On a tendency in health economics to dwell on income inequality and underestimate social stress

Social stress can cause physical and mental harm. It is therefore not surprising that public health policy makers have sought to identify and implement policies aimed at tackling this social ill. A frequently prescribed remedy is to reduce social stress by reducing income inequality, which is typically measured by the Gini coefficient. Decomposing the coefficient into a measure of a population’s social stress and a population’s income makes it possible to show that steps taken to lower the coefficient can actually exacerbate social stress. We formulate conditions under which lowering the Gini coefficient coincides with increasing social stress. If the aim of public policy is to improve public health and increase social welfare, and if social welfare is reduced by social stress, then lowering the Gini coefficient may not be the right course of action.     

Comparison of skewness coefficient,coefficient of variation,and Gini coefficient as inequality measures within populations

Summary The moment skewness coefficient, coefficient of variation and Gini coefficient are contrasted as statistical measures of inequality among members of plant populations. Constructed examples, real data examples, and distributional considerations are used to illustrate pertinent properties of these statistics to assess inequality. All three statistics possess some undesirable properties but these properties are shown to be often unimportant with real data. If the underlying distribution of the variable follows the often assumed two-parameter lognormal model, it is shown that all three statistics are likely to be highly and positively correlated. In contrast, for distributions which are not two-parameter lognormally distributed, and when the distribution is not concentrated near zero, the coefficient of variation and Gini coefficient, which are sensitive to small shifts in the mean, are often of little practical use in ordering the equality of populations. The coefficent of variation is more sensitive to individuals in the right-hand tail of a distribution than is the Gini coefficient. Therefore, the coefficient of variation may often be recommended over the Gini coefficient if a measure of relative precision is selected to assess inequality. The skewness coeficient is suggested when the distribution is either three-parameter lognormally distributed (or close to such), or when a measure of relative precision is not indicated.Scientific Paper no 7830. College of Agriculture and Home Economics Research Center, Washington State University     

VARIATION OF RUNOFF IN THE YICHANG REACH OF YANGTZE RIVER AND ITS INFLUENCE TO THE CHINESE STURGEON SPAWNING UNDER THE CASCADED HYDROPOWER OPERATION北大核心CSCD

Based on the Gini coefficient and Mann-Kendall test, the runoff variation in the Yichang reach of Yangtze River from 1982 to 2017 was evaluated, and its influence to the Chinese sturgeon spawning below the Gezhouba Dam was discussed under the cascaded hydropower operation. The results showed that the runoff and Gini coefficient decreased significantly after the construction of Gezhouba Dam, which synchronously decreased the flow and water levels in spawning days of the Chinese sturgeon. Water temperature had no significant change. The analysis of the abruption revealed great change of hydrological conditions in the spawning days and Gini coefficient in 2004 and 2009, which are coincided with time of the second and fourth phase impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir. The correlation analysis indicated that the higher runoff and Gini coefficient would induce Chinese sturgeon to spawn in days with high flow and water levels. These results suggest that the ecological operation of the Three Gorges-Gezhouba cascaded hydropower could enhance the runoff with large inequality and create long duration of high flow pulses during flood seasons. © 2019, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.     

基于多角度基尼系数的江西省资源环境公平性研究

资源环境基尼系数是衡量和评价资源消耗、污染物排放在各个城市或地区间的公平性与合理性的有效途径。对基于GDP(gross domestic product)、人口、国土面积等角度推算的资源环境基尼系数方法的优劣性进行了评价,提出了"生态负荷系数"的概念,界定了"生态容量"的概念与内容,并从GDP、人口和生态容量的角度出发,以江西省11地市作为评价对象,选取2009年能源消耗、水资源消耗、COD(chemical oxygen demand)排放及SO2排放等4个评价因子,构建了江西省资源环境基尼系数、生态负荷系数的计算与评价方法,并对计算结果进行了对比分析。结果表明:(1)不同角度计算的基尼系数不尽相同,从生态负荷系数来看,在江西11个城市中,南昌、鹰潭、萍乡、景德镇、新余等经济发达城市是引起能源消耗、SO2排放主要的不公平因子,是需要转变经济发展模式的城市,更须注重经济与环境的协调发展;(2)从生态容量的角度推算的资源环境基尼系数普遍高于从GDP和人口角度推算的资源环境基尼系数,且都高于"警戒线";(3)从理论上看,基于生态容量角度的资源环境基尼系数比基于GDP和人口角度的资源环境基尼系数更为科学与合理。文章最后讨论了不同角度的资源环境基尼系数及生态负荷系数的科学性与合理性的问题。     

