A Study on China's Income Inequality and the Relationship with Economic Growth

The purpose of this paper is to study China’s income inequality under rapid economic growth.Does the relationship between economic growth and income inequality in China follow theKuznets hypothesis? What is the main cause and trend of China’s income inequality? We usedata which covers the period 1980-2005 to analyze the overall inequality, and data coveringthe period 1980-2002 to analyze the inequality inside rural and urban areas. The derivedresults doubt the validity of Kuznets hypothesis on explaining the relationship betweeneconomic growth and income inequality in China. Also we derive the trend of China’sincreased income inequality and find that the urban-rural income disparity is the main causeof China’s income inequality.

Metaanalys av vargforskningen i Sverige/Norgemellan åren 2000-2014

Vargens återkomst har gett upphov till olika attitydsyttringar, boende i vargområden är i regel mernegativa till vargen än de som bor utanför dessa områden. Genom att mäta vilka attityder som finnstill varg kan forskare ge incitament till makthavare om hur vargförvaltningen upplevs avallmänheten.Den här studien är en kartläggning av forskningsläget under åren 2000 – 2014 rörande attityder tillvarg i Sverige och Norge. De variabler/grupper av individer som forskare inom området använderför att mäta vem som har vilken attityd är jägare, djurägare, boende på landsbygd utanför vargområde, boende på landsbygd i vargområde, boende i stad med flera. Vi finner att studierna tar uppteorierna social representation, centrum och periferi och NIMBY (Not In My Backyard). Manproblematiserar dessa i varierande grad utifrån de teorier som används. Något vi menar ärproblematiskt då forskningen blir enkelspårig och grund. Vi vill se en bredare problematiseringutifrån de teorier som redan framkommit i forskningen och ifrågasätter varför inte fler teorier ochvariabler undersöks. Vi efterfrågar ett vidare perspektiv där forskaren exempelvis gör tolkningarutifrån olika samhälleliga maktfigurationer.

Distance measure and the p-median problem in rural areas

The p-median model is used to locate P facilities to serve a geographically distributed population. Conventionally, it is assumed that the population patronize the nearest facility and that the distance between the resident and the facility may be measured by the Euclidean distance. Carling, Han, and Håkansson (2012) compared two network distances with the Euclidean in a rural region witha sparse, heterogeneous network and a non-symmetric distribution of thepopulation. For a coarse network and P small, they found, in contrast to the literature, the Euclidean distance to be problematic. In this paper we extend their work by use of a refined network and study systematically the case when P is of varying size (2-100 facilities). We find that the network distance give as gooda solution as the travel-time network. The Euclidean distance gives solutions some 2-7 per cent worse than the network distances, and the solutions deteriorate with increasing P. Our conclusions extend to intra-urban location problems.

Methods and background characteristics of the TOHNN study : a population-based study of oral health conditions in northern Norway

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the Tromstannen - Oral Health in Northern Norway (TOHNN) study was to investigate oral health and dental-related diseases in an adult population. This article provides an overview of the background of the study and a description of the sample characteristics and methods employed in data collection. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional population-based study including a questionnaire and clinical dental examination. METHODS: A randomly selected sample of 2,909 individuals (20-79 years old) drawn from the population register was invited to participate in the study. The data were collected between October 2013 and November 2014 in Troms County in northern Norway. The questionnaire focused on oral health-related behaviours and attitudes, oral health-related quality of life, sense of coherence, dental anxiety and symptoms from the temporomandibular joint. The dental examinations, including radiographs, were conducted by 11 dental teams in 5 dental offices. The examination comprised of registration of dental caries, full mouth periodontal status, temporomandibular disorders, mucosal lesions and height and weight. The participants were grouped by age (20-34, 35-49, 50-64 and 65-79) and ethnicity (Norwegian, Sámi, other European and other world). RESULTS: From the original sample of 2,909 individuals, 1,986 (68.3%) people participated, of whom 1,019 (51.3%) were women. The highest attendance rate was among women 20-34 years old (80.3%) and the lowest in the oldest age group of women (55.4%). There was no difference in response rate between rural and urban areas. There was a positive correlation between population size and household gross income (p < 0.001) and education level (p < 0.001). The majority of Sámi resided in smaller municipalities. In larger cities, most participants used private dental health care services, whereas, in rural areas, most participants used the public dental health care service. CONCLUSION: The TOHNN study has the potential to generate new knowledge on a wide range of oral health conditions beneficial to the population in Troms County. Due to the high participation rate, generalization both nationally and to the circumpolar area ought to be possible.