2018年经济学人 资助慈善事业:高成本发展影响力债券的利与弊(1)

 

If a girl in a poor country goes to school, she will probably have a more comfortable life than if she stays at home.

如果欠发达国家的女孩去上学，那么相比待在家中，她的未来或许更加轻松。

She will be less likely to marry while still a child, and therefore less likely to die in childbirth.

她遭遇童婚的几率更小，在分娩过程中死亡的概率也更小。

So, not surprisingly, there is an Indian charity that tries to get girls into school and ensure they learn something,

因此，有那么一家印度慈善机构想要送这些女孩们去学校读书，让她们学知识；

and there are Western philanthropists willing to pay for its work. What is noteworthy is how they have gone about this transaction.

有一些西方慈善家愿意为这个项目出资也就不奇怪了。值得注意的是，他们将如何开展该交易。

On July 13th the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, presents the results of the world's first large development-impact bond,

7月13日，智库布鲁金斯学会公布了世界首个大型发展影响力债券的成果，

which paid for girls' education in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.

该债券为印度北部拉贾斯坦邦的女孩们支付教育费用。

In this novel way of funding charitable work, a financial institution gives money to a charity, which tries to achieve various specified¹ outcomes.

这是资助慈善事业的新方式，在该项目中，一家金融机构把钱交给一家慈善机构，该机构试图获得各种特定的成果。

If a neutral arbiter² rules that it has succeeded, a donor³ or philanthropist repays the investor⁴, plus a bonus.

如果中立仲裁人判定该工作取得了成功，那么该项目捐赠人或慈善家就能回报投资者，还能获得分红。

If it fails, the investor loses some or all of its money.

如果失败，投资者就会失去部分或所有钱。

This is more convoluted⁵ than the usual way of funding charitable projects,

这种方法比常规的资助慈善事业的方法更加复杂，

in which a donor gives money to a charity, which spends it according to a pre-agreed plan.

常规方法是捐赠者把钱交给慈善机构，这家慈善机构根据预先商定的方案使用这笔钱。

The donor tries to ensure the money is not wasted by keeping track of inputs-the number of solar panels installed or vaccinations⁶ given, say.

捐赠者试图通过追踪这笔钱的投入使用，比如安装太阳能板的数目或是发放疫苗的数量，来确保这笔钱不被浪费。

Often, no one knows whether the intervention⁷ did much good.

通常，没人知道这种干预能否起到好的作用。

In this case, the more complicated approach did achieve something.

在这种情况下，这种更加复杂的方法确实取得了成效。

Educate Girls, the charity, identified 837 out-of-school girls aged⁸ 7-14 in the villages where it was active, and enrolled⁹ 768 of them.

在各村庄中，慈善机构‘女孩教育行动’确定有837名年龄在7到14岁的女孩辍学了，并将其中768名送入学校。

By using volunteers to teach both boys and girls in village schools for a few hours a week,

该机构请志愿者每周为村庄学校的男孩和女孩们上几个小时的课，

it managed to raise test scores substantially relative to a control group.

他们想要让这些孩子的考试分数有所提升。

So the investor, UBS Optimus Foundation, will be repaid by the Children's Investment Fund Foundation.

该项目投资方瑞银慈善基金会，将从儿童投资基金会获得回报。

1 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

2 arbiter   

n.仲裁人，公断人

参考例句：

• Andrew was the arbiter of the disagreement.安德鲁是那场纠纷的仲裁人。
• Experiment is the final arbiter in science.实验是科学的最后仲裁者。

3 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 convoluted   

adj.旋绕的；复杂的

参考例句：

• The snake slithered through a convoluted path.蛇在羊肠小道上爬行。
• The policy is so convoluted even college presidents are confused.这项政策太令人费解，甚至连大学校长们也是一头雾水。

6 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

9 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》