Designing optimal gain sharing plans to promote energy conservation

We analyze the optimal design of gain sharing plans to promote energy conservation. We show how the optimal plan varies as industry conditions and the regulator??s information change. We demonstrate the importance of allowing the energy supplier a choice among plans, some of which offer the prospect of both pronounced financial gains for superior performance and substantial losses for inferior performance.     

建筑节能的挑战与机遇

按照国际惯例，建筑能耗是指建筑使用过程中的能耗，包括采暧、空调、照明、热水、炊事、家用电器及其它动力的能耗。其中，以采暖和空调能耗为主，占建筑总能耗的50～70％。根据建筑物类型，建筑物能耗可分为民用建筑（住宅）能耗、公共建筑（或称为商业建筑，包括办公楼、宾馆、商店、学校、医院等）能耗及其它建筑能耗。在发达国家，建筑能耗一般占全国总能耗的30％～40％。     

Forecasting the optimal cost of energy conservation by sectors to the year 2000

This paper suggests that government policies to induce or mandate energy conservation across sectors should be based on cost-effective measures. Section 2 outlines the concept of cost-effectiveness by sector according to the marginal cost MC of conservation and the aggregation of the MC curves in a horizontally added aggregate marginal cost curve AMC or the supply curve for conservation. It also outlines a methodology of estimating MC (in constant prices) by regressing total cost of conservation on total energy conserved. Empirical estimation of the MC in the residential sector is attempted in Section 3 by developing data for annualized cost of conservation capital stocks and the related energy savings. The regression of total residential energy conservation costs on total conservation provided the MC at $0.84 per million Btu (MM Btu) to the year 2000. Section 4 used time-series data for the commercial sector and obtained the MC at $0.17/MM Btu for 1980–2000. The MC of conservation in the industrial sector is estimated in Section 5 at $0.78/MM Btu for 1985–2000. In section 6, we estimate the MC in the transportation sector at $2.42/MM Btu for 1980–2000. The last section summarizes the approach and conclusions and recommends that the cost-effectiveness approach dictates that the order of priority for inducing or mandating conservation should be from the commercial to the industrial, to the residential and followed by the transportation sector for the next 20 years.     

Residential energy use and conservation: Economics and demographics

Energy consumption in the residential sector offers an important opportunity for conserving resources. However, much of the current debate regarding energy efficiency in the housing market focuses on the physical and technical determinants of energy consumption, neglecting the role of the economic behavior of resident households. In this paper, we analyze the extent to which the use of gas and electricity is determined by the technical specifications of the dwelling as compared to the demographic characteristics of the residents. Our analysis is based on a sample of more than 300,000 Dutch homes and their occupants. The results indicate that residential gas consumption is determined principally by structural dwelling characteristics, such as the vintage, building type, and characteristics of the dwelling, while electricity consumption varies more directly with household composition, in particular income and family composition. Combining these results with projections on future economic and demographic trends, we find that, even absent price increases for residential energy, the aging of the population and their increasing wealth will roughly offset improvements in the energy efficiency of the building stock resulting from policy interventions and natural revitalization.     

Contracting with capacity constrained suppliers

This paper characterizes the optimal and efficient mechanisms to allocate simultaneously two substitute tasks to two suppliers. Two main results emerge from this analysis. First, even under some regularity conditions efficiency and optimality do not systematically coincide. Efficiency can always be achieved using some second price auctions which are optimal when both suppliers compete for the same task. When there is competition for different tasks the optimal production is distorted from efficiency over a nondegenerate interval of types so as to extract the full surplus over that interval. Second, full extraction of the surplus may still guarantee incentive compatibility. Received: November 2, 1998; revised version: March 2, 2000     

The prospects of energy conservation: A different approach to the fuel demand for space heating

Zusammenfassung Die meisten empirischen Untersuchungen über das Ausmaß der jüngsten Energieeinsparungen verwendeten ökonometrische Beziehungen und Elastizitäten. Diese Arbeit jedoch geht von einer technischen Beschreibung des Services thermische Behaglichkeit aus. Basierend auf empirischem Datenmaterial über die Infrastruktur und das Klima der Stadt Wien werden sowohl die Aussichten und das Potential an Energieeinsparungen quantifiziert als auch der Effekt spezifischer Politiken. Für diesen Zweck wurde ein nichtlineares Optimierungsmodell mit disjunktiven Randbedingungen entwickelt und gelöst.

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Research leading to this paper was supported by a grant from the Austria Federal Ministry of Science and Research, and that support is gretefully acknowledged. We wish to thank P. J. Jansen for discussions on this topic and also the referees for their valuable comments on this paper.     

Sequential procurement auctions with risk-averse suppliers

We compare two procurement mechanisms, bundling and unbundling, in a two-stage auction model with risk-averse suppliers. The mechanisms differ in that the two tasks of investment and production are procured through a single auction or two sequential auctions. Suppliers’ production costs are affected by two risk factors, aggregate risk and idiosyncratic risk, as well as by the cost-reducing investment. We show that the bundling mechanism is optimal for a buyer and socially desirable if the aggregate risk is below certain thresholds. The result may not hold true for idiosyncratic risk.     

Multi-attribute procurement auctions with risk averse suppliers

We analyze multi-attribute procurement auctions with risk-averse suppliers. As the number of suppliers increases or the suppliers become more risk-averse, the equilibrium bidding price decreases under the first-score auction but remains the same under the second-score auction. A buyer prefers the first-score auction.     

