Absolute and relative deprivation and the measurement of poverty

This paper develops the link between poverty and inequality by focussing on a class of poverty indices (some of them well-known) which aggregate normative concerns for absolute and relative deprivation. The indices are distinguished by a parameter that captures the ethical sensitivity of poverty measurement to ``exclusion'' or ``relative-deprivation'' aversion. We also show how the indices can be readily used to predict the impact of growth on poverty. An illustration using LIS data finds that he United States show more relative deprivation than Denmark and Belgium whatever the percentiles considered, but that overall deprivation comparisons of the four countries considered will generally necessarily depend on the intensity of the ethical concern for relative deprivation. The impact of growth on poverty is also seen to depend on the presence of and on the attention granted to concerns over relative deprivation. }

Relating severe poverty and chronic poverty

The severely poor are very poor since their consumption is far below the absolute poverty line, and the chronically poor are very poor since their consumption persists for long periods below the absolute poverty line. A combination of chronic poverty and severe poverty (CSP) must represent the very worst instance of poverty. Yet the exercise in this paper of asking simple questions about CSP shows large research gaps. Quantified statements on CSP at the country level can be made for just 14 countries, and at the household level in just six countries. This data suggests a positive correlation between severe poverty and chronic poverty, both at the country level and the household level. Understanding the CSP relationship – whether it is strong, where it arises, what causes it – may improve our explanation of observed cross-country variation in the elasticity between macroeconomic growth and poverty reduction, and why within countries, some households take better advantage of opportunities afforded by macroeconomic growth. Some limited data suggests similarity in socioeconomic characteristics of the severe poor and the chronic poor in terms of location, household size, gender, education and economic sector of work. Of concern is that microlongitudinal datasets drop large proportions of their base year samples, and how this affects our understanding of CSP is not well evaluated. On causal mechanisms, evidence suggests that CSP may be caused by parental CSP (i.e. an intergenerational CSP cycle) and in households not previously poor, CSP may be caused by a morbidity cycle.

Definició de les estratègies de desenvolupament rural integrat i sostenible per a la comarca del Solsonès : 2007-2013

L’objectiu del present projecte és establir i recomanar un seguit d’estratègies de desenvolupament rural integrat i sostenible per a la comarca del Solsonès. Per damunt de tot pretén ser una eina útil, fent coincidir les propostes amb l’àmbit temporal del nou PDR (2007-2013) i presentant el projecte a diferents institucions. Amb aquest objectiu s’han estudiat els aspectes socioeconòmics més rellevants dels diferents municipis, així com altres factors clau com els recursos naturals , els elements dinamitzadors del territori i el context global de l’agricultura i polítiques sectorials europees. A partir de l’avaluació estratègica, i el posterior debat en grups de discussió, es conclou que el Solsonès és una comarca amb la població envellida, especialment a les zones rurals, on els ocupats agraris cada dia són menys. Amb tot, es configura un escenari on el despoblament rural és constant, amb les conseqüències socioembientals implícites a aquest fenomen. Posteriorment a l’avaluació es discuteix l’estratègia global de desenvolupament rural, i, en base a aquesta, es proposen diferents línies estratègiques agrupades en tres grans eixos: la vertebració social, la vertebració territorial i el manteniment, millora i coneixement del paisatge cultural.

The Rise of democracy in Europe and the fight against mass poverty in Latin America: the implications for marxist thought of some recent mainstream papers

Recently a number of mainstream papers have treated the rise of democracy in 19th century Europe and its instability in Latin America in an eminently Marxist fashion. This paper sets out their implications for Marxist thought. With respect to Europe, Marx's emphasis on political action backed by the threat of violence is vindicated but his justification for socialism is not. With respect to Latin America, the unequal distribution of wealth is the cause of political instability that is, in turn, the root cause of mass poverty. In addition it is possible to explain some of the paradoxical characteristics of neo-liberalism and to make a weak argument for socialism in spite of its rejection in Europe.

De l'economia a les mentalitats: reforma agrària, desenvolupament rural i identitat ètnica als Andes

Estudi elaborat a partir d’una estada a la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Ecuador, entre setembre i desembre del 2006. El projecte té l'objectiu general d'elaborar una monografia, entre el treball d’arxiu i el de camp, capaç d’exemplificar els processos de consolidació dels sectors dirigents indígenes i de vincular-los amb les transformacions de la societat rural andina contemporània. L’estudi de cas és el d’una organització de segon grau molt representativa (la UNOCANC, parròquia de Toacazo, província de Cotopaxi, Equador), analitzant el que han significat aquest canvis des de la descomposició del règim d’hisenda fins a l’ascens d’una part de l’élite camperola local a les altes instàncies de la CONAIE (Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador).

