Technology elasticity and potential on energy saving and emission reduction: evidence from China

This article investigates the elasticity of different technology choices to energy efficiency and chemical oxygen demand/ammonia nitrogen emission reducing efficiency among 38 industries in China from 2008 to 2011. With data envelopment analysis, total-factor productivity growth, the common measure of technical progress, is divided into different parts: technical efficiency relative to the frontier, technology change and scale efficiency, which are regarded as three different choices of technological progress. For various industries, technology elasticity is quite different and the importance of different technical choices is diverse in the improvement of efficiency on energy saving and emission reduction. Policymakers could focus on the elasticity of different technical progress choices in various industries to improve energy and emission reduction efficiency.     

中心城市道路运输节能减排途径的研究

节能减排是我国国民经济发展的基本国策,也是当前我国道路运输业转变经济发展方式的硬任务。中心城市是能源消耗和温室气体排放的重点区域,是节能减排的重要环节。在认真分析中心城市道路运输的特点及节能减排工作现状和存在问题的基础上,探索提高节能减排的途径,以提高中心城市道路运输节能减排工作的水平。     

产业结构调整背景下推行绿色信贷政策的思考

绿色信贷是我国银行业贯彻可持续发展战略、将经营活动与改善环境结合在一起的一项重大举措,是实施节能减排的有力金融杠杆。通过阐述了绿色信贷的含义,进而探讨在我国产业结构调整的背景下,我国商业银行推行绿色信贷政策的意义、实践及不足,并针对绿色信贷的建设提出了相关的建议。     

Research on low-carbon development of electric power industry: from the perspectives of public policy

It is a fundamental way to achieve sustainable development and inclusive growth that China takes the low-carbon development path.And low-carbon development is an effective way to respond to many threats,including global climate anomalies,environmental degradation,and energy shortage.Low-carbon economy is policy economy to a large extent.Although the external environment demands low-carbon development of electric power industry,enterprises lack intrinsic motivation.Electric power industry is the pillar industry of China,and is one of the key industries for China＇s low-carbon development.The government needs to ensure its dominant position in the low-carbon development of electric power industry,and reform the government performance management system and promote the planning and management of electric power industry through appropriate public policy,in order to adjust the structure of the electric power industry and take a low-carbon development road with Chinese characteristics.     

Macroeconomic and sectoral effects of energy taxation in Austria

This paper analyses the effects of energy taxation on the Austrian economy. Simulations are carried out with a linked input-output macromodel. The macroeconomic effects of an energy tax on economic growth, employment, the rate of inflation (change in the consumer price index), the budget deficit and the current account will be explained, as well as the sectoral impact on different industries.     

Optimal non-linear income taxation for reduction of envy

This paper examines the optimal non-linear income taxation problem based on λ-equitability. An allocation is λ-equitable if no agent envies a proportion λ of the bundle of any other agent. We examine the properties of Pareto undominated allocations for various λ-equitability requirements. When there is one output, the marginal income tax rate can increase only if leisure is a luxury. In a multi-commodity model with commodity taxes, the goods preferred by the low skilled agent and/or those with high Hicksian elasticities are taxed more heavily. When preferences exhibit quasi-linearity, we can show that the introduction of the λ-equitability constraint increases the marginal income tax rates of the entire population.     

论促进西部开发的财税政策问题

第十届全国人民代表大会第五次会议又一次强调了新形势下加大对西部大开发的投入,但鉴于西部开发的财税政策出现的种种问题,如政府转移支付力度不足、财政投资效益低下、财政负担沉重、税收优惠政策无法落到实处等,我们建议在制定促进西部开发的财税政策时,应针对西部实际有所创新,同时,调动多方投资主体的积极性,把握政策转型期间的各种机遇,有针对性地支持西部特色产业.     

New Labour, energy policy and 'competitive markets'

By the end of New Labour's first term four central objectivesof energy policy had become established: ‘cheap’energy, the relief of fuel poverty, a major reduction of carbondioxide emissions, and energy security through maintaining awide diversity of primary fuel supplies, all to be achievedthrough ‘competition’. After surveying New Labourenergy policy documents, the paper argues that New Labour failedto appreciate (i) the extent to which, under such a laissezfaire policy regime, these objectives were mutually inconsistent;(ii) that the apparent successes of energy market liberalisationduring the preceding Conservative Governments had little todo with ‘competition’; and (iii) that the transactioncosts of injecting increasing ‘competition’ intoboth British and European energy systems are likely to exacerbatethe growing threat to energy security. The paper concludes witha brief examination of the implications of transaction costeconomics for the organisational structure of the UK energysupply industry.     

