Mining the soil: Agricultural production system on peatland

Soil is usually considered as a renewable resource for dynamic crop and production management decision problems. For peatland, however, soil should be regarded as an exhaustible resource. This paper determines the optimal utilization of peatland for agricultural production within a dynamic context and it also presents an empirical study where the quasirent function is convex in the input and not concave as assumed in many economic studies. As a result of this convexity a corner solution is obtained. Moreover, the study demonstrates that there is only a slight difference between short- and farsighted behavior, and that both lead ultimately to an accelerated exhaustion of the resource. Private optimization leads to intensive use of the peat in the production of high value crops, which depletes the peat in a relatively short period of time. However, peatland also possesses a value as an environmental asset. The study provides a benchmark for the decision as to whether to convert peatland into productive agricultural land or to conserve it.The financial support of the Department of Environment, Forest and Landscape of Switzerland is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to Michael Caputo for helpful suggestions.     

关于深入研究社会主义劳动和劳动价值论的几个问题

本文提出深入研究社会主义劳动和劳动价值论的基础性工程是对劳动的含义进行拓展。在此基础上 ,本文认为 ,从总体上来说 ,第三产业的劳动应视为创造价值的生产性劳动 ;科技劳动往往含有知识财产因素 ,科技劳动在经济发展中具有独特的创新力 ;管理劳动是高级的智力劳动 ,它体现了人类劳动独具的组织力。因此现阶段我国的分配制度必须正确对待生产要素参与价值分配的现实性和合理性以及资本在经济增长中的贡献。     

中国国有企业改革：经验、困境与出路*

作为国有企业产权改革主要模式，“混合所有制”改革是否有助于确保国有资产保值增值，是否有助于推动中国经济可持续发展等问题仍存在探讨空间。本文基于对于改革开放以来中国国有企业改革的成就和教训的考察，指出“混合所有制”可以作为竞争性部门国有企业改革的一个过渡形式；对于垄断央企的改革应该充分借鉴国际上自然垄断行业的改革经验，打破行政垄断，推动竞争性框架建立，并切实实现从“管企业”逐步调整为“管资本”，通过改革实现国有资产的保值增值，并为经济创造新的增长点。     

模糊数学在环境资源价值评估中的应用——以海河流域天津段为例

环境资源是社会经济可持续发展的物质基础,而流域环境资源是其中的重要组成部分.以水环境为基础的流域环境对社会、经济、文化的发展至关重要,因此,对流域环境资源的价值进行评估,并把它纳入到国民经济核算体系当中已成为当前的研究热点.本文首先明晰研究环境资源价值的目的、意义和概念,然后分析环境资源价值的构成,提出一套较为完整的流域环境资源价值评估的理论、原则和方法.在此基础上,以海河流域天津段为例,根据上述环境资源价值评估理论与原则,运用模糊数学工具建立流域环境资源价值评估模型,评价海河流域环境资源的总经济价值,并与传统模糊数学方法加以比较.     

Impact of asset price fluctuation on China’s monetary policy: An empirical analysis based on quarterly data, 1994–2006

The strenuous fluctuation in global asset price in recent years has had a profound impact on the economic and social development of every country. An empirical analysis indicates that asset prices (the stock price index and real estate prices) are important endogenous variables affecting the interest rate reaction function of central bank monetary policy. With expected inflation as a given, each one percentage point rise in output gap will cause a 0.79 percentage point reduction in interest rates by the central bank and each one percentage point rise in real estate price will result in a 2.2 percentage point rise in interest rates. The stock price index does have an influence on the trends in monetary policy, but it is less salient than the impact of housing prices. We also show that monetary policy that employs asset price as an endogenous variable increases the central bank’s control in seeking to attain its objectives. Therefore we suggest that the central bank should make asset price fluctuation an endogenous variable and incorporate it into its forward-looking interest rate rule, in order to facilitate the healthy development of China’s markets for real estate, stocks and derivatives, energy and bulk commodities and maintain rapid, smooth, sustainable and harmonious economic development.     

从三个层面推进可持续发展

先进生产方式及相应文化是可持续发展的前提。推进社会生产力发展，调整生产关系，弘扬先进的人文精神才能实现可持续发展。以这一思路制定方针政策，加强宏观调控，才能实现可持续的良性大发展，才有人类美好的未来。     

On the Productive Value of Biodiversity

The paper investigates the value of biodiversity as it relates to the productive value of services provided by an ecosystem. The value of biodiversity is linked with a deterioration in the functioning of the ecosystem. The analysis examines how the value of an ecosystem can be “greater than the sum of its parts”. First, we propose a general measure of the productive value of biodiversity. The measure involves an experiment that divides the ecosystem into sub-systems that are less diverse, keeping aggregate resources constant. Second, the value of biodiversity is decomposed into four components, reflecting the role of complementarity, scale, convexity, and catalytic effects. This provides new and useful information on the sources, determinants and dynamics of biodiversity value. I would like to thank seminar audiences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Montpellier and two anonymous reviewers for useful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.     

