Economic and Social Determinants of Human Development: A New Perspective

The aim of this work is to determine the factors affecting development, not only the economic ones, which play a central role in economic literature, but also social. To do so we have used a wide sample of countries and have estimated a panel data for 171 of those that have been members of the United Nations for a period of 16 years (from 1995 to 2010 inclusive). The results obtained allow us to conclude that fight against poverty, provision of basic infrastructure, and investment in greater democracy, greater stability and less corruption, have, in all cases, a positive effect on human development in these countries.     

社会经济地位、社会流动与民族间的阶层认同差异

作为民族分层的关键指标,主观阶层认同对于研究族际冲突意识和冲突行为具有重要意义。本研究利用全国性调查数据,对民族间的阶层认同差异及其影响因素进行分析。研究发现,虽然当前少数民族社会经济地位要略低于汉族,但其阶层认同与汉族相比并不存在显著差异。究其原因,这可能与少数民族实现向上社会流动的比例高于汉族有关,即虽然相对较低的社会经济地位对于少数民族的阶层认同有拉低作用,但这种效用却被少数民族相对较高的向上社会流动机会所消融。本研究的启示在于,在民族关系问题日益重要的今天,我们在注重发展民族地区经济的同时,还要努力提高各民族成员向上社会流动的机会,促进各民族之间的社会交往和文化交融。     

The Determinants of Child Health in Pakistan: An Economic Analysis

This paper estimates linear structural models using LISREL and employs MIMIC models to find out factors determining child health in Pakistan. A distinction has been made in permanent and transitory health states that lend support to Grossman’s (1972) stock and flow concepts of health. The paper addresses the issue of health unobservability and finds out that latent variables using MIMIC models best represent underlying child health states. To overcome problems of poor income data, factor analysis is applied to extract measures of housing and durables as indicators of socio-economic well-being of children in Pakistan. The results of the study show that child health states, both permanent and transitory, are affected significantly by factors such as parental education, socio-economic conditions, and health care variables.     

Determinants of Subjective Well-Being and Poverty in Rural Pakistan: A Micro-Level Study

Drawing on unique survey data for rural Pakistan, we investigate the impact of socio-demographic factors on happiness index with particular emphasis on subjective well-being measurement to evaluate poverty and its different components. The data elicits information on overall well-being in terms of household’s happiness with the current socio-economic status. We estimate a happiness model to explore to what extent a well-being perspective adds to our understanding of poverty. We find that the well-being approach closely depicts the idea of well-being poverty in terms of the level education, health and income which matter significantly. Moreover unlike developed nations where children have a negative impact on overall well-being, this study suggests a positive impact on well-being and poverty. As studies employing good data from developing countries are rare, this paper can potentially make a good contribution to the existing happiness literature, with special reference to Pakistan.     

决定社会融合的经济因素--来自四川省阿坝州农牧区的调查

在市场化进程中,四川省阿坝州农牧区社会经济不平等现象显著,"生态贫困"、"健康贫困"和"教育贫困"的状况并存.基本健康无保障和非农就业市场教育水平"门槛"提高的现状,导致贫困人口受困于边缘化的可能性增大.为了扭转这种局面,需要继续对最贫困的群体予以食品援助.同时,政府的地区发展和扶贫政策,必须将人力资源发展和就业促进设为优先目标.     

Global Cities,Public Transportation,and Social Exclusion: A Study of the Bus System in Abu Dhabi

As cities of the Gulf Cooperation Council grow and integrate with global markets, questions relating to their unique social compositions continue to emerge. Abu Dhabi has been competing with other cities in the region through massive investments in infrastructure and megaprojects, including the provision of public transportation. The paper examines the issues of bus ridership in Abu Dhabi and relates it to the broader debates on social exclusion and transportation. As a globalizing city with a majority expatriate population, and with a large presence of blue-collar workers, unique rifts in the society are further complicating the ‘usual’ prejudice against buses. The paper reports on results from fieldwork including surveys and observations. It concludes that the bus system could be more effective in fostering social inclusion if a broader accessibility planning approach is used.     

Social Diversity,Institutions and Trust: A Cross-National Analysis

This cross-national investigation examines hypotheses derived from two major alternative perspectives on the determinants of trust in contemporary societies. Is a society’s level of generalized trust a function of its ethnic composition, or of its type of governance and political system? The argument that social diversity (ethnic, linguistic, and religious) leads to lower levels of trust, at least in the short run, is assessed with cross-national data (N = 98). Two hypotheses derived from this perspective are not confirmed. The alternative rational governance argument, which holds that trust is a function of rational governance, stable democracy, and civil rights is also assessed. Three hypotheses derived from this political perspective reveal mixed results. The findings highlight the complex interplay of multiple factors in shaping a society’s overall level of generalized trust.     

