The South African National Credit Act fails to protect homeowners against various interest rates hikes

Where a credit provider makes a proper financial assessment and finds that the low-income consumer will be able to satisfy in a timely manner all the obligations under all the credit agreements to which the consumer is a party he will in all probability conclude the credit agreement with the consumer. Obviously the affordability assessment made by the credit provider will depend on the prevailing interest rates at the time. There has been several interest rate hikes since June 2006 to December 2008 in South Africa that has had a detrimental impact on low-income home owners. Due to the various interest rate hikes and the prevailing high interest rates many consumers have lost their mortgaged homes. The South African National Credit Act of 2005 has failed to take into its purview cases such as these, and as a consequence there is no sort of consumer protection available for the low-income group who become over-indebted, because of the constant rising interest rates on their mortgage loans.     

农户兼业化与农村土地制度变迁——基于家庭内部分工的分析框架及政策含义

基于家庭内部分工的框架,将农户看作两个人的生产系统,讨论了家庭内部分工与专业化对农村土地流转、土地调整两个重要制度变量的影响,研究了农户兼业化对土地制度选择的意愿及其对中国农村土地制度变迁的政策意义.Probit模型的计量结果表明,农民家庭内部分工降低了土地流转意愿;在家庭人地比的一定范围内农户响应人地比例的变动而选择土地流转的意愿比土地调整要更为强烈.研究的结论是,男性和女性人力资本在非农就业的差异,以及兼业农户没有降低农业产出的效率特征,决定了具有比较优势的分工使兼业农户不会轻易放弃土地承包权;分工经济使农民对现有土地家庭承包制的利用程度的重要性超过土地流转制度创新的潜在利润,农户的反应倾向于选择土地流转应对稀缺的土地要素禀赋对土地调整的压力;农户的制度选择意愿在一定程度上受家庭内部分工预期收益所左右,形成了制度变迁的路径依赖和锁入效应.     

土地关系宏观调控规范若干问题探讨

由于我国没有宏观调控法 ,土地关系中的宏观调控规范欠缺基本指引。我国现行土地法规范、土地规划制度、土地用途管理制度都有待探讨完善 ,而对土地法中的宏观调控问题理论上鲜有涉及 ,必须加强研究探讨 ,促进土地宏观调控规范的制定和实施 ,尤其要根据目前的新情况 ,关注、重视土地关系宏观调控决策的民主性 ,以完善土地法规范。     

Title Assurance and Incentives for Efficient Land Use

This paper develops an economic analysis of a general class of land title systems, focusing specifically on incentives for efficient exchange and investment in land. The analysis abstracts from certain institutional features of actual title systems, and is therefore largely normative in nature. Nevertheless, the results are relevant for a complete evaluation of alternative systems, especially for countries where land development (or redevelopment) is a primary objective. The results suggest that in most cases, land registration is preferred to the recording system on exchange and investment grounds, holding other factors constant.     

Land governance as grey zone: the political incentives of land reform implementation in Africa

Weak state capacity has often been in focus when explaining why land reform in sub-Saharan Africa is not implemented. However, an analysis of the deeper politics of land reform brings our attention to a set of incentives which allow rules governing land to be open to interpretation. This article demonstrates that in Uganda, the need to maintain the ruling coalition in a clientelist political settlement to build electoral support, and the desire to attract economic investors, constitute political incentives to maintain land governance as a grey zone, even if there is apparent political will to implement land reforms.     

陆权与清代“海禁”政策

清代前期实行的海禁政策包括移民限制、物品出口限制、外商来华贸易规定以及民船建造规格等多项内容。这种海禁政策的性质并非惯常认定的"闭关锁国",而是中国传统陆权战略的一部分,其制定具有深刻的历史背景。清代海禁政策在当时的条件下,取得了重大成效,但鸦片战争之后,随着世界形势的剧变,这种战略尽显弊端。     

Land grab/data grab: precision agriculture and its new horizons

ABSTRACT

Developments in the area of ‘precision agriculture’ are creating new data points (about flows, soils, pests, climate) that agricultural technology providers ‘grab’, aggregate, compute and/or sell. Food producers now churn out food and, increasingly, data. ‘Land grabs’ on the horizon in the global south are bound up with the dynamics of data grabbing, although hitherto researchers have not revealed enough about the people and projects at issue. Against this backdrop, this paper examines some key issues taking shape, while highlighting new frontiers for research and introducing the concept ‘data sovereignty’, which food sovereignty practitioners (and others) need to begin considering.     

开展“轮训轮值”备勤文化建设的思考

＂轮训轮值＂备勤文化是警营文化建设范畴内的一种特殊形式。如何坚持以人为本,结合＂轮训轮值＂工作实际,采取各种措施,开展行之有效的文化建设活动,从而有效增强轮值备勤学员做好＂轮训轮值＂工作的自觉性、积极性,充分发挥警营文化建设的导向功能、凝聚功能、激励功能、传播功能,已成为提高＂轮训轮值＂培训效能、激发人民警察战斗力与工作激情的主要课题之一。     

转变运作方式，提高退耕还林（草）的效益

实施西部大开发的重要工程──生态环境建设，应当培养市场主体，使民间组织或企业成为生态建设的主体。改变以往的政府行为为市场行为，以提高退耕还林( 草)的效益。     

*改革开放以来我国农地制度的变迁及政策建议

改革开放以来,我国确立了农民对土地的承包经营权,2002年颁布的《中华人民共和国农村土地承包法》规定农民对土地的承包经营权可以依法采取转让、出租、入股、抵押或者其他方式流转,扩大了农民对土地的承包经营和使用权限。与此同时,还逐步完善了国家对农民土地的征用办法和程序以及对农民的补偿安置办法。我国土地制度变革的总体特征是在政府主导下,农民积极参与推动,扩大了农民使用土地的自由度,增加了土地使用的灵活性。在新的土地制度变革过程中,应进一步确保农民对土地的产权、完善征地制度和规范土地流转。