Operational risk,the legal system and governance indicators: a country-level analysis

A total of 4388 operational loss events recorded over three decades in 53 countries are analysed on a country level in terms of the size of the economy, the standard of living, the legal system, the regional factor and six governance indicators. The results show that the average severity of the operational losses incurred by firms located in a particular country is positively related to the size of the economy and the standard of living. The results also show that loss of severity is negatively related to governance indicators, particularly regulatory quality. The frequency of operational loss events is also positively related to the size of the economy.     

Adverse selection and corporate governance

This paper examines the impact of corporate governance on the adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread of stocks listed on the Singapore Exchange. These companies have been identified by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CSLA) with the highest level of corporate governance among 25 emerging markets. We measure corporate governance by several criteria: discipline, transparency, independence, accountability, responsibilities, fairness, and social awareness. The results show that corporate governance has an inverse relationship with adverse selection. However, only the transparency dimension exhibits a significant inverse relationship with adverse selection. In addition, Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) are shown to have a smaller adverse selection component than non-GLCs.     

气候变化经济学和气候政策

在气候变化经济学和气候政策的文献综述基础上,剖析了经济学原理在全球气候变化研究中的应用。在总结西方流行的气候变化的经济影响评估、预测、分析方法和模型的前提下,回顾了不同空间和时间尺度上温室气体减排成本估算的方法和结果,特别分析和强调了气候变化不确定性的特点对经济模型和政策设计的影响,提供了有效的基于市场的政策选择。     

Bundling agricultural technologies to adapt to climate change

Farmers can respond to climate change by modifying their technologies or management practices, or both. In this paper, we examine the choice of crop, irrigation, and cover as a bundled decision by a farmer. Using discrete choice analysis and a cross section of farms from Israel, we test whether these decisions are sensitive to climate and find that they are. In the case of Israel, the farmers completely substitute capital for climate. Simulating increase in temperature suggests that warming would lead Israeli farmers to shift mainly to orchards under cover and irrigation. But it is likely that bundling adaptations will provide flexibility and sustainability for future farmers in many locations under climate change conditions.     

Fertility and climate change*

A quarter of the total increase in emissions is attributable to the growth of emissions per capita, whereas three-quarters are due to population growth. This evidence notwithstanding, demography in climate–economy models typically follows exogenous trends. We develop a climate–economy integrated model with endogenous fertility through a quality–quantity trade-off. The decentralization of the social optimum requires two complementary instruments: a carbon pricing policy and family planning interventions. Global population increases and reaches a peak, depending on the scenario, between 11.6 billion in the social optimum and 14.6 billion if only carbon prices are implemented. Fertility costs (i.e., the net present value of the climate-related costs per child) are in 2020 estimated to be about 22,000 euros in the “social optimum” scenario, and about 88,000 euros in the “second-best with fertility taxes” scenario. Carbon pricing tends to have a rebound effect as it increases population growth leading to higher future emissions. Our results highlight the effects of fertility choices and global population on climate change, quantifying the cost of neglecting the interaction.     

Austrian economics and climate change

The aim of this paper is to outline and defend an Austrian policy response to climate change. A privatised climate change policy, based on Austrian welfare economics, is the only way to defend to the greatest possible degree the liberties both of fossil fuel users and people whose property rights will be violated if carbon emissions cause climate change. Neoclassical and ‘Post-Austrian’ analyses of climate change are both theoretically unsound and impractical, in requiring for their implementation a foundation in reliable scientific knowledge that is not available. Anthropogenic climate change is a putative interpersonal conflict rather than market failure. The use of fossil fuels should be subject to side-constraints designed to avoid the infringement of other people’s property rights. Tort litigation would protect these rights, where necessary. Litigation would also promote the public understanding and even the advancement of climate science.     

Ecological macroeconomics: An application to climate change

Ecological economics has not paid sufficient attention to the macroeconomic level both in terms of theory and modeling. Yet, key topics debated in the field of ecological economics such as sustainable consumption, reduction in working time, the degrowth debate, the energy–exergy link, and the rebound effect require a holistic and macro perspective. While this deficiency has been identified before and Keynesian economics has been generally suggested as a potent vehicle to establish economic systemic thinking, very little concrete theorizing and practical suggestions have been put forward. We give further credence to this suggestion and demonstrate the value of tackling key concerns of ecological economics within a Keynesian growth framework. Contextualized by an application to climate change we suggest that policy relevant recommendations need to be based on a consistent view of the macroeconomy. We end with laying out key building blocks for a Keynesian model framework for an ecological macroeconomics.     

