Varieties of paternalism and the heterogeneity of utility structures

A principal source of interest in behavioral economics has been its advertised contributions to policies aimed at ‘nudging’ people away from allegedly natural but self-defeating behavior toward patterns of response thought more likely to improve their welfare. This has occasioned controversies among economists and philosophers around the normative limits of paternalism, especially by technical policy advisors. One recent suggestion has been that ‘boosting,’ in which interventions aim to enhance people’s general cognitive skills and representational repertoires instead of manipulating their choice environments behind their backs, avoids the main normative challenges. A limitation in most of this literature is that it has focused on relatively sweeping policy recommendations and consequently on strong polar alternatives of general paternalism and strict laissez faire. We review a real instance, drawn from a consulting project we conducted for an investment bank, of a proposed intervention that is more typical of the kind that economists are more often actually called upon to offer. In this example, the sophistication of current tools for preference attribution, combined with philosophical externalism about the semantics of preferences that makes it less plausible to attribute their literal self-conscious representation to people as propositional attitude content becomes more tightly refined, blocks applicability of the distinction between nudging and boosting. This seems to call for irreducible, context-specific ethical judgment in assessing the appropriateness of the forms of paternalism that economists must actually wrestle with in going about their everyday business.     

基于价值流图析的生产线连续流创建

针对M企业A生产线在制品积压、交付周期长等问题，通过现状价值流图分析其原因，提出在考虑改善效益大于投入成本的条件下，选择合适的自动化水平，以克服物料供应不及时、工艺特性等制约因素。从工艺流程、布局、工装等方面进行改善并绘制未来价值流图，创建生产线连续流。生产线连续流创建后，生产周期缩短了13天、搬运距离减少41m、车间面积节省约168m2、作业人数减少6人，为企业降本增效打下了坚实基础。     

The Impact of Public Expenditure and International Trade on Agricultural Productivity in China

The “industry nurturing agriculture” reforms and World Trade Organization accession led to dramatic growth in public expenditure and international trade in China’s agricultural sector. This article aims to estimate the effects of public expenditure and trade on agricultural productivity in China for 2004–2015. A semi-parametric production function with shape constraints is introduced to derive more accurate productivity before the productivity determinants are analyzed with an emphasis on public expenditure and trade. The empirical result shows that public expenditure and exports can effectively improve agricultural productivity, while imports have no significant effects. Policy implications are discussed in the context of supply-side reforms.     

基于循环经济的绍兴休闲观光农业发展研究

［目的］休闲观光农业建设是绍兴市产业转型升级的关键一步，探寻休闲观光农业新模式，能够为休闲农业发展提供理论参考。［方法］文章采用变异系数法确定指标权重，多因素综合分析法测算观光农业发展水平，从循环经济角度出发，评价2001—2016年绍兴市休闲观光农业发展可持续性，提出发展中存在的问题并探索循环型的休闲观光农业新模式。［结果］（1）2001—2016年以来，经济发展可持续性得分较高，资源环境可持续得分次之，循环经济可持续发展偏低。（2）现阶段绍兴市休闲观光农业发展主要存在休闲观光农业自然环境不断遭到破坏，休闲观光农业缺乏整体规划，休闲观光农业旅游支撑体系不够健全等问题。（3）未来发展中，循环经济发展下的休闲观光农业可以开发建设时空复合循环型、资源综合利用循环型、能量多级利用循环型、综合开发利用循环型等4种模式。［结论］未来绍兴市应将循环经济的理念融入到休闲观光农业中，因地制宜，科学选择循环型休闲观光农业发展模式； 规划先行，科学利用农业旅游资源； 强化保障，建立休闲观光农业支撑体系，全面推动休闲观光农业健康持续发展。     

制度差异、“一带一路”倡议与中国大型对外投资——基于投资边际、模式与成败的三重视角

本文基于2005—2016年中国609个企业2 440个大型对外投资微观样本，全面考察正式与非正式制度差异对企业投资边际、模式与成败的影响。研究发现：正式制度差异对投资规模化的影响不大，但显著影响投资多元化。企业为了避免正式制度差异带来的管理风险，倾向于选择全资股权结构，但企业选择绿地投资还是跨国并购并不受到正式制度差异的影响。相比之下，非正式制度差异的影响更为广泛。无论是正式制度差异还是非正式制度差异，均会显著增加企业投资的失败概率。进一步研究发现，“一带一路”倡议主要对正式制度差异存在优化互补效应。研究结论表明，夯实“一带一路”倡议，尤其大力发展与沿线国家的文化深度交流，有助于企业更快、更好地走出去。     

