Assessing the sustainability of Irish agriculture

Indicators encompassing the multidimensional nature of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) are developed here using Irish National Farm Survey data over an 11-year period (1996–2006). This is the first such study undertaken for Ireland, and the results show significant change over the decade in all three areas examined. The general concept of sustainability is discussed and the development of agricultural sustainability indicators in an Irish context is described. Individual indicators are dealt with in turn, and the RERC SMILE model is used to demonstrate how these indicators can be derived at a spatial level below the national scale. Economic viability was found to be generally in decline over the 10-year period examined. However, when individual farming systems were taken into account, some were found to perform better than others. From an environmental perspective, the more intensive farming systems (primarily dairy) were found to pollute more on average, while in more general terms the levels of methane emissions produced per hectare have been falling over the reference period. Results also indicate that rural Ireland is experiencing a period of fundamental change in terms of the demographic viability of its farming community.     

Developing sustainable tourism through adaptive resource management: a case study of Machu Picchu,Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru, is recognized as a top international travel destination. Pressure from the approximately 900,000 tourists who annually visit the ancient Inca city threatens the ecological integrity, physical substance and cultural authenticity of the World Heritage Site and surrounding area, including the Inca Trail. Multiple organizations and agencies currently involved in the management of Machu Picchu have distinct agendas for the conservation and development of the city, and conflicts regarding public access, economic growth and cultural preservation are rampant. Attempts to establish carrying capacities have failed, with proposed daily visitor levels ranging from 800 to 4000. This paper explores the complex issues surrounding tourism at Machu Picchu and presents a potential solution: an adaptive management approach based on the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) sustainable tourism framework. This integrative strategy accounts for multiple perspectives and synthesizes disparate goals embraced by diverse stakeholders, including the Peruvian government, international conservation organizations, foreign tourists, private tour operators, regional authorities and indigenous communities. The focus on Machu Picchu as an adaptive management case study site outlines key steps leading to implementation, offering planning and policy implications for sustainability initiatives at numerous developing-world tourism destinations facing similar political and socio-economic challenges.     

基于政府利益要求及其实现方式的非财务指标关注程度实证研究

从政府角度出发,对政府所关注的反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标进行了排序研究和分组研究。研究得出结论:政府对不同类的反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的关注程度存在显著的差异;越是反映政府排列在前的利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标越受政府关注。企业对政府相关信息的充分沟通更易取得政府对企业的理解和支持。企业除应按相关法律法规的规定进行规定信息的披露外,还应当根据本企业利益相关者政府对非财务指标关注的需要以及关注程度的差异对政府所关注的非财务指标信息对政府进行充分信息沟通,以满足政府关注相关信息的需要。     

几种工业乙酸乙酯制备方法的技术经济对比

乙酸乙酯是应用最广泛的脂肪酸酯之一，其制备方法有乙酸酯化法，乙醛缩合法，乙烯加成法和乙醇脱氢法等，相对比，乙醛缩合法生产乙酸乙酯路线投资低，成本也较低，较适合乙醛富裕地区投资生产。     

Economic consequences of intifada

In 2003 the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published estimates of macro-economic indicators for 2002 of the economy of Palestine. The WB used a micro-founded recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, calibrated on the 1998 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Palestine, to which shocks were applied, whereas the IMF based its estimates on a macro-founded income-expenditure model relying on more recent data. It turned out that there were substantial differences: the estimate by the WB of the real gross national income (at 1998 prices) was 25% less than the corresponding figure calculated by the IMF. This huge difference is not only relevant for a full understanding of the economic consequences of the intifada, but also for the size of the international community intervention. In this paper we propose our own evaluation with the help of a static CGE model, based on the 1998 SAM and the so-called intifada shock derived from data of the WB that we constructed for the analysis of some forms of emergency assistance in a previous article. It turns out that our estimates, based on an entirely different methodology, are remarkably close to those of the IMF.     

A useful tool for forecasting the Euro-area business cycle phases

Based on a novel extension of existing multivariate Markov-switching models, we provide the reader with a useful tool for analyzing current business conditions and making predictions about the future state of the Euro-area economy in real time. Apart from the Industrial Production Index, we find that the European Commission Industrial Confidence Indicator, which is issued with no delay, is very useful for constructing the real-time predictions.     

Sense and sustainability revisited: the limits of total factor productivity measures of sustainable agricultural systems

Many economists have advocated and applied total social factor productivity (TSFP) (i.e., total factor productivity estimated with both market and non‐market inputs and externalities, and with all factors valued at social prices) as a single all‐embracing measure of agricultural sustainability. This paper reviews the conceptual and practical issues in measuring TSFP and shows that no one measure alone will be theoretically or empirically robust as an indicator of sustainability. TSFP is a conceptually flawed measure since inclusion of non‐market inputs and outputs and social price‐based valuation, in most cases, violates the theoretical basis underlying those estimates. Trends in TSFP also have limited value in diagnosing the nature of sustainability problems, unless changes in productivity are related to underlying changes in technology, human and physical infrastructure, and indicators of resource quality. More attention needs to be given to defining key indicators of agro‐ecosystem health and relating these measures to trends in productivity. This analysis must be sufficiently disaggregated and for a long enough time period to allow for spatial and temporal variability inherent in agricultural production. Secondary data at the district level on both conventional inputs and outputs and resource quality have recently allowed more quantitative estimates of sustainability and its causes. With limited data, yield growth decomposition analysis can often be used to provide valuable insights into sustainability problems. Meanwhile, there is a need to invest in long‐term experimental and panel surveys of farmers and their fields for key production systems in order to provide long‐term data that will allow full productivity accounting, using more formal statistical procedures. Regardless of the approach selected, the findings of this paper strongly suggest a need for economists, agronomists and soil scientists to collaborate in integrating approaches in order to provide more robust and informative measures of sustainability.     

Measurement and its Uses: Harmonization and Quality in Social Statistics

The European construction has induced a strong demand of harmonization of statistics of the various countries. The latter can be focused on an harmonization of outputs , already practised for a long time by national accountants: the statistical variables are defined in common, then each country measures them according to its own means. On the other hand, the harmonization of inputs, more ambitious, seeks a standardization of all the construction process and data collection. This leads to distinguish clearly the two moments of use and of production of economic and social statistics. Now the same distinction is made in the debates over the notion of quality of statistics, which contrast the quality of the product with the one of the process. This quality cannot be judged independently from the expected uses of these statistics and of their form of social credibility. From this point of view, the various harmonization levels are compared with the various forms of connection and convertibility between the national currencies.     

基于政府利益要求及其实现方式的非财务指标重要程度实证研究

从政府角度出发,对政府所关注的反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的重要程度进行排序研究和分组研究,可以发现:不同类的反映政府利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标对政府的重要程度存在显著的差异;政府利益要求和实现方式重要性的大小决定着反映政府利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的重要程度和排列顺序。反映政府利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的重要程度排列顺序同政府所看重的相应利益要求和实现方式的排列先后顺序并不一致。企业因素产生了利益相关者政府间同一类反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标重要程度差异。     

Measuring the immeasurable — A survey of sustainability indices

Sustainability indices for countries provide a one-dimensional metric to valuate country-specific information on the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and social conditions. At the policy level, they suggest an unambiguous yardstick against which a country's development can be measured and even a cross-country comparison can be performed. This article reviews the explanatory power of various sustainability indices applied in policy practice. We show that these indices fail to fulfill fundamental scientific requirements making them rather useless if not misleading with respect to policy advice.