Natural resources, capital accumulation and the resource curse

Early concern by economists for the effect of natural capital on economic growth gave way to complacency and neglect during the nineteenth century. Evidence has emerged, however, that since the 1960s the economic performance of low-income countries has been inversely related to their natural resource wealth. This relationship is not a deterministic one so policy counts. SEEA can help improve the policy and performance of resource-abundant low-income countries by reinforcing the rationale for the sound management of natural resources and also by providing an index of policy sustainability in the form of the net saving rate. This policy index, along with other measures such as a capital fund for sterilizing the rent, initiatives to increase the transparency of rent flows and the rigorous evaluation of alternative uses of additional public sector revenue can improve the efficiency by which natural resource rent is transformed into alternative forms of capital to sustain rising social welfare. Chad and Mauritania provide case studies to illustrate how SEEA and net saving can be used to diagnose policy failure and improve economic performance.     

浅析物流信息化与资源节约型城市的可持续发展

21世纪是全球物流发展的时代,其中信息在物流中发挥重要的作用。全社会掀起物流信息化建设的热潮,资源节约型城市要抓住这一有利时机,充分利用有利信息来发展物流业,实现经济的转型,从而保证本地经济的持续、健康、稳定的发展。本文从分析物流信息化与资源节约型城市的可持续发展关系入手,指出目前其原型城市在物流信息化建设中存在的问题及形成的原因,最后提出合理的建议。     

基于循环经济理论的建筑节能研究

建筑节能是贯彻国家可持续发展战略的重要组成部分,循环经济理论将为我国建筑节能政策提供良好的思路.文章在分析循环经济理论基本内涵的基础上,分析循环经济理论对我国建筑节能工作的指导意义,并结合当前我国建筑节能现状及其存在的问题,根据“十一五“规划目标,提出新时期我国建筑节能对策.     

民用建筑循环冷却水系统设计的探讨

文章对多年来在民用建筑循环冷却水系统设计、运行中碰到的一些问题,提出在设计时应注意的事项及所需要采取的措施。     

从我国能源消费现状看建设资源节约型社会的必要性和紧迫性

本文根据大量最新统计资料，详细分析了我国的能源消费现状以及国际能源市场的最新变化，指出了我国建设资源节约型社会的必要性和紧迫性。针对建设资源节约型社会在能源领域的实现途径．本文随后给出了若干政策建议。     

节水农业关键技术发展趋势及国内外差异分析

该文通过对国内外节水农业现状及发展趋势分析指出,现代节水农业技术是以节水、高效、安全、改善生态环境与可持续发展为目标,在传统的节水农业技术中融入了生物、计算机模拟、电子信息、高分子材料等一系列高新技术,具有多学科相互交叉、各种单项技术互相渗透的明显特征.该文从灌溉节水技术、节水种植制度、覆盖农业节水技术、抗旱节水作物品种的选育、节水制剂与材料、水肥信息采集技术与预警系统等方面分析了国内外存在的差异.我国节水农业已开展了一系列的技术创新与应用研究,取得了瞩目的成就,但与节水技术先进国家相比仍然存在较大差距.     

日本能源政策:演进与构成

作者着重介绍日本能源政策的演进与构成,并通过对日本能源政策的横向和纵向比较分析,试图展现战后日本能源政策的全景,进而揭示出日本能源政策的发展轨迹,解析其能源政策中科学的、有利于能源中长期有效使用的举措,以及对中国能源政策制定的借鉴作用。     

浅谈工业锅炉系统的节能降耗

工业锅炉是我国耗能最多的设备之一,每年消耗的能源约占整个国家能源消耗的三分之一。而工业锅炉耗能是为了生产二次能源——蒸汽或热水。蒸汽或热水再通过热力管网送往各种用热设备。锅炉、管网和用热设备组成了热力系统,该系统的能源利用率等于锅炉热效率、管网热效率和用热设备热效率的乘积。由此可见,锅炉耗能的大小不仅决定于本身热效率的高低,而且也决定于热力系统的能源利用率。因此,降低工业锅炉耗能必须从锅炉、管网和用热设备三方面系统地考虑。     

On the role of the utility function in the estimation of preference parameters

Modern economic theory summarizes the main characteristics of individual preferences through a definite set of parameters: risk aversion, prudence, and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution. Despite their importance, the results of the literature devoted to the parameters’ estimation are controversial. This paper highlights the neglected role that may have been played by the constraints that the quantitative definition of the parameters and the utility functions employed impose on the estimation. A number of simulation exercises are presented, which show that the same saving behaviour can be associated with quite different values of the parameters depending on the utility function adopted.     

The Displacement Effect of Public Pensions on the Accumulation of Financial Assets*

The generosity of public pensions may depress private savings and provide incentives to retire early. While there is plenty of evidence supporting the latter effect, there remains considerable controversy over whether public pensions crowd out private savings. This paper uses international micro‐data sets collected over recent years to investigate whether public pensions displace private savings. The identification strategy relies not only on cross‐country differences in generosity but also on differences in the progressivity or non‐linearity of pension formulas across countries. We estimate that an extra dollar of pension wealth depresses accumulated financial assets around the time of retirement by 22 cents. An extra 10,000 dollars in public pension wealth reduces the average retirement age by roughly one month, which implies an elasticity of years of retirement with respect to pension wealth of 0.15.