Australia's coal seam gas boom and the LNG entry result

Queensland experienced extraordinary growth in booked 2P coal seam gas (CSG) reserves, rising from 3,400 PJ in 2005 to 41,200 PJ in 2013. Given annual domestic consumption of ca. 700 PJ/a, 2P reserves rapidly shifted from 14 to 72 years supply. Profit‐maximising firms sought to speed up commercialisation of reserves through the development of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants at Gladstone. In this article, we present forecasts of Australia's east coast interconnected gas system with daily resolution using our dynamic partial equilibrium model. Modelling results show the rapid development of LNG plants combined with restrictive CSG development policies in NSW may result in unserved load from 2016. Relaxing development constraints or delaying construction of one LNG terminal by 1 year could have avoided the risk of Unserved Load events in the domestic gas market. Lessons can be learned from this CSG‐LNG boom scenario. Facilitating new gas supplies is the most efficient way of alleviating the impacts of the CSG‐LNG boom on domestic markets in the medium term. In the long‐term, Australian policymakers may consider the merits of a National Net Benefits Test to maximise welfare through appropriate coordination – as is done by policymakers in the USA – as opposed to protecting local industries through ‘domestic gas reservation policies’.     

基于地勘事业单位发展实际的分类改革路径探讨--以安徽省地勘局为例

以安徽省地勘局为例,地勘事业单位企业化改革虽取得较大成绩,但地勘企业面临的经济基础薄弱、主要职能不适合企业化、改革缺乏顶层设计等困难决定了暂不具备全盘企业化的条件,只能走公益类事业单位改革之路。具体是改为公益一类还是公益二类,各单位只有在明确职能定位、分清主业方向的基础上,对照条件、合理定位、科学分类,选择符合自身发展实际的改革路径才是正确之举。同时,政府相应的扶持政策也是改革成功推进的必要保障。文章针对划分为公益一类、二类的地勘单位提出相应扶持政策建议。     

Minimising foreign control of land in an era of globalisation prospects for St. Lucia

Although globalisation is not a recent phenomenon, it is the trend toward trade liberalisation that poses the greatest threat to small countries. The paramount question is how can small states buffeted by the forces of trade liberalisation attract foreign investment while protecting their populations from the foreign control of land. Using St. Lucia as a case study, this paper reviews the existing land tenure system, examines the force of current legislative, fiscal and land use policy instruments used to limit foreign control of land, and presents alternatives for curtailing the potentially negative effect of trade liberalisation on the foreign control of land.     

Poverty and fat consumption: Education poor or income poor?

In this paper, we question the role of added fats on health disparities in the French case and its policy implications. Since low-status populations are proven to have more nutritional pathologies, can we evidence fat consumption specificity in poor populations? We first verify the strong sensitivity of fat consumption to income and education, criteria which both characterize deprived populations. We estimate a demand system taking into account the selection issue. For this we propose a modification of the Shonkwiler and Yen's procedure which, unlike Heckman's, allows participation on every market of products to be controlled for. We use the latter procedure on a set of seven fat categories which have different, including opposite, health attributes. Our results show that segmentation following income and/or education essentially affects price elasticities. This offers different perspectives for health policies. Controlling fat consumption through prices appears easier among low-income households than among low-education households.     

论稳健财政政策与林业生态建设

随着宏观经济环境的变化,从2005年起,我国财政政策的基调由“积极”转向了“稳健”,这使其投资方向、资金结构和管理方式必然发生新的改变。文章在分析林业生态建设与财政政策关系的基础上,侧重于从实施稳健财政政策对林业生态建设影响的角度,提出了加大直接投入力度,确定合理资金结构,支持建立林业风险保障体系和补偿机制等政策建议。     

中国竹产业发展政策框架思路

文章在分析我国竹产业政策的现状及存在问题、今后发展趋势与政策走向的基础上,以产业政策理论为指导,提出了我国竹产业发展政策的基本框架和政策建议。认为制定产业政策应该从宏观调控、行业管理和产业促进3个方面入手,加强第一产业,调整第二产业,大力发展第三产业。具体政策包括资源培育与管理、产业结构与布局、市场与贸易、产业组织制度、投融资与税费、产业技术6个方面。     

