Alternative Environmental Regulation Schemes for the Belgian Power Generation Sector

This paper discusses the effects of alternative waysof using external cost estimates to regulateinvestments and generation in the electricityproduction sector. Starting from the existing system,four alternatives are considered: emission taxes forthe utility and for independent producers, emissiontaxes limited to the electric utility, emissionpermits limited to the electric utility and finally asystem where only investments are regulated, anddispatch is not. Taking external damage estimates fromthe literature, these alternatives are compared usinga dynamic partial equilibrium model of the Belgianelectricity market for the period 1995–2034. Theefficiency and distribution effects of the alternativeenvironmental policy instruments are quantified.     

An Environmental Macro-Economic Model for the Construction Sector

This article describes theeconomic-ecological model BASIS, which handles theconstruction sector, its consumption of materials,and the resultant environmental effects. The modelis a satellite model of the macro-economic modelADAM. The building materials examined are plastic,metal and concrete, each of which result in variousemissions that impact upon the environment andhealth. Materials consumption and energy consumptionare central environmental parameters, and can beconsidered both as indicators of environmentalpressure per se, and as explanatory variables forvarious types of emissions and waste generation. Thearticle documents BASIS and illustrates itscharacteristics through a number of scenarios. Thescenarios examine the effects of changes in variousmacro-economic variables and of environmentalpolicy-based levies.     

The Institutional Theory of Radhamakal Mukerjee: Lessons for Modern Nonprofit Economics

This paper examines the way the institutional economics of Radhamakal Mukerjee can inform modern nonprofit economics. A brief survey of Mukerjee's work highlights several elements of his theory that yield useful implications understanding the nonprofit sector. First, Mukerjee's theory implies that this sector's role is in helping the economies to better accommodate broader societal values, rather than in addressing market failure. Second, his theory suggests that the nonprofit sector provides an institutional framework for the pursuit of common interests that are not reducible to individual utility maximization. Finally, as he considered the state to be inherently coercive, he believed the nonprofit sector to be the only meaningful outlet for citizenship behavior, thus advancing an original theory of complementary state-nonprofit relationship. The paper concludes with calling for more institutionalist research on the economics of the nonprofit sector.     

Nonprofit Organisations and Social Economy: Two Ways of Understanding the Third Sector

The term third sector refers to a set of organizations which are neither capitalist, nor governmental. First of all, this paper aims to extent B. Gui's unitary approach to the third-sector [1991] by focusing on the distinction between third sector and state-owned bodies. Next I propose to translate the non capitalist and the non governmental conditions into operational criteria. I show that these criteria vary according to the nature of the organisations (general interest versus mutual interest). This statement allows me to justify the emergence of two different ways of understanding the third-sector in anglo-saxon and french-speaking traditions.     

An Input–Output Analysis of the Nonprofit Sector in the USA and Germany

This paper presents an exploratory input–output analysis of the nonprofit sectors in former West Germany and the USA based on the conceptual and data structure provided by the System of National Accounts. When compared with the USA, the West German nonprofit sector catered more to government demands. A higher proportion of West German nonprofit services went to government and a smaller proportion went to households. In terms of the multiplier effect of nonprofit output, we find that an additional dollar of nonprofit services delivered to households and/or government induced indirectly an additional 83 cents of business output in the USA. By comparison, West Germany's nonprofit sector had a lower multiplier effect, with 43 Pfennig per DM1. We also find that businesses have a much larger stake in nonprofit production as intermediate suppliers when compared to their role as intermediate consumers. The economic position the nonprofit sector occupies in both countries is that of a producing sector, taking inputs from businesses and providing outputs for households and governments. This general structural characteristic suggests that the nonprofit sector is particularly sensitive to changes in government policies as well as to shifts in private household incomes, yet relatively insensitive to demand changes in other industries.     