近30年官厅水库流域景观结构的时空演变

以官厅水库流域为研究区,以1978-2009年的6期Landsat系列遥感影像为基础数据解译景观分布图.利用经济学中的洛伦兹曲线及基尼系数对景观类型分布的均匀性及其动态进行分析,采用缓中区分析方法对现有方法进行改进,使得洛伦兹曲线更加平滑,基尼系数更加准确.结果表明:各种景观类型分布的均匀性存在明显的时空差异,耕地始终是分布最均匀的景观类型,1978-1998年人工林地是分布最不均匀的景观类型,2004年以后天然草地成为分布最不均匀的景观类型;景观类型分布的均匀程度与该景观类型面积的大小存在负相关关系,其分布均匀性的变化与该景观类型面积的变化方式有关,局部变化还是全局变化会使该景观类型分布的均匀性向不同的方向发展;在近30年的时间里,自然景观全面退化,表现在面积减小和分布越来越不均匀,自然景观不断被人工景观取代.     

林木个体大小不一致性指标对人工林间伐方式的即时性响应

以广西14年生杉木和马尾松人工林为对象,设同一疏伐强度的下层疏伐、上层疏伐、机械疏伐和干扰树间伐4种处理,分别用标准差、变异系数、偏度、Gini系数、库兹涅茨系数和洛伦茨不对称系数6种指标对4种间伐方式下采伐前后林木个体大小差异进行评价.结果表明: 与间伐前相比,马尾松和杉木人工林下层疏伐或上层疏伐后,林木个体材积的标准差、变异系数、Gini系数和库兹涅茨系数均变小,偏度变大;干扰树间伐后标准差、变异系数、Gini系数和库兹涅茨系数均变大,偏度则不一定.马尾松林和杉木林下层疏伐后洛伦茨不对称系数变大,上层疏伐或干扰树间伐后则变小.机械疏伐后各指标无明显变化规律.干扰树间伐后林木个体大小差异性增加,上层疏伐和下层疏伐后林木个体大小差异性减小.洛伦茨曲线、Gini系数和洛伦茨不对称系数均能较好地反映林木个体大小不一致性,可以进行不同林分间个体差异程度静态和动态比较,较好地反映不同间伐方式引起的林木个体差异.洛伦茨不对称系数可以判断林木个体大小不一致性的来源是大树还是小树.近自然森林经营中干扰树间伐措施可以在减小目标树竞争压力的同时拉大林木个体大小差距,有助于保持目标树在林分中的优势地位.
     

Geographic Distribution of CT,MRI and PET Devices in Japan: A Longitudinal Analysis Based on National Census Data

BackgroundJapan has the most CT and MRI scanners per unit population in the world; however, the geographic distribution of these technologies is currently unknown. Moreover, nothing is known of the cause-effect relationship between the number of diagnostic imaging devices and their geographic distribution.MethodsData on the number of CT, MRI and PET devices and that of their utilizations in all 1829 municipalities of Japan was generated, based on the Static Survey of Medical Institutions conducted by the government. The inter-municipality equity of the number of devices or utilizations was evaluated with Gini coefficient.ResultsBetween 2005 and 2011, the number of CT, MRI and PET devices in Japan increased by 47% (8789 to 12945), 19% (5034 to 5990) and 70% (274 to 466), respectively. Gini coefficient of the number of devices was largest for PET and smallest for CT (p for PET-MRI difference <0.001; MRI-CT difference <0.001). For all three modalities, Gini coefficient steadily decreased (p for 2011-2005 difference: <0.001 for CT; 0.003 for MRI; and <0.001 for PET). The number of devices in old models (single-detector CT, MRI<1.5 tesla, and conventional PET) decreased, while that in new models (multi-detector CT, MRI≥1.5 tesla, and PET-CT) increased. Gini coefficient of the old models increased or remained unchanged (increase rate of 9%, 3%, and -1%; p for 2011-2008 difference <0.001, 0.072, and 0.562, respectively), while Gini coefficient of the new models decreased (-10%, -9%, and -10%; p for 2011-2008 difference <0.001, <0.001, and <0.001 respectively). Similar results were observed in terms of utilizations.ConclusionsThe more abundant a modality, the more equal the modality’s distribution. Any increase in the modality made its distribution more equal. The geographic distribution of the diagnostic imaging technology in Japan appears to be affected by spatial competition derived from a market force.     

