A proactive approach for assessing alternative management programs for an invasive alien pollinator species

Most evaluations of the economic impacts of invasive species are done post facto and concentrate on direct production loss caused. However, the effects of invasive species on non-market services such as biodiversity and landscapes can be considerable. A proactive approach of assessing the expected economic impact of invasive species prior to their occurrence may contribute to greater efficiency of policy makers. Here we used a stated preference method for a priori evaluating the willingness of the population to pay for different control programs of a new invasive bee species in Israel, the dwarf honey bee, Apis florea. We evaluated possible economic impacts of A. florea using two model plant species expected to be adversely affected by its invasion due to decreased pollination. The plants have no market value but they add aesthetic value to the open landscape. Using a mixed logit model we found that the mean willingness to pay (WTP) differed between the model plants, and increased with the extent of plant loss. Respondents differentiated between levels of damage to the plants and between control methods in their preferences for a specific program. Our results provide means for informed proactive decision making in preventing the continued invasion of the bee.     

Using the 21-gene assay to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decision-making in early-stage breast cancer: a cost-effectiveness evaluation in the German setting

Abstract

Objective:

The 21-gene assay (Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Test (Genomic Health Inc., Redwood City, CA)) is a well validated test that predicts the likelihood of adjuvant chemotherapy benefit and the 10-year risk of distant recurrence in patients with ER+, HER2? early-stage breast cancer. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using the assay to inform adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in Germany.     

Indirect management of invasive species through bio-controls: A bioeconomic model of salmon and alewife in Lake Michigan

Invasive species are typically viewed as an economic bad because they cause economic and ecological damages, and can be difficult to control. When direct management is limited, another option is indirect management via bio-controls. Here management is directed at the bio-control species population (e.g., supplementing this population through stocking) with the aim that, through ecological interactions, the bio-control species will control the invader. We focus on stocking salmon to control invasive alewives in Lake Michigan. Salmon are valuable to recreational anglers, and alewives are their primary food source in Lake Michigan. We illustrate how stocking salmon can be used to control alewife, while at the same time alewife can be turned from a net economic bad (having a negative shadow value) into a net economic good (having a positive shadow value) by providing valuable ecosystem services that support the recreational fishery. Using optimal control theory, we solve for a stocking program that maximizes social welfare. Optimal stocking results in cyclical dynamics. We link concepts of natural capital and indirect management, population dynamics, non-convexities, and multiple-use species and demonstrate that species interactions are critical to the values that humans derive from ecosystems. This research also provides insight into the management of salmon fisheries in the Great Lakes.     

Extending an order on a Set to the power set: Some remarks on Kannai and Peleg's approach

Kannai and Peleg have shown that given an ordering over a set, it is impossible to induce an ordering over the power set satisfying certain plausible axioms. We prove an impossibility and also a possibility result in this context with closely related sets of axioms, and argue that the dividing line between impossibility and possibility here is rather thin. Also, we distinguish three possible intuitive interpretations for the formal framework of Kannai and Peleg, and argue that the acceptability of specific formal axioms may crucialy depend on the particular interpretation that one chooses to adopt.     

Remittances and output in Bangladesh: an ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration

Although the relationship between remittances and output is still inconclusive in literature, most studies find that remittances have a positive effect on output in the long run. Contrary to this conventional direction of causality from remittances to output, our study finds that output alone determined long-run movements in remittances in a positive direction in the Bangladesh economy over the last 35 years from 1976 to 2010. We use the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration to explore this long-run relationship. Surprisingly, remittances do not appear to be a long-run forcing variable to the explanation of Bangladesh’s output over the same period. While examining the channels of this output–remittance mechanism remains an area of research for the future, we hypothesize that the rise in remittances in response to increased income occurs through higher import demand and greater investment opportunities. This finding implies that Bangladeshi policymakers can influence remittances through national output in the long run.     

资源化:环境、经济与技术的最佳结合途径--对南京市生活垃圾处置现状的思考

南京市探索新型、科学的城市生活垃圾处理方式的尝试证明：将生活垃圾视为资源从源头进行分类、收集、运输、就近资源化，采用垃圾焚烧减容、热能利用、废渣利用相结合的技术，并配以切实有效的环保措施，能实现环境、经济和技术的最佳结合。[编者按]     

Using Tradeable Permits to Achieve Sustainability in the World's Large Cities: Policy Design Issues and Efficiency Conditions for Controlling Vehicle Emissions, Congestion and Urban Decentralization with an Application to Mexico City

Many large cities in the world have serious ground level ozone problems, largely the product of vehicular emissions and thus the argued unsustainability of current urban growth patterns is frequently blamed on unrestricted private vehicle use. This article reviews Mexico City's experience with vehicle use restrictions as an emissions control program and develops the conditions for optimal quantitative restrictions on vehicle use and for complementary abatement technologies. The stochastic nature of air pollution outcomes is modelled explicitly in both the static and dynamic formulations of the control problem, in which for the first time in the literature the use of tradeable vehicle use permits is proposed as a cost-effective complement to technological abatement for mobile emissions control. This control regime gives the authorities a broader and more flexible set of instruments with which to deal more effectively with vehicle emissions, and with seasonal and stochastic variation of air quality outcomes. The market in tradeable vehicle use permits would be very competitive with low transactions costs. This control policy would have very favorable impacts on air quality, vehicle congestion and on urban form and development. Given the general political resistance to environmental taxes, this program could constitute a workable and politically palatable set of policies for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.