The environment as a challenge for governmental responsibility — The case of the European Water Framework Directive

The European Water Framework Directive is shaping a new conception of integrative water protection. In this article, the consequences of the Water Framework Directive in respect to national environmental policy will be discussed in referring to the notion of responsibility which is a central concept of political philosophy and theory. It will be shown that the new conception of integrative water protection entails a fundamental change in European water protection policy and also environmental policy at all. It implies that environmental policy has not only to prevent environmental damage but in particular has to warrant a good status of the environment, such that it must maintain a good status of water or even achieve it if this status does not exist. Achieving and maintaining a good status of the environment is, however, an encompassing task. Thereby, state power will eventually be overexerted. The threat of such overexertion has to be kept in mind in discussing the perspective of the so called New Environmental Governance. It will be pointed out that the New Environmental Governance is not primarily a form of some sort of democratic participation but rather designed to improve state power in environmental politics.     

A review on cost-effectiveness analysis of agri-environmental measures related to the EU WFD: Key issues, methods, and applications

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) explicitly integrates economics into water management and water policy in Europe. Specifically, Article 11 and Annex III of the Directive call for a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of alternative mitigation measures as a requirement in formulating Programme of Measures (PoMs) to achieve ‘good ecological status’ for all waters in Europe. As agriculture is supposed to be the major contributor to diffuse water pollution, CEA of agri-environmental measures has been given paramount importance in establishing the PoMs. This paper summarises the status, significance, and methodological limitations of WFD-related CEA studies in Europe. Cases from the United Kingdom, countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and central and southern Europe were included in the review. Review results indicate that most WFD-related CEA studies: (1) were based on models of ‘representative’ farms without capturing the variability among real-world farms; (2) concentrate on a single ecological effect of measures or are based on cost estimates of the sectors directly involved in the pollutant-reduction programme (i.e., co-benefits, trade-offs, and external costs were not examined); and (3) did not incorporate uncertainties in both cost and effectiveness estimates. Based on the review results, the paper suggests policy implications and recommendations for future research in the field.     

Orientation and community participation of ecological development： a case study of Hutuo River in Shijiazhuang City, China

Entrusted to by Shijiazhuang municipal Party committee and government,Shanghai Tongji University finished ＂The General Planning of Ecological Development Project of Hutuo River in Shijiazhuang City＂.It aims to build Hutuo River into a wind-breaking and sand-fixing barrier and ecological protect district in the north of Shijiazhuang based on the recovery of natural ecology to improve the environment of Shijiazhuang city.It also intends to develop the district lightly and build it into a nature beauty spot and big park.After the construction for several years,the general environment of this district has been greatly improved.But during the development,the man-made landscapes are highlighted excessively,which deviates from the construction of nature landscape.The currency of constructing big leisure park gradually comes into being,so the recovery of nature ecological is slow.So,this paper intends to make the orientation to ecological development of Hutuo River in Shijiazhuang city and puts forward the community participation to promote the future development of ecotourism in Shijiazhuang.     

流域水制度研究的基本框架及其应用——以黑河中游张掖市为例

基于生态经济学理论和方法,从整体性视角出发,对将环境与发展问题结合在一起的IMPACTS等式进行解耦和拓展,即在人地系统中对人文因素进一步解耦.对代表社会资源的S赋予具体的涵义,进而引入"制度"因素,将制度分析与环境资源管理结合在一起.在此基础上,对流域水制度的研究框架进行述评,接着对制度分析与发展(IAD)研究框架进行修正得到水制度分析与发展(WIAD)研究框架.最后,将这一框架应用于典型区黑河流域中游张掖市的甘州区、临泽县和高台县,对水制度和水部门进行绩效评估.通过分析,试图提供进行内陆河流域水制度研究的基本框架.     

Testing static game theory with dynamic experiments: A case study of public goods

Game theory provides predictions of behavior in many one-shot games. On the other hand, most experimenters usually play repeated games with subjects, to provide experience. To avoid subjects rationally employing strategies that are appropriate for the repeated game, experimenters typically employ a “random strangers” design in which subjects are randomly paired with others in the session. There is some chance that subjects will meet in multiple rounds, but it is claimed that this chance is so small that subjects will behave as if they are in a one-shot environment. We present evidence from public goods experiments that this claim is not always true.     