基于排放权交易的节能减排项目融资模式研究

融资问题一直是制约企业节能减排项目发展的关键因素,排放权交易的试点运作开启了基于排放权交易市场的节能减排融资模式的新篇章。利用节能减排项目的减排效果,能够构建一个基于排放权交易的节能减排项目融资模式,有效拓宽了节能减排项目的融资渠道。     

中日中小企业政府扶持政策比较研究

中日中小企业有基本相同的发展背景,政府对中小企业采取支持和扶持的政策是两国政府的共同举措。对比分析两国政府在创造良好经营环境、融资、财政、税收等方面的政策措施,借鉴日本政府在发展中小企业方面的先进经验,进一步完善和细化政府促进中小企业发展的相关政策和法律法规,帮助在市场竞争中强位弱势及无法通过自身努力解决问题的中小企业摆脱困境,走上健康的发展之路。     

行业视角下减排成本估算及减排路径研究

碳达峰碳中和是中国经济发展环境治理的战略目标,减排成本与减排路径是该战略实施中两大现实问题。基于行业视角,利用投入产出方法,对行业减排成本、技术减排效应及减排路径展开研究,基本结论如下：①行业减排成本差异大,整体减排成本逐年上升。在三个代表性年份行业最高与最低减排成本相差40-60倍,减排成本绝对差值在1500-3000$/t。在2000-2010年间, 32个行业减排成本均有不同程度的上升, 全社会整体减排成本上升了56.98%。②技术进步的减排贡献较大,部分行业技术减排有限。在产出固定假设下,2000-2010年技术进步实现累计减排57.09亿t,累计技术减排率达到47.88%;但在旅游、住宿餐饮等行业技术减排率为负,技术因素导致的排放不减反增。③行业减排路径应遵循从高碳到低碳的顺序。基于减排成本与技术减排两大因素的减排路径规划显示,优先和重点减排行业主要集中在能源生产供给、加工制造、交通运输、采矿及设备制造等高能耗高排放行业;可相对延后和非重点减排行业主要为食品烟草等传统加工制造业以及金融、房地产等现代服务业。     

Making green discourses matter in policy-making: Learning from discursive power struggles within the policy area of car taxation

This paper is about stability and change in the policy-making discourse of a traditional neoclassical policy area, the area of car taxation. Stability is here related to the unquestioned continuation of a traditional neoclassical economics perspective in policy-making, whereas change is related to the introduction and impact of environmental concerns. The aim of the paper is to investigate, what makes green discourses matter in traditional policy-making. It is based on an in-depth study of policy-making processes related to car taxation in two environmental front-runner countries, Sweden and Denmark.Making green discourses matter in policy-making is an important contemporary environmental challenge. Therefore, as Tian Shi argues, we need more research into the institutional setting of the policy-making process. Ecological economics as a policy science has to have a broad understanding of the political economic nature of the policy process. Taking this standpoint as the point of departure, the paper seeks to uncover questions such as, what is the policy-making reality in which Swedish and Danish green discourses have to make a difference? How do existing neoclassical regimes react, when green actors attempt to influence policy-making from an environmental point of view? And to what extent can green discourses actually have an impact on the policy world within the area of car taxation?The paper concludes that the traditional neoclassical economic discourse is particularly robust and resistant against alternative green discourses. Stability rather than change is the dominating picture. This does not imply that environmental concerns will not be taken into account in the future. Rather it implies that only the changes, which keep up the existing order, or enhance the narrow power-related interests of the dominating actors, will materialise more or less easily. The rest is a power struggle in which timing, coalition-building, persistence and thorough knowledge about the field in question is of importance. In this struggle change agents will also benefit from the ability to rethink dominating ways of thinking and doing in an environmentally benign way. A rethinking that is based on environmental values while at the same time holding positive visions that are ‘compatible’ with the existing dominating discourse.     

Indirect taxation and the welfare effects of altruism on the optimal fiscal policy

This paper analyzes the welfare effects of altruism on the optimal fiscal policy. The existence of positive bequests links present and future generations in the economy. We show that these altruistic links provide a new role for indirect taxation (consumption and estate taxes) with important welfare implications. We use three different altruistic approaches (warm-glow, dynastic, and family) to illustrate how the presence of bequests in the budget constraint of the donee gives the government the ability to use indirect taxation to mimic lump-sum taxes and to implement the first-best outcome in the long-run. This channel is not present in economies without altruism, such as the infinite-lived consumer economy or the overlapping generations economy, where long-run welfare is suboptimal and indirect taxation is irrelevant.     