中国制造业环境规制对技术创新影响的阶段性差异与行业异质性研究

首先,将技术创新划分为技术研发和技术转化两阶段,应用CES生产函数分阶段推导环境规制与技术创新的数理关系。其次,根据污染排放强度将中国制造业28个细分行业划分为重度污染型、中度污染型及轻度污染型3种类型,以2003-2012年行业面板数据为样本,构建分阶段分行业的计量回归模型进行环境规制对技术创新的实证检验。数理推导证明：环境规制与企业技术研发和技术转化在数理上均存在正相关关系。实证检验发现：①环境规制对中国制造业技术研发专利成果和技术转化新产品生产具有显著促进作用,波特假说在制造业整体上得到验证;②环境规制对中度污染行业、轻度污染行业的技术创新具有显著促进作用,但对重度污染行业的影响并不显著,波特假说存在明显的行业异质性。最后,针对环境规制对技术创新影响的阶段性和行业异质性提出了相关政策建议。     

Regulation and administered contracts revisited: Lessons from transaction-cost economics for public utility regulation

This article reexamines the administered contracts approach to regulation in light of recent empirical research that establishes the importance of transaction-costs in the organizational choice and design decisions. After reviewing the fundamentals of transaction cost reasoning and the franchise bidding-versus-regulation debate, the study surveys the empirical literature on franchise bidding, contracting, and vertical integration. The implications of transaction-cost theories for current policies toward pubic utility regulation and deregulation are also addressed.We would like to thank Michael Crew, Victor Goldberg, Mark Lowry, Claude Menard, and Roger Sherman for helpful comments.     

Optimal Pricing and Price-Cap Regulation in the Postal Sector

This paper studies the optimal price structure in the postal sector when worksharing is available (e.g., for collection, sorting and transportation) and when the operator faces a break-even constraint. Users differ in opportunity and cost to engage in worksharing. We determine the optimal worksharing discount and provide sufficient conditions (on demand functions) under which it exceeds the ECPR level. Furthermore, we show that the optimal prices can be implemented through a global price cap imposed on a weighted average of the prices of all products. The appropriate weights are proportional to the market demand (evaluated at optimal prices) of the corresponding products.     

Environmental Regulation and the Eco-Industry

This paper re-examines environmental regulation, under the assumption that pollution abatement technologies and services are provided by an imperfectly competitive environment industry. It is shown that each regulatory instrument (emission taxes and quotas; design standards; and voluntary agreements) has a specific impact on the price-elasticity of the polluters’ demand for abatement services, hence on the market power of the eco-industry and the resulting cost of abatement. This implies that the optimal pollution tax will be higher than the marginal social cost of pollution, while a voluntary approach to pollution abatement may fail unless the eco-industry itself is willing to participate.We thank Dominique Bureau, Olivier Godard, Émeric Henry, Nicolas Marchetti, Alain-Désiré Nimubona, Anne Perrot, Gilles Rotillon, Katheline Schubert, the editors Michael Crew and Anthony Heyes, and two anonymous referees for helpful discussions and suggestions. We also acknowledge valuable comments from seminar audiences at HEC Montréal, the University of Paris I, the University of Toulouse, and the DG-Entreprise of the European Commission in Brussels.     

动态宏观经济视角下的环境规制政策研究

通过引入环境质量、污染排放、环境规制政策等因素对经典的动态随机一般均衡模型进行拓展,构建了一个包含环境因素,并可用于比较不同环境规制政策作用的分析框架,以此来研究环境税、排污许可证和排放强度三种不同类型的环境规制政策对经济和环境的不同影响。结果表明,环境规制政策对经济活动有抑制作用,在经济波动时能发挥“自动稳定器”作用,其中排放强度政策造成的经济损失最大,环境收益最为明显,排污许可证政策对环境质量提升作用最小,造成的经济损失也最小,“自动稳定器”作用也最为显著;同时,企业单位排放强度的降低能有效减少污染排放,提升环境质量和社会福利,而政府环保投入转化率的提高,对环境和经济的影响非常有限。     

Lessons for Development from the Japanese Experience

Economic class, defined in relation to its actual control over the economy’s productive assets, is the most useful lens for examining power distribution in the post-Soviet transition and clarifying the neoliberal nature of its social provisioning processes. Using Ukraine as an illustration, I argue that only ownership empowerment of economically powerless classes can democratize the oligarchic transition economies. As an exit strategy from oligarchic capitalism, I recommend that state capitalism be implemented, as a transitory condition only, to divest oligarchs of unlawfully acquired economic power. Then, progressive restructuring of oligarchic companies must be conducted through broadening property ownership to include shared ownership and worker participation in economic decisions. I conclude that only by nurturing the democratic fundamentals of the economy and promoting a social democratic welfare state could a government in post-Euromaidan Ukraine initiate its own social control and create a genuine political and economic democracy.     