Community participation in the management of wetland nature reserve：a case study of Nanjishan Nature Reserve, Jiangxi, China

In recent years, more and more conflicts have emerged in the management of nature reserves, of which themain problem is that how to carry out the campaign of conservation along with the promotion of development of localeconomics. To resolve the actual problem in Nanjishan National Wetland Nature Reserve and explore the idiographicmethod of the management of the wetland reserve, some studying methods including face-to-face interviews, informaldiscussion with local leaders and officials, group discussion with local fishers, questionnaire, and job of the conversationstation have been carried out. The results show that the education level of the local people is low; only 5% of the localpeople have an opportunity to the junior college; the main income of the local people is fishing, which accounts for 70%more or less; and the income is coming down year by year because of the unreasonable way of fishing. To cope with theproblems, some reformative way of management and the development of the reserve are introduced, such as establishingan NOG that constitutes of local fishermen to achieve the goal of community co-management, developing Bed andBreakfast and so on. Through practice of the management of the participation of the local people, we draw the conclusionthat the local people have a great desire to improve their life level, and to make the co-management of the reserve easy,it is important for the managers to play the role of pilot including engrafting the new ideas, giving some subsidy toencourage the local people to take part in the management. In addition, making local people perceive value of the reserveand the close relation between reserve conservation and the promotion of level of their life. On this basis, they incline totake part in the management of the reserve.     

流域水资源管理综合集成研讨厅探讨

针对日趋严重的水资源冲突,提出把综合集成研讨厅理论应用到流域水资源管理中,构建了流域水资源管理综合集成研讨厅的理论体系及其框架,分析了流域水资源管理综合集成研讨厅的运行流程。     

A study of benefits compensation mechanism for agricultural water rights trading under the restriction of ecological reconstruction: case study of Shiyang River basin

Agricultural water allocation system based on priority rights has caused regional conJtiets and downstream ecological degradation.It is the urgent need to introduce the concept of the initial water rights and establish benefits compensation mechanism to resolve such problems.This paper takes the Shivang River basin as an example to calculate the opportunity cost of 0.97×108m3 of agricultural water encroached by the middle reach based on initial water right allocation system under which water is allocated in accordance with the ratio between agricultural population of two different regions concerning the downstream ecological reconstruction needs with Bio-economic model (BEM).The results suggest that the total economic loss of Minqin County for ecological econstruction amounts to 2.57×108 yuan,of which 1.68×108 yuan is ecological compensation,representing the economic loss Minqin suffered for ecological reconstruction which should burden beneficial groups of eeological reconstruction and 0.89×108 yuan is the economic loss Minqin suffered due to Liangzhou's encroachment behavior which should be compensated by Liangzhou.     

A trivariate model of participation,fertility and wages: the Italian case

Italy has unusually low fertility by OECD standards, accompaniedby unusually low female participation in paid work. This paperaddresses the issue of the empirical relationship between fertility,female participation in the labour market and wages with theseItalian 'peculiarities' as a backcloth. A trivariate model ofparticipation, fertility and wages has been constructed andestimated using three pooled cross-sections of Italian microdata, allowing for the identification of cohort effects. Thismodel follows a 'purist' approach: the participation and fertilitydecisions, as well as the wage equation, are modelled as completelyjoint. The cohort effects turn out to be significant: the pointestimates do not appear to confirm actual trends, which arenegative for fertility and positive for participation. The femalewage is the most important variable influencing the propensityto have children and the propensity to participate in the labourmarket, casting doubt on suggestions that observed trends arethe products of shifts in women's 'tastes'.     

The participation decision versus the level of participation in an environmental treaty: a spatial probit analysis

This paper represents treaty participation as a two-stage game, for which nations first decide whether or not to participate and then they choose their level of participation. The resulting subgame perfect equilibrium is used to derive a reduced-form equation for estimating and separating the influences of the variables at the two decision stages. This spatial probit equation forms the basis for a full-information maximum likelihood estimator that accounts for the simultaneity bias associated with public good spillins at both stages. When the procedure is applied to the Helsinki Protocol, we find that the strategic influence of a variable may drastically differ depending upon which stage is scrutinized.     

