快速城镇化地区不同生计类型农户耕地利用集约度评价 ——以上海市青浦区为例

研究目的:针对快速城镇化地区农户生计分化现象,以上海市青浦区为例,对不同生计策略类型农户的耕地利用集约度进行评价,并分析其影响因素,以期为改善农户土地利用行为、实现土地资源合理高效利用与农户生计可持续发展提供政策参考。研究方法:运用价值形态测度方法核算各生计类型农户的耕地利用集约度,以两水平方差成分模型确定耕地利用集约度影响因素。研究结果:(1)不同生计策略类型农户耕地利用集约度存在差异性,大小顺序依次为专业农业型、传统农业型、农业兼业型、非农兼业型,劳动集约度与资本集约度排序与之基本一致;(2)同一生计策略类型农户的耕地利用集约度存在相似性,耕地利用集约度的总变异中有24.32%是由农户生计策略类型不同而引起的,水平一中农业收入比重、农业补贴、耕地面积、地块平均离家距离、农户离集镇距离与水平二中是否兼业等是影响农户耕地利用集约度的显著因素;(3)模型拟合效果评价表明该方法具有可行性。研究结论:耕地利用集约度不仅与农户自身禀赋有关,而且受生计类型影响,政府相关部门应结合当地实际情况引导农户对这两方面进行调整或完善。     

LIQUIDATION IN LIMIT ORDER BOOKS WITH CONTROLLED INTENSITY

We consider a framework for solving optimal liquidation problems in limit order books. In particular, order arrivals are modeled as a point process whose intensity depends on the liquidation price. We set up a stochastic control problem in which the goal is to maximize the expected revenue from liquidating the entire position held. We solve this optimal liquidation problem for power‐law and exponential‐decay order book models explicitly and discuss several extensions. We also consider the continuous selling (or fluid) limit when the trading units are ever smaller and the intensity is ever larger. This limit provides an analytical approximation to the value function and the optimal solution. Using techniques from viscosity solutions we show that the discrete state problem and its optimal solution converge to the corresponding quantities in the continuous selling limit uniformly on compacts.     

The role of inventories and capacity utilization as shock absorbers

We examine the role of inventories and capacity utilization (of both capital and labor) for the propagation of business cycle fluctuations. We document a new set of facts regarding the U.S. cyclical regularities of inventories and capacity utilization. First, we find that capital utilization and the flows of services from both capital and labor are procyclical, and comove with the holdings of inventories. Second, we find that labor utilization is procyclical as well, but is weakly negatively correlated with inventories. We build a model that accounts for these facts, and also accounts for the stylized inventory facts, i.e., inventory holdings are procyclical, while the inventory-to-sales ratio is countercyclical. The analysis is centered on the effects of two possible shocks: preference (demand) shocks and technology shocks. Our model shows that inventories and the rate of capital utilization are mostly complements, while inventories and the rate of labor utilization are mostly substitutes. It further shows that temporary demand shocks emphasize the role of inventories as being a “shock absorber,” whereas high-persistence demand shocks, as well as technology shocks of any persistence, emphasize the role of inventories as being a complement to consumption.     

Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views

With corporate disclosure of carbon emissions rapidly increasing, the long-standing question remains whether carbon disclosure has any influence on the improvement of carbon performance. Previous studies of environmental disclosure and performance have predominantly focused on whether disclosure is a substitute for poor performance. Little attention has been devoted to the more important question about how changes in disclosure may lead to subsequent changes in performance over time. Following the rationales taken by the legitimacy and management perspectives, we revisit the relationship between carbon disclosure and performance, with a focus on changes that disclosure may (or may not) create. Using a change analysis of Global 500 companies and their carbon emission and disclosure data released between 2008 and 2012, this study finds that the change in carbon disclosure levels is positively associated with a subsequent change in carbon performance (examined through direct and indirect carbon emission intensities). Thus, regardless of whether disclosure has been used as a legitimising tool for prior poor performance, this study confirms that carbon disclosure motivates companies and creates an ‘outside-in’ driven effect for subsequent change and improvement in carbon performance. However, the association between changes in carbon disclosure and performance is relatively weaker in high energy-intensive firms.     

