环境规制对城市生态技术扩散效率的影响研究

生态技术扩散是长江经济带生态文明建设的必要环节，也是企业履行环保责任的有效措施。本文以长江经济带110个地级及以上城市为研究对象，采用非径向方向距离函数对城市工业企业生态技术扩散效率进行测算，分别从整体和区域异质性角度实证分析环境规制对城市工业企业生态技术扩散效率的影响及内在机理。结果表明：长江经济带城市环境规制与生态技术扩散效率存在倒“ U”形关系，环境规制对生态技术扩散效率还存在多重影响路径，外商直接投资和工业集聚在影响路径中分别起着中介作用，且外商直接投资和工业集聚的链式中介显著。在异质性分析中，发现环境规制、外商直接投资、工业集聚和生态技术扩散效率之间的关系因区域位置不同而存在差异性。为此，依据研究结论及环境规制实施现状提出相应的政策建议，实现长江经济带经济永续绿色发展目标。     

中央环保督察促进重污染企业绿色创新了吗？——来自上市企业绿色专利数据的证据

作为中国环境治理领域的重大制度革新,中央环保督察能否促进重污染企业绿色创新对未来中国深化环境治理体系和推动工业绿色转型具有重要参考意义。本文基于2007—2018年中国A股上市工业企业的绿色专利数据,采用双重差分模型（DID）考察中央环保督察对重污染企业绿色创新的影响。研究发现,中央环保督察显著提升了重污染企业的绿色创新水平,且该结论在一系列稳健性检验后依然成立。研究表明,中央环保督察通过提高地方环境执法力度促进企业绿色创新,并且这种促进作用只在非国有企业样本和高环境规制水平地区样本中显著。相较于数量,绿色创新质量的提升对于绿色转型更为关键。在高环境规制水平地区,中央环保督察还带来了当地重污染企业绿色创新质量的显著提升。本文为中央环保督察的绿色创新效应评估提供了基于企业层面的经验证据,并据此提出政策建议。     

市场分割对长江经济带能源环境效率影响研究

基于要素资源配置效应、技术创新效应和竞争效应,本文梳理了市场分割对长江经济带能源环境效率的影响机制,基于省际面板数据实证检验,发现:长江经济带能源环境效率随着市场分割程度存在显著倒"U"形关系;在规模报酬递减作用下,市场分割对长江经济带能源环境效率的影响从提升转变为抑制。未来破除长江经济带能源环境效率提升瓶颈的关键在于研发投入、对外开放水平以及市场融合。另外,分样本回归表明市场分割导致长江经济带中游地区能源环境效率存在"中部塌陷"的风险。由此,加强研发资金的精准投入、提升对外开放度和中游地区支撑力,以及增强长江经济带生态协同是长江经济带提升能源环境效率的重要突破口。     

环境规制视角下中国海洋产业转型研究

环境规制和创新直接决定了我国产业结构转型的速度和方向。基于我国沿海11省市2006—2014年面板数据,采用产业结构超前系数、More值和门槛回归模型,从方向和速度两个维度对我国海洋产业转型升级水平进行测度。结果表明:在产业转型方向上,沿海地区正向第三产业转型,2010年以后1/2省份的产业转型速度加快。在此基础上,构建门槛回归模型检验技术创新在环境规制促进海洋产业转型的中介作用。结果显示,在海洋技术创新水平制约下环境规制对海洋产业转型升级存在倒"U"型双重门槛效应。因此,政府在制定环境规制政策提升海洋产业转型水平时,应充分考虑海洋技术创新水平对环境规制效果的影响。     

长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率的时空演变及其影响因素研究

本文选取1998—2015年30个省份数据,采用超效率SBM模型测算全国、长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率;采用门槛效应模型研判长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率的影响因素.研究发现:1998—2015年长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率大于全国工业废气污染治理效率;长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率与全国工业废气污染治理效率的演变轨迹相似;长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率空间格局从"两极分化型"向"过渡型"演变;长江经济带沿线11省份工业废气污染治理效率与重工业占比呈负相关;当人均GDP较小时,长江经济带工业废气污染治理效率与工业化率、地方法规颁布件数、环境污染与破坏总次数呈负相关,与群众因污染来信数呈正相关;当人均GDP跨过门槛阈值拐点后,相关关系反之.为进一步推动长江经济带高质量发展,应加强中央与地方政府合作共促工业污染防控治理,推动重化工业绿色发展,加强媒体对废气污染的长期有效监督,推动建立科学有效的"三方共治"体系.     

