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Poverty alleviation is a global challenge. Human society has never ceased to fight against poverty. China was once the developing country with the largest rural poor population in the world. Remarkable achievements have been made in China’s antipoverty program over the past decades, shaping a unique poverty reduction strategy with Chinese characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to first review the history of China’s rural reform and antipoverty, and then analyze the related policy systems, mechanism innovations and future challenges in poverty alleviation and development. At last, some specific policy implications were provided.

Literature on China’s antipoverty history was reviewed and mechanism innovations on targeted poverty alleviation strategy were investigated.

Along with the deepening of the rural reform, the poverty alleviation and development in new China have undergone six stages, and experienced a transformation from relief-oriented to development-oriented poverty alleviation. The object of poverty alleviation has gradually targeted with a transformation from poor counties/areas to villages/households, and the effectiveness of poverty alleviation is also gradually improved. However, the increase in the difficulty of antipoverty, fragile ecological environment, rapid population aging and rural decline poses challenges to the construction of a well-off society in an all-round way in China. Specific antipoverty measures were put forward based on the investigation. Finally, the authors emphasize the importance of strengthening the study of poverty geography.

This study investigates the history of China’s antipoverty policy and analyzes the future challenges for implementing targeted poverty alleviation policy. These findings will lay a foundation for the formulation of China’s antipoverty policies after 2020, and provide experience for poverty alleviation in other developing countries around the world.

The US signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020 to alleviate the harsh economic effects of the pandemic and related shutdowns. A substantial part of the bill expanded and increased unemployment insurance payments, where a growing area of research estimates strong anti-poverty effects. The authors examine the effect of these policies on crime.

The authors use new event study and difference-in-differences techniques to estimate the effect of increasing unemployment insurance payments on property crime and violent crime. Then, the authors estimate the effect of expanded unemployment qualification programs on crime. The authors use a rich set of controls including unemployment, contemporaneous policies and mobile device tracking data to estimate the degree to which people stayed at home.

They find that increasing unemployment insurance payments decreased crime by 20%, driven by a 24% decrease in property crime. The authors also find suggestive evidence that expanding unemployment qualifications decreases crime.

The authors find a new and substantial benefit of expanded unemployment insurance beyond their antipoverty effects.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that directly examines the impact of the CARES Act on crime.

This study aims to propose the roles for business, broadly defined, in government-led programs designed to enhance human capital investment. Through conditional cash transfers (CCTs), businesses have opportunities to alleviate poverty, address the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda (SDGs), enhance CCT viability and explore new market opportunities.

This multifaceted research approach consists of five case studies of CCTs in Latin America, face-to-face field meetings with CCT administrators, 48 CCT beneficiaries in a pilot study and 31 interviews (verbal and remote) with business managers and companies in five countries.

Building on an on-site pilot study, an in-depth appraisal of five CCTs in Latin America over a five-year period, the authors examined six stages of CCT activities to assess possible areas of business engagement. The cases, augmented by field interviews with businesses, present fledgling business engagement in CCTs. In light of anticipated growth in CCTs, this study presents six major ways businesses can further participate in selected stages of CCT operations that contribute to their long-term sustainability, as well as future market opportunities.

Conducted over a five-year period with participants from government, businesses and CCT beneficiaries, this study deepens our understanding of how businesses can alleviate poverty through engaging in government-led antipoverty programs.

Este estudo propõe papéis amplamente definidos para empresas em programas liderados pelo governo projetados para melhorar o investimento em capital humano. Por meio de transferências condicionadas de renda (TCRs), as empresas têm oportunidades de aliviar a pobreza, abordar a Agenda 2030 (ODS) das Nações Unidas, melhorar a viabilidade do transferências condicionadas de renda e explorar novas oportunidades de mercado.

Com base em um estudo piloto no local, uma avaliação aprofundada de cinco transferências condicionadas de renda na América Latina durante um período de cinco anos, identificamos e analisamos seis etapas das atividades da transferências condicionadas de renda para avaliar possíveis áreas de participação empresarial. Nossos cases, enriquecidos por entrevistas de campo com empresas, apresentam oportunidades de participação empresarial em TCRs. À luz do crescimento antecipado dos TCRs, este estudo apresenta seis principais maneiras pelas quais as empresas podem se engajar ainda mais em etapas selecionadas de operações de TCR que contribuem para sua sustentabilidade de longo prazo, bem como oportunidades futuras de mercado.

Utilizamos uma abordagem de pesquisa multifacetada composta por 5 estudos de caso de TCR na América Latina, reuniões presenciais de campo com administradores da TCR, 48 beneficiários da TCR em um estudo piloto e 31 entrevistas (presencial e remota) com gerentes de negócios e empresas em 5 países.