山东省耕地利用集约度时空变化及政策启示

研究目的:通过分析1993-2014年山东省耕地利用集约度总体和各投入要素集约度的时空变化特征及影响因素,进而探讨耕地利用集约度与社会经济发展水平的协调程度,并提出相应政策措施,以提高山东省耕地集约利用水平,保障区域粮食安全。研究方法:能值分析、GIS空间分析、主成分分析。研究结果:(1)1993-2014年,山东省耕地利用集约度总体呈增长态势,而劳动集约度不断下降;资本集约度中,属于省工性投入的农业机械集约度呈现出显著的线性增长特征,属于增产性投入的化肥、农药和农膜集约度均呈先升后降的趋势。(2)全省耕地集约利用水平空间差异明显,总体上呈"东西高,南北低"的特点。(3)耕地利用集约度在一定程度上受社会经济发展水平的制约,两者存在着不协调现象。研究结论:1993-2014年,山东省耕地利用集约度不断上升的同时也存在明显的区域差异,不同区域应依据当地自然和社会经济条件,采取相应措施提高耕地集约利用水平。     

Changing land use intensity in Europe – Recent processes in selected case studies

In recent decades the intensification of agricultural production in many European countries has been one of the key components of land-use change. The impact of agricultural intensification varies according to national and local contexts and a greater understanding of the drivers of intensification will help to mitigate against its negative impacts and harness potential benefits. This paper analyses changes in land use intensity in six case studies in Europe. A total of 437 landowners were interviewed and their responses were analysed in relation to changes in land use intensity and agricultural production between 2001 and 2011. In the case studies in Western and Eastern Europe we observed stabilisation during the last decade, and no clear tendency of increase or decrease of land use intensity. The use of fertilizers and pesticides seems to have decreased in our cases in Western Europe, which is contrary to trends in Eastern Europe. Agricultural production remained stable in almost all cases, except for an increase in Austria and Romania which may indicate that the farming efficiency has increased. A statistical analysis showed a division between study areas in Romania and Austria (increasing land use intensity) versus those in the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece (decreasing). In the Mediterranean cases we observe a process where agriculture is becoming increasingly marginalised, at the same time as changes in function with regard to urbanisation and recreational land uses have taken place. Logistic regression highlighted the importance of farm size and farmer type in understanding changes in land use intensity. The dominant pattern of stabilisation which has occurred over the past 10 years may also partly be a result of effective EU and national environmental and agricultural policies, which are increasingly concerned with improving environmental conditions in rural areas.     

Total Factor Productivity and Energy Intensity: An Empirical Study of China’s Cement Industry

China is the largest cement producer and consumer in the world. The cement industry’s rapid growth has led to a large demand of energy. This study reviews China’s cement industry in terms of energy intensity and examines the effects of technological progress on energy intensity. It also discusses the feasibility of achieving China’s energy reduction targets. We employ the Granger causality test and find that the total factor productivity or technological progress causes the energy intensity of the cement industry. Impulse responses analysis also proves that in the long run the technological change contributes to the decline in energy intensity of cement production.     

From Financial Repression to External Distress: The Case of Venezuela

Recent work suggests a connection between domestic debt and external default. We examine potential linkages for Venezuela, where the evidence reveals a nexus among domestic debt, financial repression, and external vulnerability. The financial repression tax (as a share of GDP) is similar to OECD economies, in spite of higher debt ratios in the latter. The financial repression “tax rate” is higher in years of exchange controls and legislated interest rate ceilings. We document a link between domestic disequilibrium and a weakening of the net foreign asset position via private capital flight. We suggest these findings are not unique to Venezuela.     

Smallholder Farmers and Collective Action: What Determines the Intensity of Participation?

Collective action through farmer groups can be an important strategy for smallholders to remain competitive in rapidly changing markets. Previous research has analysed determinants of farmer participation in groups, equating participation with group membership. However, within groups the commitment of members can vary, as marginal benefits and costs are not the same for all individuals, and opportunities to free‐ride exist. Low participation in collective activities may reduce the ability of groups to provide useful services to its members. This article investigates determinants of member participation intensity, using the example of farmer groups in Kenya. The role of individual and group characteristics is analysed with survey data and regression models. Previous benefits that members received through the group positively influence their intensity of participation in group meetings and collective marketing, suggesting that reciprocity motives play a role. Low participation can mostly be attributed to structural and institutional conditions, such as group size and the timing of payments for collective product sales. More diversified farmers are less likely to sell collectively when group marketing activities only concentrate on one particular commodity. Since smallholders are often highly diversified, the focus of farmer groups should also be broadened. Further policy implications are discussed.     

Technology‐push,market‐demand and the missing safety‐pull: a case study of American Airlines Flight 587

Through a critical case study of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, this paper draws upon ‘the Social Shaping of Technology’ (SST) approach to offer a reconceptualisation of the technology‐push and market‐demand model for High‐Reliably Organisations (HROs), providing support for a third factor, called here a ‘safety‐pull’. A safety‐pull is defined as organisationally supported reflexivity in which technology innovators and frontline operators collaborate to consider the potential implications of adopting new technologies in HROs and the complex ways this change may impact human operators' work performance, often in risky and unanticipated ways. In contrast to accidents occurring solely as the result of individual operator error, analysing the safety‐pull provides a way to tease out the wide range of factors that can contribute to HRO failures and offers a new SST perspective through which to examine high‐risk operations.