基于EBM模型的长江经济带工业用水效率时空差异及影响因素分析

工业化进程的加快使得工业水资源需求不断增加，工业废水排放量也越来越大，如何提高工业用水效率从而缓解水资源压力成为日益严峻的问题。本文选取工业用水量、工业就业人数、工业固定资本和工业废水治理费用作为投入指标，以工业增加值与工业废水排放量作为期望与非期望产出指标。首先利用EBM模型计算长江经济带2008—2017年工业用水效率，其次利用泰尔指数来分析工业用水效率的区域差距，最后利用面板Tobit模型来分析影响不同地区工业用水效率的驱动因素。结果显示，近年来长江经济带的工业用水效率呈波动下降趋势，不同地区效率差异明显；经济发展水平、工业化程度、技术水平、水资源禀赋和政府环境管制力度对长江经济带的工业用水效率都有一定影响，但存在地区差异。     

排污权交易政策对绿色创新效率的影响研究

在现有环境污染严重的背景下绿色转型成为经济发展的必要,为解决发展中的污染问题政府采取环境规制政策进行干预,环境规制政策的评价标准不仅要保护环境同时也要兼顾经济发展。目前关于检验排污权交易政策对绿色发展的影响研究较少。本文基于中国2004—2018年30个省份面板数据,通过双重差分法（DID）等实证检验排污权交易政策的实施效果和作用机制,并且采用PSM-DID等方法进行稳健性检验。研究发现：排污权交易政策的实施不仅减少了污染物SO₂的排放,而且对工业绿色创新效率具有显著促进作用,有效推动经济可持续发展;通过作用机制分析可知,排污权交易政策提高绿色创新效率的作用途径是加大研发投入,并没有通过调整产业结构提高绿色创新效率;异质性分析表明在强环境规制下排污权政策的实施效果更好。中国政府有必要继续推动建设排污权交易政策的全国化,发挥政府激励作用,促使企业加大研发投入,提升绿色创新效率,推动经济可持续发展。本文从绿色创新效率的新视角检验了排污权交易政策的实施效果,有助于区域绿色发展的同时也为制定和完善排污权交易政策提供借鉴和参考。     

空间溢出视角下的环境规制与绿色发展——困境还是协调？

绿色发展是未来经济发展的必然趋势，提升绿色全要素生产率是实现绿色发展的重要途径，环境规制是解决环境问题的有效保障。本文采用2004—2019年30个省级面板数据，构建动态空间杜宾模型，实证研究了环境总体规制、工业废气规制、工业废水规制、工业固体废物规制和光污染规制对绿色全要素生产率的空间溢出影响。研究发现，环境总体规制对本地绿色全要素生产率的影响呈U形，工业废气规制、工业废水规制和工业固体废物规制的研究结果存在同一规律，而光污染规制起抑制作用。总体规制对邻地绿色全要素生产率的影响呈倒U形，具体规制的影响各不相同，工业废气规制与总体规制的结果类似，而工业废水规制的空间溢出效应表现为负，工业固体废物规制和光污染规制的空间溢出效应不显著。本文从实证角度验证了“绿水青山”和“金山银山”的兼容性，环境规制和效率提升并不矛盾。在制定环境政策时，需考虑区域间的相互协调和实际产业情况。     

环境规制、技术创新与企业绩效——基于石化行业VOCs排污收费政策的准自然实验

文章以2015—2019年中国石化行业337家上市公司为研究样本,运用双重差分模型验证了当期环境规制对后一期企业绩效的正向影响。进一步的中介效应检验发现,环境规制主要通过技术创新促进企业绩效的提高,从而验证了中国石化行业“波特假说”的存在。此外文章还发现环境规制影响企业绩效的效果及作用机制存在显著的区域差异,东、中部地区表现出显著正向影响,均支持“波特假说”,西部地区则影响不明显。基于上述研究,文章认为促进石化行业的绿色低碳发展,需进一步加大石化行业生态环境保护的政策实施力度、促进石化行业企业的科技投入并注重区域差异。     

