Neighborhood Effects and Regional Poverty Traps in Rural China

The present paper investigates how neighborhood effects are connected to chronic poverty. We examine a large sample of groups of households and find that neighborhood effects are significant in a majority of groups, especially in the poorest groups. People living in poor communities tend to suffer from poverty over time. It is of theoretical and empirical importance to explore how neighborhood effects are interrelated with chronic poverty and the channels through which this occurs. Unlike other econometric analyses, we establish a multilevel econometric model to show that： （i） it is difficult for an individual living in a neighborhood with a high proportion of agricultural labor, low education levels, and poor transport and telecommunication infrastructure to escape from poverty traps; （ii） neighborhood effects dominate in poor communities; and （iii） although poverty is affected by group-level factors, individual factors still play a dominant role in regards to escaping poverty when income surpasses a threshold level Therefore, policy priority should be given to providing social protection and public services, especially in poor rural areas.

Decline in flora diversity and poverty trap in a peri-urban settlement (Ijeun lukosi village)inAbeokuta,Ogun State,Nigeria

The study examined flora decline in a peri-urban settlement （Ijetm Lukosi village in Abeokuta, Nigeria） and the consequent poverty trap in the village. Respondents were selected by simple random sampling （SRS） with a total of 90 respondents selected, cutting across different age groups and occupations. Ijeun Lukosi village is a stone throw from a Government Secretariat with influx of government employees. The status of flora in the village revealed 34 species of trees and shrubs, 36 species of herbs and climbers and 12 species of aquatic plants. Thirty-two families of plants were identified showing the diversity of flora species in the settlement. An influx of people into the settlement changed the pattern of land tenure system from communal and family inheritance to personal ownership of land. This change in land ownership status promoted the destruction of the diversity of loacal flora under private prop- erty development. This impacted negatively on the livelihood of respondents. The poverty line was determined to be NAD 2,600 （$17.33） per month, a condition categorized by the World Bank as abject poverty. Over 51% of farming respondents were displaced, including 20% entrepreneurs （artisans） trading in trado-medical herbs derived from the diversity in the flora. The conclusion is drawn that abject poverty encouraged the destruction of flora diversity in the settlement with the poverty trap turning into a cycle and the perpetuation of poverty in the village. It is recommended that the government should put in place programs to alleviate poverty in this and similar areas to protect flora diversity and consequently protect the environment, thereby ensuring the sustenance of rural liveli- hood.

Research on Perfecting Innovation Policy and Solving the Dilemma of Private Innovation in the Context of"Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation"

Based on the new opportunities aroused by the Maker Movement,this paper analyzes the five dilemmas faced by China's private innovation in the new era,and summarizes the practical experience of Japan,France,the United States and other developed countries.Furthermore,there is a need to try to improve non-governmental innovation policies and solve the problem of private innovation funds from giving national treatment to non-governmental researchers and non-governmental scientific and technological innovation activities,giving priority to evaluation conditions and equal protection of folk scientific and technological research achievements,promoting the marketization of non-governmental innovative scientific and technological achievements,and attaching importance to the cultivation of innovative talents,forming independent innovation and entrepreneurial talent resources,and establishing non-governmental innovation funds and other aspects.

Bifurcation,Several Equilibria and Multiple Growth Paths in the Solow Model with Endogenous Demographic Transition

In this paper,the endogenous demographic transition function is integrated into the classical Solow model. It is proven that the differential equation which describes the model at least has a nonzero equilibrium. The differential equation has several equilibria when the technological level or the saving rate is not high enough and undergoes bifurcation at some specified parame-ter values. Therefore,the economy described by the model pre-sents multiple growth paths and ＂Malthusian Poverty Trap＂ when the technological level or the saving rate is low.