Factors affecting electricity generation in China: Current situation and prospects

China has attracted worldwide attention due to the global economic and environmental effects of its rapid economic growth over the last 20 years, with particular attention given to the country's accelerating energy consumption and resulting greenhouse gas emissions. China's electricity sector is particularly important for both of these issues as it accounts for nearly half of its greenhouse gas emissions and even greater proportions of the country's demands for primary fuel resources. In order to better understand how these issues may progress in an economy changing as fast as China's, this paper develops a framework that can be used to help model the electricity sector's future development. The framework builds upon key technological and socio-economic drivers, including those affecting electricity demand (e.g., economic growth, structure, energy efficiency, urbanization, and change in per capita income) and electricity supply (e.g., deregulation, initiatives to promote natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy, air pollution regulations, price developments for coal and natural gas, and changes in generation technology). The framework serves as a foundation for a scenario exercise on the greenhouse gas and fuel consumption impacts of different developmental paths for China's electricity sector. These scenarios and their implications for emissions and fuel consumption are presented in a subsequent article.     

Conservation: From Voluntary Restraint to a Voluntary Price Premium

This paper investigates how concern for the environment translates into predictable patterns of consumer behavior. Two types of behavior are considered. First, individuals who care about environmental quality may voluntarily restrain their consumption of goods and services that generate a negative externality. Second, individuals may choose to pay a price premium for goods and services that are more environmentally benign. A theoretical model identifies a symmetry between such voluntary restraint and a voluntary price premium that mirrors the symmetry between environmental policies based on either quantities (quotas) or prices (taxes). We test predictions of the model in an empirical study of household electricity consumption with introduction of a price-premium, green-electricity program. We find evidence of voluntary restraint and its relation to a voluntary price premium. The empirical results are consistent with the theoretical model of voluntary conservation.      

Exploring sustainability transitions in the electricity sector with socio-technical pathways

This paper analyses sustainability transitions in the electricity system, using recent theories on socio-technical pathways. The paper describes three possible transition pathways and indicates the implications for (grid) infrastructures. The ‘transformation pathway’ is characterised by a further hybridization of the infrastructure; in the ‘reconfiguration pathway’, internationalisation and scale increase in renewable generation lead to the emergence of a ‘Supergrid’. The ‘de-alignment and re-alignment pathway’ is dominated by distributed generation and a focus on more local infrastructures. We suggest that this pathway, which involves a major restructuring of the electricity system, is less likely than the other two. The de-alignment and re-alignment pathway is therefore more dependent on external developments and/or strong policy interventions. All pathways, however, require major investments in infrastructure and innovative technologies.     

Efficiency and Equity in Natural Resources Pricing: A Proposal for Urban Water Distribution Service

This paper focuses on the design of optimal prices for urban water distribution service. In this context, pricing should be aimed at achieving efficiency, equity, financial aspects, and/or public acceptability and transparency. The proposed tariffs are based on the theoretical frameworks suggested by Ramsey (1927) and Feldstein (1972). As a prior step, estimations of urban water demands and water costs are carried out for the Spanish municipality of Seville. Finally, an empirical comparison, in welfare terms, is conducted between the proposed tariffs and those applicable in the year 2000.     

资金供求影响社会经济运行的经济学分析

资金供求对社会经济运行的整体格局及其效果有着十分重要的影响。就资金供求与货币供求的关系而言,资金供求均衡是货币供求均衡赖以形成的基础。资金运行除了具有货币运行的效应外,还通过生产过程对价值增殖发挥着不可替代的作用。资金供求均衡是货币供求均衡的核心。资金供求和商品供求密切相关,任何一方的失衡都将使另一方的均衡变得十分困难,但资金供求均衡是商品供求均衡的先决条件。实现资金供求的均衡,是实现社会总供给与总需求均衡的重要保证。     

