Developing and applying a framework to evaluate participatory research for sustainability

The normative implications of participatory research imply ongoing social learning that ought to lead to personal and institutional transformation. Sustainability science also requires reflexive scientific practice in order to enable the co-generation of solutions that take account of uncertainty and multiple forms of knowledge. However, there is little published peer-reviewed material on how to assess to what degree the rhetoric regarding the benefits of participatory research are achieved in practice, particularly with regard to participatory research for sustainability. This paper outlines how linking the rationales for participatory research and for sustainability science to the principles of evaluation can deliver a conceptually coherent evaluation framework for assessment. The approach for evaluating participatory research in this context consists of framing the evaluation, i.e., setting boundaries on the subject within its social, political, environmental and institutional context and selecting appropriate criteria, methods and data sources. The application of the framework, using a summative evaluation of participatory research for sustainability in north-east Australia, illustrates its strengths and weaknesses, concluding with a consideration of its applicability to further participatory sustainability science.     

A resilience-based framework for evaluating adaptive co-management: Linking ecology, economics and society in a complex world

Adaptive co-management brings together collaborative and adaptive approaches in pursuit of sustainable resource use and social-ecological resilience. Enthusiasm for this management approach, however, is countered by recent critiques regarding outcomes. A lack of evidence from consistent evaluation of adaptive co-management further exacerbates this situation. This paper revisits the issue of evaluation in natural resource management and recasts it in light of complex adaptive systems thinking. An evaluative framework for adaptive co-management is developed which directs attention toward three broad components: ecosystem conditions, livelihood outcomes and process and institutional conditions. Scale-specific parameters are offered for each component to facilitate systematic learning from experience and encourage cross-site comparisons. Conclusions highlight the importance of systematically incorporating evaluation into the adaptive co-management process and recognize the challenge for resource agencies and researchers to shift from a conventional to a complex adaptive system perspective.     

The nature of the steady state in models of optimal growth under uncertainty

Summary. We study a one-sector stochastic optimal growth model with a representative agent. Utility is logarithmic and the production function is of the Cobb-Douglas form with capital exponent . Production is affected by a multiplicative shock taking one of two values with positive probabilities p and 1-p. It is well known that for this economy, optimal paths converge to a unique steady state, which is an invariant distribution. We are concerned with properties of this distribution. By using the theory of Iterated Function Systems, we are able to characterize such a distribution in terms of singularity versus absolute continuity as parameters and p change. We establish mutual singularity of the invariant distributions as p varies between 0 and 1 whenever . More delicate is the case . Singularity with respect to Lebesgue measure also appears for values such that . For and Peres and Solomyak (1998) have shown that the distribution is a.e. absolutely continuous. Characterization of the invariant distribution in the remaining cases is still an open question. The entire analysis is summarized through a bifurcation diagram, drawn in terms of pairs .Received: 9 April 2002, Revised: 29 October 2002, JEL Classification Numbers: C61, O41.Correspondence to: Tapan MitraThis research was partially supported by CNR (Italy) under the "Short-term mobility" program and by M.U.R.S.T. (Italy) National Group on "Nonlinear Dynamics and Stochastic Models in Economics and Finance" . We are indebted to Rabi Bhattacharya for providing us with the reference to Solomyak's (1995) paper. The present version has benefitted from comments by Mukul Majumdar and two anonymous referees.     

生态经济学基本问题研究

如何审视生态系统、环境系统与经济系统之间的相互关系,关系到对生态经济学基本问题的科学理解,关系到如何运用科学发展观建设和谐社会、实现经济社会持续发展。本文以此为前提,深入研究生态经济学的基本问题,对生态价值、环境价值、经济价值层次的升级,逻辑上的升华及其内在联系进行了探讨。     

经济全球化进程中城市群发展的制度创新

从我国城市群目前的发展现状来看,影响城市群发展的主要因素是制度障碍:城市群跨界需求与行政区分割的障碍、缺乏城市群一体化发展的协调政策、没有形成有效的空间管理机制。因此,制度创新应是发展我国城市群的关键所在,重点是在法律制度、空间规划和管理制度等方面的创新。     

论公允价值在非货币性交易中的适度应用

新企业会计准则实施后，公允价值的一些问题成为会计理论研究和关注的焦点问题之一。应着重分析在非货币性交易中，适度应用公允价值须掌握的计价基础判断标准、公允价值计量、公允价值核算等几个容易混淆的问题。所谓适度即准确把握公允价值的判断标准、计价基础、计量核算方法，以避免公允价值成为利润操纵工具。     

学院制改革:校院系学术权力的重新配置

在经过一系列改革后,我国高校拥有越来越多的办学自主权,但高校内部管理基本上仍然是上令下行的行政管理方式。学院制改革正是要改变这种管理方式,将学术权力进行下放。这种"放权"主要是将学术权力在校院系三个层级进行重新分配,使得学术权力配置更有效率。因此,学院制改革其实也是我国高校自主办学改革的延续和深化。     

基于认知视角的创业机会发展过程研究

理性创业时代背景下，如何把握创业机会已成为创业者普遍关心的问题。选取34位创业者作为研究样本，运用文本挖掘和多案例匹配分析方法对创业机会发展过程进行分析、编码，探究创业行为背后的认知机制。研究发现，在机会发现或创造阶段，创业者通过反事实思维推动的创业警觉和创业拼凑两种途径形成创意，并经过新旧认知体系的排斥与趋同形成心智模型，以揭示创业机会发现或创造的认知机制；在机会评估阶段，创业者通过对风险—收益感觉与知觉的多轮反复交互，形成第一人称机会信念和第三人称机会评估，由此揭示创业机会评估的认知机制；在机会开发阶段，创业者形成机会开发内外两种机制，外在机制围绕“探索导向—商业模式创新—新企业成长”展开，内在机制围绕换位思考、效果推理等认知因素推动企业创新、资源获取展开。结论对丰富创业认知理论和管理实践具有重要意义。     

徐州市生态经济系统的能值分析

本文应用能值理论．对徐州地区生态经济系统进行了分析．主要涉及能值投入率、能值使用强度（能值密度）、人均能值使用量、人口承载力、电力能值使用量比、能值一货币比、环境负荷率、净能值产出率、可持续发展指数等9个指标及其发展趋势，并与其他国家和地区的有关指标进行了比较研究。结论表明，徐州市是资源输出型的生态经济区域，经济发展仍处于欠发达阶段．还有较大的经济发展潜力。     

我国开放式基金投资风格评价方法研究

基金业绩评价与其投资风格是密切相关的，投资者通过对基金投资风格的研究分类。可以选择适合于自己投资偏好的基金进行投资。本文在对开放式基金进行分类研究的基础上。抓住不同类型基金之间的主要差别，提出了两种新的基金风格评价指标。同时在我国现有的开放式基金中，选取15支样本进行了实证分析和检验，实证结果表明，我国开放式基金的投资风格趋于相同，投资者对于基金宣称的择时能力不可轻信。应该结合投资风格分析进行决策。