Cross-National Variation in Individual Life Satisfaction: Effects of National Wealth, Human Development, and Environmental Conditions

This study adds to the literature on subjective well-being and life satisfaction by exploring variation in individual life satisfaction across countries. Understanding whether and how individual life satisfaction varies across countries is important because if the goal of development is to increase well-being, we must identify the causes of well-being in different national and regional contexts. Using hierarchical linear modeling techniques, I test the hypothesis that individual well-being does vary across countries, and that national wealth, human development and environmental conditions explain this variation. I also test whether the effects of individual characteristics on life satisfaction (including age, marital status, education, income, employment status, and sex) vary across countries, and which country level characteristics explain these variations. Using individual level data from the World Values Survey, I find that there is significant variation in life satisfaction across countries. There is also significant variation in the slopes of individual predictors of life satisfaction across countries and regions. Regional differences in the effects of individual characteristics on life satisfaction explain most of the between country variation in life satisfaction. This indicates that universal development indicators may not adequately reflect differences in life satisfaction across countries, and that development measurements should better reflect regional differences.

The Alternative Economies of Emigration and Immigration,the Real and the Constitution of Italian Nation Spaces

In this paper I consider how we might interpret the implications of the coincidence of emigration and immigration in Italy. Some scholars have situated Italy's population changes in the past 30 years within the framework of the ‘Mediterranean model of Migration’. Although this model offers a general picture of the structural features in common among ‘Mediterranean’ countries, it assumes the existence of the nation rather than questioning its very becoming or possibility and how emigration and immigration as forms of mobility might suggest the limits to the symbolisation of nationalism. Employing concepts derived from Slavoj ?i?ek, I explore the potential to explain the constitution of Italian nation spaces through the concept of the ‘Real’ to analyse the threats that mobilities make to the fantasmic category of the Italian nation.     

国民幸福指数纳入政府绩效评估探析

通过对国民幸福指数的理论研究,分析了将国民幸福指数纳入政府绩效评估的意义,总结了江阴市的经验和做法,并结合我国的实际情况,设计了将国民幸福指数纳入政府绩效评估的具体途径,这些途径主要考虑到评估法律、评估主体以及评估的指标体系等方面。最后提出要以法律的形式将国民幸福指数纳入政府绩效评估体系、政府绩效评估主体应该多元化、构建科学的政府绩效评估指标体系、将国民幸福指数具体化等建议。     

Multiple-Scale Integrated Assessments of Societal Metabolism: Integrating Biophysical and Economic Representations Across Scales

The crucial challenge for integrated analyses of socioeconomic systems is keeping coherence in their multidimensional representation. Our approach describes the hierarchical structure of socioeconomic systems using the profile of allocation of human activity over a set of compartments defined at different hierarchical levels (e.g., whole countries, economic sectors, individual households). Compartments are characterized in terms of intensive variables (intensity of both exosomatic energy flows and added value flows per unit of human activity) and the extensive variable Total Human Activity population. In this way, relations of congruence across hierarchical levels can be used to link non-equivalent analyses. That is, changes in demographic variables, economic variables, technical coefficients, indices of environmental loading, institutional settings, and social aspirations are no longer independent of each-other even if described within different scientific disciplines.     

Personal and Planetary Well-being: Mindfulness Meditation,Pro-environmental Behavior and Personal Quality of Life in a Survey from the Social Justice and Ecological Sustainability Movement

Employing data from a mailed survey of a sample of ecologically and spiritually aware respondents (N = 829), the study tests the hypothesized relationship between ecologically sustainable behavior (ESB) and subjective well-being (SWB). The proposed link between ESB and SWB is the spiritual practice of mindfulness meditation (MM). In multiple regression equations ESB and MM independently explain statistically significant amounts of variance in SWB, indicating, for at least the study’s sample, that there can be a relationship between personal and planetary well-being. The inter-relationships among SWB, ESB and MM suggest that for specific segments of the general population (e.g., the spiritually inclined) there may not necessarily be an insurmountable conflict between an environmentally responsible lifestyle and personal quality of life. The research reported here also points to the potential for meditative/mindful experiences to play a prominent role in the explanation of variance in SWB, a direction in QoL studies recently highlighted by several researchers (Layard 2005, pp. 189–192; Nettle 2005, pp. 153–160; Haidt 2006).

