Economic policy uncertainty and analysts’ forecast characteristics

We examine the influence of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the characteristics of analysts’ earnings forecasts over a thirty-year period, spanning a wide variety of political and economic conditions. Motivated by both theory and empirical evidence that suggest a decline in the quality of the information environment for firms as EPU increases, we establish that analysts’ forecast errors increase with EPU, as does the degree of forecast dispersion. Increased error and dispersion persist after controlling for several competing sources of economy-wide uncertainty. Cross sectional analysis exploring heterogeneity in forecast quality across both analyst and firm characteristics establishes that forecast error and dispersion increase with EPU across a broad spectrum of firms and levels of analyst expertise. We control for analysts’ experience overall and the years spent covering a particular industry and firm. Five alternative methods for classifying firms as policy sensitive versus policy neutral provide consistent evidence that analyst forecast errors and dispersion increase with EPU, even for firms not deemed to be particularly sensitive to policy.     

Bogotá's Left Turn: Counter-Neoliberalization in Colombia

For the political left, decentralization has increased both the appeal and the importance of governing the city, and yet sharp constraints limit the left's transformative potential when it controls that level of government alone. Bogotá is an important case in point under the recent mayoral administration of Gustavo Petro (2012–15), a demobilized guerrilla leader who sought to implement a series of urban policy reforms that together represent one of the most substantively radical and intellectually coherent attempts to challenge neoliberalism in all of Latin America. Focusing on the four policy arenas through which Petro hoped to transform the city (environment, housing, transport, and trash collection), the article documents the veto power of the firms whose privileges he threatened, as well as the tools through which they derailed reform. In contrast to the failure of his political economy agenda, Petro was indeed able to enact a number of progressive social policy reforms precisely because they did not threaten the profitability of the city's entrenched growth machine.     

Going green,going clean: Lean‐green sustainability strategy and firm growth

Despite the widespread recognition of the paybacks of “going green” and “going clean,” limited research has focused on the impact of lean‐green strategy on firm growth. In this study, we contribute to strategy and environmental sustainability literatures by investigating the possibility that the influence on lean‐green strategy and firm growth is driven by different levels of industry competition, managerial power, and family ties. Using panel data from 732 firms in four major industrialized economies (the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom), we found that lean‐green strategy positively relates to firm growth and this relationship is amplified at higher levels of competition, managerial power, and family ties. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed.     

The intellectual structure of the journal Business Strategy and the Environment: A 25‐year author cocitation analysis

This article presents the intellectual structure and 25‐year author cocitation analysis of the journal Business Strategy and the Environment. The findings show that Business Strategy and the Environment is an emerging, well‐established journal in its field. The journal needs a core set of authors who are actively engaged in the production and certification of knowledge; further, it consists of a number of loosely linked research team contributors, each with its own areas of interest. The existence of these research teams is a sign of strength that characterizes the journal as it strives to foster a community of unified scholars whose published works advance our understanding of business strategic decisions and behavior with regard to the natural environment. This study is useful for contributors, readers, and editorial board members who form the journal's community of knowledge creation and certification.     

京津冀城市大气环境竞争力评价

从大气环境与城市竞争力的关联性入手,将大气环境风险、现状和治理纳入评价指标体系,基于组合权重的大气环境竞争力评价模型,对2013-2017年京津冀13个城市的大气环境竞争力水平进行了测评,并结合空间自相关分析和障碍度模型揭示了其空间效应及障碍因素。结果显示:京津冀城市大气环境竞争力存在明显的空间差异,呈"北部高、南部低、局部跳跃"格局,城市差距逐渐缩小;京津冀城市大气环境竞争力呈显著的空间集聚效应且存在正向相关性,空间分布格局相对稳定。     

互文性理论视角下大学英语写作教学方法探析

互文性理论认为每个语篇都是对其他语篇的吸收和转化，语篇不是孤立的，总是存在于语篇网络中。互文性是西方结构主义和后现代主义文化思潮中产生的文本理论，但是目前对于互文性理论的研究多以文学批评理论的研究和文学作品研究为主，作为教学策略应用于英语教学的研究则为数不多。本文通过探讨互文性理论指导下大学英语写作教学的实践意义及目前大学英语写作教学存在的问题，提出了笔者在教学实践中所积累的几点写作教学法，以期为大学英语写作教学模式提供新的思路。     

中美两国地方政府治理的行政生态环境比较分析

行政生态环境与地方政府治理具体行为选择存在交互影响。中美两国地方政府治理存在典型性的行政生态环境差异。从两国政党与国家渊源上来分析,政党原则及其在国家政治生活中的地位与作用的差异影响着两国地方政府的治理方针选择;从两国的经济发展与基本国情来分析,社会生产力与经济实力的差距影响着两国地方政府所追求的治理需要;从两国社会结构特点与民族来源来分析,差序格局与个人主义、民族融合与种族主义影响着两国地方政府的治理结构与治理标准;从两国教育文化水平与舆情环境来分析,教育体系以及现代信息科技影响着两国地方政府治理工具的选择以及对于治理主体与治理行为的监督力度。     

长三角海湾河口水环境管理体制存在的问题及对策

分析了我国长三角地区的杭州湾、长江口两个典型海域的污染问题,认为现阶段长三角海湾河口水环境还存在多头管理且缺乏综合协调的管理机构、执法部门间的利益博弈加剧、基层政府海洋水环境管理组织薄弱等问题,这些问题存在的原因来自于管理体制的分散性、法规职责界定的模糊性和利益因素的驱动性三个方面。改善长三角海湾河口水环境的对策是组建长三角海湾河口水环境管理委员会、江、浙、沪各自组建水环境管理领导小组、建立健全水环境联合执法监督机制、建立区域水环境保护行政领导责任制。     

农户对农业生态环境退化认知的实证分析——基于安徽省402个农户的调查数据

利用安徽省7个县402个农户的调研数据,基于Logit模型实证分析了农户对农业生态环境退化问题的认知。实证结果表明:户主文化程度、环保意识、培训及农业信息的获取显著促进农户对农业生态环境退化问题的认知,但年龄则呈负向作用。因此,提高户主的文化程度,加强宣传以提高农户环境保护意识、拓展农户信息获取的渠道、建立健全可持续农业生产技术培训与推广机制等对提升农户对农业生态环境退化问题的认知、促进农村经济可持续发展具有基础性的作用。     

旅游影响研究进展

旅游影响包括旅游的经济、环境和社会影响。对它的研究于20世纪印年代始于英语国家，并逐渐成为旅游研究中一个非常重要的领域。本文在对所能获得的有代表性的国外(主要是英文资料)和国内有关其研究的论著进行分析的基础上，对国内外旅游经济、环境和社会影响的研究进行了简要的回顾和评述。