Making green discourses matter in policy-making: Learning from discursive power struggles within the policy area of car taxation

This paper is about stability and change in the policy-making discourse of a traditional neoclassical policy area, the area of car taxation. Stability is here related to the unquestioned continuation of a traditional neoclassical economics perspective in policy-making, whereas change is related to the introduction and impact of environmental concerns. The aim of the paper is to investigate, what makes green discourses matter in traditional policy-making. It is based on an in-depth study of policy-making processes related to car taxation in two environmental front-runner countries, Sweden and Denmark.Making green discourses matter in policy-making is an important contemporary environmental challenge. Therefore, as Tian Shi argues, we need more research into the institutional setting of the policy-making process. Ecological economics as a policy science has to have a broad understanding of the political economic nature of the policy process. Taking this standpoint as the point of departure, the paper seeks to uncover questions such as, what is the policy-making reality in which Swedish and Danish green discourses have to make a difference? How do existing neoclassical regimes react, when green actors attempt to influence policy-making from an environmental point of view? And to what extent can green discourses actually have an impact on the policy world within the area of car taxation?The paper concludes that the traditional neoclassical economic discourse is particularly robust and resistant against alternative green discourses. Stability rather than change is the dominating picture. This does not imply that environmental concerns will not be taken into account in the future. Rather it implies that only the changes, which keep up the existing order, or enhance the narrow power-related interests of the dominating actors, will materialise more or less easily. The rest is a power struggle in which timing, coalition-building, persistence and thorough knowledge about the field in question is of importance. In this struggle change agents will also benefit from the ability to rethink dominating ways of thinking and doing in an environmentally benign way. A rethinking that is based on environmental values while at the same time holding positive visions that are ‘compatible’ with the existing dominating discourse.     

高等教育大众化与高等教育可持续发展问题探析

高等教育大众化是实现高等教育可持续发展的必然选择.我国在推进高等教育大众化的进程中取得了巨大成绩,也出现了不少矛盾和问题.其中,教育质量能否保障,高校能否持续发展等成为全社会关注的焦点.正确处理高等教育大众化与可持续发展的关系和选择、建立高等教育大众化的发展战略及运行机制是问题的关键所在.     

大股东对上市公司掏空与支持的经济学分析

在公司的所有权安排中,大股东拥有公司的控制权,有能力为获取控制权的私人利益而侵占上市公司的资源。但是,当上市公司陷入经营困境时,大股东可能通过减少自己的侵占行为而使公司具有偿债能力,甚至会用自己的资源进行支持以防止公司破产。如果上市公司的投资回报率低于大股东的预期水平,或者预期上市公司无法继续生存下去时,大股东会以公司外部股东和债权人的利益为代价而对上市公司进行掠夺。     

沙棘与荒漠地区开发

我国正深受着土地荒漠化的危害，如何把荒漠变耕地，优选一种费用小、效果好的措施，那就是大种特种沙棘，以达到改善环境、发展经济、利国富民的目的。     

培育和扩大山西中等收入阶层的对策和建议

为了尽快提高山西中等收入阶层的比重,构建"橄榄型"社会阶层结构,必须不断加强培育和扩大中等收入阶层的舆论导向;以培育和扩大中等收入阶层为重点,深化收入分配制度改革;大力发展教育,促使低收入阶层向中等收入阶层转化;制定合理的产业政策,推进产业结构的优化升级;切实解决"三农"问题,促进农民成为中等收入者;大力发展非公有制经济和中介服务业.     

金融抑制与黑龙江省中小企业融资难题的破解思路

金融抑制是发展中国家的一个共同特征之一,也是形成黑龙江省中小企业融资困境的根本原因之一.政府管制的低利率造成巨大的融资缺口,商业银行只能通过信贷配给的方式安排有限的借贷资金;金融市场的分割形成金融体系的二元性,将中小企业排斥在正规金融体系之外,加大了其融资成本.深入分析金融抑制与中小企业融资困境的关系,才能找到破解中小企业融资难题的思路.重点是合理安排利率水平,加强利率市场化管理,并发展多层次的金融体系结构,进而为中小企业提供多渠道的融资途径.     

生产集中、人口分布与地区经济差异

动、静态比较分析发现 ,我国生产的极化作用不高 ,人口的极化作用过低。我国地区经济差距的主要原因是生产向东部地区不断集中的同时 ,人口没有相应地向那里集中 ,造成核心发达区域生产与人口分布高度失衡。鼓励中西部贫困人口向东部尤其是东部核心区域流动 ,是解决我国地区经济差距的有效策略。     

Government financing in an endogenous growth model with financial market restrictions

Summary. In this paper, we develop an endogenous growth model with market regulations on explicitly modeled financial intermediaries to examine the effects of alternative government financing schemes on growth, inflation, and welfare. In the presence of binding regulation, there is always a unique equilibrium. We perform four alternative policy experiments; a change in the seigniorage tax rate, a change in the seigniorage tax base, a change in the income tax and a change in the fiscal-monetary policy mix. We find that in the presence of binding legal reserve requirements, a marginal increase in government spending need not result in a reduction in the rate of economic growth if it is financed with an increase in the seigniorage tax rate. Raising the seigniorage tax base by means of an increase in the reserve requirement retards growth and it has an ambiguous effect on inflation. An increase in income tax financed government spending also suppresses growth and raises inflation although not to the extent that the required seigniorage tax rate alternative would. Switching from seigniorage to income taxation as a source of government finance is growth reducing but deflationary. From a welfare perspective, the least distortionary way of financing an increase in the government spending requirements is by means of a marginal increase in the seigniorage tax rate. Under the specification of logarithmic preferences, the optimal tax structure is indeterminate. Received: March 20, 2000; revised version: June 26, 2001     

促进城乡和谐发展的理念与理据

城乡差距过大是构建和谐社会的障碍,必须通过"反哺三农"的方式缩小城乡差距,实现城乡间的社会公平与协调发展.从历史贡献补偿角度而言,国民经济应对工业化初期以"剪刀差"方式吸纳的"三农"资金予以补偿;从社会福利角度来说,国民经济的发展不应牺牲涉农主体的利益,政府应对低工资、低地价、农产品低价格予以利益保障或补偿;从社会公正角度而言,政府应保障处于弱势地位的涉农群体的基本权益;从博弈均衡的角度而言,社会公共财政应承担起农村公共品的供给责任.     

我国西部欠发达地区发展生态工业的分析与思考

针对我国西部欠发达地区日益突出的生态环境问题,发展生态工业已成为构建和谐社会的重要举措。本文选取有代表意义的民族八省区作为西部欠发达地区的典型进行模拟预测,提出发展生态工业是协调贫困地区经济发展与环境状况关系的必要手段。