The effect of ambiguous risk, and coordination on farmers' adaptation to climate change — A framed field experiment

The risk of losses of income and productive means due to adverse weather can differ significantly among farmers sharing a productive landscape, and is of course hard to estimate, or even “guesstimate” empirically. Moreover, the costs associated with investments in reduced vulnerability to climatic events are likely to exhibit economies of scope. We explore the implications of these characteristics on farmer's decisions to adapt to climate change using a framed field experiment applied to coffee farmers in Costa Rica. As expected, we find high levels of risk aversion, but even using that as a baseline, we further find that farmers behave even more cautiously when the setting is characterized by unknown or ambiguous risk (i.e. poor or non-reliable risk information). Secondly, we find that farmers, to a large extent, coordinated their decisions to secure a lower adaptation cost, and that communication among farmers strongly facilitated coordination.     

Behavioral economics and climate change policy

The policy recommendations of most economists are based on the rational actor model. The emphasis is on achieving efficient allocation by insuring that property rights are completely assigned and that market failures are corrected. This paper takes the position that so-called behavioral “anomalies” are central to human decision-making and, therefore, should be the starting point for effective economic policies. This contention is supported by game theory experiments involving humans and closely related primates. This research suggests that the standard economic approach to climate change policy, with its focus on narrowly rational, self-regarding responses to monetary incentives, is seriously flawed.     

Why China's approach to institutional change has begun to succeed

In the constantly changing modern economic environment, a country's ability to implement institutional reforms is crucial to maintain economic growth and to promote the welfare of its citizens. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to persuade institutional stakeholders that the change is necessary, and as a result, efforts at institutional change often fail. To avoid situations in which change is sudden and disruptive, China has chosen a more cautious approach of gradual institutional change leading to smooth reform, which Deng Xiaoping referred to as “crossing the river by stepping from stone to stone” — a metaphor that translates into doing a careful experiment before broad application of an approach for which you lack prior experience. This approach allows adaptation to local conditions during subsequent broader adoption of a new approach, and can thereby decrease the risks and costs of adopting a new strategy by first testing the change and then demonstrating the potential benefits to local residents and governments. This innovative approach has been a key component of China's economic reforms since 1978, and the Chinese experience shows how adapting programs to local natural and social conditions can help to motivate change and sustain the implementation of new institutions.     

论我国证券监管体系的优化措施

我国目前的证券市场有很多弊端,证券监管的效率低下.为此必须对现行的证券监管体系加以优化.我国证券监管体系优化的措施包括:规范化,市场化,自律化,法制化,社会化,协调化.     

Corporate governance,environmental regulations,and technological change

This paper investigates the relationship between environmental regulations and innovation by focusing on the automobile industry in a cross-country setting. We provide empirical evidence that the presence of agency problems mitigates the negative effects of environmental regulations on overall R&D activity, which leads to full compensation when the degree of agency problems is sufficiently high. Guiding our empirical analysis, we provide a general model consistent with the structure of existing ownership data. Specifically, we model ownership structure as a combination of two extreme corporate governance types. On the one extreme there are profit maximizers, and on the other extreme there are managers who are only concerned with their private benefits. The model leads to a simple country level ownership indicator and shows that if an economy is dominated by firms with higher agency problems, then pollution tax might even increase overall R&D, while reducing pollution. According to our estimations, such an outcome is possible only for out-of-sample values of the ownership indicator, where the degree of agency problems is extremely high.     

中国宏观经济形势分析与调控能力建设

20世纪90年代以来,中国宏观经济经历了三次时间集中、规模和力度较大的宏观调控,经济手段、法律手段和行政手段综合运用,宏观调控艺术不断增强。在市场经济条件下,宏观调控的主要作用是弥补市场缺陷,烫平大的经济波动。当前,国民经济市场化程度不断加深,经济与社会信息化水平不断提升,我国政府的宏观调控能力也应进一步提升,应进一步增强宏观调控的权威性、精确性、可预见性和主动性,同时也要努力构造宏观政策得以有效实施的微观基础。     

中国公用企业公司治理效率实证分析

本文依据部分已在中国A股市场上市的公用企业的相关数据,从实证的角度对中国公用企业治理结构的现状进行了评价。这种评价首先是全景式的描述性评价,从董事会、监事会、股权结构、高管薪酬四个方面对上市公用企业的内部治理进行了描述性统计,在此基础上,依据部分已上市公用企业的相关数据,运用多元回归的计量经济模型,对其治理效率进行了进一步的分析。     