Este estudo foi realizado ao longo de um período de 5 anos com participantes de beneficiários do governo, empresas e transferências condicionadas de renda, e aprofunda a compreensão de como as empresas podem contribuir para o alívio da pobreza por meio da participação em programas de combate à pobreza liderados pelo governo.

Este estudio propone roles para las empresas, ampliamente definidos, en programas dirigidos por el gobierno diseñados para mejorar la inversión en capital humano. A través de las transferencias monetarias condicionadas (TMC), las empresas tienen oportunidades para aliviar la pobreza, abordar la Agenda 2030 (ODS) de las Naciones Unidas, mejorar la viabilidad del TMC y explorar nuevas oportunidades de mercado.

Sobre la base de un estudio piloto in situ, una evaluación en profundidad de cinco TMC en América Latina durante un período de cinco años, identificamos y analizamos seis etapas de las actividades de TMC para evaluar posibles áreas de participación empresarial. Nuestros casos, enriquecidos por entrevistas de campo con empresas, presentan oportunidades para participación empresarial en los TMC. A la luz del crecimiento anticipado en los TMC, este estudio presenta seis formas principales en que las empresas pueden participar aún más en etapas seleccionadas de las operaciones de TMC que contribuyen a su sostenibilidad a largo plazo, así como a las oportunidades futuras del mercado.

Usamos un enfoque de investigación multifacético consiste en 5 estudios de casos de TMC en América Latina, reuniones de campo cara a cara con administradores de TMC, 48 beneficiarios de TMC en un estudio piloto y 31 entrevistas (presenciales y remotas) con gerentes de negocios y empresas en 5 países.

Este estudio fue llevado a cabo en un período de 5 años con participantes del gobierno, las empresas y los beneficiarios de TMC, y profundiza el entendimiento de cómo las empresas pueden contribuir a aliviar la pobreza a través de la participación en programas contra la pobreza liderados por el gobierno.

In the presence of government procurement, one important driving force behind a poor farmer entering into sales format agreements is to improve profits. In this study, the authors examine two widely used sales formats, namely resale format and agent format, to investigate how parameters influence the optimal sales format selection and decision equilibriums of supply chain members under the scenarios with or without the buyer's poverty alleviation efforts.

This paper adopts the Stackelberg game-theoretical approach to examine the interactions between the farmer from poor/rural areas and the buyer.

The authors find that under certain conditions, the optimal sales format of the poor farmer and buyer can be consistent, which eliminates conflicts in the sales format selection. In addition, with the buyer's poverty alleviation effort, the poor farmer and buyer can achieve the Pareto improvement, which is a win–win outcome for them. The authors also find that the market price in government procurement is independent of competition, which is consistent with practical observations.

It is the first study to investigate the optimal sales format selection given government procurement as a poverty alleviation effort which is in competition with a firm's regular channel.

Numerous scholars have studied the propensity and related determinants of marital infidelity across socioeconomic and demographic groups. However, the broader social and economic consequences of infidelity remain an unexplored question, particularly the macroeconomic consequences from the individual impacts on families and households. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Using income data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze the relationship between the probability of infidelity and income and second, to quantify the cost of marital infidelity on individual families and taxpayers. The results confirm that infidelity makes individual households poorer, but goes further to reveal widespread negative externalities that fall to taxpayers from the consequences of family fragmentation.

The results of this study indicate a review of government policy since numerous government policies contradict the incentive to stay married. Future research should consider additional estimations of the full range of costs related to infidelity and family fragmentation with particular focus on the public programs that may absorb the brunt of the negative externalities resulting from divorce.

This research confirms earlier research that infidelity has a high probability of causing divorce. Combined with this research, the analysis confirms a statistically significant negative relationship between infidelity and income and that when infidelity causes divorce, the results are substantial public economic and social costs. By definition public economic and social costs are borne by society, resulting in increased taxpayer burdens for society at large.

Previously, the consequences of infidelity were a largely unexplored question. There had been some work on the probability of infidelity but little beyond this. Further, there had been minimal literature on the social efficiency of infidelity, especially research focussing on the external costs imposed on third parties such as children and taxpayers (Smith, 2012). This work took earlier research further by first confirming the negative impact on household income based on the probability of infidelity. Additionally, this is the only study that has examined the economic consequences of divorce due to infidelity. This research confirms that the presence of infidelity, especially when it leads to divorce, results in substantial economic and social externalities resulting from family fragmentation. Future research would benefit from a more in depth understanding of the characteristics that relate to the increased probability of infidelity, separate from and in conjunction with divorce. Furthermore, examining costs as they relate to specific programs, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, may clarify the impact of family fragmentation on specific programs. Additionally, the results from this study can be incorporated into larger sets of findings focussing on government policy to better understand the full range of social implications from infidelity.

