我国农村工业化的环境经济特性分析

本文从经济要素的形成角度分析了我国农村工业化过程中环境污染的导向型特征、循环和多重污染特征以及生态环境问题的“贫穷污染”性质和“环境不公平”的特点。     

保护环境的政府对策

环境问题是个世界性的问题,是人类生存的基本条件。在现实社会中,人类生存和产品的生产所面临的越来越紧迫的问题,正是环境问题。如水资源的污染、全球变暖、大气层上的臭氧层变薄、酸雨和地表臭氧增加(城市烟雾)等,使人类生存和社会经济发展面临着越来越大的危机。保护与治理环境的任务,历史地落到了政府的身上。政府保护与治理环境的手段主要有三种:一是开征污染税;二是政府管制;三是出售污染许可证。本文就是依据对这三个基本问题的探讨阐述基本的观点与看法。     

资本全球化与环境保护

文章分几个部分探讨资本全球化与环境保护的相互关系 :资本全球化的内容 ;资本全球化与环境保护的互动关系 ;国外直接投资对环境保护影响的正反面经济评估 ;国际银行资本流动对环境保护影响的正反面经济评估 ;证券资本对环境保护影响的正反面经济评估 ;保险资本流动对环境保护影响的正反面经济评估。     

Pollution Externalities in a Model of Endogenous Fertility and Growth

An endogenous growth model with human capital formation, pollution caused by production of consumption goods, and endogenous fertility decisions made by altruistic agents with infinite horizons is presented. Consequences for optimal policy of modelling fertility as an explicit decision variable are examined. Because ordinary lump-sum transfers to individuals are no longer neutral, either revenue from a pollution tax must be redistributed to dynasties (working as an implicit tax on child births), or lump-sum transfers must be supplemented with an explicit fertility tax. Alternatively, the government can avoid distortions of the fertility decisions by maintaining an appropriate public debt. When abatement is highly productive, it can be optimal to subsidize fertility in order to increase total production.     

Wetland mitigation banking: Negotiations with stakeholders in a zone of ecological-economic viability

Wetland mitigation banking (WMB) is an organizational form that attempts to balance the ecological goals of wetland conservation and the economic goals of development with the aim of improving the implementation of wetland offsetting. Given the resulting tension, it is important to understand how the way stakeholders employ the WMB regulatory framework affects the goal of No Net Loss of wetlands. In this study, we interviewed WMB stakeholders in Florida in the United States to identify their strategies during negotiations around different aspects of defining wetland mitigation credits (e.g. service areas, types of credit and credit release schedules). Using the approach of New Institutional Economics, we found that within a framework of well-defined rules that nonetheless allow flexibility, WMB enables a field of action for negotiating within a zone of ecological-economic viability – in part due to the stakeholders’ interest in maintaining a good reputation in this field. Outside of this zone of viability a wetland mitigation bank proposal collapses for economic or ecological reasons.     

Future themes in the operational environment of the Finnish cadastral system

The cadastral systems used in each country and region have developed through the centuries to their current form. We cannot assume that the current situation will remain the same from this point to the future. There are signs in recent studies and development projects throughout the world that those cadastral systems which are traditionally seen as well-functioning also need to be renewed as society changes at a rapid pace.This study is set up to analyze the future needs of a cadastral system and registers related to it in Finland. The objective of the study is to reveal future themes affecting the operational environment of the cadastral system by using research methods provided by futurology. The method used in this study is called environmental scanning and it consists of three phases: collecting events, recognizing phenomena and combining the phenomena as themes.The study analyses 352 literature sources and reveals 14 different future themes in the operational environment of the cadastral system, which are economic pressure, demographic changes, development of technology, transparent society, safety, environmental values, globalization, digitalization, know-how, quality, political change, soft values, public-private partnership and crowd sourcing. The future themes, their possible relations between each other and their significance for the cadastral system are analyzed by using the concepts of megatrends, trends, wild cards, driving forces and weak signals and reflecting the results to research made in the field of land management internationally.The results can be used when renewing a cadastral system, in order to consider possible future themes that may affect the system. Detecting and recognizing the future themes provides an opportunity to react and change the course of action in order to adapt to the future. The results are not only usable in the Finnish context, but can also be applied in other countries⿿ development of their cadastre and as part of environmental scanning.     