天然气分布式冷热电联供系统节能减排技术经济分析模型

分析了我国天然气能源供需情况及能源价格情况,构建了天然气分布式冷热电联供系统的经济效益分析模型。利用相关数据,分析了该系统的经济效益,并对影响经济效益的主要因素进行了敏感性分析,构建了天然气分布式冷热电联供系统节能减排效益分析模型,并对该系统的减排效益进行分析。结果表明:天然气分布式冷热电联动系统具有显著的经济效益,可大大降低污染物的排放量。     

双视角下地区能源状况与经济增长关系研究——基于省际面板数据的实证分析

本文从阐述"资源诅咒"的命题出发,以省际面板数据为样本,选择煤炭、石油和天然气这三种主要的能源矿产作为研究对象,既从静态角度讨论了地区能源储量与经济发展的关系,又从动态角度研究了能源供求比的变动对经济增长速度的影响,其实证结果表明,煤能源供求比与经济增长显著负相关,同时"资源诅咒"现象在中国客观存在但并非普遍存在,具有相同能源状况的地区经济增长的表现并不一致。     

Assessing the role of aggregate demand and supply shocks in China’s macroeconomic fluctuation

The combination of a high growth rate and low information has been observed since the late 1990s in the Chinese economy. Should the fact be considered as a result of greatly improved supply capability or should the fact reflect the improvement in the government’s aggregate demand management? In this paper, we try to assess the role of aggregate demand and supply shocks in China’s macroeconomic fluctuation. We use a bivariate structural VAR model to investigate macroeconomic dynamics for China within the aggregate-demand and aggregate-supply framework, using the quarterly data in the period of 1996Q1–2005Q4. Our principal findings are following: (1) China’s high growth shall be associated more with greatly improved supply capability, especially after its WTO entrance. The expansionary aggregate demand policies may have limited effects to raise the growth rate in the post-1996 in China. This result suggests that we need a more pro-growth policy stance in order to maintain a high and stable growth. (2) The low inflation in that period is driven primarily by weak aggregate demand rather than supply factors.     

A Research on Approach to the Development Strategy of Tourism Economic Growth

As the tourism is improving, the economy growth can be obtained. Therefore, to improve tourism is to improve the economy. In fact, some supplies of tour could not meet the demands, which brings out conflict. It is obvious that solving the problem of supply and demand of tour is the approach to the development strategy of tourism economic growth.     

基于知识供需匹配的知识供给方选择方法

构建了知识供需匹配评价指标体系,给出了指标权重的赋权方法;依据知识需求方的知识需求,构建了知识供需匹配要求度矩阵,并运用模糊综合评价方法构建了知识供给能力评价矩阵;在此基础上,通过计算知识供需双方的知识供需匹配度,对知识供给方进行选择。最后,通过算例说明了该方法的可行性和有效性。     

福建省能源消费变化与供需缺口的实证研究

本文主要结合福建省的社会经济发展情况和产业结构调整情况,分析了福建省能源消费和产业消费状况,并根据福建省的能源供需关系和调入量,基于灰色模型对福建省的能源供需缺口进行了实证研究,以此评价福建省的能源供应安全。研究结果表明,福建省的能源供求矛盾突出,改变传统的能源路径依赖,发展循环经济,走绿色能源道路,是福建省社会经济发展的必然选择。     

Electricity sector reform in developing countries: an econometric assessment of the effects of privatization,competition and regulation

Electricity sectors in both developed and developing countries have been subject to restructuring to introduce private capital and increase competition. Although the effects of such reforms in a number of the developed economies are now well documented, the experience of developing countries is much less well researched. This paper provides an econometric assessment of the effects of privatization, competition and regulation on the performance of the electricity generation industry using panel data for 36 developing and transitional countries, over the period 1985–2003. The study identifies the impact of these reforms on generating capacity, electricity generated, labor productivity in the generating sector and capacity utilization. The main conclusions are that on their own privatization and regulation (PR) do not lead to obvious gains in economic performance, though there are some positive interaction effects. By contrast, introducing competition does seem to be effective in stimulating performance improvements.      