Intermodal traffic,regulatory change and carbon energy conservation in US freight transport

Conserving transport carbon emissions is an important policy goal. Conventional wisdom often holds that conservation is best achieved by increased regulation, and that such gains are best achieved in passenger auto transport (fuel efficiency standards or diversion to transit). We argue that the growth of rail freight has conserved carbon fuel use in the United States, and that fuel-saving changes have been facilitated by reduced regulation since 1980. Methods used include estimation of translog cost functions (and related demand functions for fuel) for intermodal rail and for truck, allowing controlled comparisons of modal fuel use. We find intermodal rail (e.g. trailer on flatcar) to be a powerful conserver: if intermodal rail were eliminated, and traffic transferred to over-the-highway truck, extra annual carbon emissions would be nearly 25?Tg. By comparison, if urban passenger transit were eliminated and replaced by autos (according to one study) the extra annual emissions would be only 3.9?Tg.     

论现代人才的激励措施

新世纪的竞争是人才的竞争。企事业组织如何留住人才并让他们充分施展自己的才能，离不开有效的激励措施。本文首先分析了现代人才的需要特点，并在此基础上提出了相应的激励措施，最后对实施激励措施时应注意的几个问题进行了简要分析。     

浅析知识型员工的激励--以某管理咨询公司为例

随着知识经济时代的到来,越来越多的企业在知识型员工的管理和激励方面受到严重挑战。本文从分析知识员工的概念及特点入手,指出激励知识型员工的关键因素。并以某咨询公司———GL公司为例,对如何根据知识型员工的特点及企业实际来有效激励进行了深入探讨。     

四川地区村镇住宅的节能经济性思考

针对四川地区灾后重建的契机,以及四川省节能住宅建设的相关政策规定,探讨在生态节能住宅修建前期,要注重节能住宅成本效益分析,保证节能住宅价值实现途径中的价值链条通畅,以及从传统民居中吸取节能住宅规划、构造、材料等方面的宝贵经验,因地制宜,防止伪生态住宅的产生,保证四川地区村镇住宅的节能经济性。     

Change mechanisms in the diffusion of residential energy conservation practices: an empirical study

Four types of variables that affect the diffusion of home energy conservation measures are assessed. These variables are the information possessed by households, household attitudes, the economic and demographic characteristics of households, and the attributes of conservation measures. A causal model of behavior change is presented based on Fishbein's theory of reasoned action. The model is tested using panel data on 225 homeowners from Decatur, Illinois and two conservation practices: employing winter night-time thermostat setbacks and adding attic insulation. The results illustrate the importance of all four change mechanisms. Many nonadopters have erroneous information about the financial and other benefits of the two practices. The elderly and the poor are particularly ill-informed. Negative attitudes are closely related to discomfort (for night-time setback) and expense (for attic insulation). As expected, barriers and incentives differ across population subgroups and innovations.     

报酬方案、棘轮效应和激励成本关系研究

在委托代理关系中,委托人为了抑制代理人的机会主义行为,在设计激励机制时采用报酬方案和棘轮效应。本文采用实验方法,研究报酬方案和棘轮效应各自及它们联合起来对委托人激励成本的影响。根据实验数据分析发现:如果单独考虑报酬方案,则松驰诱导报酬方案会增加激励成本;如果单独考虑棘轮效应,则棘轮效应也可能增加激励成本;但是,当二者联合起来时,在真实诱导报酬方案下,棘轮效应并不会增加激励成本。所以,将报酬方案与棘轮效应正确地配合起来,委托人才能真正实现自己利益最大化,否则,则可能是代理人的业绩增加了,但是,委托人为换取这种业绩增加却付出了更大的激励成本,委托人得不偿失。     

推进农村市场体验营销的对策

推进农村市场实施体验营销,应该从农村市场的特点出发,做好以下几方面的工作:提供培训机会,创造学习体验;带动农民致富,创造收获体验;重视客户沟通,加强情感体验;调查促销方式,创造快乐体验;把握农村需求,提供个性体验。     

稳妥推进人民币国际化的新路径

随着国际金融危机的冲击和影响加深,人民币国际化的呼声日高,相关的研究增多.但笔者认为人民币的完全自由兑换和国际化并非短期内就可实现,需要具备相应的条件,否则对中国经济金融的稳定发展将带来不利的影响.在实施步骤上,可先行推进人民币的"国际可接受性",提高非居民对人民币的普遍接受范围和程度,从而体现中国在人民币国际化进程中的主动性、可控性和渐进性,为人民币的完全可兑换和国际化赢得更多的时间和空间,且避免承担过多的国际社会责任,减少制度变迁的成本,不失为一条新的路径.     

人力资本多层次激励机制探析

人力资本是企业生产经营过程中最活跃和最特殊的要素,人力资本具有多层次性,不同的人力资本应采取不同的激励措施。笔者在结合国有企业运营实践的基础上对人力资本激励机制进行分析,并进一步提出了建立国有企业多层次人力资本激励机制的有效模式。     

经理股票期权激励制度探析

股票期权激励是最富成效的激励制度之一,对企业的快速发展和国民经济的持续增长有显著的推动作用。本文探讨了经理股票期权设计过程中涉及主要内容,以及我国企业实施经理股票期权制度的条件。