A new way to measure the world's protected area coverage

Protected areas are effective at stopping biodiversity loss, but their placement is constrained by the needs of people. Consequently protected areas are often biased toward areas that are unattractive for other human uses. Current reporting metrics that emphasise the total area protected do not account for this bias. To address this problem we propose that the distribution of protected areas be evaluated with an economic metric used to quantify inequality in income--the Gini coefficient. Using a modified version of this measure we discover that 73% of countries have inequitably protected their biodiversity and that common measures of protected area coverage do not adequately reveal this bias. Used in combination with total percentage protection, the Gini coefficient will improve the effectiveness of reporting on the growth of protected area coverage, paving the way for better representation of the world's biodiversity.     

广西壮族自治区县级医疗卫生资源配置的公平性研究

目的 对广西县级医疗卫生资源配置的公平性进行分析。方法 采用洛伦茨曲线和基尼系数等方法,从人口和地理分布对广西91个县域医疗卫生资源(床位、卫生技术人员、医生)的配置公平性进行分析。结果 广西县级医疗卫生资源中床位、卫生技术人员、医生按人口分布的基尼系数分别为0.230 3、0.239 6、0.250 4,按地理分布的基尼系数分别为0.346 1、0.353 4、
0.352 3。结论 广西县级医疗卫生资源配置的公平性较好,其中人口分布优于地理分布,床位分布优于卫生人力资源分布。广西县级医疗卫生资源配置的公平性低于广西总体水平,但优于城区医疗卫生资源的配置。应进一步加大县级医疗卫生资源的投入,不断缩小城乡差距,提高县级医疗卫生资源在人口和地理配置的公平性。     

Variable distributional characteristics of substrate utilization patterns in activated sludge plants in Kuwait

The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of microbial functional potential and community structure between three different WWTPs using the Lorenz curve method and to find the effect of seasonal variation on patterns of substrate utilization. Lorenz curve method was sensitive enough to detect short-term changes in microbial functional diversity between Riqqa, Umm Al-Haiman and Al-Jahra activated sludge systems and showed seasonal variations of the utilized carbon sources. Gini coefficient ranged from 0.21 to 0.8. Lorenz curves seemed particularly suitable to present microbial heterogeneity in term of inequality and to highlight the relative contribution of low-and high functional diversity for the three different types of mixed liquors. Correlation analysis of the experimental data show that the complement of the Gini coefficient was strongly and positively correlated with the Shannon index (r(xy)=0.89), evenness (r(xy)=0.91), and AWCD (r(xy)=0.95) at the 95% level of significance (alpha=0.05).     

Do Markets Worsen Economic Inequalities? Kuznets in the Bush

Integration into a market economy or economic development can erode the quality of life of indigenous people by, for example, increasing income inequalities. The Kuznets hypothesis predicts that the link between income inequality and income (a proxy for economic development) resembles an inverted U. We test the hypothesis using a survey of 511 households from 59 villages of Tsimane' Amerindians, a horticultural-foraging society in the tropical rain forest of Bolivia. We measure village inequalities of three economic outcomes: income, imputed annual value of rice production, and wealth. We used three indices of inequality: the coefficient of variation, the standard deviation of the logarithm, and the Gini coefficient. Explanatory variables include either income and income squared, wealth and wealth squared, or imputed annual rice production and production squared. We used village-to-town distance as a control. We find little evidence that integration to the market increases inequalities of economic outcomes, with two exceptions: Wealth bore the predicted inverted U-shaped relation with wealth inequalities, and imputed rice production bore a U-shaped relation to inequality, but only when (a) using adult equivalents to express household size and (b) the Gini coefficient and the coefficient of variation to measure inequality; in no case were results robust to different econometric specifications. We advance several explanations for why economic development might not accentuate economic inequalities among relatively autarkic rural economies.     

