China's Nuclear Energy in Light of the Disaster in Japan

An American specialist on Russian agriculture examines that country's agrarian policy, as well as the agricultural sector more generally, one year into the presidency of Dmitriy Medvedev. Focusing on the three key policy issues—state financial support, state intervention in the grain market, and international food trade policy—he assesses the extent to which current policy represents a continuation of that prevailing during the presidency of Vladimir Putin. The author discusses the appointment of a new Agriculture Minister in 2009, which may signal a different approach to the management of the sector, and concludes with an assessment of the impact of the global financial crisis. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F130, Q100, Q170, Q180. 2 tables, 63 references.     

Measuring potential spatial access to primary health care physicians using a modified gravity model

Ensuring equity of access to primary health care (PHC) across Canada is a continuing challenge, especially in rural and remote regions. Despite considerable attention recently by the World Health Organization, Health Canada and other health policy bodies, there has been no nation-wide study of potential (versus realized) spatial access to PHC. This knowledge gap is partly attributable to the difficulty of conducting the analysis required to accurately measure and represent spatial access to PHC. The traditional epidemiological method uses a simple ratio of PHC physicians to the denominator population to measure geographical access. We argue, however, that this measure fails to capture relative access. For instance, a person who lives 90 minutes from the nearest PHC physician is unlikely to be as well cared for as the individual who lives more proximate and potentially has a range of choice with respect to PHC providers. In this article, we discuss spatial analytical techniques to measure potential spatial access. We consider the relative merits of kernel density estimation and a gravity model. Ultimately, a modified version of the gravity model is developed for this article and used to calculate potential spatial access to PHC physicians in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. This model incorporates a distance decay function that better represents relative spatial access to PHC. The results of the modified gravity model demonstrate greater nuance with respect to potential access scores. While variability in access to PHC physicians across the test province of Nova Scotia is evident, the gravity model better accounts for real access by assuming that people can travel across artificial census boundaries. We argue that this is an important innovation in measuring potential spatial access to PHC physicians in Canada. It contributes more broadly to assessing the success of policy mandates to enhance the equitability of PHC provisioning in Canadian provinces.     

乡村史、气候史及年鉴学派——埃马纽埃尔·勒华拉杜里教授访谈录

法国著名历史学家勒华拉杜里教授在访谈中讲述了三个方面的问题:从乡村史研究上说,他的《蒙塔尤》一书的成功在于他受到美国以村庄为研究对象的人类学的影响,从而得以从一个村庄的角度解读《雅克.富尼埃宗教审判记录簿》;作为最早从事气候史研究的历史学家,他注重探讨气候变化与革命等历史事件之间的关联,并主张对不同国家的气候进行比较研究;作为法国年鉴学派第三代代表人物,他是一个唯物论者,继承了布罗代尔和拉布鲁斯关注物质现象这一传统。     

The Discourse of “Encultured Nature”in Japan: The Concept of Satoyama and its Role in 21st-Century Nature Conservation

The term satoyama gained currency in Japan in postwar decades as a term that describes a sphere of “encultured” nature that has traditionally existed on the periphery of rural settlements, but which is increasingly threatened by industrialisation, urban development, rural depopulation and changing lifestyles. Satoyama is appealing as a concept because it represents a sphere in which nature and culture intersect, and is reminiscent of a more idyllic rural lifestyle of the past, when the Japanese “lived in harmony with nature”. This article examines the role of this term in the nature conservation discourse in Japan, and in particular its appropriation by the Ministry of the Environment and the Japanese host organisations for the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was held in Japan in 2010. The article will explore the way the concept of satoyama has been “showcased” as a model of sustainable resource management based on traditional methods of agriculture. The satoyama concept is used to demonstrate that Japan not only possesses the knowledge to live in harmony with nature, but also offers a model of sustainable resource management that the rest of the world can learn from.     

VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS AS AGENTS IN THE BECOMING OF PLACE

Field work observations, and questionnaires returned by members of three voluntary organizations for rural women in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, are used to explore the links between place-based communities, voluntary organizations, and the development of personal identity. The selected organizations have now been in existence for several generations. They offer individuals the opportunity to make a commitment of time, money, and skills to their local community. A loyalty to the organization may develop that is a vehicle for loyalty to place. Comments from participants in this survey indicate that many feel that they have grown as individuals through these commitments.
Les observations faites sur le terrain et les questionnaires renvoye's par les rnembres de trois organisations bénévoles pour la population féminine rurale en Australie, à la Nouvelle Zélande et au Canada sont utilisés pour expliquer les liens entre les communautés locales, les organisations bénévoles et le développement de l'identité personnelle. Les organisations sélectionnées existent depuis plusieurs générations. Elles offrent aux personnes la possibilité de s'engager en donnant de leur temps, de leur argent et de leurs aptitudes à leur communauté locale. Une loyauté envers l'organisation peut se développer, ce qui devient un véhicule pour développer une loyauté envers l'endroit. Les commentaires faits par les participants à cette enquête indiquent que beaucoup pensent qu'ils ont grandi en tant qu'individus à cause de ces engagements.     