我国丘陵山区农机化水平影响因素及区划研究*——基于全国丘陵山区238个县（市）的调研数据

[目的]通过对全国丘陵山区县(市)与农机化有关的社会、经济和自然条件等因素进行调研所获取的238个有效样本进行分析,研究影响我国丘陵山区农机化水平的因素及其贡献,进而对我国丘陵山区进行区域划分。[方法]运用线性回归法对影响丘陵山区农机化水平的影响因素进行分析,进而对农机化水平产生显著影响的因素进行聚类分析。[结果]国内生产总值、农业劳动力数量对农机化水平产生极显著影响,耕地禀赋条件、务工工资、耕地规模、农机合作社数量和农机推广人员数量对农机化水平产生显著影响。对我国丘陵山区农机化水平呈正相关关系的因素有国内生产总值、务工工资、耕地规模、农机合作社数量,呈负相关的因素有耕地禀赋条件、农业劳动力数量、农机推广人员数量和农机化水平。[结论]我国可丘陵山区划分为中西、东南部地区,北部地区和东部沿海地区3大类地区。     

金砖国家新开发银行环境和社会安全保障政策的创新性分析

为改善借款方的长期整体发展效果,金砖国家新开发银行对其环境和社会安全保障政策框架进行了大胆创新,着力推进借款方"本国体系"的使用和建设。传统多边开发银行的环境和社会安全保障政策往往采取施加于所有借款方国家法律之上"一刀切"的方式,但难以取得理想的发展效果,其主要原因有:无法影响非多边开发银行资助项目;条件过于僵化,导致部分借款方转而求助于其他融资选项;给借款方造成沉重的时间和费用负担。"本国体系"有效克服了上述难题,但也存在相应挑战。为应对挑战,未来金砖国家新开发银行推进借款国"本国体系"的努力方向是:为本国体系预设一个最低标准;逐步有序而非一步到位地推进本国体系;切实加大对借款方的技术援助。     

新时代耕地占补平衡的逻辑根源、模式探索与管理创新——基于“新时代耕地占补平衡方式改进与管理创新研讨会”的思考

研究目的:对耕地占补平衡的发展阶段与政策绩效、存在问题与逻辑根源进行分析,对改进方式进行探讨,进而提出管理创新建议,为新时代耕地占补平衡政策实施提供科学依据,为促进城乡融合、扶贫攻坚和乡村振兴提供参考。研究方法:综合分析与系统推理。研究结果:(1)耕地占补平衡存在实质性不平衡、时空性不平衡、政策性弱化等微观、中观及宏观层面问题;(2)在数量方面,通过盘活宅基地增量、存量和完善易地调剂方式,统筹城乡和区域平衡来实现数量占补平衡。(3)在质量方面,通过优化建设用地约束指标、完善耕地质量评价、规范耕作层保护与再利用等促进耕地质量占补平衡。(4)在生态方面,通过完善指标调剂的价格内涵、扩大耕地补偿标准范围、转变耕地补充途径等实现耕地生态占补平衡。研究结论:建议做好顶层设计,抓好规划引领,构建耕地占补平衡与城乡要素流动的平衡机制,建立耕地占补平衡后续生态管护长效机制,提升软硬实力等。     

地方技能型高水平大学视角下的校内实训室建设与管理--以六安职业技术学院旅游管理实训中心为例

以六安职业技术学院旅游管理实训中心为例，探讨在建设地方技能型高水平大学的过程中，如何来建设与管理校内实训室。     

Transboundary pollution externalities: Think globally,act locally?

We analyze the implications of transboundary pollution externalities on environmental policymaking in a spatial setting, in which pollution diffuses across the global spatial economy independently of the specific location in which it is originally generated. This framework gives rise to a simple regional optimal pollution control problem allowing us to compare the global and local solutions in which, respectively, the transboundary externality is and is not taken into account in the determination of the optimal policy by individual local policymakers. We show that it is not obvious that transboundary externalities are a source of inefficiency per se since this is strictly related to the spatial features of the initial distribution of pollution. If the initial pollution distribution is spatially homogeneous then the local and global solutions will coincide and thus no efficiency loss will arise from transboundary externalities, but if it is spatially heterogeneous the local solution will be suboptimal and thus a global approach to environmental problems will be needed to achieve efficiency. From a normative perspective, in this latter (and most realistic) case we also quantify the amount of policy intervention needed at local level in order to achieve the globally desirable goal of pollution eradication in the long run. Our conclusions hold true in a number of different settings, including situations in which the spatial domain is either bounded or unbounded, and situations in which macroeconomic–environmental feedback effects are taken into account.