Biodiversity in rubber agroforests,carbon emissions,and rural livelihoods: An agent-based model of land-use dynamics in lowland Sumatra

Rubber agroforests in the mostly deforested lowlands of Sumatra, Indonesia are threatened by conversion into monoculture rubber or oil palm plantations. We applied an agent-based model to explore the potential effectiveness of a payment for ecosystem services (PES) design through a biodiversity rich rubber eco-certification scheme. We integrated conditionality, where compliance with biodiversity performance indicators is prerequisite for awarding incentives. We compared a PES policy scenario to ‘business-as-usual’ and ‘subsidized land use change’ scenarios to explore potential trade-offs between ecosystem services delivery and rural income. Results indicated that a rubber agroforest eco-certification scheme could reduce carbon emissions and species loss better than alternative scenarios. However, the suggested premiums were too low to compete with income from other land uses. Nevertheless, integrating our understanding of household agent behavior through a spatially explicit and agent-specific assessment of the trade-offs can help refine the design of conservation initiatives such as PES.     

The affordability of “affordable” housing in England: conditionality and exclusion in a context of welfare reform

Abstract

Contemporary debates around affordability have largely focused on homeownership and private renting. This article considers the affordable social rented sector in England, in which reforms to social welfare assistance, reduced security of tenure, and a shift towards mid-market rents, are changing access to ‘affordable’ housing for those on the lowest incomes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with housing associations and stakeholders, the article highlights the increasing use of affordability assessments for prospective tenants. These assessments interact with mid-market rental products to increase the potential for exclusion from affordable housing on the grounds of ability to pay. This conditionality is applied not only at the point of tenancy access, but also at renewal of fixed-term tenancies. The research highlights that the combination of welfare and housing policies, in the context of a financialising housing association sector, has the potential to erode access to social housing for those who are perceived as a financial risk, reshaping the focus of social housing.     

On the Anti-social Behaviour Control in Hong Kong's Public Housing

In 2003, the Housing Department launched a marking scheme which aimed to improve environmental hygiene in public housing estates in Hong Kong. Although the scheme can potentially stop anti-social behaviour and other misconduct in public housing estates, the choice of public housing tenants as the sole target of control has not been clearly explained. Therefore, this study attempts to justify this administration-driven marking scheme. It appears that welfare conditionality cannot fully justify the scheme because public housing tenants are not the only recipients of housing welfare in Hong Kong. In addition, discriminating between public housing tenants and the most deprived is not defensible. More importantly, not all the offences prescribed in the marking scheme are socially undesirable. However, the substance of the scheme seems to match the ideologies of Chinese legalism quite well, and the scheme appears to be an initiative by the Hong Kong Housing Authority to strengthen its sovereignty over public housing resources in the city.     

论译者主体性在《格列佛游记》王维东译本中的体现

译者主体性是译者在不违背原作下,充分发挥本身的主观能动性,运用恰当的翻译策略及再创造,使译作展现出原作艺术美学效果的关键。译者主体性一直贯穿于整个文学翻译活动过程。本文将通过介绍译者身份地位转换及译者主体性含义,就王维东先生翻译的《格列佛游记》译本进行对比分析,浅论译者主体性在文学翻译中所受的制约性和译者创造性叛逆的体现。     

Development aid: Regulatory Impact Assessment and conditionality

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) can contribute to decision-making processes of Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans and grants. The point of departure for the discussion is the phenomenon that RIA, within a context of ODA, is applied by International Finance Institutions mainly in the context of Development Policy Loans, to introduce or strengthen country systems for Regulatory Impact Assessment. However, ODA grants, and loans, particularly when specific policy or regulatory conditions are attached to them, significantly impact economic and social conditions within the beneficiary country. This article examines what role RIA can play in facilitating a coherent decision-making process affecting the ODA allocation within a context of conditionalities requiring the introduction of new, or changes to existing, policies and regulations. The discussion considers the nexus between development aid effectiveness, conditionality and ownership, and RIA. The article argues a justification for applying RIA to ODA loans and grants which carry regulatory and policy conditionalities.     

MIMO extended predictive control-implementation and robust stability analysis

The objective of this work is to develop a new tuning strategy for multivariable extended predictive control (EPC). A natural concern is the problem of ill conditionality in controlling multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems. The main advantage of EPC is that it has a simple and effective tuning strategy that results in a well-conditioned system which can achieve tight closed-loop response. Moreover, unlike most existing model predictive control tuning strategies, the proposed strategy establishes a direct relationship between one main tuning parameter for each subprocess of the MIMO system. This tuning method has been derived based on the assumption of an infinite control horizon resulting in powerful stability for the nominal case and in the presence of model uncertainty. This tuning method is applicable to unconstrained multivariable processes, and was proven to have good control on nonsquare systems. The main features of the new tuning strategy are practically illustrated on a MIMO temperature system with improved control performance as compared to move suppressed predictive control.     

On measuring μ-T-inconditionality of fuzzy relations

In this paper two methods are proposed to measure the μ-T-inconditionality character of any fuzzy relation for any continuous t-norm T, and it is studied when both methods result to be equivalent.     

Competing visions: security of tenure and the welfarisation of English social housing

Recent legislation ending security of tenure for new council tenants in England may be considered emblematic of a US-style vision of social housing as a temporary welfare service, reserved only for the very poorest. But there is resistance amongst social landlords, many of whom remain committed to providing ‘homes for life’. Moreover, austerity-driven cuts mean that benefit-dependent households are increasingly refused social tenancies on grounds of affordability. The stage is therefore set for a battle over who and what English social housing is for. Drawing on large-scale qualitative research, this paper interrogates the implications of the mandatory extension of fixed-term tenancies (FTTs) by considering landlord and tenant experiences of the discretionary FTT regime in place since 2012. We conclude that the meagre likely benefits of FTTs, in terms of marginally increased tenancy turnover, are heavily outweighed by the detrimental impacts on tenants’ ontological security and landlords’ administrative burden.