Property rights and the public trust doctrine in environmental protection and natural resource conservation*

We examine the implications of the public trust doctrine in natural resource protection and conservation. A model of litigation and settlement among disputing parties suggests that the public trust doctrine introduces more costs and is more time consuming than would be the case with alternative approaches, such as the purchase of private rights through market transactions or application of eminent domain powers to reallocate the resource. Because the doctrine allows for uncompensated redistribution, it is resisted by current resource owners. Furthermore, by providing open standing to members of the public in challenging existing uses, public trust disputes encourage excessive demands, increasing the incidence of trial over settlement. This outcome is exacerbated if the plaintiffs derive utility from the ‘cause’ and provide litigation services at below‐market rates, leading to greater investment in litigation. The costs of the public trust doctrine appear to have limited its application beyond the level anticipated by proponents. We present a case study of Mono Lake, part of the well‐known 1983 litigation, National Audubon v. Superior Court to illustrate our arguments.     

中国天然气海外资源获取的风险分析

根据常规天然气的地理分布。非常规天然气分布以及国际天然气贸易流向,优选出26个天然气资源供给国,建立天然气获取风险评价指标体系进行定量分析。获取海外天然气资源的风险划分为三个等级：第一等级,风险指数为1-2,表示可以积极获取这些国家的天然气资源,第二等级,风险指数为2-3,表示可以获取这些国家的天然气资源,但风险较大,获取前需谨慎考虑;第三等级,风险指数为3以上,风险最高。我国天然气资源海外投资要加强对世界能源资源领域的参与和介入;应实施周边目标国优先战略;尽快完善海外天然气投资保险制度,尝试通过建立天然气勘探开发专项基金对风险项目提供资助或者低息贷款。     

中国农户在农地流转市场上能否如愿以偿?——流转市场的交易成本考察

农地流转是实现规模经营的重要途径,尽管中国农地流转市场发展迅速,但农户在流转市场上能否转入自己想要转入数量的土地尚无人关注。本文利用全国6省1200户2000年和2008年追踪调查数据实证分析农户的流转意愿多大程度上可以在流转市场上得以实现,进而考察流转市场交易成本的存在性、对称性和动态性。研究表明,中国农地流转市场存在明显的交易成本,因此流转市场是不完善的。具体结论:第一,流转市场存在明显进入门槛,进入市场后农户也无法实现完全调整,转入户2000年和2008年分别能实现调整意愿的24%和37%,高于转出户的19%和18%;第二,流转市场的交易成本存在非对称性,转入户比转出户面临的交易门槛高,但进入市场后转入户调整意愿实现程度高于转出户;第三,从2000年到2008年,流转市场的交易门槛显著降低了,但进入市场后调整意愿实现程度并没有显著提高;第四,农资设备和劳动力等要素市场的不完善程度更严重,因此农地流转市场发挥了将土地这种"不能移动"的要素移动起来以迎合那些"本该移动"的要素功能,提高了资源配置效率。政府应进一步提高农地产权稳定性,降低流转市场交易成本,加快农业生产社会化服务业发展,完善农村劳动力市场。     

世界天然气资源状况及贸易格局分析

世界天然气资源的资源量、生产量、消费量、贸易量都在稳步增长。价格也随石油价格的暴涨而上涨。天然气作为石油替代能源,在能源资源中的地位越来越重要。世界天然气资源主要集中在中东、俄罗斯等少数国家和地区,由于各种原因,其贸易尚未形成一个有效的全球市场,不安定因素依然存在。如价格波动、资源争夺和垄断、价格上涨等都会对天然气工业和贸易的正常发展带来一定的负面影响。     

Alternatives to local content requirements in resource-rich countries

This paper discusses whether and to what extent resource-rich developing countries should introduce local content policies, i.e. requirements to include local inputs in petroleum extraction activities of multinational corporations. We argue that local content needs to be seen as a public expenditure question, since local content requirements increase multinational costs, and hence reduce the taxes which can be extracted from these companies. This implies that there are opportunity costs in imposing local content requirements, since the forgone taxes can be used in others ways which could potentially do more to improve development prospects. Moreover, past experiences of resource-rich developing countries suggest that local content policies can exacerbate key problems of patronage and rent-seeking which resource rents generate, increasing the chance that the resource wealth will prevent rather than help development. These arguments suggest that an optimal local content policy in the context of flawed institutions is a more limited one than those typically pursued by developing countries with recently discovered petroleum reserves. Using qualitative data from Tanzania, a country with recent discoveries of substantial natural gas deposits, we analyze why local content tends to become such a central issue in debates and policy processes, despite its potentially problematic aspects.     