Future research should consider additional estimations of the full range of costs related to infidelity and family fragmentation, with particular focus on the public programs that may absorb the brunt of the negative externalities resulting from divorce. The most pertinent policies influencing the rate of marriage and divorce in the USA are the income tax code, Social Security spousal and survivor benefits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, child support enforcement, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, food stamps, Medical, Supplemental Security Income, and WIC (Burstein, 2007). A review of these policies and their incentive structure related to family cohesiveness should be considered as a part of larger cost/benefit analysis of these programs.

This work took earlier research further by first confirming the negative impact on household income based on the probability of infidelity. Additionally, this is the only study that has examined the economic consequences of divorce due to infidelity. This research confirms that the presence of infidelity, especially when it leads to divorce, results in substantial economic and social externalities resulting from family fragmentation.

This paper aims to study Catholic Social Theory (CST) and its implications for economic development. From the early days of CST through the papacy of Benedict XVI, the Church has been consistent about the promise and limits of markets. Markets offer the necessary foundation for human flourishing – but they must be ordered toward the common good and they carry the potential for spiritual loss. Pope Francis has changed course from over a century of CST, with a markedly different view of business, labor and free markets.

This paper summarizes 130 years of CST regarding the economy and describes the turn Pope Francis takes from this tradition. This paper discusses economic theory and analyzes the importance of markets for economic development and assesses Pope Francis’ economics in light of this theory.

This paper discusses the findings that – despite what we assume to be good intentions – the economics of Pope Francis would condemn billions to poverty. Others (Whaples, 2017a) have discussed the economics of Pope Francis.

Others (Whaples, 2017a) have discussed the economics of Pope Francis. This paper finds, however, that most of the critiques are too gentle, and do not recognize the full deleterious impact of the application of the new teachings.

The purpose of this article is to understand how coronavirus impacts relate to existing vulnerabilities in different world regions.

The article utilizes quantitative analysis to examine regional variations in coronavirus risk assessment. It then qualitatively employs a policy coherence for development (PCD) approach to analyze how public policies contribute to or mitigate vulnerability, defined as the product of exposure to external shocks, institutional coping capabilities and risk associated with social divisions in societies.

The research presented below shows that significant regional variance exists in terms of coronavirus risk, based on statistical analysis of the INFORM COVID-19 Risk Report prepared by the European Commission. The PCD analysis highlights important relationships between public policy strategies and the construction of both underlying vulnerabilities and coronavirus impacts.

The PCD approach presented here focuses on the reconciliation of trade-offs. It shows how policy interactions affect vulnerabilities and suggests that coherent policy strategies aimed at reducing vulnerabilities are necessary in order to adequately respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

This analysis frames vulnerability as a socially constructed condition and through implementation of a PCD approach, it indicates how policy strategies contribute to or mitigate vulnerabilities. In doing so, it intends to contribute conceptually to the literature on vulnerability by showing how policy incoherences contribute to the construction of this condition. Empirically, the originality of this article is its statistical analysis of regional variance of coronavirus risk and the qualitative analysis of policy strategies in representative cases and how they have affected vulnerabilities and coronavirus impacts.

This paper examines India’s tryst with welfare/dis-fare with a specific focus on Modi Sarkar's (2014–2019) dirigiste style reforms. In the welfare regime research, Esping-Andersen (1990) classified advanced economies into three ideal-types of liberal, conservative-corporatist and social-democratic welfare states by government-led welfare provisions and levels of decommodification. The classical typology discussions include countries such as India which is classified as informal-insecurity regime due to a large informal economy with no social security for workers. Based on theoretical standpoints of the political economy of welfare states, comparative historical institutionalism and critical junctures this article examines Modifare has expanded formal welfare to its citizens.

The article uses crisp-set analysis to examine the social policy developments under Modi's regime in India.

This paper examines if the centre-right Modi government did bring about a radical departure from UPA I and II lacklustre welfare approach to the more strategic use of welfare reforms as a political weapon on a national scale. It concludes that Modi-fare falls short in being transformatory.

The article is an original contribution to the field of comparative welfare regimes.

This paper aims to critically review the contributions made by the articles in this theme issue with reference to the literature and by examining the link between tourism and poverty and the conditions that shape this link in Latin America.

The paper reviews the most important contributions through critical content analysis of the papers contained in the theme issue.

Tourism matters to the poor, but its relevance is defined by a number of factors including economic development, inequality, and destination life cycle. Alternative tourism, while promising, may be too limited in scope and scale to affect poverty alleviation that is broad and fast enough to benefit Latin America.

More research is needed to understand the link between tourism and poverty reduction, and the conditions that determine the strength of the link in Latin America.

The theme issue explores the tourism poverty link from different perspectives with inputs from multiple stakeholders with experience and expertise in poverty alleviation in Latin America. This approach offers the reader a unique opportunity to explore different facets of the tourism development conundrum in the region.