Environmental Policy Uncertainty and Marketable Permit Systems: The Dutch Phosphate Quota Program

Tradable permits are generally considered as an efficient instrument to regulate pollution by individual producers. However, uncertainty about changes in or possible discontinuation of the program could make individual farmers reluctant to invest in tradable permits. This article uses the option approach to derive a theoretical model that shows the impact of policy uncertainty on investment in tradable quota. The empirical assessment provides weak evidence for the existence of option values due to policy uncertainty for phosphate quota in swine production in the Netherlands.     

The potential impact of markets for irrigation water in Italy and Spain: a comparison of two study areas*

The viability of irrigated systems in Southern Europe is closely linked to efficient institutional settings and water‐allocation mechanisms. A significant, although not widely used, mechanism for water allocation is an intra‐sectorial water market. The objective of this paper is to evaluate to what extent water markets may contribute to the improvement of the efficiency of water allocation and to the profitability of irrigated agriculture. The related issues of water allocation among farm types and farm specialisation are also addressed. The analysis is based on a basin‐level linear programming model, comparing the situation with and without a market. It includes both fixed and variable transaction costs and estimates their combined effects on market performances. The model is applied in two areas in Southern Italy and Spain, and simulates the behaviour of different farm types, derived from cluster analysis on a sample of farms in each area. The paper confirms that water markets could potentially improve the economic efficiency of water use, in terms of higher profit per hectare, given limited water availability. The potential improvements are associated with a more intense specialisation of farms and are strongly differentiated among farmers, particularly where significant restrictions to water availability occur. This corroborates the expectations of institutional difficulties in implementing water markets. However, the exchanges, and consequently the potential effects of water markets, are heavily affected by the actual level of water availability, as well as the size and the structure (fixed vs. proportional) of transaction costs. The paper calls for a more in‐depth analysis of the connections between market performances and institutional settings, as related to the issue of water‐agriculture policy design and coordination.     

Landscape as a Focus for Integrating Human and Environmental Processes

The landscape has long been an important object of rural policy, particularly in terms of protecting scenic areas. Increasingly, however, landscape is seen as a multifunctional and holistic entity, which provides a framework for the governance and interdisciplinary study of spatial units. A central dilemma in the maintenance of cultural landscapes is that the historical practices which produced them are often obsolete, and new social and economic forces may fail to reproduce their valued properties. Sustainable development strategies therefore seek to instil ‘virtuous’ circles in cultural landscapes, linking society and economy to environmental service functions and land uses, in order to generate mutually reinforcing feedback loops resulting in socially preferred outcomes. We explore ways of investigating these linkages as a basis for future rural research and policy. We conceptualise cultural landscapes as ‘socio‐ecological systems’ (SESs), and consider their capacity for resilience and stability. Noting that resilient systems are characterised, not by simple equilibria, but by ‘basins of attraction’, we argue the need to understand the ways in which SESs stabilise within a particular basin, or move to an alternative. In particular, we reflect on the dynamics of ‘adaptive cycles’ that may lead to changes in system state. Finally, we discuss the development of appropriate models as tools for investigating whether a landscape is trending towards stability within a ‘vicious’ or a ‘virtuous’ circle, and evaluating potential interventions to alter this trajectory.     

福建林业产权制度改革的配套政策分析

对南平市杨厝村林业产权制度改革调查结果与存在问题进行总结和分析。认为福建林业产权制度改革的基本方向是实施私有林补贴制度，政府在私有林补贴制度政策的实施过程中起着核心作用，私有林补贴政策的有效实施将推动产权制度改革总体收益的提高，同时进一步规范产权界定、推动产权保护、完善产权流动机制、完善和规范林地产权交易市场是福建林业产权制度改革的必然趋势。