Outbreak of human toxoplasmosis in a rural area. A three year serologic follow-up study

Thirty-six persons living on a farm located in the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) were studied. Nine of them had the glandular form of toxoplasmosis, between May and August, 1976. These nine cases of toxoplasmosis were confirmed serologically by immunefluorescence-IF-, presenting IgG antibody titres between 1:4096 and 1:32000 and IgM antibody titres between 1:16 and 1:8000. Twelve out of thirty-six persons studied were considered to be "dubious cases". They were defined either by presenting a clinical picture compatible with acquired toxoplasmosis, yet having low serologic titres, or inversely they did not have a clear clinical picture but had serologic evidence of recent Toxoplasma infection. Fifteen out of thirty-six persons studied showed neither serologic nor clinical evidence of recent Toxoplasma infection. The epidemiologic information suggests two possible modes of transmission: a) poorly cooked pork at a barbecue party; b) farm vegetables and soil contaminated with Toxoplasma gondii oocysts (rat-cat cycle). Serologic follow-up nine months later in the human farm population demonstrated still high IgG titres, yet they tended to decline and IgM titres became negative. Three years later most of the IgG titres continued to decline and were almost compatible with the titres obtained in Brazilian population surveys.

Agroecologia periurbana a Sant Cugat: document base per a la redacció del Pla de Gestió i Desenvolupament del parc rural de la Torre Negra

El parc rural de la Torre Negra ha estat protegit recentment després de 15 anys de lluita ciutadana, gràcies a l’aprovació del Pla Especial de Protecció i Millora el 29 de juny del present any. A partir d’ara, s’obre un ampli ventall de possibilitats per a la seva gestió i desenvolupament. En aquest context és on es situa el present estudi, amb la finalitat de presentar unes línies estratègiques bàsiques per a iniciar l’activitat al parc. Una activitat que té en el punt de mira el desenvolupament rural de l’espai i la transformació social de la ciutadania.

Ecoetiquetes de serveis: establiments de turisme rural en l'àmbit del Parc Natural de l'Alt Pirineu

L’increment del turisme rural i la relació directe amb l’entorn és el que ha motivat l’elaboració d'aquest projecte. L’objectiu del qual és fer un estudi de l’estat ambiental dels 17 establiments de turisme rural (ETR) dels 47 ETR situats a l’àmbit d’influència del Parc Natural de l’Alt Pirineu (PNAP). A partir del qual s’analitzarà la viabilitat d’aplicar el Distintiu de Garantia de Qualitat Ambiental (DGQA).

Epidemiological aspects of toxoplasmosis in schoolchildren residing in localities with urban or rural characteristics within the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Immunofluorescence tests (IF) for toxoplasmosis were performed on a total of 608 schoolchildren in elementary and junior high grades. 166 being in the Bonsucesso district (an urban region of Rio de Janeiro) and 442 children from locations within the lowlands of Jacarepaguá (with rural characteristics). All the IF-IgM were nonreactive, whilst 416 schoolchildren (68.4%) were IF-IgG serum-reactive ([greater than or equal to] 1:16). The percentages of serum-reactives in Jacarepaguá were significantly higher than in Bonsucesso, both as regards the total number of schoolchildren (p < 0.001), as also when subdivided according to the age-grades from six to eight years (p < 0.001) or from twelve to fourteen (p < 0.05). Both in Jacarepaguá and in Bonsucesso, the prevalence of reactions in the 12 to 14 year age-grade was significantly greater than in the 6 to 8 year age-grade (p < 0.001 in both cases). Expressively larger prevalences of serum reactions were found in Jacarepaguá among schoolchildren who preferred eating raw or undercooked meat, as well as among those having cats as pets; this occurred equally in the 6 to 8 year and in the 12 to 14 year age-grades. In Bonsucesso, the only significant difference was in the 6 to 8 year age-grades that had cats as pets. Thus, it has been verified that the risk of infection is greater and more precocious in localities with rural characteristics than in urban regions.

