Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Accounting

In this paper, we develop atheoretically consistent framework to incorporate theenvironmental effects of agricultural production andthe depletion of natural capital caused byagricultural production into the existing incomeaccounts. We apply the framework and adjust theincome attributed to the agricultural sector andeconomy-wide net national product (NNP) for the UnitedStates. Estimated adjustments to the incomeattributed to agriculture are in the range of $4billion and have declined as a percentage of net farmincome since 1982.     

Products and Productivity*

When firms make decisions about which product to manufacture at a more disaggregated level than observed in the data, measured firm productivity reflects both characteristics of the firm and attributes of the products that are non‐randomly chosen by the firm. This paper develops a model of industry equilibrium in which firms endogenously sort across products and characterizes the resulting bias in measured firm and aggregate productivity. Calibrating the model's parameters, we show that endogenous product selection can have quantitatively important effects on measured firm and aggregate productivity and their response to changes in parameter values.     

自然资源与区域经济发展关系的理论之辩

我国工业化和城市化进程的不断加快,以及既成经济增长模式的转型困难,使得自然资源已成为支撑我国经济社会发展的必备要素,但纵观世界资源富集地区的发展可以发现,并非所有的资源富集地区都能因资源的开发利用而获得很好的发展,有些地区甚至出现了衰落。在此背景下,提出资源在促进区域经济发展上,存在着正负两方面的效应,并进一步提出资源与区域经济发展关系在理论上的三方面困惑,即资源的枯竭性、企业的逐利性与资源型地区长久发展之间的矛盾、资源型产业集聚所形成的"路径依赖"与产业结构优化升级需求之间的矛盾、政府在资源型地区发展中的角色矛盾,因此,只有有效的处理好这三方面的关系,才能更好地促进资源型地区的发展。     

略论新疆资源开发和生态环境保护问题

本文针对新疆自然生态系统和自然资源的特点及开发利用中存在的问题，提出了合理开发利用的途径。     

Vertical Specialization and International Business Cycle Synchronization*

We explore the impact of vertical specialization—trade in goods across multiple stages of production—on the relationship between trade and business cycle synchronization across countries. We develop an international business cycle model in which the degree of vertical specialization varies with trade barriers. With perfect competition, we show analytically that fluctuations in measured total factor productivity are not linked across countries through trade. In numerical simulations, we find little dependence of business cycle synchronization on trade intensity. An extension of the model to allow for imperfect competition has the potential to resolve these shortcomings.     

可持续发展视角下自然资源价格构成的进一步研究

自然资源是人类赖以生存和发展的重要物质基础和经济基础。在资源枯竭和环境污染日益严重的今天,必须重新认识自然资源的价格。文章从可持续发展的视角研究了自然资源的价格构成成分及其相互之间的关系,提出自然资源的价格由内部价值和外部性成本构成,内部价值包括天然价值和人工价值,外部性成本包括环境成本、生态成本和代际补偿成本。只有清楚认识自然资源的价格构成及其关系,才能为自然资源的定价提供客观科学的依据。     

Dynamic specification and misspecification in systems of demand equations: a testing strategy for model selection

The purpose of this study is to describe a misspecification testing strategy that is designed to ensure the appropriateness of the statistical assumptions underlying a system of equations. A systemwise test approach is used to test the statistical assumptions. The systemwise tests take into account information in, and interaction between, all equations in the system and can be used in a wide variety of applications where systems of equations are estimated. If the systemwise test leads to rejection, single equation F-test will then be used to help identify specific problems. The systemwise testing approach is illustrated by modelling Swedish consumer demand for milk. The example illustrates how the approach can be used to solve issues regarding dynamic specification of models, structural change and other forms of model misspecification.     

National Accounting with Natural and Other Types of Capital

We do double-entry national accounting and incorporate zero profit arbitrageconditions (Euler equations) for different types of capital, includingnatural capital. In non-balanced growth, capital gains terms for capitalgoods appear in the income side of the accounts. Depreciation terms appearon the product or expenditure side. We consider renewable natural capital aswell as non-renewable of both durable and non-durable types.     

Pricing and Management of Recreational Activities Which Use Natural Resources

This paper analyses the economic efficiency ofmanagement regimes for the recreational use of anatural resource. Management must determine the useand development of the natural resource. Thefirst-best policy uses price to offset theexternalities of crowding and deterioration. This iscontrasted with two second-best polices which do notuse pricing: unrestricted access and quotas. Acondition under which a relaxation of quota levelincreases efficiency is derived. Under iso-elasticfunctional forms quotas are less efficient thanunrestricted access.     

On the Dynamics of Recycling and Natural Resources

We study the dynamic impact of recycling through its effect on the production set of the economy and its relationship with natural resources. The contribution of renewable and recyclable resources for sustainability is studied. Although in the short run recycling may alleviate resource scarcity, in the long run it is not enough to compensate for the exhaustibility of non-renewable resources and the possibility of obtaining non-decreasing output paths crucially depends on the extent to which production rests on renewable resources. Furthermore, recycling interacts with natural resource growth, surprisingly not always favoring sustainability. The Production and Recycling Function is a generalization of the traditional production function, providing an integrated view of regular production and recycling and representing the production set of the economy when a recycling technology is available.     

Hiding in Plain Sight: A Note on Public Goods,Information Technology,and Productivity

This research note advances a conjecture that may help to explain the “paradox” of productivity and information technology (IT). Conventional measures of the economic output of the IT sector may substantially understate the actual value of IT because software is a public good, which is largely unpriced. I provide a simple exploratory calculation that lends plausibility to this explanation. I hope that this conjecture may inspire research by those with greater expertise in the evolution of software.     