中国木质林产品的出口二元边际及影响因素分析

利用联合国商品贸易数据库HS六分位编码,对1996~2014年间中国木质林产品出口的二元边际情况进行分析的结果表明:中国对美国、日本、中国香港、英国等主要贸易伙伴的出口增长来自于集约边际和扩展边际的共同作用。对二元边际的相关影响因素进行实证分析的结果表明:目的地市场规模对集约边际呈正相关关系,但对扩展边际呈现负相关关系;可变贸易成本对二元边际呈现负相关关系;多边阻力对二元边际呈现正相关关系;劳动生产率对二元边际呈现正相关关系;经济危机对集约边际几乎不构成影响,但对扩展边际有明显冲击。基于此,提出调整出口市场结构,发挥扩展边际作用;加快自由贸易进程,逐步减少贸易阻力;加大科研资本投入,提升劳动生产效率等建议。     

基于四个平衡原则的天然气定价

天然气是一种清洁、高效、不可再生资源能源和化工原料,其价格形成机制对天然气工业以及经济社会的发展至关重要。目前我国天然气价格形成机制存在着突出问题,不能满足经济社会发展的要求。以系统的观点,从四个平衡的视角论述了中国天然气的价格模型建构问题,最后给出天然气价格的科学合理的计算公式。     

Precaution: principles and practice in Australian environmental and natural resource management*

Since the late 1980s, the concept of precaution has been incorporated into numerous international agreements and laws, as well as in domestic statutes and policies in many countries. This paper examines the international emergence of the concept and its application in Australia. Despite rapid growth in adoption of the so‐called ‘precautionary principle’, the concept remains highly controversial, and its success in terms of improving environmental and natural resource management has been questioned. A common misconception is that the principle prescribes action. In fact, internationally accepted definitions are about decision‐making processes. This paper argues that implementation guidelines are essential to ensure that precautionary decision‐making is consistent with good decision‐making principles, and to avoid unnecessary costs and perverse outcomes.     

自然资本核算方法研究——基于国家公园的视角

选取全球在国家公园建设方面比较具有代表性的5个国家--美国、巴西、英国、澳大利亚和南非,以及中国十大国家公园体制试点,对比分析其国家公园建设现状与自然资本存量与流量特征,并以我国三江源国家公园为研究案例,基于存量与流量视角,对其进行自然资本实物核算与货币核算。研究认为,对我国国家公园进行有效自然资本核算十分必要且意义重大,并为我国国家公园自然资本核算提出了确定自然资本核算范围;明确自然资本核算顺序,完善核算体系;注重自然资本投资等建议。     

Assessing the effectiveness of rural credit policy on the adoption of integrated crop-livestock systems in Brazil

This study analyzes the effectiveness of rural credit policy to increase the adoption of ICLS. Analyzes are based on a survey with 175 farmers in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Our estimates suggest that rural credit has positive and relevant impacts on the adoption of ICLS. In turn, the adoption of these systems may also involve investments in fixed capital and increases in operational costs, which create additional demand for rural credit. Other factors, such as access to extension policy, production scale, ex-ante perceptions, and market infrastructure also explain ICLS adoption. The access to rural credit policy is also determined by dependence on farm income, farmer’s perception of transaction costs, and supply of credit in the municipality. The study finally discusses important implications for the devising of rural credit policies and the diffusion of sustainable production systems in developing countries.     

Spatial price efficiency in Mozambique's post-reform maize markets

Maize (Zea mays) shortages and maize price instability continue to occur in Mozambique in spite of policy reforms and great capacity for increased production in northern Mozambique. This study measured the efficiency of spatial maize price arbitrage in Mozambique's post‐reform period. Spatial price inefficiency does not seem to explain why food shortages continue to occur in Mozambique, suggesting nonprice market constraints such as poor infrastructure and poor market institutions as more likely explanations. Baulch's spatial efficiency test indicated that it is not profitable to ship maize from northern surplus maize regions to southern Mozambique. Records of interregional maize shipments show that indeed grain is not being shipped from the north to the south. Market liberalization may have improved spatial price efficiency, but high transfer costs still limit trade and potential benefits from freeing markets. Under these circumstances, food shortages and price instability are likely to continue.     

