Effects of litigation under the Endangered Species Act on forest firm values

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been a source of litigation and subject to court interpretation during the past several decades. In this study, event analysis was employed to examine the impact of six court decisions related to the ESA on the financial performance of U.S. forest products firms. The finding of abnormal returns revealed that all six events generated the expected positive or negative returns, and among them, four were statistically significant. Changes in systematic risk reflected the reaction of the stock market to the verdict announcements. Programs designed for habitat conservation can be implemented to compensate private landowners or firms for costs associated with protecting species on private forestlands.     

Systematic Variation in Willingness to Pay for Aquatic Resource Improvements and Implications for Benefit Transfer: A Meta-Analysis

Researchers are increasingly considering benefit transfer approaches that allow welfare measures to be adjusted for characteristics of the policy context. The validity and reliability of such adjustments, however, depends on the presence of systematic variation in underlying WTP. This paper describes a meta-analysis conducted to identify systematic components of WTP for aquatic resource improvements. Model results reveal systematic patterns in WTP unapparent from stated preference models considered in isolation, and suggest that observable attributes account for a substantial proportion of the variance in WTP estimates across studies. The analysis also exposes challenges faced in development, estimation, and interpretation of meta-models for benefit transfer and welfare guidance. These challenges remain salient even in cases where the statistical performance of meta-models is satisfactory.     

基于受众行为特征的森林公园自然解说系统设计研究

基于自然教育理念,以大奇山国家森林公园为例,通过实地调研及问卷调查,结合相关性分析,分析受众行为的特点和成因及其对自然解说的偏好需求,剖析自然解说对解说受众的作用结构。结果表明:解说受众的行为特征与其出游次数、旅游质量、旅游意愿、学历、年龄这五大因子存在关联。基于上述研究结果,为大奇山国家森林公园的自然解说系统构建提供相应的优化对策与建议。     

集体土地使用权转让的宪法依据及其规范解释

研究目的：探求集体土地使用权转让宪法依据的规范内涵。研究方法：规范分析法。研究结果：通过文义解释、体系解释和目的解释发现,作为集体土地使用权转让的宪法依据,“土地的使用权可以依照法律的规定转让”既没有专门为集体土地使用权转让提供宪法依据的立法意图,也没有限制集体土地使用权转让的立法意图。该规定的立法目的是同时为国有土地使用权转让和集体土地使用权转让提供一个制度框架,以此框架建构的法秩序均具备形式合宪性。研究结论：应在具备形式合宪性基础上建构具备实质合宪性的集体土地使用权转让法秩序。     

中国茶叶产业国际竞争力实证分析

利用FAO统计数据和中国海关统计年鉴数据为基础,借鉴CMS模型和RCA指数对中国茶叶产业比较优势进行实证分析,得出结论:中国茶叶产业具有一定的比较优势,但其比较优势正在逐步下降,在此基础上提出建立统一高效的农产品流通管理体制,大力发展行业协会,建立质量保证体系,加大对红茶及其它高价值茶叶的生产等政策性建议。     

黑龙江省西部松嫩低平原盐碱地质灾害分布调查的思考

本文是在充分利用前人研究成果的基础上,运用多年积累的勘察资料和工作经验,投入1:250000区域地质调查、1:250000遥感地质解译、样品采集与化验分析等工作,运用遥感解译与地面调查相结合的方法科学合理的为黑龙江省西部松嫩低平原盐碱地质灾害分布及危害程度的进一步评价提供科学依据。     

FUTURES PRICES AS FORECASTS OF COMMODITY SPOT PRICES: LIVE CATTLE AND WOOL*

In this paper the foundations on which the predictive interpretation of futures prices rests are discussed, and possible reasons for the differential predictive performance of futures prices as between different commodity markets examined. The predictive performances of futures, and spot prices themselves, are tested empirically, using Australian data for wool (a continuous inventory commodity) and finished live beef cattle (virtually a non-storable commodity), by means of instrumental variables estimation.     

Social Welfare and the Selection of the Optimum Hog Slaughter Weight in Quebec

What is the optimum slaughter weight? It depends from whose perspective. A dynamic systems model is built to analyze the welfare impact of alternative animal genetics, feeding program, feed quality and slaughter weight on producers, processors and the environment. The unique systems approach analyzes eight possible welfare rules and a corresponding harm function to assess animal performance within a multistakeholder context. The model results show there are significant tradeoff problems among producers, processors and the environment. The model highlights how the definition of animal performance needs to be revisited, as it has different meaning to different stakeholders in society. While performance historically was synonymous with production efficiency, with new social and political concerns, this interpretation is not universal. The model demonstrates greater complexities by broadening the set of affected parties.     

