Housing subsidy projects in Amdo: modernity,governmentality, and income disparity in Tibetan areas of China

This paper explores the ways in which housing projects in the northeastern Tibetan region of Amdo (Qinghai) produce governable citizens through rural reconstruction projects. Since the beginning of the “Construction of the New Socialist Countryside” project in 2005, the Chinese state has made great efforts to improve the living standards of rural populations, with a particular focus on the construction of “comfortable” and modern housing. This paper examines the housing subsidy projects that were launched in Amdo in 2009. Drawing on qualitative data, including participant observation and interviews, the paper examines the ways in which Tibetan villagers seek to achieve their versions of modernity through these projects. It analyzes how housing projects have encouraged villagers to become more avid market consumers by cultivating and increasing their desires for material improvement. In doing so, these projects have increased income disparities among households in the same village.     

WTO框架下我国会计准则国际化的趋向与对策

我国在推动会计准则与国际惯例接轨方面已取得一定的成果。但是 ,从国际会计准则的动向与发展趋势看 ,我国目前的会计准则与国际流行的惯例之间仍存在差异与差距。对我国会计准则国际化问题 ,我们一方面应在吸收借鉴先进的会计理论方法的同时 ,建立起自己的特色。另一方面应在照顾国情需要的前提下 ,尽量与全球化会计准则或国际惯例保持协调     

农民增收与体制创新

由于我国经济发展中长期形成的重城轻农的发展模式,致使政府没 有承担起在农民增收中的义务,这是农民收入增长缓慢的重要原因之一。要使 农民收入在短期较快增长,必须要进行体制创新。     

Poverty Among Small Farmers Under Frei and Pinochet, 1968–1986

Abstract — This paper draws on the results of a nation-wide panel study of small farm households interviewed in 1968 and 1986 to complement accounts of Chile's economic performance under the governments of President Frei (1964–1970) and General Pinochet (1973–1989). It is shown that in contrast to macroeconomic trends of increased inequality and impoverishment after 1973, the incidence of poverty in the sample declined slightly but significantly over the period. The result is robust both to the choice of poverty index and poverty line. It is all the more striking because the sample represented the poorest group in Chile during the 1960s. Nevertheless, the incidence of poverty in the sample remained extremely high. In 1967–1968, more than three-quarters of households could not meet their basic needs, while in 1985–1986 this proportion reached nearly two thirds. The fall in poverty may be attributed to a combination of increased coverage of the rural areas by targeted welfare programmes and the effects of the life cycle in increasing the proportion of panel household members eligible for, and dependent on public transfers between 1968 and 1986.     

云南农民增收减缓的原因及政策选择

云南是一个农业大省,农民的收入问题是事关全省经济发展、社会稳定的全局性问题。近几年来,云南农民增收速度明显趋缓已成不争的事实。认真分析农民收入增长缓慢的原因,努力探索新的发展思路和对策,对于发展云南农村经济、增加农民收入、维护农村社会稳定具有十分重要的现实意义和深远的历史意义。     

推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整的思考

推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整,对于边疆民族地区农村经济快速、稳定、健康发展至关重要.推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整是当前农民增收,农村经济社会全面协调发展的重要措施.因此,必须采取措施推进边疆民族地区农村产业结构调整的步伐.     

Analyzing conflict severity: Predictions of distributive justice theory for the two-subgroup case

This paper formulates a model of conflict based on the theory of distributive justice. The model begins with a condition we termcleavage: There is a perfect correlation between the distribution of a valued good and a grouping variable such as race, ethnicity, or sex. Cleavage sets the stage for conflict. Two key elements are specified—conflict severity and subgroup effectiveness—and their mathematical representation described. The paper analyzes the special case where the conflict involves two subgroups, and focuses on conflict severity. Analysis identifies several sources of variability in conflict severity: the relative sizes of the two subgroups; whether the advantaged subgroup is the smaller or larger; whether the collectivity values personal attributes (such as noble birth or athletic skill) or instead values material possessions; and the extent and shape of inequality in the distribution of material possessions. Results indicate, among other things, that, in a collectivity which values personal attributes, the smaller is the disadvantaged subgroup, the greater is the conflict severity. In contrast, in a collectivity which values material wealth, the direction of the effect of subgroup relative size on conflict severity depends on the distributional form of the valued material possessions. Results also indicate that, for given subgroup relative size, conflict severity is higher the greater the inequality in the distribution of valued material possessions.     

加大改革力度,促进农民收入增长

“二元社会结构”和城乡分离政策,束缚着农民的手脚。残缺的产权制度削弱了农民的收入预期,扭曲的国民收入格局剥夺了农民的既得利益,组织程度偏低加剧了农民利益的流失,社会保障制度在农村的缺失拖住了农民的后腿,非国民待遇加剧了农民的负担。农民增收的突破口在于体制创新。     

Karl Marx and the economics of communism: anniversary recollections

This paper grew out of the author's Karl Marx studies and his practical knowledge of Soviet-type communist economies. It covers a broad spectrum of ideas and practices prevalent in those economies, which— rightly or wrongly—have become associated with Marx's teaching and predictions. Chapter I tries to explain the reasons for Marx's continuous popularity. Chapter II critically examines the validity of the claim about Marxian socialism being “scientific” as opposed to “utopian”. The article, especially in chapter III elaborates on a number of other Marxian ideas, like that of the so-called “anarchy of the market”, which for many decades exerted a negative influence on his followers—theoreticians and practitioners engaged in building what they believed to be a communist economy and society. One of the quintessential features of Marx's teaching, which he took over from Smith and Ricardo, was the labor theory of value and the “law of value” in particular. The latter, interpreted by Stalin as “the law of value under socialism”, was used by him for ideological and propaganda purposes, but after his death has in turn been utilized by Marxists, non-Marxists and anti-Marxists to discredit the Stalinist economic system, and to advance propositions ranking from profound, relevant and commendable to vague and frivolous. Tracing in Chapter IV the peripetia of this “law” provides a deeper insight into both the essential weaknesses of the Marxian theory and the acute dilemmas of the Soviet-type economies.     

Opting for Openness: Capital Mobility and Monetary Sterilisation in Malaysia

Malaysia gained attention for its use of capital controls in 1998, but since the early 2000s it has emphasised its commitment to an open capital account, despite experiencing volatile capital flows. As well as opting for financial openness, Malaysia chose to manage the value of its exchange rate after de-pegging from the US dollar in 2005. In a bid to escape the macroeconomic constraints that arise from capital mobility, Malaysia also chose to sterilise a large portion of capital inflows. It then made a further choice to use market-based sterilisation instruments more than regulatory sterilisation measures. These choices have carried costs and led to a build-up of economic risk. Three interrelated factors explain these choices: Malaysia’s strategy to manage the stigma arising from its imposition of controls in 1998, the increased level of financial integration that followed from this strategy, and the politically privileged position of groups that have benefitted from Malaysia’s commitment to capital openness.