GM crop technology and trade restraints: economic implications for Australia and New Zealand*

How much might the potential economic benefit from enhanced farm productivity associated with crop biotechnology adoption by Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) be offset by a loss of market access abroad for crops that may contain genetically modified (GM) organisms? This paper uses the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model to estimate effects of other countries' GM policies without and with ANZ farmers adopting GM varieties of various grains and oilseeds. The gross economic benefits to ANZ from adopting GM crops under a variety of scenarios could be positive even if the strict controls on imports from GM‐adopting countries by the European Union are maintained, but not if North‐East Asia also applied such trade restaints. From those gross economic effects would need to be subtracted society's evaluation of any new food safety concerns and negative environmental externalities (net of any new environmental and occupational health benefits), as well as any extra costs of segregation, identity preservation and consumer search.     

中国海洋石油和天然气产业发展战略研究

随着中国经济的快速发展,能源的需求量持续增加,能源问题变得越来越严重。我国海岸带和浅海大陆架蕴藏着丰富的石油和天然气资源,海洋石油和天然气是中国未来能源的希望。通过对海洋石油和天然气产业发展条件、产品市场需求进行分析,并对海洋石油和天然气产业的现状与问题进行分析,进而对海洋石油和天然气产业进行总体发展战略探讨,提出中国发展海洋石油和天然气的具体对策和措施。     

澳大利亚常规油气行业现状及行业特点分析——高收益行业的高风险挑战

澳大利亚常规油气行业中天然气在资源储量、供需、进出口方面呈现乐观的开发前景,而石油行业则一直呈下滑趋势。澳大利亚油气行业的优势和机遇：油气资源储量丰富且地理位置优越;现任政府支持能源行业发展;行业成熟且享有巨额利润空间;优质的投资环境。劣势和挑战：石油产业对外依存度越来越高;基础设施缺失影响东海岸油气供给;多项外部影响压榨利润空间;美国廉价天然气长期来讲将对市场形成冲击。投资策略：（1）分析价格走势、关注汇率利息;（2）把握亚太市场、提前锁定长协;（3）好社区工作、取得环境审批;（4）利用规模效益、严格控制成本。     

Raising offtake from cattle grazed on natural rangelands in sub-Saharan Africa: a transaction cost economics approach

Farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa are constrained by large transaction costs associated with marketing of their livestock. However, transaction costs are often not taken into account in the analysis of factors hampering the development of livestock marketing in this region. This article empirically measures the influence of transaction costs on the offtake from cattle grazed on natural rangelands in Uganda. The study is based on the monitoring of 696 cattle transactions in three districts of Uganda from August 2004 to August 2005. The estimated models suggest that proportional transaction costs represented by the state of roads, distance to markets, and time taken to reach the market are important variables constraining market participation. In order to raise offtake from the national herd, it is essential to explicitly address these costs. One potential solution is collective action in marketing of livestock in which proportional and fixed transaction costs are reduced and shared among the group members.     

国家公园自然资本核算方法研究

在联合国千年生态系统服务评估框架的基础上,根据我国国家公园的地理位置和资源优势,设计了国家公园自然资本核算框架,以自然资源资产和生态系统服务为两大核算对象,基于已有数据,对我国国家公园体制试点自然资本进行了价值量核算。核算结果表明:在自然资源资产中,草地和森林覆盖面积普遍较高,且价值量较高;在生态系统服务中,调节服务价值量普遍偏高。研究认为,相关部门应提高人们保护草地和森林自然资源的意识,形成并强化生态环境与社会经济和谐发展的观念,最终促进我国国家公园草地、森林自然资源的健康发展。     