WEAK SEPARABILITY AND A TEST FOR THE SPECIFICATION OF INCOME IN DEMAND MODELS WITH AN APPLICATION TO THE DEMAND FOR MEAT IN AUSTRALIA*

Most studies of the demand for meat in Australia have used some measure of total income or expenditure, but two recent studies have assumed weak separability of a meat group and used expenditure on the meat group instead. These specification differences are of interest to the extent that they affect the economic interpretation, goodness-of-fit, elasticity estimates, predictive performance or hypothesis tests in empirical demand equations. In this paper, non-nested hypothesis testing procedures are used to test the alternative specifications of the income variable and the hypothesis of separability. The results favour the use of the expenditure variable implied by separability but are mixed concerning whether separability holds.     

中国木质家具出口动因分析及对策建议

采用2002~2007年中国木质家具出口美国、香港、日本、英国和韩国的相关数据,运用CMS模型对中国木质家具出口数据进行测算。结果表明:中国木质家具具有较强的竞争力,目标市场进口规模对中国木质家具出口产生正效应,而产品结构的变化对中国木质家具出口产生负效应。同时,提出中国木质家具企业适应国际技术标准和出口需求的变化,调整产品结构,开拓多元化的海外市场等对策建议。     

土地使用权转让法律规制的困境与出路

研究目的:分析当前土地使用权转让法律规制的困境,并探索其解决办法。研究方法:文义解释、目的解释与原理论证。研究结果:(1)刑法在规制土地使用权转让行为时需援引行政法的规定,在行政法规制密度过大的情况下容易导致非法转让、倒卖土地使用权罪的滥用,与民商法在违法性认定问题上也存在一定冲突;(2)基于文义解释、合宪分析和原理论证方法,不仅能准确界定刑法中土地使用权非法转让的具体范围,而且能消解不同部门法在违法性认定上的冲突。研究结论:《土地管理法》第七十四条和《刑法》第二百二十八条应作相应修改。     

分层建设用地使用权的权利冲突及其解决

研究目的:厘清中国分层建设用地使用权的性质、特征及权利冲突,研究提出解决权利冲突的立法论路径和民法解释机制。研究方法:比较分析和民法解释学相结合。研究结果:(1)中国物权立法通过分层建设用地使用权的规定将空间权利纳入保护范围,而未采纳独立空间权的制度构造;(2)分层建设用地使用权空间上具有独特性,但可以与中国《物权法》结构性原则相契合;(3)现行立法对于分层建设用地使用权引发的权利冲突及其解决作出了原则性规定,需要从立法论和解释论角度重新检视。研究结论:在建设用地使用权制度框架内可以实现对地上与地下空间的物权保护,对于分层建设用地使用权引发的权利冲突之解决,既要在立法层面适度进行"改良",进一步细化完善《物权法》第136条有关规定;又要从法解释层面立足既有规范,借助相邻关系和地役权以及物权请求权制度措施,解决分层建设用地使用权权利冲突。     

中德两国木质家具出口贸易的比较研究——基于1997--2009年数据的实证分析

通过1997--2009年的贸易数据对中德两国的木质家具出口贸易进行了比较研究。利用CMS模型测算了拉动两国木质家具出口增长的原因，进而通过显性比较优势指数和贸易结合度指数的测算，实证分析了中德两国各自具有比较优势的产品类型以及双边木质家具贸易的结合程度。结果发现，竞争力效应和一般增长效应分别是拉动中国和德国木质家具出口增长的主要因素，两国分别在不同种类的产品上具有比较优势且两国问的木质家具贸易结合程度不高，具有巨大的合作发展潜力。     

Economic drought management index to evaluate water institutions’ performance under uncertainty*

Reservoir management and intertemporal water allocation are critical issues in semiarid regions where agriculture has to confront highly variable rainfall patterns. In this paper, we derive and propose an economic drought management index (EDMI) to evaluate water institutions’ performance to cope with drought risk. The EDMI is based on the optimal conditions of a stochastic dynamic optimisation problem that characterises reservoir management. The index's main advantages are its ease of interpretation and breadth of scope, as it incorporates information on hydrological processes, structural constraints, water institutions’ rules, and the economic benefits of water use. An empirical application is developed to assess the institutional rules governing water allocation in two different supply systems in Andalusia (southern Spain).     