异质性环境规制治理效率分析——基于空间杜宾模型与中介效应

为实现碳达峰与碳中和的目标，亟需对生态环境进行治理和保护，测度以往政策工具对环境治理的效果有利于及时调整治理措施。本文利用2004—2015年中国30个省份的数据，采用非期望产出SBM模型分析各省环境治理效率存在显著差异，并通过空间杜宾模型研究异质性环境规制及产业发展对环境治理效率的影响。结果表明：(1)各省环境治理效率存在显著差异，环境治理效率呈现波动。(2)异质性环境规制呈现不同的治理效率。命令型环境规制与环境治理效率正相关，推行环保法规有利于环境污染治理；市场型环境规制与环境治理效率负相关但不显著；自主型环境规制与环境治理效率正相关，公众积极参与有利于环境污染治理。(3)环境规制模式通过政府能力影响环境治理效率。通过中介效应，政府环保投入能力起到了部分中介效应作用，命令型环境规制和自主型环境规制通过政府环保投入能力提高了环境治理效率。     

Provincial development plans in Zimbabwe: an analysis of their content,structure and methodology

Zimbabwean provincial plans were instituted to help in the achievement of the national goal of the creation of an egalitarian, socialist and integrated society. The national goal itself was adopted as an antithesis to the dualist society characterised by spatial, economic, social, politican and technological inequalities that Zimbabwe inherited from colonialism. This meant that provincial plans had to play both a functional (or growth allocating/distribution) and a territorial (or redistribution) role.

This paper reviews their role in achieving the national goal by examining their functions, content, structure and methodology. The paper concludes that because of their nature, provincial plans are not suitable tools for the achievement of the national goal.     

BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ESTUARINE/COASTAL POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Sustained interest in and concern about the health status of the aquatic environment has resulted in extensive research focused on (1) effects of pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of resource species at all life stages; (2) diseases of fish and shellfish, as they may be related to pollution and as they may serve as indicators of environmental stress; and (3) contaminant body burdens in fish and shellfish - their effects on the aquatic animals and their potential effects on humans. Effects, lethal and sublethal, of pollutants on life history stages of fish and shellfish have been documented, as have impacts on local stocks in badly degraded habitats, but as yet there has been no adequate quantitative demonstration of effects on entire aquatic species - probably because of the difficulty in sorting out relative effects of the many environmental factors that influence abundance. Sublethal effects, especially those that result in disease, have been examined intensively, and some diseases and disease syndromes have been associated statistically with pollution. Other pollution indicators (biochemical, physiological, genetic, behavioral, and ecological) have also received some attention, as have body burdens of contaminants in aquatic species. Research, especially that conducted during the past decade, has done much to clarify the many pathways and toxic effects of contaminants on aquatic animals, and has also helped to identify mechanisms for survival of fish and shellfish in the presence of environmental changes caused by human activities.     

Definition Procedures Have Little Effect on Performance of Environmental Classifications of Streams and Rivers

Mapped environmental classifications are defined using various procedures, but there has been little evaluation of the differences in their ability to discriminate variation in independent ecological characteristics. We tested the performance of environmental classifications of the streams and rivers of France that had been defined from the same environmental data using geographic regionalization and numerical classification of individual river valley segments. Test data comprised invertebrate assemblages, water chemistry, and hydrological indexes obtained from sites throughout France. Classification performance was measured by analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). Geometric regions defined by a regular grid and without regard to environmental variables and a posteriori classifications based on clustering the test datasets defined lower and upper bounds of performance for a given number of classes. Differences in classification performances were generally small. The ANOSIM statistics for the a posteriori classifications were around twice that of all environmental classifications, including geometrically defined regions. The hydro-ecoregions performed slightly better for the invertebrate data and the network classification performed slightly better for the chemistry and hydrological data. Our results indicate that environmental classifications that are defined using different procedures can be comparable in terms of their ability to discriminate variation of ecological characteristics and that alleged differences in performance arising from different classification procedures can be small relative to unexplained variation. We conclude that definition procedures might have little effect on the performance of large-scale environmental classifications and decisions over which procedures to use should be based primarily on pragmatic considerations.     