High fat versus high carbohydrate nutritional supplementation: a one year trial in stunted rural Gambian children.

OBJECTIVE: The study tests the hypothesis that a low daily fat intake may induce a negative fat balance and impair catch-up growth in stunted children between 3 and 9y of age. DESIGN: Randomized case-control study. SETTING: Three rural villages of the West Kiang District, The Gambia. SUBJECTS: Three groups of 30 stunted but not wasted children (height for age z-score < or = -2.0, weight for height z-score > or = -2.0) 3-9 y of age were selected by anthropometric survey. Groups were matched for age, sex, village, degree of stunting and season. INTERVENTION: Two groups were randomly assigned to be supplemented five days a week for one year with either a high fat (n = 29) or a high carbohydrate biscuit (n = 30) each containing approximately 1600 kJ. The third group was a non supplemented control group (n = 29). Growth, nutritional status, dietary intake, resting energy expenditure and morbidity were compared. RESULTS: Neither the high fat nor the high carbohydrate supplement had an effect on weight or height gain. The high fat supplement did slightly increase adipose tissue mass. There was no effect of supplementation on resting energy expenditure or morbidity. In addition, the annual growth rate was not associated with a morbidity score. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that neither a high fat nor a high carbohydrate supplement given during 12 months to stunted Gambian children induced catch-up growth. The authors suggest that an adverse effect of the environment on catch-up growth persists despite the nutritional interventions.

Construcció i explotació d’un complex de turisme rural a la població d’Àreu (Pirineu de Lleida)

Aquest treball de fi de carrera pretén desenvolupar el pla de negoci per a la construcció i l’explotació d’un complex de turisme rural al Pallars Sobirà. El projecte compren l’enderroc de les construccions preexistents, construcció i posterior explotació d’apartaments d’ús turístic i una cafeteria a la població d’ Àreu. Dins el pla de negoci s’hi contemplen els plans comercial, financer, l’anàlisi del mercat i l’entorn i una acurada definició del servei que s’oferirà. Amb el treball es vol, doncs, aportar idees pràctiques i útils per a la consecució dels objectius plantejats en el projecte familiar.

Effects of immigration on the prevalence of malaria in rural areas of the Amazon basin of Brazil

Epidemiological studies were conducted on malaria in three rural areas of the Amazon basin in the State of Rondônia: the town of Costa Marques, Forte Príncipe da Beira (Fort), and an immigrant settlement in the nearby forest. These studies were instituted to document the malaria problem and to describe the role of immigration on its distribution and prevalence. Hospital records in the town show that the number of malaria cases increased five fold from 1983 to 1987 and that the predominant malaria parasite changel from Plasmodium vivax to P. falciparum. Increased malaria followed increased immigration and colonization of the forest. A series of epidemiologic studies suggested the linkage between malaria and immigration as the prevalence of malaria was 1-2% at the Fort, a stable community, 8-9% at Costa Marques, a growing community, and 14-26% in the new settlements in the forest.

The demand for intensity versus frequency of alcohol consumption: Evidence from rural Australia

This paper develops a theoretical model for the demand of alcohol where intensity and frequency of consumption are separate choices made by individuals in order to maximize their utility. While distinguishing between intensity and frequency of consumption may be unimportant for many goods, this is clearly not the case with alcohol where the likelihood of harm depends not only on the total consumed but also on the pattern of use. The results from the theoretical model are applied to data from rural Australia in order to investigate the factors that affect the patterns of alcohol use for this population group. This research can play an important role in informing policies by identifying those factors which influence preferences for patterns of risky alcohol use and those groups and communities who are most at risk of harm.

Devolution & Entrenched Household Poverty: Is Scotland less mobile?

The Scottish National Party led Scottish Government has identified household poverty as a key focus for its anti-poverty strategy. The government’s ‘Solidarity Target’ seeks to both increase wealth and increase the share of total income gained by these three deciles. The ability to demonstrate the advantages of policy divergence within Scotland, relative to the other parts of the United Kingdom, is central to the Government’s aim of gaining support for increased powers for the devolved government. This paper seeks to provide evidence on one aspect of the government’s anti- poverty strategy; the degree to which Scotland differs from the rest of the UK over levels of entrenched poverty. The paper demonstrates that not only does Scotland have greater entrenched poverty but that the changes in mobility since the 1990s have impacted on Scotland to a lesser degree than the rest of the UK.