An application of DPSIR framework to identify issues of pollinator loss

This paper is an attempt to apply the Driving forces–Pressures–State–Impact–Responses (DPSIR) framework to identify the issues of pollinator loss. The linkages between the significant pressures on insect pollinators, their underlying socio-economic driving forces and responses, with the focus on Europe, are addressed in the study. A review of literature revealed the shortage of empirical studies that prove direct links between policy responses and specific pressures on the pollinators. Based on written evidence and expert judgement, land use practices and the use of agrochemicals were regarded as the most significant pressures on different functional groups of pollinators. As demonstrated in the study, agricultural and rural development policy has been the key driving force of these pressures. The application of the DPSIR framework proved to be useful in identifying the pathway of human pressures on pollinators. The study also concludes that there is further need for specific empirical research on the effects and effectiveness of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures (agri-environment measures in particular) to support farming practices that facilitate the protection of the environment and the prevention of pollinator loss.     

Modelling economic circuit flows in a social accounting matrix framework. An application to Portugal

Aggregated Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) will be built for the Portuguese economy in 1997, 1998 and 1999, based on the country's national accounts statistics. The SAMs will be shown as a working instrument for quantifying the flows in the economic circuit and for simulating the effects resulting from changes in such flows. The economic flows associated with the government subsectors will be emphasized, whilst accounting and fixed-price multipliers will be calculated to facilitate the study of the effects resulting from changes in the government's expenditure, which will also be subjected to a test on their veracity.     

Climate change as a threat to biodiversity: An application of the DPSIR approach

Climate change and its consequences present one of the most important threats to biodiversity and the functions of ecosystems. The stress on biodiversity is far beyond the levels imposed by the natural global climatic changes occurring in the recent evolutionary past. It includes temperature increases, shifts of climate zones, melting of snow and ice, sea level rise, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events. Natural systems are vulnerable to such changes due to their limited adaptive capacity. Based on an analysis using the DPSIR framework, this paper discusses some of the important socio-economic driving forces of climate change, with a focus on energy use and transportation. The paper also analyses observed and potential changes of climate and the pressures they exert on biodiversity, the changes in biodiversity, the resulting impacts on ecosystem functions, and possible policy responses. The latter can be divided into mitigation and adaptation measures. Both strategies are needed, mitigation in order to stabilise the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, and adaptation in order to adjust to changes that have already occurred or cannot be avoided. One mitigation option, increased biofuel production, which is also a response to oil depletion, would change land use patterns and increase human appropriation of net primary production of biomass, thereby threatening biodiversity. By considering the first order and second order impacts of climate change on biodiversity when developing policy measures, it will be possible to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity protection into decision-making processes.     

Assessing sustainability, a comprehensive wealth accounting prospect: An application to Mozambique

We estimate the wealth of Mozambique in 2000 and 2005 in order to assess the sustainability of its development path. Our methodology builds on Arrow et al. (2010). We show that Mozambican wealth increases through human and physical capital accumulation, while the pressure on natural capital remains low. The growth of total factor productivity enhances the outcome of the different capital assets, but population growth has a strong downward effect on wealth per capita. Results suggest that Mozambican development was sustainable between 2000 and 2005, but these remain ambiguous and are highly sensitive to data and assumptions used.     

Evaluation of national science park systems: a theoretical framework and its application to the Italian and Spanish systems

Although many authors have analysed the role and the efficiency of science parks, only a few contributions have analysed national science park systems (SPSs) as a whole. Because of the lack of data, evidence regarding the performance of science parks in a nation is very limited and there is a lack of comparisons between different systems. This paper aims to introduce a simple framework to analyse SPSs and to show its use for comparing the state of development and the main differences of two or more SPSs. Its application to the Italian and Spanish systems shows that science parks play a more important role in Spain than in Italy. The main causes of these differences are argued to be (i) the presence of a set of coherent and particular policies which favour science parks in Spain and (ii) the internal factors of the Spanish science park system, including business models of the science parks and the role of the national association.     

中国社会责任会计信息披露模式的架构

本文在较系统地探讨了我国建立社会责任会计信息披露的目标和原则,并在国外披露模式的研究基础上,具体架构中国社会责任会计信息披露模式,慎重地提出架构我国企业社会责任会计信息披露模式应以传统的三大会计报表为核心,即社会资产负债表、社会利润表和社会现金流量表。     

Platform design framework: conceptualisation and application

Technological platforms enable actors to connect their resources across markets, creating value through complementarities and network effects. The design choices related to different aspects of a platform are crucial for ensuring value creation. Building on earlier literature, we have developed a framework for platform design, involving four elements: 1) platform architecture, 2) value creation logic, 3) governance, and 4) platform competition. Using a design science approach, we provide an empirical illustration of design choices in the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform DORA. The study presents an overarching framework for platform design, with an empirical use case illustrating its applicability.     

