Incompetency training: Theory, practice, and remedies

“Incompetency training” includes formal and informal instruction that consciously (purposively) or unconsciously imparts knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior (including procedures) that are useless, inaccurate, misleading, and/or will lower performance outcomes of the trainee versus no training or training using alternative training methods. “Imparts” in the definition refers to exposing a trainee to incompetency training; such exposure is not a guarantee that the training increases the trainee's incompetence. This editorial is to stimulate research interest among scholars in incompetency training theory, evidence, and the efficacy of remedies. The editorial offers an early workbench model of incompetency training theory. The theory includes the proposition that executives and associates in firms, academia, and government organizations consciously as well as unknowingly offer incompetency training in many contexts. Increasing trainees' vigilance and ability to recognize exposure to incompetency-training may help trainees to decrease the effectiveness (impact) of exposures to incompetency training—advancing incompetency training theory and knowledge of incompetency training practice may be necessary conditions for remedying negative outcomes that follow from trainees receiving such training. Available evidence supports the first proposition and, to a limited extent, the second proposition.     

Agricultural pesticides and land use intensification in high,middle and low income countries

We study levels and trends in agricultural pesticide use for a large cross-section of countries using FAO data for the period 1990–2009. Our analysis shows that a 1% increase in crop output per hectare is associated with a 1.8% increase in pesticide use per hectare but that the growth in intensity of pesticide use levels off as countries reach a higher level of economic development. However, very few high income countries have managed to significantly reduce the level of intensity of their pesticide use, because decreases in insecticide use at higher income levels are largely offset by increases in herbicide and fungicide use. The results also show very rapid growth in the intensity of pesticide use for several middle income countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Cameroon, Malaysia and Thailand. Complementing our analysis with data from the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC), we show that hazardous pesticides covered in the PIC procedure are more weakly regulated in lower than in higher income countries. We discuss the policy challenges facing developing countries with a rapid growth in pesticide use and recommend a four-pronged strategy, including an environmental tax on pesticides with revenues allocated to long-term investments in awareness building, the development of integrated crop management methods and the setting of food safety standards. The interactions between these measures should help contribute to the effectiveness of the overall strategy package.     

收入、收入类别与环境库兹涅茨曲线

利用2000-2009年我国省际面板数据,对人均收入、收入类别与六种污染指标之间的关系进行了实证检验.结果表明:环境库兹涅茨倒U型关系取决于污染指标的选择,在样本期内,部分污染指标呈现出倒U型EKC关系;在倒U型曲线的转折点处,城镇人均可支配收入的临界水平高于农村人均纯收入的临界水平.     

城市环境库兹涅茨曲线的实证分析——以北京为例

环境问题伴随着社会经济活动而产生,并随着社会经济的发展而发展,环境问题与经济发展、人口增长之间关系密切.本文依据2000-2010年北京市经济、人口和环境污染物排放量的统计数据,运用环境库兹涅茨曲线的理论模型,分析环境污染与经济发展、人口增长之间的关系.结果表明:自2000年以来,北京市经济快速发展、人口数量不断增长,但环境污染物排放量却持续下降,这主要与北京市的产业结构、环境保护政策、环境保护投资和环境宣传教育等因素相关;环境污染与经济发展、人口增长关系的数学模型可表述为E=β0Y-Y2.同时,为北京市进一步促进经济、人口、环境的和谐发展提出了一系列相关政策建议     

技术进入时机的影响因素及策略分析

早期选择新技术可以使企业获得更高的收益和竞争优势,但同时也使企业面临巨大的风险。文章阐明了技术进入时机对企业的重要意义,深入研究了企业技术进入的类型及技术进入时机的影响因素,指出外部因素影响技术应用、内部因素决定进入时机,并在此基础上提出了技术进入时机决策过程及策略。     

中国经济增长与环境污染之间关系的理论解释与贝叶斯回归分析

环境污染在两个方面改变了经济增长模型,一方面它是产出的联合产品,另一方面它给消费者带来负效用。我们分析了以下几个问题：环境保护与经济增长是否相容;长期来看无污染积累的可持续增长是否可能;环境对经济增长的影响;如果引入环境因素,我们关注的关键变量如：收入、消费、资本以及环境污染的最优路径如何变化,据此可以推出哪些可驳斥的推断;观测数据与环境库茨涅茨曲线的理论推断特征是否相符。文章根据标准的经济学理论基础假设构建了一个理论模型,在设定了偏好、技术、禀赋、信息后,求出动态一般均衡解路径。使用环境污染的观测数据,附加关键参数的先验分布,运用贝叶斯推断求出参数的后验分布对理论模型的推断进行验证。文章的主要贡献是对环境库茨涅茨曲线采用了不同于传统回归分析的贝叶斯回归技术,并得出了有意义的分析结果。     

环境规制对产业结构的作用机理研究

利用1998年-2014年全国各省的面板数据,通过理论分析与联立方程模型的构建,实证研究了环境规制对产业结构调整的作用机理。研究发现:环境规制对产业结构的调整存在倒逼机制和空间异质性,即提高环境规制强度能够促进产业结构的调整,中部效应最明显,东部次之,西部效应不明显。因此,从全国的角度来讲,国家应采取科学合理的环境经济手段,适当提高环境规制程度,发挥其对产业结构调整的促进作用;从区域的角度来讲,地方政府应根据本区域的环境状况和经济发展状况,制定相应的环境规制政策,发挥其最大效用,增加社会福利。     

NAIRU Estimates for Germany: New Evidence on the Inflation–Unemployment Tradeoff

Meaningful estimates of the non‐accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) within a Phillips curve framework require an identified tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. However, observations of inflation and unemployment are equilibrium points giving rise to a simultaneity problem. We assess conventional identifying assumptions in the literature on the German NAIRU in a general bi‐variate equations system of inflation and unemplyoment. We use a data‐driven method for identification based on shifts in the relative volatility of shocks to unemployment and inflation to identify the tradeoff for Germany. Our results support models which estimate a contemporaneous effect of unemployment on inflation and those which model inflation and unemployment jointly.     

Can tourism be a key sector in reducing income inequality? An empirical investigation for Turkey

The aim of the study is to investigate the nexus between tourism and income inequality by employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) test cover the period 1974–2015 in Turkey. Findings indicated that the variables are cointegrated and an increase in tourism has a positive effect on income inequality, while economic growth and trade openness have a negative effect both in the long-run and short-run. Results also denote that tourism will decrease income inequality with the expansion of tourism activities and the spread of tourism throughout society. In other words, the tourism-related Kuznets Curve hypothesis is valid for Turkey.     

Examining the change in wellbeing following a holiday

Building on existing evidence that tourism contributes to wellbeing, this study aims to investigate how both hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing changes after a holiday. A longitudinal inquiry involving three waves of observation (during, the fourth week, and the eighth week following a holiday) was carried out in five tourism cities in China, using Latent Growth Curve models to analyze change. Results suggest that life satisfaction – an indicator of hedonic wellbeing – does not decline as expected whereas other indicators of hedonic wellbeing declined dramatically in the first month and then mildly in the second month following a holiday. Comparatively, eudaimonic wellbeing declined gradually and mildly during the same two-month intervals. Higher levels of optimal tourism experiences predicted slower declines of both hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed.