岑参送别诗为个案

我国古代有"饯别必赋诗"的送别传统。到了唐代,送别诗的交际功能逐渐加强,已不仅仅限于"传情言志",而使其充分发挥了"可以群"的社会交往功能。在集体创作的场合下,为了应酬的需要,文士们必须储存一套可供临时发挥、及时套用的模式。岑参的送别诗正具此特点。他的探题分韵所赋之作,在形式和内容上都形成了模式化倾向。在形式上,表现为"三部式"、"两部式"。内容上,在语言、意象、描写场景等方面都有一定类型化表现。可见,送别诗的模式化倾向在初盛唐已初露端倪,这为中晚唐送别诗创作走向模式化奠定了基础。