Analysing the evolution of industrial ecosystems: concepts and application

Industrial ecology and the industrial ecosystem approach (IE) are emerging concepts in ecological economics, environmental policy and corporate environmental management. The natural ecosystem model of diverse recycling and cascading material and energy flow systems has been used in industrial systems that are contrasting to this, operating with linear flows and unsustainable. Understanding the evolution of industrial systems over time toward sustainable or unsustainable ways of operating is important for learning about environmental performance analyses as well as for future planning of policy and management. The evolution over time of the Uimaharju forest industry park in Eastern Finland is studied. First, the system development is described by identifying the number of IE-type ‘roundput’ material and energy flows denoting waste utilisation and sustainable use of renewables. Second, development of the system over time is shown in terms of the number of the actors involved. This structural characteristic is termed system ‘diversity’. Third, the relation of the two is considered. Fourth, the drivers of the case system development are discussed. Fifth, an initial effort is made to calculate some of the environmental effects of the system during its development. An increase in roundput and diversity over time is observed. Diversity is affecting roundput. The park tends to enlarge its activities outside the industrial park boundary over time. While the system illustrates high roundput and high diversity, we can only speculate if these characteristics contribute to sustainability, because of difficulties in system boundary definition.     

煤化工技术群组分类和趋势预测:来自专利数据的分析

以国家知识产权局专利数据库为数据来源,采用专利文本挖掘、聚类分析和技术预测相结合的方法,结合R-stideo软件和Loglet Lab软件中的统计分析工具,针对煤化工技术进行技术群组分类及趋势预测研究。研究表明:煤化工技术可分成六大技术群组,即污水处理技术群组、煤气净化技术群组、煤气化技术群组、传统煤化工群组、污染物监测技术群组以及煤液化技术群组。传统煤化工技术专利申请量已进入下降期,表明传统煤化工技术进入衰退期,未来向更加清洁的新型煤化工方向发展;煤气净化技术、煤气化技术和煤液化技术等,经过发展进入稳定发展期,市场空间巨大;污水处理技术和污染物检测技术作为污染治理方面的技术处于快速发展阶段,污水处理技术正朝着更加高效、更加环保以及方法更加综合的方向发展,煤气净化技术正向着更加经济、环保、可靠和高效的方向发展。     

Estimating input-mix efficiency in a parametric framework: application to state-level agricultural data for the United States

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to the productivity literature by demonstrating novel econometric methods to estimate input-mix efficiency (IME) in a parametric framework. Input-mix efficiency is defined as the potential improvement in productivity with change in input mix. Any change in input-mix (e.g., land to labou r ratio) will result in change in productivity. The advantage of this approach is that it does not require data on input prices to estimate the mix efficiency levels. A nonlinear input-aggregator function (e.g., Constant Elasticity of Substitution) is used to derive an expression for input-mix efficiency. Bayesian stochastic frontier is estimated for obtaining mix efficiency using US state-level agricultural data for the period 1960–2004. Significant variation in input-mix efficiency is noted across the states and regions, attributable to diverse topographic and geographic conditions. Furthermore, comparisons of allocative and mix efficiencies provide insightful policy implications. The production incentives such as taxes and subsidies could help farmers in adjusting their input mix in response to changes in input prices, which can affect the US agricultural productivity significantly. The proposed methodology can be extended by i) using flexible functional forms; ii) introducing various time- and region-varying input aggregators; and iii) defining more sophisticated weights for input aggregators.     

Collateral equilibrium,I: a basic framework

Much of the lending in modern economies is secured by some form of collateral: residential and commercial mortgages and corporate bonds are familiar examples. This paper builds an extension of general equilibrium theory that incorporates durable goods, collateralized securities, and the possibility of default to argue that the reliance on collateral to secure loans and the particular collateral requirements chosen by the social planner or by the market have a profound impact on prices, allocations, market structure, and the efficiency of market outcomes. These findings provide insights into housing and mortgage markets, including the subprime mortgage market.     

Reputation,control rights and game equilibrium -A game analytical framework and application to SOEs in China

Using the reputation model of Kreps (1982), Vickers (1986) and Barro(1986), we develop a dynamic game model with incomplete information to examine the relations between the managers of state-owned enterprises(SOEs) in China and the government as the enterprise’s owner. Employing the model, we show that even a noncoopertive manager will not intrude the owner’s interests until the last period of his term in order to maximize his long term utility. The paper also discusses some phenomenona in state-owned enterprises in China, such as “insiders’ control”, “59 phenomenon” and excess on-the-job consumption.     

Innovation, competition, and growth: Schumpeterian ideas within a Hicksian framework

Schumpeter’s ideas, which should be the basis of any evolutionary approach to the relations between innovation, competition and growth, are revisited and interpreted within the analytical framework proposed by Hicks in Capital and Time. Two main results emerge. First, the introduction of any new technology may lead to higher unemployment and reduced productivity; only an active monetary (and banking policy) will allow the economy to capture productivity gains. Second, within an industry confronted by recurrent technological changes, certain monopoly practices may be needed for this industry to converge towards an efficient market structure determined by the content of technology and the profile of demand. These results suggest some reconsideration of the macroeconomic and industrial or competition policies designed, in Europe, to cope with both technical change and globalization in modern economies.     

Internal and external exchange rate equilibrium in a cointegration framework. An application to the Spanish peseta

A simple cointegration methodology is used to compute the equilibrium real exchange rate for the peseta. The stock of foreign assets and the evolution of sectoral prices are considered to be the fundamentals for the real exchange rate. After testing for cointegration, we proceed to decompose the series into a permanent and a transitory component, following the method devised by Gonzalo and Granger. The permanent component of the real exchange rate corresponds to its (time-varying) equilibrium value, and the deviation of the actual real exchange rate from this equilibrium value gives an estimation of the degree of misalignment of the real exchange rate. By the end of the sample (1998:1), the peseta is estimated to be undervalued around 6%.