论法学意境中的自然资源概念

自然资源的概念是自然资源物权法律制度的核心,也是构建自然资源物权法律制度的基石,更是研究自然资源物权法律制度的起点。如何科学构建法学意义上的自然资源,界定其内涵和外延成为首要解决的问题。在考察资源的原始字义和自然资源词义的演变的基础上,认为,法学意义上的自然资源是指在一定的社会经济条件下,存在于自然界或处于自然状态,可由权利主体直接支配或享有特定法益的、具有相对稀缺性的天然形成或生成之物的总称。     

山西自然生态旅游资源定量评价和区划研究

应用单纯矩阵和模糊数学相结合的方法,对山西自然生态旅游资源进行评价。结论:(1)山西自然生态旅游资源的国际吸引力不强,以国内和省内为主。(2)开发潜力水平不高。(3)相比于山西文物古建筑资源,自然旅游资源的评价不高,级别低。依据山西以文化为主的旅游资源优势现状,为促进文化旅游的发展将山西划为四个自然生态旅游区,并确立晋东南为中心,晋北和晋中为重点的空间格局。     

技术效率、技术进步与中国农业全要素生产率的提高——基于国际比较的实证分析

文章运用DEA方法测算了包括中国在内的20个人均土地资源较少的国家以及美国、澳大利亚和新西兰3个新大陆国家1961-2005年间的农业技术效率、技术进步及Malmquist生产率指数。实证结果显示:20世纪60年代以来,即使同样在人均土地资源较少的条件下,发达国家的农业全要素生产率的增长仍然快于发展中国家;在过去四十多年里,中国农业全要素生产率的提高同土地以及劳动等农业资源的配置效率有紧密关系,值得注意的是,中国农业土地要素存在过量投入的情况,这或许与中国土地制度没有完全市场化有直接关系。     

von Thünen: Capital,Production Functions,Marginal Productivity Wages,and the Natural Wage

This paper puts seminal contributions to theory of production functions and maximization of explicit quantitative objective functions by Johann Heinrich von Thünen into a systematic historical perspective. We show that his comprehensive ‘Tableau Economiques’ do imply two exact parametric production functions. Moreover, the renowned ‘geometric mean wage’ formula is restated as an exact CES marginal labor productivity wage for σ = 2. We review four alternative modes of normative (natural) wage calculations without an explicit production function, and conclude that von Thünen's natural wage differentiation formulas are bona fide alternatives for deriving the natural wage formula.     

中国西部地区人口、环境、资源与经济可持续发展对策

如何协调中国西部人口、资源、环境与经济发展的关系,缓解资源总供给与总需求的矛盾,以促进西部社会经济的可持续发展,已成为西部建立和谐社会的关键。文章根据西部人口与生态环境现实状况以及人口、环境、资源与经济协调发展的重要性,提出了西部地区人口、生态、资源与经济协调发展的主要对策。     

自然资源的价值表达及其在经济系统中的配置原则

本文根据可持续性概念，讨论了４个自然资源经济学问题：①从自然资源功能出发，讨论它的经济价值、环境价值和存在价值，以及总货币价值的表达；②根据自然资源的可获得量。保存量与可使用量之间的关系，讨论影响可使用王大小的各方面因素；③讨论了自然资源作为生产要素进入经济活动的条件，以及由此可能出现的“绝对禁入”和“相对禁入”的情况；④讨论了自然资源在经济系统中可持续优化配置的数学表达。     

桂东北丘陵山区自然资源开发产业机制与农业持续发展对策

本文在评价桂东北丘陵山区农业资源、环境、社会经济条件与农业发展潜力的基础上，分析了市场经济形势下影响农业持续发展的主要滞碍因素。提出了依靠科技进步与提高农民素质相结合，由“资源导向”向“市场导向”转变，立体开发，综合发展，通过择优投入培植拳头产品和支柱产业，延伸与完善产业链，强化综合投入等农业持续发展对策。     

低碳经济视角下浙江临港产业发展提升路径和策略

低碳经济发展模式是浙江产业结构优化和发展方式转变的战略取向,也是当前浙江临港产业提升的主流方向。浙江临港产业升级的关键在于充分利用其资源禀赋条件和比较优势,促使以高投入、高能耗、高排放和低技术为特征的传统制造业、贸易加工业和低端港航物流业,向高技术加工业和中高端港航现代服务业转变和延伸。     

Mind the Gap! International Comparisons of Productivity in Services and Goods Production

Abstract. In this paper, we make a comparison of industry output, inputs and productivity growth and levels between seven advanced economies (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States). Our industry-level growth accounts make use of input data on labour quantity (hours) and composition (schooling levels), and distinguish between six different types of capital assets (including three information and communication technology (ICT) assets). The comparisons of levels rely on industry-specific purchasing power parities (PPPs) for output and inputs, within a consistent input–output framework for the year 1997. Our results show that differences in productivity growth and levels can be mainly traced to market services, not to goods-producing industries. Part of the strong productivity growth in market services in Anglo-Saxon countries, such as in Australia and Canada, may be related to relatively low productivity levels compared with the United States. In contrast, services productivity levels in continental European countries were on par with the United States in 1997, but growth in Europe was much weaker since then. In terms of factor input use, the United States is very different from all other countries, mostly because of the more intensive use of ICT capital in the United States.