动态及竞争环境下双元创新与企业可持续发展关系研究

企业如何通过创新活动实现可持续发展是学术界和企业界共同关注的重大理论与实践问题。基于创新管理理论、可持续发展理论和情景因素理论，以环境动态性和竞争性为调节变量，深入探讨双元创新及其协同性对企业可持续发展的影响。通过对252家高新技术企业多源问卷调查的实证研究表明：利用式创新、探索式创新与双元创新协同性对企业可持续发展均具有显著正向影响，但对企业可持续发展各维度的作用机制不同；动态与竞争环境下，探索式创新对企业可持续发展的影响更为显著；环境动态性和竞争性均正向调节探索式创新与企业可持续发展的关系；环境动态性负向调节双元创新协同性与企业可持续发展的关系。     

干旱区草型湖泊湿地价值量化评估

本文以典型干旱区草型湖泊乌梁素海湿地为研究区,在实地调查和试验的基础上,依据资源经济学和生态经济学的理论和方法,针对乌梁素海湿地资源的特点,对乌梁素海湿地的价值进行了货币化评估。评估结果表明,乌梁素海湿地的总价值为28．24×10~8元,其中直接实物产品价值为7164．70×10~4元,直接非实物服务价值为18 193．43×10~4元,间接价值为81 960．58×10~4元,目前非使用类价值为17．51×10~8元。只有合理开发乌梁素海湿地资源,保护好这一对区域环境具有重要意义的干旱区湿地生态系统,才能实现乌梁素海湿地资源的可持续利用,保证湖区经济的可持续发展。     

Comparative dynamics in a productive asset oligopoly

We build a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium of a common property productive asset oligopoly and analyze separately the impact of a change in the implicit growth rate of the asset and a change in the number of firms exploiting the asset. We show that the steady state level of asset can be a decreasing function of the asset's implicit growth rate. This phenomenon arises when the initial stock of asset is below a certain threshold. In the short-run we show that firms’ exploitation rate can be a decreasing function of the implicit growth rate. We study the impact of a change in the number of firms that share access to the asset. Reducing the number of firms can result, in the long-run, in higher industry production. In the short-run, it can result in an increase of the industry's exploitation and a decrease of the level of the asset's stock.     

The Relationship Between Environmentally Sustainable Income, Employment and Wages in Australia

The environment is an asset that provides essential services. Like any other asset, its services will diminish as it depreciates. The environmentally sustainable income of a nation depends on a sustained flow of these services, and can be estimated by including the environment in a macroeconomic framework, with a goal to achieve both full employment and sustainability. The relationship of national income to employment is estimated at full employment, actual employment and the employment level that is necessary to maintain sustainable income, for the Australian economy. There proved to be a widening gap between actual income and environmentally sustainable income, and between actual income and income to guarentee full employment. Wage reduction and improvement of technology are analysed as possible ways to meet the goal of an environmentally sustainable income.     

A note on the sustainability of full employment in the presence of budget deficits

In a recent issue of this journal, Tymoigne and Wray, as well as Palley, discussed whether economies can experience stable full-employment equilibria with persistent public budget deficits. This implies continuous growth of a stock-variable: high-powered money and/or government bonds in the hands of the private sector. Their discussion assumed a stationary state. The question is whether such a situation can be regarded as sustainable over time. This paper argues that a satisfactory solution to the problem can be found only by abandoning the hypothesis of stationary state and considering the effects that different compositions of public expenditure have on the rate of growth. To have a stable full-employment equilibrium with budget deficits, the economy must grow. Since the economy is assumed to be in full employment, the growth of aggregate output must be entirely due to the growth of productivity, which can be realized by changing the composition of public spending in favor of productive expenditures.     

Wealth Accounting,Exhaustible Resources and Social Welfare

The empirical literature on natural resource accounting uses methods which implicitly or explicitly entail measuring changes in total resource asset value when an exhaustible resource is depleted. In contrast, the growth theoretic literature on saving, social welfare and sustainable development is built upon a central finding, that the change in real wealth (as measured by net or ‘genuine’ saving) is proportional to the change in social welfare. We show that the change in total wealth exceeds the change in real wealth in optimal and non-optimal models of resource-extracting economies. This suggests that the change in social welfare is over-estimated when the change in total resource asset value is used as the measure of depletion. A simple empirical exercise, using World Bank data on ‘adjusted net saving’, reinforces the results from theory.     