Towards Agricultural Policy 3.0 – an agenda for agricultural research

This article reviews the development from market‐based support measures (‘Agricultural Policy 1.0’) towards direct and decoupled payments (‘Agricultural Policy 2.0’) which are increasingly justified by environmentally friendly practices (‘Agricultural Policy 2.1’) to which payments are bound. It describes frequent problems connected with today's agri‐environmental programmes, particularly non‐compliance and a too indirect link between practices paid for and environmental effects. Other programmes have started to pay farmers more directly for environmental outputs on their fields, such as the number of valuable plants on their grassland. Transaction costs for the administration and control of these programmes have been shown to remain at an acceptable level, so that such output‐related policies may be effective and promising options. It is suggested to direct the work of agricultural researchers, including economists, into looking for a stronger link between environmental outputs and public support, something that could be termed Agricultural Policy 3.0. This could lend some more visibility, relevance and attractiveness to our discipline .     

新冠肺炎疫情冲击粮食安全:趋势、影响与应对

新冠肺炎疫情在全球加速扩散蔓延,引发全球粮食市场异常波动以及对中国粮食安全的担忧。疫情对后期全球粮食生产与贸易的影响将进一步加大,全球粮食市场波动有可能进一步升级。随着全球金融市场充分释放流动性,国际投机资本若炒作农产品市场,爆发类似2008年粮食危机的风险将越来越高。分析表明,中国粮食安全保障体系总体上可从容应对全球粮食市场波动升级的挑战,但大豆等农产品进口需防控国际市场波动风险。本文认为,要高度重视全球粮食市场波动的可能风险和挑战,必须加强监测、及早谋划,系统应对、综合施策。包括:有效管控输入性不稳定预期对国内粮食市场的干扰和冲击;进一步强化粮食生产能力建设;构建国家粮食安全保障风险治理体系;完善重要农产品储备体系;强化农产品全球供应链管理;加强国际粮食安全、贸易和投资政策协调。     

关于我国自然资源监管体制改革问题的思考

自然资源监管体制改革是全面深化改革的重要组成部分,是履行自然资源部"两统一"职责的有力抓手。文章分析了自然资源监管对生态文明体制改革、国家治理体系和治理能力现代化以及"放管服"改革的重要意义;指出自然资源监管领域存在统计标准有差异、监管法律支撑不足、基层执法力量薄弱等问题;从中央和地方、政府和市场、制度惯性和制度变迁、成本和效能四个维度认识自然资源监管中存在的关系;最后在"四个治理"的基础上提出要注重监管的系统性、依法性、综合性和源头性,从而构建起优化协同高效的自然资源监管体系。     

Population growth,agricultural intensification,induced innovation and natural resource sustainability: An application of neoclassical growth theory

Using a simple neoclassical type growth model including both man-made and natural capital as inputs to production, the theoretical basis for a U-shaped relationship between agricultural intensification and farm household investment in renewable resource capital is established. As development of technology, infrastructure, or markets increase the relative return to investment in man-made capital over natural capital, resource depletion occurs as man-made capital is substituted for lower return natural capital. Once returns are equalized, both man-made and natural capital are accumulated. If labor and these forms of capital are complementary, the output effects outweigh the substitution effects in the long run, leading to net accumulation of natural as well as man-made capital as a result of such technological or market development. Population growth also induces investment in both man-made and natural resource capital in the long run by increasing their marginal products. However, population growth causes declining per capita levels of both natural and man-made capital and production per capita in the long run, if technology is fixed and decreasing returns to scale. The model thus supports the Boserupian argument of induced intensification and resource improvement, as well as the Malthusian argument of the impoverishing effects of population growth. However, population growth may also induce development of infrastructure, markets, and technological or institutional innovation by reducing the fixed costs per capita of these changes, though these developments may not occur automatically. Government policies can play a large role in affecting whether these potential benefits of population growth are realized. In addition, credit policies may reduce resource degradation caused by substitution of man-made for natural capital, by allowing farmers to accumulate man-made capital (such as fertilizers) without depleting their natural capital. Policies to internalize the external environmental costs of using man-made capital will reduce both types of capital and production, indicating a clear trade-off between addressing environmental concerns on the one hand and reducing poverty and promoting resource conservation investments on the other. By contrast, internalizing the external benefits of investments in resources increases wealth and production per capita in the long run. The ‘intertemporal externality’ due to a higher private than social rate of time preference does not justify interventions to promote investments in resource capital; rather it argues for the promotion of savings and investment in general.