干旱区内陆河流域城镇化与水资源环境系统耦合分析——以石羊河流域为例

在建立内陆河流域城镇化与水资源环境系统耦合评价指标体系的基础上,以石羊河流域为例,运用灰色关联分析法定量分析流域城镇化与水资源环境系统交互耦合的主要因素,并揭示了耦合度的时空变化规律。结果表明:①流域城镇化与水资源环境系统内部要素间的交互耦合是复杂的。其中,城镇人口增长较快、社会化服务水平较低、产业结构不合理是胁迫水资源环境的主要因素,而总用水规模偏大、水资源管理落后以及水资源匮乏的本底条件是制约流域城镇化的主要原因。②流域城镇化与水资源环境系统耦合度的时序变动表现出明显的阶段性和波动性,其变化曲线呈现出两个连续U型。第一个U型表明2001—2007年期间水资源环境对城镇化的约束力总体上是先变小、后变大的趋势。第二个U型在验证2007年《甘肃省石羊河流域重点治理规划》出台后流域生态恶化趋势有所缓和的同时,警示继续加强流域水资源综合管理以实现耦合协调的必要性。③各县(区)耦合度表现出复杂多样的空间差异,这与各县(区)所处的经济社会发展水平、城镇化进程以及区域自然条件有关。     

A study of benefits compensation mechanism for agricultural water rights trading under the restriction of ecological reconstruction： a case study of Shiyang River basin

Agricultural water allocation system based on priority rights has caused regional conflicts and downstream ecological degradation. It is the urgent need to introduce the concept of the initial water rights and establish benefits compensation mechanism to resolve such problems. This paper takes the Shiyang River basin as an example to calculate the opportunity cost of 0.97×10^8 m^3 of agricultural water encroached by the middle reach based on initial water right allocation system under which water is allocated in accordance with the ratio between agricultural population of two different regions concerning the downstream ecological reconstruction needs with Bio-economic model （BEM）. The results suggest that the total economic loss of Minqin County for ecological reconstruction amounts to 2.5 7×10^8 yuan, of which 1.68×10^8 yuan is ecological compensation, representing the economic loss Minqin suffered for ecological reconstruction which shouM burden beneficial groups of ecological reconstruction and 0.89 ×10^8 yuan is the economic loss Minqin suffered due to Liangzhou＇s encroachment behavior which should be compensated by Liangzhou.     

松花江流域水污染物总量分配研究

将系统科学中表征系统要素重要性程度的信息熵理论引入到流域水污染物总量分配领域,综合考虑研究对象的经济、社会、环境等总量减排因素情况下,遴选出人均GDP、人均排放强度、重点行业增加值比重、工业废水COD处理率、生活废水COD削减率和单位国土面积水资源量六项分配依据指标,构建一个定量化的基于公平性的流域间水污染物总量的公平分配模型,并以松花江流域"十二五"总量分配为例进行了研究。结果表明:"十二五"期间,松花江流域的各地区之间COD削减率存在明显差异,其中大庆市COD削减率最高(22.55%),辽源市削减率最低(6.34%),10个地区的COD削减率高于目标削减率(12.43%),COD削减量最大的前五个地区是哈尔滨市、长春市、吉林市、齐齐哈尔市与白城市,其与分配基准年排放量大小并未呈一一对应关系。模型模拟表明,应用信息熵理论来衡量流域间水污染物总量的公平分配具有一定可靠性,其排除了人为因素对水污染物总量分配的影响,使分配结果更具公平性,易为各污染源区域所接受,可在一定程度上位重点流域水污染物总量削减工作提供了技术支持。     

A note on the value of public information in monopoly

The paper shows that in the standard model of monopoly with asymmetric information and second-degree price discrimination, the monopolist prefers to reveal public information under a form of stochastic dependence that is weaker than the affiliation of private values, private signals, and public signals.      

