中国利率调整对消费作用的实证分析

研究表明,中国利率的变化与国民消费水平增长呈现出一种反向变化的趋势,这一结果与传统的凯恩斯理论、永久性收入假说理论和随机游走理论等相悖,其主要原因是中国的城市消费和农村消费的异质性和“二元结构”特点,不具备上述理论的假设条件。利率机制目前还不是中国调解消费的理想工具,应考虑更多地使用非利率的其他金融手段。     

浅析在强制性制度变迁中艰难前行的农村信用社改革

我国农村信用社在政府主导的强制性制度变迁中不断异化,导致产权不明、管理不顺、经营艰难、风险严重。我国农村信用社改革应遵循诱致性制度变迁的发展规律,改革的关键是理顺管理体制和明晰产权关系,绝大部分农村信用社改革应选择按合作制原则进行规范。     

论乡村社会权力结构合法性分析范式--对杜赞奇"权力文化网络"的批判性重构

中国乡村社会自改革开放以来形成的不同于旧中国的社会控制多元化的现实景况,使得杜赞奇的"权力文化网络"模型基本失去了对中国乡村社会权力结构的解释力。在对其进行建设性批判的同时,建构了"乡村社会权力合法性交往结构"这一新型范式,把乡村社会权力主体的利益斗争视为不同性质的法律规范的交往、冲突与融合的过程,以期对当下中国乡村社会的走向作出具有未来向度的分析。     

我国农村富余劳动力转移与小城镇建设

农村富余劳动力在向二、三产业转移问题上遇到了重重困难。而小城镇在农村剩余劳动力转移问题上具有重要作用 ,是农村富余劳动的“蓄水池”和“节流闸” ,可以很好地满足农业富余劳动力转移的成本需要。必须合理布局 ,科学规划 ,加快小城镇建设。     

浅析现代农业与社会主义新农村建设

建设现代农业是社会主义新农村建设的首要任务和重要基础。推进现代农业建设需要明确现代农业与社会主义新农村的关系,弄清现代农业和社会主义新农村的基本内涵。本文在回顾了我国"三农"政策变迁的基础上,对现代农业的内涵及其发展趋势作了简要的阐述,明确了现代农业与社会主义新农村的关系,然后分析了发展现代农业与社会主义新农村建设的紧迫性,并提出了发展现代农业、推进社会主义新农村建设的建议措施。     

Listening to 'life knowledge': a new research direction in poverty studies

This article points to a current research direction in poverty studies, which explores the knowledge of people living in poverty. The article examines three studies from the USA, Europe and Israel which give voice to the 'life knowledge' of people living in poverty regarding different aspects of their lives. Through these examples, the article examines the potential contribution of 'life knowledge', possessed by people who are welfare-reliant, to the body of knowledge concerning welfare policy. Knowledge of this sort challenges standard preconceptions about the ways in which people cope with hardship and about the ways in which assistance might be given. The article discusses the ways in which 'life knowledge' can be recognised as such and investigated, and how it might contribute to the formation of public policy.     

论农村政策基础研究--对当前中国农村研究的反思及建议

当前以实证材料为基础的中国农村研究,主要是以与西方对话为特点的农村学术研究和以总结推广农村实践经验为特点的农村政策研究.这两类研究的共同弱点是,缺乏对中国农村社会状况尤其是其非均衡状况的关注.通过研究农村政策在农村实践的具体机制及后果,以理解中国农村非均衡的内部结构,从而将抽象的中国农村具体化,可以构成农村政策基础研究,从而为农村政策研究提供理论资源.     

The challenges of poverty and social welfare in the Caribbean

Poverty and related social problems have presented a long-standing challenge to policy makers and development planners throughout the Caribbean. This article is a social primer on anti-poverty strategies and welfare programmes established in Caribbean countries. It presents a comprehensive overview of poverty and attendant problems, discusses the social welfare approach and poverty reduction strategies, and outlines practical proposals for pursuing social development.     

Old and Cold: Older People and Policies Failing to Address Fuel Poverty

Research, funded by the British Gas Help the Aged Partnership and carried out by the Institute of Gerontology, King's College London, explored the multidimensional issues of fuel poverty. A sample of older homeowners and private renters living in England, Scotland and Wales were interviewed in the Spring of 2003 to explore their experiences of keeping their homes warm in the preceding winter. It was found that almost half of the sample for whom full information was available were in fuel poverty. Government schemes failed to address some important issues. Grants were only available to those with “passport benefits”, excluding those who had minimal occupational pensions. Although most respondents had central heating, it was often old and ineffective, yet grants were not available to modernize them. Government schemes did not extend to paying for external and internal insulation for solid wall properties yet many older people live in such property. Several older people lived in rural areas not connected to mains gas. As mains gas currently provides the cheapest fuel, they faced high bills, yet government policies do not address the differential fuel costs in these areas. The culture of many older people in the study contributed to their living in cold homes. They lived frugally and usually turned heating off in daylight hours during winter. It was also a common practice to sleep in an unheated bedroom during winter and to keep the window open at night. Such practices are acknowledged to be unhealthy.     

New avenues to be opened for social protection in the Arab world: the case of Egypt*

This article looks at social protection in the Arab world. Giving the example of Egypt, it asks why poverty is so widespread and why – despite the country's numerous social protection systems – social risks are a major contributing factor to it. It concludes that reforms are due. The existing systems are well funded but inefficient and more to the benefit of the better‐off than the poor. A reform approach is proposed which builds on both conventional and more innovative strategies: campaigns should be launched to raise public awareness of social risks; social assistance spending should be increased; and the operating public pension schemes should be reformed. At the same time, new avenues have to be opened to meet the specific needs of informal sector workers who have extreme difficulty in being covered by social insurance or social assistance. To this purpose, micro‐insurance is a promising approach for the Arab‐world region.