Vulnerability assessment of water resources to climate change in Chinese cities

Climate change is an inevitable trend,which challenges security of water resources in China,especially in cities.Assessing vulnerability of water resource to climate change in cities has important role for policy makers. The paper constructs a vulnerability function,including exposure,sensitivity and adaptive capacity,according to the vulnerability concept proposed by IPCC,establishes an assessment indicators system of water resources to climate change in cities,and analyzes vulnerability features of Chinese cites based on 655 cities＇data in 2006.The vulnerability assessment results show that there are distinctive differences among all the cities,between east,central and west cities,between ordinary,big and mega cities,while there is no statistical significant difference between north and south cities.Based on the research,the paper suggests that strategic emphasis should focus on the central cities and ordinary cities     

Countermeasures of adaptation to climate change： establishment and application for implementation matrix

In the conceptual framework of adaptation policy assessment to climate change, adaptation measures can be categorized as two groups：facilitation and implementation. Facilitation measures refers to activities that enhance adaptive capacity, while implementation refers to activities that actually avoid adverse climate impacts on a system by reducing its exposure or sensitivity to climatic hazards, or by moderating relevant non-climatic factors. This paper aims to establish a matrix of implementation measures of adaptation to climate change, through four different ways how adaptation can influencc the relevant elements of climate change. reducing the exposure, reducing the sensitivity, alleviating the adverse impacts and reducing the negative non-climatic factors, and then further discuss the particular implementation measures of adaptation to climate change, through application studies on the selected sub-systems, intend to organize the disordered implementation measures in existent, and put forward some new measures under the guidance of this matrix, which could enrich and promote the system and content of implementation measures of adaptation.     

Combining analytical frameworks to assess livelihood vulnerability to climate change and analyse adaptation options

Experts working on behalf of international development organisations need better tools to assist land managers in developing countries maintain their livelihoods, as climate change puts pressure on the ecosystem services that they depend upon. However, current understanding of livelihood vulnerability to climate change is based on a fractured and disparate set of theories and methods. This review therefore combines theoretical insights from sustainable livelihoods analysis with other analytical frameworks (including the ecosystem services framework, diffusion theory, social learning, adaptive management and transitions management) to assess the vulnerability of rural livelihoods to climate change. This integrated analytical framework helps diagnose vulnerability to climate change, whilst identifying and comparing adaptation options that could reduce vulnerability, following four broad steps: i) determine likely level of exposure to climate change, and how climate change might interact with existing stresses and other future drivers of change; ii) determine the sensitivity of stocks of capital assets and flows of ecosystem services to climate change; iii) identify factors influencing decisions to develop and/or adopt different adaptation strategies, based on innovation or the use/substitution of existing assets; and iv) identify and evaluate potential trade-offs between adaptation options. The paper concludes by identifying interdisciplinary research needs for assessing the vulnerability of livelihoods to climate change.     

施工企业法律风险源故障树法识别分析

随着我国建筑行业的快速发展,关于建筑行业的法律不断地完善,在施工企业中发生的法律纠纷也越来越频繁,如何识别施工企业施工过程法律风险源成为建立法律风险管理体系和预防法律纠纷发生的核心问题。对于法律风险源的识别,运用故障树法的定性与定量相结合评价分析,兼顾主客观赋权的优点进行多目标的分析评价,进而提高评价结果的准确性。实例证明通过故障树法FTA定性定量分析评价,可以更精确、全面和细致的确定施工企业法律风险源的分析识别。     

公共项目交易中的治理模式研究

本文在对公共品供给模式分析的基础上探讨了公共项目契约的形成和交易治理模式.非经营性项目由传统的公共部门垄断经营供给模式转化为对其实行代建制,准经营性项目实行公私合作的供给模式,并针对不同的供给模式给出了两种不同的治理模式以解决公共项目契约组织中的代理人问题.     

A portfolio approach to climate investments: CAPM and endogenous risk

Is there a role for investments in climate change mitigation despite low expected return? We use a model of intertemporal expected utility maximisation to analyse this question. Similar to the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) the rate of return depends on the correlation of risk between the return on investments in climate change mitigation and the market portfolio, but in contrast to the classical CAPM we admit the fact that economic and environmental systems are jointly determined, implying that environmental risk is endogenous. Therefore, investments in climate change mitigation may reduce risk via self-protection and self-insurance. If risk reduction is accounted for in cost–benefit evaluations, climate investments may be justified despite low expected return. These aspects of climate investments are not, however, communicated via standard cost–benefit analyses of climate policy. Optimal climate policy may therefore be more ambitious than previously considered.