New Dietary Evidence on Medieval Rural Communities of the Basque Country (Spain) and Its Surroundings from Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Analyses: Social Insights,Diachronic Changes and Geographic Comparison

This paper presents the results of palaeodietary reconstruction based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on bone collagen of five medieval rural populations from the Basque Country (northern Spain) spanning from 5^th to 15^th centuries ad . One hundred forty‐seven human and 47 domestic faunal samples were successfully analysed with the objective of defining agrarian productive strategies and food consumption patterns. The results grouped the five sites in two clusters: on one side Zaballa and Treviño, whose inhabitants followed diets exclusively based on C₃ plants with significant intake of animal protein, and on the other, the populations from Aistra and Zornoztegi, who combined C₃ and C₄ plants and consumed lower amounts of animal protein. The isotopic values from Dulantzi were intermediate to these two groups. No differences were detected when individual status markers, such as grave goods, were available. Conversely, some restrictions on the access to certain food resources based on sex were uncovered. A relevant change in δ¹³C values was identified around 10^th century, a consequence of a shift in the consumption patterns of C₃ and C₄ plants. Finally, these Basque sites were compared with those of the medieval Iberian case studies available in the literature. This comparison made evident the distinctive nature of the diet of the Basque medieval rural contexts. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新时期农村经济改革成功的原因再探

十一届三中全会后农村经济改革的成功主要归功于家庭承包经营的实行和推广,但同时也应看到一些尚被人们忽视的重要因素——国家在这一时期采取提高粮食收购价、限定粮食征购数量而扩大进口粮食等特殊政策,为农民多劳多得的承包积极性提供了持续的推动力和可行条件。另外,从生产力决定生产关系的基本原理考察,"四三方案"引进大化肥成套设备的投产,成倍地增加了单位化肥施用量;籼型杂交水稻和高产小麦的研制成功和推广,将粮食亩产大幅度增加,都使得农村经济改革如虎添翼,取得了粮食产量连上新台阶的巨大成就。这些因素共同促使新时期农村经济改革顺利进行并最终取得成功。     

新中国成立初期中南区乡村个体农民融资途径与结构研究

新中国成立之初,随着国家银行业务在农村的延伸及农村信用合作社的建立,在农村形成了私人借贷、国家农贷与农村信用社三者并存的乡村借贷体系。在新的农村金融体系中,国家银行和信用合作社逐渐占据了主导地位。新体系的建立,增加了农村资金的供给,一定程度上满足了农民克服生活困难、发展家庭经济的需要,同时也压缩了高息借贷的活动空间。     

近代中国农村收入分配与消费差异研究

本文首先计算了近代中国农村收入的宏观基尼系数;之后通过作为农村最高收入阶层的城居地主和最低收入阶层的雇农,具体分析近代中国农村收入分配差距及其变动趋势;最后通过恩格尔系数比较了近代农家不同收入群体的消费水平差异,以印证对农村收入差距状况的估计。三种方法的结论均表明,近代中国农村各阶层间的收入分配差距并没有高到悬殊的程度,也没有出现恶化的趋势,农村不同收入阶层间的恩格尔系数差距也不很大。     

清代陕西农村畜养业的发展与牲畜产品输出

本文选取了清代陕西较重要的产业——农村畜养业作为研究对象,探讨了它的地域发展特征,牲畜市场的结构与分布,牲畜输出,初步匡算出清代陕西的年牲畜交易量。指出清代陕西农村畜养业具有普遍性的特点,遍在的农家耕畜需求以及作为交通工具役使,促进了农村畜养业的发展。另外,本地地近塞北,处于农牧分界地区,陕北部分州县半农半牧,故畜牧业发达。牲畜的交易与地方良种培育具有地缘优势,陕北"佳米驴",关中"秦川牛"、"关中驴"、"关中骡"在清代均形成地方品牌,是清代陕西对外输出的牲畜良种,在全国颇具知名度。这里每年牲畜交易十分频繁,牲畜市场发育最完善。清末陕西年牲畜交易量大体在20-40万头之间,牲畜税是地方商品中征收最多的税种,也构成陕西地方财政最重要的来源与补充。从这一点来说,它也是清代陕西地方经济发展有别于其它经济发达省区的一个重要特征。