Journalists' views of advertiser pressures on agricultural news

All major journalism ethical codes explicitly state that journalists should protect editorial copy from undue influence by outside sources. However, much of the previous research on agricultural information has concentrated on what information various media communicate (gatekeeping studies) or communication's role in increasing innovation adoption (diffusion studies). Few studies have concentrated specifically on organizational and structural constraints that might adversely affect agricultural journalists' ethical standards; those that have, focus largely on farm magazines. A study of newspaper reporters who cover agricultural news found that the most pressing ethical concern is the effect of advertiser (agri-business) pressure on editorial copy, and that their concerns in general parallel those of farm magazine writers and editors. The majority reported being in situations in which they might be exposed to advertiser pressure, including pressures to change or withhold editorial copy. Large minorities suggested that advertising pressures affect the overall environment in which agricultural journalists work, and more than one in ten said they allow advertiser pressures to influence editorial decisions. The newspaper reporters who cover agricultural beats showed slightly more resistance to advertiser pressure than did farm magazine editors in a parallel study.     

National minerals policies and stakeholder participation for broad-based development in the southern African development community (SADC)

This paper explains how the well-accepted concept of improved stakeholder participation during mineral policy development leads to a national mineral policy that accommodates the diverging views and interests that allows wide acceptance of decisions, enhancing the success of implementation and, ultimately, national benefits. This process is based on lessons learnt during the South African experience and has been successfully applied in the development of the Namibian and Malawian national minerals policies. An effective policy in the SADC will engineer the delicate balance between poverty reduction and an internationally competitive minerals sector. This balance enhances the possibility of long-term economic growth and development in the SADC region. The overriding advantage of this strategy is that it generates ‘home-grown’ policy instruments and implementation of mineral law with which stakeholders can identify. This process presents a new challenge to traditional policy formulation strategies in emerging economies and the bottom-up approach, linked to wide political support, allows the potential realisation of national objectives.     

Effect of Light on Biodegradation of Estrone, 17β‐Estradiol,and 17α‐Ethinylestradiol in Stream Sediment

Biodegradation of [A‐ring ¹⁴C] Estrone (E1), 17β‐estradiol (E2), and 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) to ¹⁴CO₂ was investigated under light and dark conditions in microcosms containing epilithon or sediment collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado. Mineralization of the estrogen A‐ring was observed in all sediment treatments, but not epilithon treatments. No difference in net mineralization between light and dark treatments was observed for ¹⁴C‐E2. Net mineralization of ¹⁴C‐E1 and ¹⁴C‐EE2 was enhanced in light treatments. Extents of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were significantly greater for E2 than E1 under dark conditions, but were comparable under light conditions. These results indicate substantial differences in the uptake and metabolism of E1 and E2 in the environment and suggest biorecalcitrance of E1 relative to E2 in light‐limited environments. The extent of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rate of mineralization for EE2 in dark treatments were less than half of that observed for E2 and generally lower than for E1, consistent with previous reports of EE2 biorecalcitrance. However, ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were comparable for EE2, E2, and E1 under light conditions. These results indicate photoactivation and/or phototransformation/photodegradation processes can substantially enhance heterotrophic biodegradation of estrogens in sunlit environments and may play an important role in estrogen transport and attenuation.     

