Metanoic organizations in the transition to a sustainable society

The transition to a sustainable society will entail major shifts in many of the attitudes, values, and basic assumptions that have driven industrial growth. There is growing evidence that these shifts are already occurring and that private enterprise may become a primary locus for translating new values into operational principles. Many organizations are experimenting with pioneering innovations in organizational design and fundamentally different assumptions concerning the nature of individuals and organizations. Features of these organizations that are especially important for a sustainable society are the following: 1) a deep awareness of and sense of responsibility for the social systems within which individuals live and work, 2) an understanding of how complex systems can thwart well-intentioned interventions, and 3) a belief in the power of individuals aligned around an appropriate vision to influence such systems. In the long and stressful transitions to a society in balance with its environment, private enterprise can now play a pivotal role. The beliefs and assumptions that underlie the unsustainable growth era are not easily changed. Mechanisms are vitally needed that will allow them to unfreeze and evolve. Nurtured within organizations, new insights about the nature of humankind and the systems in which he operates are already being demonstrated on a small scale. As their feasibility is established, they will be more easily disseminated and accepted by society as a whole.     

浅谈职务犯罪的预防对构建和谐社会的重大现实意义

职务犯罪现象还在一定的领域里存在,严重地影响了我国社会主义和谐社会的建设。加强对职务犯罪的预防,无疑对构建和谐社会具有重大的现实意义。文章就此展开详细论述。     

Initial infrastructure development strategies for the transition to sustainable mobility

Within the Dutch transition policy framework, the transition to hydrogen-based transport is seen as a promising option towards a sustainable transport system. One aspect of such transition processes that is emphasized in transition management is learning about user behaviour and preferences. However, while earlier research on sustainable mobility acknowledges the importance of refuelling infrastructure, the question of how to unroll such an infrastructure and the role of user practices and user behaviour largely remains unanswered. In this paper we present an agent-based model to study the process of development from niche to market for hydrogen vehicles. We thereby focus on the role of users in this process and support our model by empirical data. Within this model the effects of different strategies for hydrogen infrastructure development on hydrogen vehicle fleet penetration are studied. More specifically, diffusion patterns for hydrogen vehicles are created through the interactions of consumers, refuelling stations and technological learning. The main result is that social network effects do influence the technological trajectory of hydrogen vehicles and thus should be taken into account by infrastructure developers and policymakers.     

A coevolutionary framework for analysing a transition to a sustainable low carbon economy

This paper proposes a coevolutionary framework for analysing a transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy, based on the coevolution of ecosystems, technologies, institutions, business strategies and user practices, within a multi-level micro-meso-macro perspective. This builds on and develops previous coevolutionary analyses of long-term technological and industrial change, and recent renewed interest within ecological economics on coevolutionary approaches. Previous work has analysed how the coevolution of technologies and institutions has led to the lock-in of current high-carbon energy systems; and how the coevolution of physical and social technologies and business strategies has brought significant material and welfare benefits to the minority of the world's population living in industrialised countries. The coevolutionary framework proposed here may be used to undertake: (1) detailed empirical analyses at a micro-meso level of the challenges relating to the innovation and adoption of particularly low-carbon technologies; (2) as a framework for analysing the multi-level interaction of social and technological elements within potential transition pathways to a low carbon energy system; (3) to assess the implications for economic growth and prosperity of a transition to a low carbon economy; and (4) to assist in the development of more formal, multi-level evolutionary economic models.     

Corporate self-reliance and the sustainable society

This paper explores the role of “corporate self-reliance” in producing and maintaining a sustainable society. The paper examines the meaning of corporate self-reliance: business enterprises assuming responsibility for the consequences of their operation in the social as well as the physical environment by forming partnerships with local communities and families.The paper presents four strategies for the development of corporate self-reliance. The first is the role of labor-management committees as change agents for improving the quality of community and work life. The second strategy is worker-ownership as a constructive community response to plant shut-downs. The third strategy involves employer-based family support systems. The fourth is participative work as a means of enhancing personal and corporate competence resulting in enhanced morale and productivity, essential components of corporate self-reliance. In all four examples, the underlying theme is the importance of investing in human resources. In the course of explicating these phenomena, the paper considers the following related issues: Japanese concepts of corporate responsibility for employee and community welfare, outcome measures beyond job satisfaction, community impact, and the costs of change for individuals and groups. The paper relies upon original research by the authors and a review of studies in a variety of disciplines.     