Deprivation,Social Exclusion and Subjective Well-Being

This paper aims at investigating empirically the relationship between self-declared satisfaction with life and an individual’s well-being as measured by the indices of deprivation and social exclusion proposed in the income distribution literature. Results on European countries show that life satisfaction decreases with an increase in deprivation and exclusion after controlling for individual’s income, relative income and other influential factors in a multivariate setting.     

Dynamic Reflections of Crimes,Quasi Democracy and Misery Index in Pakistan

Massive increase in crimes has coexisted with rising inflation and high unemployment for the last couple of decades especially during democratic governments in Pakistan. In this paper, we explore the relationship between crime rate, misery index and democracy in Pakistan from 1975 to 2013. Granger causality test proposed the unidirectional causality running from misery index to crime rate in Pakistan. Estimating the crime function via Pasaran’s conditional error correction model, we found the significant long run equilibrium relationship between Okun’s misery index and crime rate which implies that rising inflation and unemployment rate are the major driving forces towards increasing crime rates in Pakistan. Finally, empirical evidence from Okun’s misery index suggested that people are three times more miserable in quasi democratic periods than that of dictatorship. The Barrow’s misery index model verifies that people are twice worsening in quasi democratic periods. Likewise, reported crimes are nearly twice during quasi democracy than quasi dictatorship. The crime model provided the evidence that people during quasi democratic governments are more likely tending towards crime as compared to quasi dictatorship during the study period in Pakistan. This implicitly advocates the fact that half hearted efforts and ill structured apparatus of democracy can augment the tendency of crime and misery rather than solution of such concerns of the economy.     

Social Exclusion and Quality of Life: An Empirical Study from Turkey

We examine the perception of social exclusion and quality of life and their interactions among a group of Turkish citizens. For this purpose we used the social exclusion scale developed by Jehoel-Gijsbers and Vrooman and the WHOQOL-BREF scale. The study group consists of 2,493 participants who are residents of a city in Turkey. Our study was based on self reporting and voluntary participation. We used SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) for the analysis. We observed significant paths among several dimensions of quality of life and social exclusion. We found that the material deprivation dimension of social exclusion has a direct and negative impact on the environment and social relationships domains of quality of life. The material deprivation dimension explains 36% of the variation in the environment and 16% of the variation in social relationship domains of quality of life. This finding indicates that the material deprivation and social participation play an important role in the perception of environmental and psychological life quality. Physical health, social relationships, and environmental domains of life quality are important in the social participation dimension of perceived social exclusion.     

Developmental Trajectories and Predictors of Social Exclusion Among Older Koreans: Exploring the Multidimensional Nature of Social Exclusion

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the developmental patterns of social exclusion among older Koreans over time. In addition, we identified the significant determinants that may increase the risk of social exclusion among older Koreans. The analyses were based on the panel data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing and included older adults from 2008 to 2012 (N?=?24,074) for the final analysis. Social exclusion was categorized into four different sub-dimensions: financial, social relational, social cultural, and emotional. The analysis was based on a semi-parametric group-based approach followed by multinomial logistic regression. The results showed considerable variations and different developmental trajectories by the social exclusion sub-dimensions among older Koreans; in particular, the results showed that being older, male, and less educated were significant indicators of social exclusion. This study adds to the limited body of literature on longitudinal studies of social exclusion among older Koreans, and the results will help develop interventions for older Koreans who are socially isolated.

     

Social Capital,Economic Development,and Homicide: A Cross-National Investigation

This article draws from an ongoing debate over explanations of homicide. Within this debate, we investigate the pro-social effects of civil society and social capital. Few cross-national studies explore whether elements of social capital either increase or decrease homicide. The cross-national work that does is often characterized by small, homogeneous samples and the use of inappropriate statistical techniques. Replicating elements of Lederman et al.’s (Econ Dev Cult Change 50:509–539, 2002) original study but with wave IV World Values Survey data and negative binomial regression, we find weak support for the beneficial consequences of social capital on homicide. One dimension of social capital, however, does exhibit a significant negative association with homicide rates, net of other influences: social activism. We also fail to support the Durkheimian hypothesis that the negative effect of social capital on homicide is conditional on modernization. We explore the implications of the findings along with avenues for future research.     

Multidimensional Analysis of Water Poverty and Subjective Well-Being: A Case Study on Local Household Variation in Faisalabad,Pakistan

Water poverty is difficult to evaluate because it is multidimensional. It is determined not only by the availability of water sources but also whether communities have adequate access to clean, uncontaminated water. It is also dependent on the resource needs of those using the water. Under the premise that water scarcity is multidimensional, we use a Water Poverty Index approach using Principal Component Analysis to develop an index at the household level in 10 villages in one large farming community to examine each household’s subjective view of well being as a result of water poverty. This paper reviews how water resources endowments and depletion because of indiscriminate disposal of untreated industrial wastewater, household sewage and climate change are posing serious threats to water poverty at the household level in developing agrarian economies like Pakistan. We report from our results that both the perceived level of pollution and the proximity to clean and polluted water sources matter significantly for subjective well-being in rural households of Pakistan. The villages closer to polluted water sources are unhappier while the villages, which have better access to fresh water, have relatively higher subjective well-being. A strong implementation of environmental protection measures and regional strategies are suggested to alleviate water poverty and increase subjective well-being in local communities.     