Bioremediation of Soils by Plant–Microbe Systems

Abstract

Sustainable ecosystems can be designed to eliminate environmental toxins and reduce pathogen loads through the direct and indirect consequences of plant and microbial activities. We present an approach to the bioremediation of disturbed environments, focusing on petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contaminants. Treatment consists of incorporating a plant-based amendment to enhance ecosystem productivity and physiochemical degradation followed by the establishment of plants to serve as oxidizers and foundations for microbial communities. Promising amendments for widespread use are entire plants of the water fern Azolla and seed meal of Brassica napus (rapeseed). An inexpensive byproduct from the manufacture of biodiesel and lubricants, rapeseed meal is high in nitrogen (6% wt/wt), stimulates >100-fold increases in populations of resident Streptomyces species, and suppresses fungal infection of roots subsequently cultivated in the amended soil. Synergistic enzymatic and chemical activities of plant and microbial metabolism in root zones transform and degrade soil contaminants. Emphasis is given to mechanisms that enable PHC functionalization via reactive molecular species.     

A DISTRIBUTED DYNAMIC WATERSHED MODEL1

ABSTRACT: A distributed watershed model was developed to mathematically simulate overland and channel flow for a single-event storm. The modeled watersheds in the study were subdivided into rectangular grid elements. All hydrologically significant parameters, such as land slope, rainfall and precipitation excess, were assumed to be uniform within each element. The Green-Ampt method was adopted to generate precipitation excess for each element during the simulation period. A two-dimensional diffusion wave model was used for overland flow routing and an iterative Alternative Direction Implicit scheme was used to solve the simultaneous overland flow equations. Once the overland flow became inflow to the channel, a one-dimensional dynamic wave flood routing technique, based on a four-point, implicit, non-linear finite difference solution of the St. Venant equation of unsteady flow, was applied. A limited number of comparisons were made between simulated and observed hydrographs for areas of about one square mile. Given the appropriate parameters, the model was able to accurately simulate runoff for single-event storms. This paper describes a distributed watershed model developed to simulate overland and channel flow. Comparisons were made between simulated and observed hydrographs for three watersheds. The model was able to accurately simulate the runoff for single-event storms using 61-m by 61-m (200 ft by 200 ft) watershed grid elements.     

Energetics and environmental costs of agriculture in a dry tropical region of India

The present article, based on a study of five village ecosystems, assesses the energy efficiency of rain-fed agriculture in a dry tropical environment and the impact of agricultural activity on the surrounding natural ecosystems. Agronomic yield is insufficient to meet the food requirement of the human population, hence 11.5%–49.7% of the required amount of food grains are imported from the market. Energy requirements of five studied agroecosystems are subsidized considerably by the surrounding forest in the form of fodder and firewood. Natural ecosystems supply about 80%–95% of fodder needs and 81%–100% of fuelwood needs. The output-input ratio of agriculture indicated that, on average, 4.1 units of energy are expended to obtain one unit of agronomic energy. Of this, 3.9 units are supplied by the natural ecosystem. In addition, 38% of the extracted firewood is marketed. The illegal felling and lopping of trees result in ever-increasing concentric circles of forest destruction around the villages and together with excessive grazing results in savannization. The forests can be conserved by encouraging fuelwood plantations (0.7 ha/ha cultivated land) and developing village pastures (1.6 ha/ha cultivated land) and reducing the livestock numbers. Agricultural production in the region can be stabilized by introducing improved dry farming techniques such as intercropping, planned rainwater management, and adequate use of fertilizers.     

INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT WHO SHOULD LEAD,WHO SHOULD PAY?1

ABSTRACT: Improving water management to meet future global needs will certainly require technical advances, but the main challenge is to integrate the viewpoints of diverse societal interests into decisions about allocation of water resources. The integration cannot be done solely by the market because it requires a balancing among interests which do not respond well to market forces, nor by the state alone because of institutional problems. The concept of “integrated water resources management” has been developed to provide the framework for the required balancing of interests, and, like similar concepts in industries other than water, it has a dual purpose - to link stakeholders and apply best practices to management actions. To clarify the process of integrated water management, the paper focuses on two questions: who should lead integrated water resources management and who should pay for it? Several examples are given to illustrate a range of situations. The paper concludes with a call to improve paradigms of integrated water management, a proposition that water organizations should accept and budget for their external responsibilities as well as their direct missions, affirmation of the need for state and federal agencies to be involved with local interests, a call for better scientific and public information, and identification of the need for continued work to improve the process of integrated water management.