Toward a sustainable society : The private sector in six guises

The meaning of a sustainable society is discussed to provide a framework for considering the role of the private sector. Duration and extent are polarized as long versus short and global versus local. Fundamental forces of geo-politics, social organization and technology argue for a focus on short duration and local extent.Population pressures and standard of living are of central concern in attaining a sustainable society. The target must be a stable population with a rising standard of living. Because resources are limited, the private sector's major role must be in the efficient use of resources to create wealth.To this end, it is well adapted. It consists, generally, of privately owned firms, employing shareholders' capital, to make a profit in a market economy. These characteristics, however, place major constraints on its ability to adopt noneconomic objectives of a social nature or in pursuit of a sustainable society. A number of responses to this dilemma are beginning to emerge, both in theory and practice. To help understand the complexity that constitutes modern economic life and its socio-political environment, the private sector is viewed in six guises: wealth creator, corporate citizen, benevolent despot, reluctant social partner, cooperative social partner, and private patron. Discussion concentrates on the significance of each of these for the sustainable society.Finally, some thought is given to the significance of the private sector as a model for institutional flexibility in a sustainable society.     

发展循环经济,促进和谐社会建设

天津作为环渤海经济中心．要建设国际化港口大都市．面向世界的加工制造业基地和生态城市．就必须进一步加快循环经济发展．转变经济增长方式，全面提高经济增长质量．努力构建集约型，节约型，生态型的发展模式，开创和谐社会新局面。     

The ecology of diamond sourcing: from mined to synthetic gems as a sustainable transition

Luxury goods such as gemstones constitute a challenge for moving towards a sustainable society. From a purely bio-economic perspective, such goods consume planetary resources to provide a human “want” rather than a “need”. However, their extraction or manufacturing also provides important livelihoods for communities along the supply chain and hence contribute towards development outcomes. Comparing mined versus synthetic gems can provide consumers with important benchmarks on choice. The energy usage and emissions in mined versus lab-created diamonds was evaluated, based on industrial data, since these two factors are often a general indicator of environmental impact that can be useful in product comparisons. Depending on the process and the location of the mine, the data can be highly divergent and cannot be used as a singular measure of environmental impact. There is a need to develop life cycle analysis techniques from industrial ecology to conduct a detailed comparison of synthetic versus mined stones. Informed consumers could help to transition this luxury good towards a mix of mined and synthetic gems that best meet ecological and social metrics of sustainability.     

A transitions model for sustainable mobility

This paper reports on the development of a model for assessing transitions to sustainable mobility. The model uses the concepts of transition theory as a framework for assessing possible pathways by which a transition to a sustainable mobility society might happen. The modelling approach combines agent-based modelling techniques with a system dynamics structure. It is original in that there are two levels of agent. There are a small number of complex agents, which have an internal structure and are therefore subsystems within society, and a larger number of simple agents. Based on the UK data, the results show that Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) come to dominate, but only in the very long run (after 2030), while biofuels and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)-electric hybrids are the main alternatives to the regime in the next 10–30 years, because a) they are already developed and b) they fit better into current infrastructures. The model shows that technological transitions are most likely. Lifestyle change transitions require sustained pressure from the environment on society and behavioural change from consumers.     

A transitions model for sustainable mobility

This paper reports on the development of a model for assessing transitions to sustainable mobility. The model uses the concepts of transition theory as a framework for assessing possible pathways by which a transition to a sustainable mobility society might happen. The modelling approach combines agent-based modelling techniques with a system dynamics structure. It is original in that there are two levels of agent. There are a small number of complex agents, which have an internal structure and are therefore subsystems within society, and a larger number of simple agents. Based on the UK data, the results show that Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) come to dominate, but only in the very long run (after 2030), while biofuels and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)-electric hybrids are the main alternatives to the regime in the next 10–30 years, because a) they are already developed and b) they fit better into current infrastructures. The model shows that technological transitions are most likely. Lifestyle change transitions require sustained pressure from the environment on society and behavioural change from consumers.     

A model of the socialist firm in transition to a market economy

This paper models the dynamic adjustment path of a socialist firm in transition to a market economy by a price shock that renders old capital obsolete. The firm can adjust with investment in more productive capital equipments. The optimal time paths of investment, output, and employment are analyzed and the impact of fiscal incentives like investment subsidies and a reduced corporate income tax rate are studied. Like output, the aggregate capital stock follows a J-curve. The conditions for viability of firms and the impact of variables such as wage increases on the value of the firm are discussed.     