中国木质家具出口贸易波动成因分析——基于CMS模型的国际比较

以加拿大、德国、意大利、马来西亚和美国5个国家作为对比国,利用1992～2006年的Comtrade数据,通过CMS模型比较分析了影响中国木制家具出口贸易变动的因素。结果表明:⑴影响中国木制家具出口贸易波动的因素主要来自际市场需求因素、出口的产品整体竞争力效应和出口商品结构变化3个方面;⑵中国木质家具国际竞争力处于稳步上升阶段,是6个木制家具出口国中增长最稳定的一个。     

Strike When the Force Is with You: Optimal Stopping with Application to Resource Equilibria

Optimal investment in a nonrenewable resource project occurs when the rate of increase of the project's forward value falls to the force of interest. This stopping rule yields a financial interpretation of resource quality as being a property of the project rather than of individual units of reserves. It also leads to re-interpretations of ( a ) rent as the present value of the project rather than of units of reserves and ( b ) Hotelling's insight as, not a rule for the path of rents, but an equilibrium algorithm for price. The analysis is extended to sequential development of pesticides, antibiotics, and forests.     

敦煌种业财务绩效评价研究

选择以农业上市公司敦煌种业为研究对象,以企业2014—2019年的报表数据为基础,采用功效系数法并以国务院国资委所编写的《企业绩效评价标准值》中国有企业绩效评价体系作为参考,构建对农业企业的财务指标评价体系,对敦煌种业2014-2019年企业财务指标的表现进行纵向分析,选择同行业中营业收入水平较高的北大荒进行横向对比,通过对比发现敦煌种业的问题主要体现在盈利能力和资产质量方面,对此提出了改进措施及建议。     

Expectations,supply response,and marketing boards: An example from Kenya

Whether farmers form price expectations adaptively or in a forward-looking manner has implications for supply response analysis and for the implementation of agricultural policy reform. This paper examines the formation of price expectations by Kenyan export-crop farmers who market their produce through a monopsonistic parastatal. The analysis allows for relaxation of the small-country assumption within a rational expectations framework. Production behavior is consistent with expectations of future prices based on indicators of aggregate supply and of the marketing board's purchasing capacity. The finding that price forecasts may be formed using information other than previous price levels implies that marketing reforms that raise prices may not raise the relevant price expectations. To elicit a positive supply response, market reforms should be sensitive to farmers' interpretation of institutional signals as well as previous prices.     

嵩山世界地质公园旅游开发与可持续发展

嵩山世界地质公园内地质旅游资源极具典型性、稀有性、自然性、系统性、完整性，是令人神往的旅游胜地；分析了目前嵩山地质旅游开发存在的问题，提出嵩山地质公园旅游开发应科学规划，突出地质旅游特色；完善地质公园解说系统；健全法律法规，加强地质旅游资源的保护；加大宣传力度，创建地质旅游营销网络体系以及理顺嵩山旅游管理体制等可持续发展对策。     

Agricultural Financial Analysis Expert Systems: Software Description

The Agricultural Financial Analysis Expert Systems (AFAES) include software to prepare: agricultural financial statements; analysis summaries and graphic presentations of the analysis; and expert systems that present a diagnostic analysis of the financial statement data. In addition, there is a lender data base management system (STANDARDS) to check borrower documentation, to compare borrower data to lender standards and to summarize data from the lender portfolio of borrowers. Using AFAES software helps organize financial data in a format following accounting procedures. The expert system provides a consistent diagnostic analysis of financial data useful to both producers and lender. AFAES is developed to interface with existing accounting and financial statement software or lender data bases. AFAES not only has been developed and verified in Texas but also its development has involved two national task forces, land-grant university professionals, software vendors, accountants, lenders and representatives of regulatory agencies. Experience gained through development and verification efforts indicate that expert systems technology will be a valuable tool to enhance knowledge delivery by agricultural economists. Economics and finance are areas where expertise is often limited, leading to inadequate use of data and analysis tools by producers, lenders and educators. Expert systems offer a significant delivery technology.