区域人口抚养负担的评价方法与实证分析

针对常用人口抚养负担评价方法的缺陷,构建了抚养负担数量指数和抚养负担质量指数,以便科学反映区域人口的抚养负担。并选取中国为实证对象,进行了有效验证。研究表明:从抚养负担数量指数看,除城镇外,农村和全国的抚养负担都在减轻;从抚养负担质量指数看,农村、城镇和全国的抚养负担都在大幅度减轻。相关分析显示中国非劳动人口比重下降的根源在于农村非劳动人口比重的减少,不过减小人口抚养负担的关键在于增强劳动人口的创收能力,并非仅依赖于非劳动人口比重的下降。     

再论人口控制中的政府行为的规范原则和评价标准

政府行为在人口控制中起着十分重要的作用。本文论述了人口控制中政府行为的含义及必要性,同时阐明了对人口控制中政府行为的规范原则和评价标准。     

基于因子分析法对居民生活质量的度量与评价

随着经济的发展,人们的物质生活基本得到满足,在能够保持基本生活的前提下,更加关注精神方面的需求。社会发展的最终目标是人的全面发展,因此,我们应该更加关注居民生活质量的提高。本文利用因子分析法对居民生活质量的高低进行度量,找出居民生活质量综合得分排名前五的城市进行逐一分析,提出建议。     

流动人口计划生育工作指标体系与考核评估方式初探

流动人口计划生育工作是我国计划生育工作的两大难点之一。要提高流动人口计划生育管理水平,必须建立科学的指标体系来规范流动人口计生管理。本文结合实践,论述流动人口计生管理工作指标体系设置原则,统计口径,以及管理质量考核评估方法和内容。     

中国人口和计划生育管理与评估改革的现状与展望——兼谈联合国人口基金管理与评估改革项目的实践进程与拓展应用

"十一五"时期,在国际合作项目的推动下,中国的人口和计划生育管理与评估改革围绕管理系统的计划制定和评估考核两个环节进行了一系列创新,并在项目地区的实践中取得了长足进展。为了促进管理与评估改革成果在更大范围内拓展应用,建议:加强项目县经验总结,形成适合于不同环境下的"管理与评估改革"模式;借助项目县改革经验,以项目县为"圆心"逐步带动整个地区实现改革;动员各省将管理与评估改革纳入综合改革的范畴,推动地市实行管理评估改革;倡导全国加速扩大目标管理责任制改革试点,推动各省进行管理与评估改革。     

奖励扶助制度监督与评估机制的研究

以农村部分计划生育家庭奖励扶助制度监督与评估的必要性为出发点,对监督和评估的内容和方法进行系统分析,以社会政策理论和实际工作需要为基础,为这项制度的监督与评估机制建设提供参考。     

宁夏回族自治区“少生快富”扶贫工程试点绩效评估

"少生快富"扶贫工程是国家奖励自愿少生农民的一项试点工程,是近年计生与扶贫领域联袂出台的一项重大改革措施。我国贫困地区已高度集中在西部地区,扶贫财政逐年增长,扶贫与返贫却已形成拉锯战局面,有效缓解区域人口压力,已经凸现对扶贫战略的根本意义,而"少生快富"也是计生利益导向机制与改变农民生育行为相结合的有力措施。并对宁夏试点项目管理及投入产出效益做了评估。     

对“农村部分计划生育家庭奖励扶助制度”的评估与建议

在部分农村计划生育家庭奖励扶助养老制度试点一年多后,运用在贵州、湖北、河南和江苏四省试点地区的调查资料,从群众对政策内容的认同、对政策运行过程的看法、对政策效果的认同和对政策的信任度等方面,对奖扶制度进行评估。总体而言,奖扶制度是一项受到农村绝大多数干部和群众赞成的政策,政策的运行机制是一项很有价值的创新。但政策中有关奖扶对象的确认标准和对象的认定程序等还有待完善。     

农民视角下新农合保障能力及影响因素评估——基于宝鸡市421户参合农民的调研

本文使用对陕西省宝鸡市11个乡镇421户参合农民的调研资料,分析了新农合运行现状及保障能力状况,并运用Ordered Logit模型从农民视角对新农合保障能力及其影响因素进行了分析。研究结果显示,参合农户对新农合保障能力评价为"很强"和"较强"的占62.2%,"较差"及"很差"的占8.84%,评价为"一般"的占29.3%。新农合的贯彻执行力度、政府的资金支持力度、医疗机构的设备保障状况、药品的价格质量、基金管理的合理程度以及定点医疗机构对常见病的医治能力,是显著影响农民对新农合保障能力作出不同评价的因素。