A structural model of the transition to agriculture

I develop a model of the transition to agriculture that can be estimated using cross-cultural data on the incidence of agriculture. The model allows for endogenous growth effects in which population density and technological sophistication are symbiotically related, and also allows for technological spillovers from centers of civilization. The model describes conditions under which population density and technological sophistication are likely to cause a switch to agriculture. Results suggest that endogenous growth affects are absent among hunter gatherers, but that technological spillovers are important in generating a switch to agriculture, and in generating technological change. Technology appears to diffuse more slowly along the north-south axis than along the east-west axis. Among agricultural peoples, endogenous growth effects appear to be present and important—a society that is 10% more technologically sophisticated has a population density about 5% larger, and a society with a 10% higher population density is on average 5% more technologically sophisticated. Hunter-gatherer population density appears to be independent of technology, but elastic with respect to environmental factors such as rainfall and habitat diversity.      

The transition to a globalized economy: Poverty,human capital and the informal sector in a structuralist CGE model

Recent econometric evidence suggests that trade liberalization has an elusive relationship to growth and income distribution. This paper provides an explanation for these results via numerical simulations of a dynamic structuralist CGE. The conclusion is that if families become too poor to finance human capital accumulation, or the state too stingy to supply it at a reasonable cost, exports of skill-intensive goods can become uncompetitive and the transition to openness may involve increasing poverty, unemployment and stagnation. The model design incorporates an informal sector as well as accumulation of human capital. The paper simulates two trajectories, a “green” path in which per capita income grows steadily with a rapid rate of human capital accumulation and a reduction in the level of economic informality. A second, or “red” path is also possible, however, with a growth rate that is much lower, an expanding informal sector and an inadequate rate of human capital formation.     

The structure of Walras's mature model of capital goods markets

This essay examines the capital goods markets in the comprehensive model that Léon Walras constructed during the mature period of his theoretical work. the essay answers fundamental questions about the participants and market institutions in his model; the monetary or nonmonetary nature of the model; his assumptions about the nature of capital goods; his definitions of the rate of interest and the rate of net income and their functions in his model; and the roles in his model of the Bourse, the loan market and the rental market for capital goods.     

Analysis of barriers in the transition toward sustainable mobility in the Netherlands

The transition toward a sustainable transportation system in the Netherlands takes place in the context of the Dutch “Transition management policy framework”. We study four technological routes that the “Platform Sustainable Mobility” has selected for this goal: (1) hybridization of vehicles, (2) liquid biofuels, (3) natural gas as a transportation fuel and (4) hydrogen as a transportation fuel. These technological routes all envision large-scale changes in vehicle propulsion technology and fuel infrastructure. Furthermore, they compete for the scarce resources available to invest in new (fuel) infrastructures, which implicates that these ‘transition paths’ are also interdependent at the level of the mobility system. The main outcome of the analysis is the identification of barriers that are currently blocking the transition toward sustainable mobility. Barriers are classified as being related to (1) technology and vehicle development, (2) the availability of (fuel) infrastructures, and (3) elements of the institutional infrastructure. The transition management framework currently misses guidelines for coping with (competing) technologies that each require large infrastructural investments. We further argue that avoiding undesired lock-ins and creating a beneficial institutional context for sustainable mobility cannot be pursued at the transition path level. Therefore, we recommend that a more systemic approach should be taken to the transition to sustainable mobility, in which the interdependencies between the transition paths are critically assessed and in which the possibilities to legitimize sustainable mobility as a whole should be used.     

Modelling with flexibility through the business cycle: using a panel smooth transition model to test for the lipstick effect

ABSTRACT

Consumer spending typically declines during periods of economic distress, but observers have noted that lipstick purchases appear to increase during recessions, which is often referred to as the lipstick effect. However, the existence of such effect has remained empirically unconfirmed. Using weekly retail scanner data on lipstick sales from 2006 to 2016 in the United States, we applied a Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) demand model to test the relationship between economic distress and lipstick sales. This flexible demand specification allows regression coefficients to vary as a function of an exogenous macroeconomic variables and fluctuate asymmetrically, non-linearly, and time-varyingly across an unlimited number of regimes. Empirical results show the income elasticity of demand for lipstick decreased rapidly from 0.31 to 0.05 during the 2007–2009 recession, then slowly rebounded to 0.31 by the second quarter of 2014, thus first empirically confirming the existence of the lipstick effect.