城市流动人口社会融合的过程、测量及影响因素

本文提出流动人口的社会融合是一个逐步同化和减少排斥的过程,是流动人口对城市的主观期望和城市的客观接纳相统一的过程,是本地人口和外来移民发生相互交往和构建相互关系的过程。本文通过模型分析,验证了流动人口社会融合影响因素的三个假设,即流动人口的个人和家庭状况影响社会融合;流动人口的社区参与和社会资本影响社会融合;城市的制度安排影响流动人口的社会融合。     

制度安排、社会排斥与城市常住人口的居住分异——以武汉市为例的实证研究

在我国加速城市化进程中 ,非正式迁移的农村人口已经在城市工作、定居 ,成为城市常住人口的重要组成部分 ,并具有长期定居倾向。我国的二元社会经济结构依然存在。转型阶段的制度安排导致了劳动力市场、住宅市场、城市政治和社会文化环境等对非正式迁移的农村人口的社会排斥 ,并导致非正式迁移的农村人口边缘化 ,成为弱势群体。社会排斥通过住房表现出来 ,导致非户籍迁移人口与市民的居住分异。通过武汉市第五次人口普查资料实证研究表明 ,与市民相比 ,非正式迁移的农村人口住宅的数量少 ,质量差 ,产权情况不同 ,存在空间隔离和社会分异 ,证明了社会排斥的客观性。我国应进行与城乡统一的户籍制度相应的制度创新 ,平等对待非正式迁移的农村人口 ,将其融入市民社会 ;住房政策应在社会公平与市场效率的结合中发挥作用。     

出生性别比的社会经济决定因素:对2000年中国最大的36个少数民族的分析

虽然中国很多少数民族都没有实现严格的计划生育政策,但他们的生育依然受到了限制。这种生育限制增加了有男嗣偏好的家庭采取人为手段控制新生儿性别的趋向。同时,少数民族之间的传统文化、生活习惯和经济发展程度也有所不同。这些因素使各个少数民族呈现出不同的生育状况,包括新生儿性别比的高低。本文试图通过分析某些社会和经济因素对中国少数民族新生儿性别比的影响来证明社会经济对生育行为中男嗣偏好的影响。     

流动、剥夺、排斥与融合:社会融合与保障权获得

农民市民化是中国现代化、城市化进程中的必然趋势,城市化和市民化现实表现为"流动、定居、融合"的社会过程。但中国当前却出现了进城农民"流动但不定居、定居但不融合"的现象。造成这一现象的主要原因是进城农民"内在市民化"滞后于"外在市民化"。"内在市民化"现实表现为自我角色的定位与认同,文章通过对自我角色认同这一表征的多元回归分析发现,造成进城农民"内在市民化"滞后的原因在于进城农民文化水平、年龄、婚姻等因素的差异,而其中最根本的原因在于农民无法稳定获得与市民平等、无差异的包括基本社会保障权在内的基本公民权利,存在"权利剥夺"。在分析结论的基础上,提出了加快进城农民社会保障权利获得等建议,以期加快市民化进程。     

Social Harmony in Hong Kong: Level,Determinants and Policy Implications

This study aims at ascertaining how Hong Kong people perceive Hong Kong as a harmonious society. It also identifies the elements that are most conducive to social harmony in Hong Kong, so that the government could take reference when formulating new policies. 1,062 adults residents were asked to rate their perceived level of social harmony and their satisfaction with 36 items (divided into three dimensions: public governance, society, and economy, family and work) for which the research team believes would be influencing the perceived level of social harmony. Results show that the average rating of social harmony was 5.57 (out of 10), delineating a moderate level of social harmony. Subsequent multivariate factor analysis and regression analysis show that the four extracted factors (from the three dimensions) had significant impacts on the level of social harmony. These were, in order of significance: (a) public governance, (b) social solidarity and respect, (c) economy/family/work and, (d) social tolerance and progressiveness. According to the factor loadings of each significant factor, we identified four core values which we hope the government would consider when formulating new policies, as follows: (1) A Justice Government with Sincerity on Communication, (2) Mutual Support and Respect with Integrity and Dedication, (3) Dedication to One’s Job and Community by Helping the Needed and, (4) Creativity and Progressiveness with Tolerance. Implications for policy making are discussed. The study was conducted under the direction and guidance of the Fostering Social Harmony Task Force of the Hong Kong Professionals and Senior Executives Association (HKPASEA). The authors acknowledge the kind support and assistance provided by the Council Members of HKPASEA and staff members of the Centre for Corporate Governance and Financial Policy at Hong Kong Baptist University. We are also grateful to Prof. Alex Michalos and Prof. P. K. Ip for their comments and suggestions given at the International Conference on National Well-Being held in November 2006 at the National Central University, Taiwan.