Contrasting the attitudes of farmers and the general public regarding the ‘multifunctional’ role of the agricultural sector

Using separate nationally representative surveys, this study compared the views and perspectives of farmers towards agricultural related conservation issues with that of the general public. Results suggest that both the general public and farmers expressed similar levels of concern regarding the environment as a whole. This is an encouraging sign when it comes to environmental protection, as it indicates a certain level of agreement between farmers as the group whose activities largely shape the quality of the rural environment, with the views of the general public who are the major consumers of landscape related environmental public goods. The analysis did, however, reveal important differences in attitudes in relation to certain environmental issues such as the relative importance of maintaining wildlife and habitats and having wild flora and fauna in the countryside. These activities could be seen as in conflict with farmers’ productivist attitudes. We found no significant difference in environmental attitudes between farmers who have participated in voluntary agri-environmental schemes and those who did not. Results also suggest that there is significant heterogeneity in public attitudes towards environmental issues. Specifically, age, income, place of residence and presence of children were all significantly associated with environmental preferences. The study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the different views and perspectives of farmers and the general public in formulating policy aimed at providing an optimal mix of agricultural related environmental public goods and services.     

Urban air pollution in China: destination image and risk perceptions

Inbound tourist arrivals into China have been declining in recent years, possibly in response to increasing levels of urban air pollution. To examine Westerners’ contemporary views on China as a travel destination, with a particular focus on air pollution, this research surveyed 600 US and Australian residents. An online panel survey collected data on cognitive and affective destination image, cognitive and affective risk perceptions, intention to visit China and key demographic variables. The findings show that, while China's cognitive image attributes were perceived positively, potential travellers expressed negative views about travel risks in China in general and about air quality in particular. Importantly, feelings towards the risk of air quality had a significant negative impact on destination image as well as intention to visit China. The research contributes to theory by highlighting the importance of considering affective risk perceptions in destination image studies. While some market segments seemed less sensitive to air pollution than others, this paper concludes that unless China proactively addresses the problem of air pollution, for example by seeking to stimulate positive feelings, international arrivals may continue to be compromised.     

Do constraints created by economic growth targets benefit sustainable development? Evidence from China

An economic growth target is a declaration by policy authorities of commitment to that target and the corresponding allocation of resources. The constraints created by economic growth target are an important economic management method in China, which has helped China's economy to achieve remarkable achievements. However, it has also brought about serious environmental problems, threatening China's sustainable development. Using the data about economic growth targets in the work reports of 30 Chinese provincial governments from 2006 to 2017, this paper constructs several spatial measurement methods, such as the spatial Durbin model, to examine the constraints created by economic growth target's impacts on air pollution. The main conclusions are as follows. First, a significant “U-shaped” relationship exists between the constraints created by economic growth targets and air pollution. Second, the spatial Durbin model analysis revealed that PM_2.5 across China's provinces display significant positive spatial spillover effects and spatial agglomeration characteristics. Third, the direct, indirect, and total effects of constraints created by economic growth targets on air pollution are all statistically significant and depict a “U shape.” Finally, the constraints created by economic growth targets have an apparent threshold effect on air pollution, and the inhibiting effects increase with human capital and industrial restructuring. However, with the increase in foreign direct investments, constraints created by economic growth targets may increase air pollution. The conclusions of this paper are of great significance for improving the management of local government economic growth targets and sustainable development.     

Opportunity cost of water allocation to afforestation rather than conservation of natural vegetation in China

Estimation of ecosystem service values is a hot area of research in ecological conservation and economics. However, the costs of these outputs are largely unknown. In this paper, we estimated the opportunity cost of water allocated to afforestation projects through mathematical modeling based on statistical data for all of China to provide support for restoration planning based on a fuller consideration of the true costs. To guide future ecological conservation and environmental policy development, we illustrate a neglected concept (ecosystem service costs) and use this concept to compare the ecological services provided by ecological restoration based on afforestation with those of restoration based on the conservation of natural vegetation using data obtained since 1949 in China. The results showed that afforestation and natural vegetation create annual costs related to use of the available water resources equal to 4800 and 3700 RMB ha⁻¹, respectively, representing a water opportunity cost of 1100 RMB ha⁻¹ for afforestation. This illustrates the rule that “there is no free lunch” for any service, including ecosystem services. Therefore, to support the development of more effective and sustainable environmental restoration policy, it will be necessary to evaluate the associated opportunity costs.