Comment on Jennifer Steffel Johnson and Emily Talen's “affordable housing in New Urbanist Communities: A survey of developers”

Abstract

A long‐time criticism of New Urbanism has been that the housing it provides is affordable only to middle‐ and upper‐income families. Johnson and Talen's survey of New Urbanist developers and developments is intended to see whether this criticism is justified. Although the methodology is limited, the results of this survey would seem to indicate that it is.

Because Johnson and Talen's survey is restricted to New Urbanist developments, it is not possible to compare the results with those for other, more conventional developments to see whether New Urbanist developments may actually contain more affordable units than comparable conventional projects. Also, limiting the definition of affordability to the cost of housing alone prevents the authors from seeing whether the housing New Urbanist communities provide would be considered less expensive if housing and transportation costs were combined.     

Section 8 and Movement to Job Opportunity: Experience after Welfare Reform in Kansas City

Abstract

This research addresses the extent to which tenant‐based rental assistance, before and after welfare reform, helps households move to areas with greater opportunities for employment. It was thought that the threat of losing their welfare benefits would encourage participants in the Section 8 program to use the mobility it offers to move to neighborhoods with greater opportunities for employment.

Two samples of Section 8 program participants, one taken before welfare reform and the other taken after it was enacted, have been examined. With the strong economy after welfare reform, more Section 8 households are employed and fewer are on welfare. However, the analysis finds that, independent of welfare reform, households did not use their housing subsidy to move to areas with greater opportunities for employment. Program participants typically remained in racially concentrated areas of the central city, away from those neighborhoods with job growth or large numbers of jobs.     

贵州农民可持续增收的总体思路与路径

农民实现可持续增收是解决“三农”问题的关键,选择实现农民可持续增收的有效途径更为紧迫。文章分析探讨了促进贵州农民可持续增收的总体思路与实现路径。     

美英教师工薪个人所得税税收优惠启示及借鉴

实行教师工薪个人所得税税收优惠政策不仅有利于提高教师待遇,也有利于形成全社会尊师重教的良好氛围。美国和英国在20世纪90年代,结合综合所得税制,提出了一系列针对教师的具体减免税政策和费用扣除标准,从而使教师适用更低的税率或者获得更多的退税,这对改善和提高我国教师待遇提供了良好借鉴。鉴于美英两国政府的个人所得税税收优惠法规已经形成了较为完善的税法体制,因此通过借鉴美国与英国关于教师工薪个人所得税税收优惠政策先进经验,并在此基础上提出适合我国国情的针对性建议,可以为我国教育行业吸引更多优秀人才长期从教、终身从教创造积极条件。     

Income and Wealth Inequality in Nepal, 1996 and 2004: Changes and Socio-demographic,Spatial and Economic Determinants

Micro-data from national surveys indicate that economic inequality remained high and relatively unchanged in Nepal during the middle 1990s and early 2000s. Using household income and wealth as indicators, this study finds that many of the demographic characteristics, such as age, caste, ethnicity and widowhood, determined mostly along traditional social hierarchies, play influential roles in determining inequality in much of Nepal. In urban areas and especially in Kathmandu, however, these factors have proved increasingly less influential, replacing them with such factors as migration, education and labour market participation. These changes highlight the mechanisms through which different social groups are experiencing inequality, with important implications for the much needed economic, social and political stability of the country.     

Migration and the reconfiguration of Malaysia

This article examines the social impact of the 1997 financial crisis in South Korea. Although the crisis was short-lived, it has created major ripples all across the country, profoundly affecting the Koreans' lifestyle and family life as well as their values and worldview. In spite of the magnitude of the financial crisis and its social impact, scant scholarly attention has been paid to the issue, although the causes and economic impact of the crisis have been amply discussed. In view of this, the article examines major social changes brought upon by the financial crisis. The article probes, for example, how employment patterns have been deeply affected, whereby a majority of workers are now irregular workers or are underemployed. The article also demonstrates how the people's perception of work has changed and how the income gap between the rich and the poor has widened. Also discussed are, among others, the continuing discrimination against women in the workplace, rising divorce rate, increase in immigration and value conflicts over the relevance of Confucianism in contemporary Korea. In addition, the article examines the agency of the Korean people in reacting to or coping with the changing circumstances.     

关于完善我国个人所得税的探讨

目前,我国现行个人所得税制度在税制模式、税制要素和税收征管三方面仍存在一些问题。可以采用优化税制模式、合理设计税制要素和提高个人所得税征管水平的方式加以解决。     

建国以来我国分配领域公平与效率实践的回顾与思考

建国以来,我国的收入分配制度发生了很大的变化,分配制度的变迁实际上就是一个不断探索效率与公平关系的过程。从＂平均主义＂到＂效率优先＂的探索,一定程度上有效地促进了经济发展和生产效率的提高,但也导致了收入分配差距迅速扩大,并影响到社会稳定和经济增长,从而导致公平正义问题凸现。反思建国以来收入分配制度变迁的过程,从效率公平的权衡到公平正义的诉求,将有助于深化分配制度改革,加快体制机制创新,推动社会的和谐发展。     

新农村建设的逻辑起点：国民收入城乡分配和谐

国民收入城乡分配长期失衡是城乡二元结构和“三农”问题日益深化的重要诱因之一。调整国民收入城乡分配结构,构建和谐的国民收入城乡分配关系,是社会主义新农村建设的逻辑起点和根本前提。     

公共财政体制改革与和谐社会建设

财政体制的完善程度直接决定着政府化解冲突、稳定社会的能力。当前我国所面临的各种突出的社会矛盾,其背后往往都能找到财政体制缺陷的影子。从财政收入和财政支出等方面完善公共财政体制,是缓解社会矛盾与冲突、构建社会主义和谐社会的重要制度条件。