环境责任视角下非正式环境规制对企业绿色技术创新的影响——一个有中介的调节模型

环境问题是影响我国生态经济健康发展的关键,而积极释放环境履责信号来推动绿色技术创新发展则是企业应对经济高质量发展的必然途径,特别是在互联网传媒带来的网络舆论效应凸现的当下,媒介公众的外部舆论压力已成为企业开展绿色创新活动的新驱动力.基于此,本文尝试从环境责任视角,探究公众、媒介外部舆论压力对企业绿色技术创新能力的内在作用机制,引入环保投资作为调节变量,构建相应理论模型,并以2012—2018年重污染上市公司数据为样本,运用固定效应模型开展了实证研究.结果表明:公众关注对企业绿色技术创新具有显著正向影响;媒介关注与企业绿色技术创新间存在"倒U型"关系;公众关注与媒介关注间存在显著的交互作用,且在提高企业绿色技术创新方面存在替代效应;环境责任在媒介关注与企业绿色技术创新的非线性关系中具有完全中介作用;环保投资强化了媒介关注与企业绿色技术创新间的非线性关系,但削弱了公众关注对企业绿色技术创新的影响.     

中国的环境效率与环境管制——基于1986-2007年省级水平的估算

环境效率是生产过程中潜在可实现的最少污染排放量与实际污染排放量之比,企业能否提高环境效率取决于环保投入的产出水平。文章在随机前沿生产函数基础上估算了中国1986-2007年省级水平的环境效率,结果显示:中国的环境效率较低且增长缓慢,其中中部地区环境效率最低,西部地区环境效率最高。目前的环境管制方式在东部较为有效,对中西部的影响则不显著。因此环境管制不但要针对污染物当量,还要综合考虑企业的成本、利润水平等因素,才能更好治理污染。     

Honesty in Environmental Regulation

This paper analyzes the determination of the optimal environmental regulatory policy under imperfect competition when the firms differ in their polluting technologies and degree of honesty. We show that more honesty does not necessarily imply lower social losses. The effect of honesty in social welfare depends not only on the degree of honesty measured by the proportion of honest firms and their particular cost features but also on the industry structure.     

Efficiency and Environmental Regulation

This paper proposes an extension of the enhancedefficiency indices of Färe, Grosskopf, Lovell andPasurka (1989) that considers undesirable outputsasymmetrically by assuming that firms can freelydispose of some undesirable productions, but areduction of other bad outputs generates a cost interms of desirable outputs. This methodologicalapproach is used to analyse the relative efficiency ofa sample of Spanish producers of wooden goods andfurnishings whose production process generates fourdifferent wastes. We obtain efficiency indices thatserve to measure the impact on firm performance inseveral scenarios related to environmental regulationsaimed to reduce the production of wastes. Whenenvironmental regulations are assumed, it is foundthat firms would have to sacrifice important amountsof potential desirable output in order to reallocateinputs into waste reduction. Secondly, we find thatfirms associated with a Technological Institute aswell as firms located at a marshallian type industrialdistrict are likely to be less affected byregulations.     

货币政策在房地产调控中的不确定性

2007年货币政策调控力度之大前所未有,然而房地产业却呈现了少有的"四高"现象.本文从影响房价的供给与需求入手,探究货币政策在房地产调控的效应.既然旺盛住房需求发端于实体经济,货币政策并不是唯一的或决定的因素,坚持货币政策与土地、税收政策的协调,坚持短期应急措施与长远的住房保障、政策性金融体制建设的协调,才能营造使调控发挥效应的机制.