Incentive Contract and Weather Risk

We study contracts designed to remunerate a farmer for the production of an ecosystem service with the payment dependent on the results of the farmer’s actions and on weather conditions. Two contracts are proposed: the first takes into account both the results of the farmer’s actions and a weather variable that reflects the actual atmospheric conditions during the life of the contract; the second bases the payment on the results alone incorporating only the average effect of weather. Social welfare is optimal when both the results and the specific atmospheric conditions are taken into account; however, this type of contract may be less acceptable to the farmer due to his perception of the level of risk involved.We thank two referees for valuable comments.     

Economic Valuation of Health for Environmental Policy: Comparing Alternative Approaches. Introduction and Overview

Protecting human health is a primary goal of environmental policy and economic evaluation of health can help policy-makers judge the relative worth of alternative actions. Economists use two distinct approaches in normatively evaluating health. Whereas environmental economists use benefit-cost analysis supported by monetary valuation in terms of willingness-to-pay, health economists evaluate interventions based on cost-effectiveness or cost-utility analysis (CEA), using quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) or similar indexes. This paper provides background on the controversy about the relative merits of these approaches and introduces the remaining papers in the special issue. These papers (with one exception) were presented at a conference sponsored by the Department of Economics at the University of Central Florida with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Although CEA might not lead to substantially different implications for environmental policy than benefit-cost analysis, and QALY may provide a benefit transfer tool to fill gaps in the morbidity valuation literature, the papers in this issue raise serious concerns about the suitability of QALY-based CEA for environmental regulatory analysis. QALY does not in general appropriately represent individual preferences for health and CEA is neither independent of income distribution nor adequate to assess efficiency.     

基于协同平台的高校教师科研绩效评价体系

在研究组织人员行为绩效评价体系的基础上,分析了传统的KPI(key performance indicator)评价方式所面临的主要问题,提出针对高校教师科研绩效进行分类建模,并设计相应的绩效指标、绩效算法及评价体系来解决问题。最后,用某院教职工2015—2019年在协同信息管理平台上的行为数据,检验了该体系的有效性及合理性,并针对基于协同平台的高校教师科研绩效评价体系的结果分析,提出高校科研管理及绩效激励方案。     

浙江省科技型中小企业的产业发展特征与股权激励模式的选择

主要根据浙江省科技民营企业的产业发展特征，对实施企业股权激励机制的模式选择问题进行深入研究与探讨。首先，分析论述了企业产业发展特征对企业激励模式选择的影响；在此基础上，对浙江省科技民营企业实施股权激励机制几个理论问题进行分析与探讨。     

金融监管效率的基石:激励相容的监管机制

本文通过金融监管过程中的博弈分析,揭示了当前的金融监管制度安排在信息不对称条件下导致的监管当局提供有效监管激励的缺失及金融机构普遍的道德风险是造成金融监管失灵的主要原因.因而解决金融监管低效率或失灵问题的关键,在于通过金融市场透明度建设、监管制度安排的合理设计及金融机构治理结构的完善,实现社会公众、监管当局、金融机构之间的激励相容.     

我国收入贸易条件变动分析:1995～2004

收入贸易条件衡量的是一国在国际分工中获得的总体贸易利益的多少,在对我国贸易条件的变化进行分析时应当合理考虑收入贸易条件指数的变动。近年来我国的收入贸易条件指数呈现出持续改善的趋势,这表明外贸规模的扩大对国民经济发展做出了积极的贡献,仅仅根据商品贸易条件指数下降而得出我国贸易条件出现严重恶化的结论缺乏充分的根据。从国际经济竞争的现实背景来考虑,我国应当在保持收入贸易条件指数不恶化的情况下,继续大力推动出口贸易量较快地增长。     

Joint implementation under asymmetric information and strategic behavior

Joint Implementation (JI) under the Framework Convention on Climate Change means that countries could partly offset their national abatement commitments by investing in CO₂ abatement projects abroad. JI is introduced as a mechanism for achieving a certain global abatement target less costly by separating the commitments from the implementation of measures. This paper studies the design of a JI contract when the investor has incomplete information about the foreign firm which carries out the JI project (the host). Asymmetric information leads to a decrease in the potential cost savings from JI. Furthermore, private information held by the potential host firm could give the firm a significant positive utility of participating in JI projects. The possibility of being a host for a JI project in the future can prevent potential host firms from investing in profitable abatement projects today. The paper analyzes the impact on emissions of CO₂ of strategic behavior among potential hosts for JI projects.     

A Contingent Valuation Estimate of the Benefits of Wolves in Minnesota

In this paper we estimate the willingness topay for a wolf management plan and a wolfdamage plan in Minnesota using the contingentvaluation method. The theoretical definition ofwillingness to pay for wolf protection iscomposed of use and non-use values. Weincorporate a don't know response option in thedichotomous choice valuation questions. A largenumber of respondents answered don't know. Themultinomial logit model is used todifferentiate between don't know and noresponses. Non-use motives are importantfactors that explain willingness to pay. We usethese benefit estimates in combination with twoalternative cost estimates to consider theefficiency of the wolf management and damageplans. Both plans have estimated benefitsgreater than costs.     

Willingness to Pay to Reduce Mortality Risks: Evidence from a Three-Country Contingent Valuation Study

Valuing a change in the risk of death is a key input into the calculation of the benefits of environmental policies that save lives. Typically such risks are monetized using the Value of a Statistical Life (VSL). Since the majority of the lives saved by environmental policies are those of older persons, there has been much recent debate about whether the VSL should be lower for the elderly to reflect their fewer remaining life years. We conducted a contingent valuation survey in the UK, Italy and France designed to answer this question. The survey was administered in these three countries following a standardized protocol. Our results suggest that the VSL is €1.022 million or €2.264 million, depending on whether we use median or mean WTP. The VSL is not significantly lower for older persons, but is higher for persons who have been admitted to a hospital or emergency room for cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Income is positively and significantly associated with WTP. The income elasticities of the WTP increase gradually with income levels and are between 0.15 and 0.5 for current income levels in EU countries. We use the responses to the WTP questions to estimate the value of an extension in remaining life expectancy. The value of a loss of one year’s life expectancy is €54,000 or €163,000.     

FDI对湖南省的经济增长效应及其地域梯度差异的实证分析

通过回归分析法,实证分析外商直接投资(FDI)对湖南省经济增长的影响,并采用Q型聚类层次法进一步探讨FDI对湖南各地区经济增长影响的不平衡性。结果表明:FDI对湖南省经济促进效应显著,且主要是靠短期需求拉动经济增长,FDI的滞后期为3年,滞后的FDI对经济的贡献小于当年对GDP的贡献。FDI对省内各地区经济的贡献表现出相当大的差异性,且这种差距呈扩大态势,值得引起高度警惕。