基于基尼系数的生态系统服务供需均衡研究——以广东省为例

生态系统服务供需研究尚不成熟,亟需建立一套适用于多数区域而数据要求不高的供需评价方法,因此,以广东省地级市为研究单元,以生态系统服务价值表征生态系统服务供给量,根据对生态系统服务的消耗量或期望获得量核算生态系统服务需求量,提出了一种基于基尼系数识别区域内各类生态系统服务供需状态,并据此评估各城市生态系统服务供需均衡状态的方法。研究结果表明：①广东省生态系统的水源涵养服务基尼系数为0.135,大部分地级市的供需系数位于0.75-1.25之间,整体空间供需高度均衡;食物生产、原材料生产和保持土壤服务基尼系数在0.293-0.423之间,供需系数东高西低,有一定程度的空间不均衡但在合理范围内;而气体调节和废物处理服务供需基尼系数大于0.6,在空间上出现两极分化;②广东省综合生态系统服务基尼系数为0.332,处于合理范围内,基于此,将城市按供需均衡状态分为低供给高需求、供需相对均衡和高供给低需求三类,处于不同状态的城市需要根据不同的策略对生态系统服务供需关系进行调整,维护区域生态安全。本研究可以为促进广东省及其他区域城市可持续发展,加快建设生态文明提供决策指引。     

Measuring avian specialization

Measuring the extent to which a species is specialized is a major challenge in ecology, with important repercussions for fundamental research as well as for applied ecology and conservation. Here, we develop a multidimensional index of specialization based on five sets of ecological characteristics of breeding bird species. We used two recent databases of species traits of European birds based on foraging ecology, habitat, and breeding characteristics. The indices of specialization were calculated by applying the Gini coefficient, an index of inequality. The Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion on a scale between 0 and 1, reflecting a gradient from low to high specialization, respectively. Finally, we tested the strength of the phylogenetic signal of each specialization index to understand how the variance of such indices is shared throughout the phylogeny. The methods for constructing and evaluating a multidimensional index of bird specialization could also be applied to other taxa and regions, offering a simple but useful tool, particularly suited for global or biogeographic studies, as a contribution to comparative estimates of the degree of specialization of species.     

中国丝绸之路经济带沿线省份生态足迹时空差异及公平性分析

评价区域自然资源的公平分配程度是权衡社会经济系统与生态系统可持续发展之间关系的基础。在测算2005—2016年我国丝绸之路经济带沿线省份生态足迹的基础上,分析生态承载力、生态压力指数及足迹深度、足迹广度的时空差异特征,采用基尼系数、经济贡献系数与生态承载系数构建生态足迹的公平性评价模型。结果表明,沿线省份人均生态足迹增长趋势存在较大差异,新疆、宁夏、青海等省份增长较为显著,甘肃、陕西、广西、云南、重庆、四川等省份增长相对较小。结果显示,西北省份较西南省份生态足迹增长较快,但人均生态承载力未发生显著变化。沿线省份生态压力指数均呈缓慢上升的趋势,但差异性正逐步扩大。足迹深度呈缓慢增长的趋势,均大于1,足迹广度变化平缓。经济贡献基尼系数和生态承载基尼系数分别置于[0.15,0.23]和[0.23,0.30]区间,均低于"0.4的警戒线"。其中,陕西、四川和重庆属于"高经济贡献、低生态承载贡献"的省份,青海、云南和甘肃属于"低经济贡献、高生态承载贡献"的省份,新疆、广西和宁夏属于"低经济贡献、低生态承载贡献"的省份。为此,提出对不同经济贡献与生态承载贡献的省份制定适宜的生态建设与环境保护政策,加强空间管控能力,推动重点开发区的区域一体化和合作协同发展,促进省际间产业协作,利用双(多)边合作机制,提高区域自然资源的配置水平。     

基于资源异质性的四川省医师资源公平性研究

目的 基于医师资源异质性假设对2008—2014年四川省医师资源配置公平性进行探讨研究,为进一步优化医师资源配置提供参考。方法 在对医师数量调整的基础上,运用基尼系数和密度指数从人口、地理和经济3个维度评价医师资源配置的公平性。结果 基层医疗机构医师占比逐年下降;四川省卫生资源密度指数高于全国;调整后,按人口和按地理分布的基尼系数值均变大,表明医师素质差异会影响医师资源配置的人口和地理公平性;而受经济分布的影响较小。结论 在医师资源配置中需考虑医师的素质差异,同时兼顾地理和经济因素。     