A framework for modelling economy-environment-development relationships based on dynamic carrying capacity and sustainable development feedback

A large literature exists that deals with economic issues of development and growth. It includes various approaches that can be classified as formal-theoretical, empirical-statistical and qualitative-verbal. Recently, the issue of sustainable development has been discussed much, which has given rise to some novel views on the relationship between development and environment. Most of these contributions utilize a more or less qualitative approach. A comprehensive inquiry of the relationship between economy, development, growth and environment may include an analytical approach as well. An analytical framework is proposed here for studies of environment-economy-development relationships that separates between economy, development, environment, and value system. A distinction is made between direct and indirect economy-environment interactions. To overcome disadvantages of assumptions of determinism in long term analysis a sustainable development feedback mechanism is proposed. It reflects anticipative behaviour to natural environmental changes in making long term decisions. This can be seen as a specific element of endogenous growth, namely one based on environmental factors. To illustrate the ideas a number of theoretical models are discussed that can be regarded as dynamic formal extensions of the concept of carrying capacity. Different cases include combinations of internal and external feedback mechanisms to an economy. The results demonstrate that in addition to behaviourial patterns that have been obtained by more complex studies other patterns may emerge.This study was supported by the Economic Research Foundation (Ecozoek), which resorts under the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.), project no. 450-230-007.This paper is based on reprocessed material from my Ph.D. dissertation. I am grateful to my thesis supervisors Peter Nijkamp and Hans Opschoor for comments at various stages in the research.     

森林认证对林产品贸易的经济效应分析

森林认证作为一种维护全球可持续发展的市场机制,其最初并不是以贸易保护的姿态而出现的,但是,各国的森林认证实践却使它具有了某种贸易保护性质。本文通过对大国小国两种情形的讨论,认为森林认证基本上可被视为一种生态关税壁垒,只是它的实施基础较之关税壁垒更为合情、合理和合法化,而且在作用机理和长期效应上又有其自身的特点。     

农业持续发展研究进展及其理论

可持续发展作为一种新型发展观,是人类在总结正反两方面经验和教训的基础上,重新审视经济发展与生态环境相互关系的结果.它以其崭新的发展内涵和发展模式在世界范围内达成共识,并被在一定范围内付诸具体实践.可持续农业又作为当今世界农业和全球可持续发展领域前沿的重要课题,更成为国内外学术研究的热点问题之一.本文旨在推进可持续农业的深入研究,较系统地梳理了农业持续发展研究的进展和主要观点,并就其相关理论进行了初步探讨.     

Distributive impact of structural change: Does environmental degradation matter?

Vulnerability to reduction of natural capital depends on defensive substitution possibilities that, in turn, are affected by the availability of other productive factors. However in several developing countries asset distribution tends to be highly skewed. Taking into account these elements, this paper proposes a model considering an economy polarized into two classes (the rich and the poor) and characterized by the following stylized facts: income and productivity of the rural poor is highly dependent on natural resources; labour remuneration in rural sector represents the opportunity cost for wage labour; the rich can partially substitute natural capital with physical capital and wage labour. In this context, agents differ for feed back mechanisms and interactions between their choices of production and environmental dynamics. Moreover environmental depletion may trigger economic transition, but the structural change is likely to result regressive.     

Risk index based models for portfolio adjusting problem with returns subject to experts' evaluations

This paper discusses a portfolio adjusting problem with additional risk assets and a riskless asset in the situation where security returns are given by experts' evaluations rather than historical data. Uncertain variables are employed to describe the security returns. Using expected value and risk index as measurements of portfolio return and risk respectively, we propose two portfolio optimization models for an existing portfolio in two cases, taking minimum transaction lot, transaction cost, and lower and upper bound constraints into account. In one case the riskless asset can be both borrowed and lent freely, and in another case the riskless asset can only be lent and the borrowing of riskless asset is not allowed. The adjusting models are converted into their crisp equivalents, enabling the users to solve them with currently available programming solvers. For the sake of illustration, numerical examples in two cases are also provided. The results show that under the same predetermined maximum tolerable risk level the expected return of the optimal portfolio is smaller when the riskless asset can only be lent than when the riskless asset can be both borrowed and lent freely.     

我国海洋经济发展思辨

海洋经济是人类开发和利用海洋资源、获取海洋产品的经济活动,已经成为我国国民经济新的增长点。我国海洋经济的发展面临外界的严峻挑战;海洋经济实质上是海洋生态经济,是陆地生态经济向海洋的延伸;海岸带的合理开发和利用是实现海洋经济健康和持续发展的关键;开展海洋资源与环境价值核算,调整和修正海洋经济综合评价指标,以反映海洋资源的耗竭和环境退化;加强海洋经济省的建设;海洋经济的发展要注重观念、运行模式、新技术和机制等的创新;应强调平衡发展战略与非平衡发展战略的有机结合。     

发展东北地区绿色经济的理论及对策研究

东北地区作为我国资源比较丰富的地区之一,在过去资源依赖型经济增长模式指导下,生态环境日趋恶化,部分资源面临枯竭.随着可持续发展理念逐渐深入人心,人们认识到以前的发展模式必须改变.本文从可持续发展理念的角度出发,探讨了绿色经济的产生、兴起与内涵,并就东北地区发展绿色经济提出了几点对策.