作为人力资本、公共产品和制度的语言:语言经济学的一个基本分析框架

本文从人力资本、公共产品和制度的角度分析论证了语言的经济性质,提出了语言经济学的三个命题:语言是一种人力资本;语言是一种公共产品;语言是一种制度。作为人力资本,语言是决定劳动力市场就业及人们劳动收入的重要因素之一,与社会经济活动和人们的经济地位密切相关;作为公共产品,语言本身就可以直接影响到语言政策的选择与制定;作为制度,语言不仅对交易成本产生影响,还影响着其他制度安排的效率。就现有研究而言,围绕命题一的研究已经是语言经济学中非常成熟的一个领域,而围绕命题二、命题三的研究虽然刚刚起步,但前景极为广阔,都是语言经济学亟待研究和值得深入研究的内容。有理由认为,语言经济学的后续研究大体上可以以这三个命题为支撑,或是建立在其基础之上,或是围绕着它们而展开。从这个意义上说,它们可以构成语言经济学的一个基本分析框架。     

Wages,participation and unemployment in the economic transition of urban China1

Wages, participation and unemployment are major topics for researchers of the labour market. How have these measures evolved in the economic transition of urban China? Have they evolved in accordance with those in the Statistical Yearbook of China (produced by the National Bureau of Statistics, China) and previous studies? We find that the estimated wage level based on Urban Household Survey (UHS) data was higher than that in the Statistical Yearbook in earlier years, but the relationship has reversed since 1999. Our estimated participation rate is lower than that of Giles et al. (2006) but higher than Dong et al. (2007) and Maurer‐Fazio et al. (2007) . The analysis shows that the unemployment rate is lower than that estimated with the China Urban Labor Survey data in Giles et al. (2005) . Our estimation results on unemployment rates turn out to be more similar to those in Dong et al. (2007) but are different from those in Hu and Sheng (2007) . This analysis provides the first systematic comparison of the wage level from different sources, and supplements the existing estimates on participation and unemployment using a more representative dataset for urban China.     

Learning in,through, and about participatory technology assessment: the case of Nanotechnologies for Tomorrow's Society (NanoSoc)

In participatory technology assessment (pTA), technical and nontechnical communities convene to share their views on a sociotechnical challenge, in an attempt to render technology research and development more socially robust. Taking these commitments to transdisciplinary collaboration and co-construction of technology as entry points, this article describes key tensions that emerged in a Flemish pTA project on nanotechnologies, entitled ‘Nanotechnologies for Tomorrow's Society’ (NanoSoc). The tensions relate to how the terms of participation were enacted, the potentially conflicting aims embedded in the project's mission and methods, the various roles initiating pTA researchers (social scientists) assumed throughout the project's duration, and the deliberative-democratic rationale that sustains pTA frameworks at large. The article is a response to a pressing question posed to the author by pTA professionals, project participants and policymakers who ask publics to partake in science and technology decision making: now that NanoSoc is concluded, what can we learn from it?     

A note on budget balance under interim participation constraints: the case of independent types

We provide a simple proof of the equivalence between ex ante and ex post budget balance constraints in Bayesian mechanism design with independent types when participation decisions are made at the interim stage. The result is given an interpretation in terms of efficient allocation of risk.     

黄河流域绿色水资源利用率与经济高质量发展耦合研究——以河南省为例

黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展已成为国家战略,这对黄河流域生态保护和经济发展来说意义非凡,为黄河流域各省份高质量发展带来了机会。河南是中部大省,位于黄河的中下游,以河南省为例,构建综合评价指标体系,运用熵值法对河南省绿色水资源利用率和经济高质量发展水平作出综合评价,并构建耦合协调模型,分析研究2013—2018年黄河流域经济高质量发展与绿色水资源利用率耦合协调程度。结果表明,2013—2018年河南省绿色水资源利用率不断提高,经济高质量发展水平呈逐步上升趋势,但是两者之间并非一直同步发展;绿色水资源利用率与经济高质量发展耦合协调程度逐步提高,经历了从严重失调—勉强协调—初级协调—中级协调—优质协调五个发展阶段。     

集成可持续发展理念，系统推进水科学研究与水产业发展--德国启动《可持续水管理》研究计划

德国联邦政府一直高度关注可持续发展问题,并为实现德国经济、社会、环境和资源协调发展,持续不断地制定和完善相关政策措施。2012年,德国联邦教研部按照需求驱动导向原则,启动了《可持续水管理》研究计划,旨在研究探索实现水资源可持续管理的跨领域系统化技术解决方案。通过对该计划出台背景、创新理念和突出特点等进行系统分析,全面阐述了该计划的研究内容、优先主题和配套措施。