How to map forest structure from aircraft,one tree at a time

Forest structure is strongly related to forest ecology, and it is a key parameter to understand ecosystem processes and services. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is becoming an important tool in environmental mapping. It is increasingly common to collect ALS data at high enough point density to recognize individual tree crowns (ITCs) allowing analyses to move beyond classical stand‐level approaches. In this study, an effective and simple method to map ITCs, and their stem diameter and aboveground biomass (AGB) is presented. ALS data were used to delineate ITCs and to extract ITCs’ height and crown diameter; then, using newly developed allometries, the ITCs’ diameter at breast height (DBH) and AGB were predicted. Gini coefficient of DBHs was also predicted and mapped aggregating ITCs predictions. Two datasets from spruce dominated temperate forests were considered: one was used to develop the allometric models, while the second was used to validate the methodology. The proposed approach provides accurate predictions of individual DBH and AGB (R² = .85 and .78, respectively) and of tree size distributions. The proposed method had a higher generalization ability compared to a standard area‐based method, in particular for the prediction of the Gini coefficient of DBHs. The delineation method used detected more than 50% of the trees with DBH >10 cm. The detection rate was particularly low for trees with DBH below 10 cm, but they represent a small amount of the total biomass. The Gini coefficient of the DBH distribution was predicted at plot level with R² = .46. The approach described in this work, easy applicable in different forested areas, is an important development of the traditional area‐based remote sensing tools and can be applied for more detailed analysis of forest ecology and dynamics.     

广东省城市资源环境基尼系数

广东省经济的快速发展与资源消耗、污染物排放是密切相关的,如何对资源消耗和污染物排放的公平性、合理性进行评价一直是个难题.构建资源环境基尼系数,用来评价广东省资源消耗和污染物排放的公平性、合理性.资源环境基尼系数是反映在经济贡献率相同的情况下,资源消耗、污染物排放公平程度的一个指标.选取广东省2005年能源消耗、COD排放、SO2排放和工业固体废物排放作为评价指标,计算其资源环境基尼系数,并以绿色贡献系数来判断资源消耗和污染物排放的不公平因子.结果表明,上述 4 项指标的资源环境基尼系数分别为 0.15,0.39,0.38,0.87.能源消耗处于绝对平均的范围内,COD和SO2排放处于相对合理的范围内,工业固废排放处于差距悬殊状态.广东省资源环境的分配差异较大,21个地市中,不公平因子主要集中在清远、韶关、云浮、河源这4个城市,而深圳、广州、中山3个城市体现出的是一种绿色发展模式.为缩小广东资源环境分配的空间差异,清远、韶关、云浮、河源等城市需要转变发展模式,实现经济与资源环境的协调发展.     

Life-cycle carbon emission assessment and permit allocation methods: A multi-region case study of China’s construction sector

China is making efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the building industry, and carrying out an allocation and trading system for building emissions. However, to date, methods for using existing statistical data to assess the emissions of the construction sector and to make decisions affecting permit allocation are still unclear. In this context, a process is proposed in this study to calculate the life-cycle emissions of regional construction sectors in China, and a multi-criteria Gini coefficient is introduced as an indicator for emission permit allocation. Statistical data of the construction sector for 2004–2013 were analyzed. The results indicated an overall trend of increased emissions from China’s construction sector, of which the production phase of buildings was shown to be the largest contributor. Various characteristics for different life-cycle sub-processes were also discussed at the provincial level. Finally, a case study of emissions from the construction sector was conducted on the basis of a multi-criteria Gini coefficient. Relevant analyses revealed the major regions in carbon reduction practices from a comprehensive view of efficiency and equality. In addition, suggestions were provided for allocating emissions for regional construction sectors. Overall, the present study would be helpful in the calculation, assessment, and allocation of emissions from China’s construction sector. It should also provide insight into decision-making about low-carbon development policy of the building industry.     

浙江省护理人力资源配置公平性研究

目的 对浙江省护理人力资源配置公平性进行分析,为我省卫生行政部门加强护理人力资源的管理及合理配置提供借鉴。方法 采用洛伦兹曲线（Lorenz Curve）与基尼系数（Gini Coefficient）来评价浙江省护理人力资源配置公平性。结果 2011年浙江省各地护理人力资源按人口、面积分布的洛伦兹曲线均分布在绝对公平线附近;按人口分布的基尼系数为0.16,按面积分布的基尼系数为0.28。结论 浙江省护理人力资源配置总体上公平,但布局欠合理,其人口公平性优于地理公平性。