中国节能减排潜力测度与优化路径

在综合考虑能源利用和污染物排放的基础上,利用数据包络分析方法构建节能潜力和减排潜力的测度模型。利用1996—2010年中国30个省(自治区、直辖市)的相关数据,计算其节能潜力和减排潜力。基于此,利用ArcGIS10.0软件分析中国节能潜力和减排潜力的时空演进情况,找到各省节能减排的最优路径。结果表明:整体上看,中国具有较大的节能减排潜力,其中节能减排潜力较大的省份主要有山西、贵州、云南、陕西和甘肃等;随着时间的推移,中国的节能减排潜力呈明显的"西-中-东"阶梯状分布格局,节能、减排的重点区域均有向西部地区转移的倾向;中国节能减排的重点监控省份可选择的优化路径有渐进式和飞跃式两种。     

A theory of capital gains taxation and business turnover

We present a theory concerning the realization of capital gains where ownership and control are linked as in Holmes and Schmitz (J. Pol. Econ. 103: 1005–1038, 1995). The model developed is a version of a Lucas-tree economy in which the productivity of a technology depends on the ownership of the technology. The existence and uniqueness of equilibrium follow from the Contraction Mapping Theorem. The theory implies that impediments to asset trading, such as capital gains taxation, negatively affect production efficiency. Moreover, we calibrate the model economy to U.S. data on small-business turnover and find that indexing deductions for inflation is capable of increasing capital-gains tax revenues. We thank an anonymous referee for helpful comments, and well as Tom Holmes, Ed Prescott, Jim Schmitz and Neil Wallace for insightful conversations. Cavalcanti is grateful for financial support from CNPq, as well as the hospitality from the University of Toronto during his visiting appointment at the Department of Economics in 2006. Erosa acknowledges the support from the Institute for Policy Analysis at the University of Toronto and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.     

Dynamics of the UK natural gas industry: System dynamics modelling and long-term energy policy analysis

We present a dynamic model of the indigenous natural gas industry in the UK. The model has been built using a system dynamics approach. Using the model several scenarios have been analyzed. We found that management of the supply-side policy alone cannot substantially postpone the discovery, production and consumption peak. We also found that the dynamics of the main variables, namely, exploration, production and consumption, are sensitive to initial demand conditions. Postponing the onset of gas price increases can therefore be achieved more effectively through efforts to reduce demand growth. One might expect that a low taxation policy would encourage more exploration and production of gas and thereby stimulate higher consumption rates. Instead, there was no overall net effect on production and consumption in the long term. The depletion effect on cost of exploration acts as counterbalance to low taxation policy. Depletion effect causes cost and thus price to rise further which depress consumption rate. The advances in exploration and production technology can delay the peak of exploration, production and consumption. Technological improvements mean lower cost of exploration and production which pressure down the long-term pattern of price dynamics.     

Beyond Kyoto, plan B: A climate policy master plan based on transparent metrics

Many scholars analyze the Kyoto–Copenhagen process, and offer corrective suggestions for identified flaws in the present design. Based on various proposals in the literature, this article adopts a global master-plan perspective, leaving executive architecture to sovereign participants. Transparent, flexible and fair top-down rules must synchronize the numerous bottom-up initiatives while addressing the diversity of national circumstances in the drastic transformation of the world's energy economies.Plan B refutes absolute emission reduction targets on old or speculative baselines. It criticizes global tax and permit trade instruments for being ineffective, inefficient and unfair when uniformly applied on a tremendous differentiated world. Plan B is built on three annually observed variables measuring percentage progress against rolling baselines (the variables' values in the previous year): the ratio of net climate tax revenues to GDP, the commercial energy intensity of GDP, and the carbon intensity of commercial energy use. The three variables together indicate countries' progress affecting emissions per person, a metric that must converge to lower bands when climate change is addressed seriously. Long-term scenarios of global convergence “funnels” serve as guidance to frame near-term actions rich and poor countries individually propose to take. The global regime is common for all countries, and is ranked by GDP per person to determine whether a nation is a donor or a beneficiary in a Global Climate Transfer Fund. Fund payments and drawing rights depend on that ranking but also on the performances of the countries in realizing committed progress. The transparent mechanisms of the design and of the fund persuasively invite countries to participate in a fair, self-enforcing agreement.     

Net national emissions, CO2 taxation and the role of forestry

The concept of net national emissions suggests that accumulation of carbon in forestry should be taken into account when countries buy CO₂ permits or pay CO₂ taxes. The paper analyses the question of the correct tax/subsidy programme for giving proper incentives to forest owners and utilizers of wood. The analysis uses a dynamic general equilibrium model with productive capital and the stock of forests as state variables. It turns out that in a decentralized economy forest owners should be subsidized and CO₂ emissions should be taxed independently of whether they originates from wood or fossil fuels.     

我国节能减排税收政策效应研究

税收政策是我国促进节能减排的重要工具之一。采用Engle-Granger协整检验方法,对我国节能减排税收政策效应的实证研究结果表明,从长期看,节能减排税收收入与我国单位GDP能耗之间存在协整关系,但各个税种的节能减排效应差异较大。其中,增值税的节能减排效果显著,但仍有改善空间,而消费税和资源税并未发挥应有的作用。因此,建议通过全面改革资源税制、扩大消费税征税范围以及优化增值税税率等系列措施,促进我国节能减排税收政策效应的发挥。