Timing and Commitment of Environmental Policy,Adoption of New Technology,and Repercussions on R&;D

We investigate the interplay between environmental policy, incentives to adoptnew technology, and repercussions on R&D. We study a model where a monopolistic upstream firm engages in R&D and sells advanced abatement technology to polluting downstream firms. We consider four different timing and commitment regimes of environmental tax and permit policies: ex post taxation (or issuing permits), interim commitment to a tax rate (a quota of permits) after observing R&D success but before adoption, and finally two types of ex antecommitment before R&D activity, one with a unique tax rate (quota of permits), the other one with a menu of tax rates (permit quotas). We study the second best tax and permit policies and rank these with respect to welfare. In particular, we find that commitment to a menu of tax rate dominates all other policy regimes.     

对土地财政与地方经济增长相关性的探讨

近些年来,之所以演化出土地财政这一具有非褒义的概念,是因为有着深刻的社会背景。这不仅有财政体制上的原因,也有城市自身扩张与政府官员政绩考核的原因。目前,土地财政在推动地方经济增长的过程中发挥了重要作用。实证分析表明,GDP虽不是土地性财政收入的Granger因,而GDP却是土地性财政收入的Granger果。地方经济增长过度依赖于土地财政,不仅会造成严重的不良后果,如威胁我国粮食安全、不利于和谐社会建设、加剧购房居民的负担等,而且也会扩大政府的寻租空间。为此,地方政府必须寻求摆脱经济增长对于土地财政依赖的路径选择,要转变经济增长观念、推进财政体制改革、充分发挥土地流转机制的作用、不断完善土地法规的相关内容等。     

地方财政压力与投资多样性——基于所得税分享改革的研究

利用企业所得税分享改革构建强度倍差模型,使用1997—2012年全国地级市数据,检验了地方财政压力对于投资多样性的影响及相关传导机制。结果表明,地方财政压力不利于投资多样性的提高;在财政压力下,地方容易形成偏向房地产行业的投资倾向。然而,不同地区地方财政压力对投资结构的影响存在异质性。经济发展水平较低的地区在财政压力下更容易降低投资多样性;而经济发展水平高的地区应对财政压力时,更倾向于通过多元化投资的方式做大税基、减轻财政压力。优化分税制结构、建立地方性税种能缓解地方财政压力,对于改变地方“房地产集中型”投资结构有一定的积极作用。     

地方政府债务空间与空间债务——基于地根经济的区位黏性视角

本文从人口流动的区位黏性这一全新视角,将地方政府性债务的李嘉图等价命题纳入新经济地理研究框架进行理论分析。为了进一步揭示理论模型的政策含义,采用空间计量方法验证沿海地区地方政府性债务的局部正相关特征。最优的债务政策取决于经济系统的初始条件,在非对称经济结构已经存在的情况下,单纯建设本地区的基础设施只会降低区域内的交易成本,这对于那些仅着眼于投巨资用于城市“硬件”建设的地方政府来说显然是一叶障目。建议依靠基础设施网络提高区域协同创新能力,培育规模报酬递增的专业化产业集群。     

我国封闭式小区与西方私有社区比较研究

比较了我国封闭式小区与西方私有社区之间的异同,研究了我国小区的制度结构、主要影响因素和潜在的问题。指出我国小区和西方私有社区有着同样的制度结构,体现了物业所有者和集体品提供者的整合,两者的差别主要表现在我国小区多采用防卫性设施,小区的规约偏重于物业管理,对住房隔离的影响不大,小区面临许多公共约束等方面。最后探讨了造成这些差别的原因,并进一步讨论了我国小区潜在的问题和可能的解决对策。     

地方院校大学生自主创业现状调查

通过对地方院校大学生自主创业的现状进行问卷调查,研究大学生自主创业面临的困难。结果表明:地方院校大学生在自主创业能力、创业环境、创业教育等方面面临严峻的问题。针对以上问题对如何引导大学生自主创业提出了具体的建议与措施。     

Convergence,Divergence or Stability – How do Politicians' and Bureaucrats' Attitudes Change During an Election Period?

Abstract

The possibility that administrators mould politicians into bureaucratic thinking has been a recurring theme in politics since the writings of Weber and von Mises. However, empirical studies of attitude change in the interface between politics and officials are scarce. This study, using data from thirty Norwegian municipalities, investigates whether political attitudes towards diverse political issues change during an election period, and whether any such change aligns politicians' attitudes with those of the administrative leaders in the municipalities. Attitudes were measured among both politicians and administrators in 2000 (six months after the election) and 2003 (six months before the election). In general, there are few signs that politicians' attitudes converged with those of the administrators in the period studied. When attitudinal change does occur, it appears to be parallel in both groups. The findings do not support the notion that politicians' attitudes become aligned to the attitudes of leading administrators. Different explanations are discussed.     

地方本科高校申报国家自然科学基金项目之思考——以福建地方本科高校为例

地方本科高校申报国家自然科学基金的获准率普遍偏低，究其原因既包括高校本身的“软硬件”条件的欠缺，更重要的是申请人在选题及申请书撰写过程中存在的问题所致。地方本科高校如何根据学校实际情况，在基金委“二十四字方针”的指导下，充分发挥地方优势学科和特色等有利条件，摸索行之有效的申报策略，以求在基金项目获批资助上有所突破，文章以福建地方本科高校的申报经验为例，从科研管理工作的角度出发，在总结基金申报中常见的落选原因的基础上，提出高校应加大基础条件的建设力度，科研人员应进行创新型、特色型选题并认真撰写申请书等建议。     

Globalization vs. localization: global food challenges and local solutions

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of global–local interactions on food production and consumption in Ghana, and identify possible local solutions. Primary data were collected using a combination of quantitative‐qualitative methods, which included focus group discussions and one‐on‐one interviews. Approximately 450 household heads were randomly selected and interviewed between August 2007 and August 2008 in Eastern, Central, Upper East and Northern Regions of Ghana. Findings revealed increasing consumption of foreign rice as opposed to decreasing consumption of local rice and other staples like millet, sorghum and yam because of global–local interactions. However, opportunities exist to re‐localize production‐consumption patterns through the use of ‘glocal foods’ like improved ‘koose and waakye’. Referencing the situation in Ghana, the study recommends improved production and processing practices backed with appropriate technologies that reflect changing consumption dynamics in order to take full advantage of opportunities created as a result of global–local interactions.