Ecological Transfers in Non-Human Communities Parallel Economic Markets in a General Equilibrium Ecosystem Model

Synopsis: The oft-cited analogies between ecological and economic systems are exploited to develop a many-species model of population dynamics. In economies, markets are the fundamental institutions in which the interaction of demands and supplies determine the quantities and prices of goods. However, economic markets are not appropriate for ecological communities, because markets rely on voluntary exchange, whereas plants and animals engage in involuntary transfers of biomass. A properly defined counterpart to markets based on biomass transfers permits a general equilibrium model of predator/prey and competitive interactions in a many-species community. Functional response from optimal foraging and predation risk provide the demand and supply, respectively, in the biomass transfers. Energy per unit time is scarce and predators and prey make optimum choices with respect to functional response and risk avoidance based on required energy expenditures. The energy expenditures are similar to economic prices: they determine foraging strategies and are beyond the control of the predators and prey, yet they are determined by the aggregate choices of all predators and prey and by population densities. The energies acquired from foraging are used in a new way to construct difference equations that determine the population dynamics. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions

The rebound effect results in part from an increased consumption of energy services following an improvement in the technical efficiency of delivering those services. This increased consumption offsets the energy savings that may otherwise be achieved. If the rebound effect is sufficiently large it may undermine the rationale for policy measures to encourage energy efficiency.The nature and magnitude of the rebound effect is the focus of long-running dispute with energy economics. This paper brings together previous theoretical work to provide a rigorous definition of the rebound effect, to clarify key conceptual issues and to highlight the potential consequences of various assumptions for empirical estimates of the effect. The focus is on the direct rebound effect for a single energy service — indirect and economy-wide rebound effects are not discussed.Beginning with Khazzoom's original definition of the rebound effect, we expose the limitations of three simplifying assumptions on which this definition is based. First, we argue that capital costs form an important part of the total cost of providing energy services and that empirical studies that estimate rebound effects from variations in energy prices are prone to bias. Second, we argue that energy efficiency should be treated as an endogenous variable and that empirical estimates of the rebound effect may need to apply a simultaneous equation model to capture the joint determination of key variables. Third, we explore the implications of the opportunity costs of time in the production of energy services and highlight the consequences for energy use of improved ‘time efficiency’, the influence of time costs on the rebound effect and the existence of a parallel rebound effect with respect to time. Each of these considerations serves to highlight the difficulties in obtaining reliable estimates of the rebound effect and the different factors that need to be controlled for. We discuss the implications of these findings for econometric studies and argue that several existing studies may overestimate the magnitude of the effect.     

经济学供需模型的制度化改进与初步运用

新古典经济学的基础性分析工具是供需曲线,而这一模型是对现实经济运行的“过度”简化,缺失的重要环节就是交易费用或制度安排。基于新制度经济学对交易费用、制度安排的相关研究,在传统供需曲线模型所包含的资源配置与收入分配两项内容基础上,本文加入了交易费用曲线并对其做了结构化分析,构建了制度化了的供需模型,探索了当前认识条件下经济学供需模型的“统一场论”。进而,本文运用这一模型提出了资产增值的“不可能三角”,需求曲线的两个镜像关系,以需求弹性推导组织要素“侵蚀”能力及合约选择定律,交易费用限定资产交易边界、暗含市场规模的界定等创新性结论,体现出这一理论模型能够深刻诠释现实经济运行的能力,希望以此为我国经济改革发展中存在的一些矛盾与争论提供统一的分析框架。     

东北地区的水资源问题、供需态势及对策研究

东北地区是我国水资源相对贫乏的地区,水资源短缺已成为东北老工业基地振兴的制约因素之一。为此,从本地区水资源条件出发,结合东北地区的社会经济发展目标,通过对当前水资源开发利用中存在的问题及未来水资源供需态势的分析,提出了相应的水资源可持续利用对策。