Occupational Accidents of Finnish-and Swedish-Speaking Workers in Finland: A Mental Model View

This article is based on 2 studies. The aim of the first study was to examine the differences in occupational accident frequency between the 2 main language groups in Finland. Based on 3 independent statistical data sets, it was shown that Swedish-speaking workers had about 40% fewer occupational accidents than Finnish-speaking workers. The aim of the second study was to confirm the difference at company level. A field study in the province of Vaasa with 14 small and medium-sized manufacturing companies revealed that the accident frequency of Swedish-speaking workers was 21% lower than that of Finnish-speaking workers.     

Investing in fertilizer–mining companies in times of food scarcity

The primary goal of the paper is to show the validity of investing capital in fertilizer–mining companies, both from a market return perspective for individual or institutional investors, or from a hedging standpoint for insurance companies and other economic actors exposed to inflation risk and high agricultural commodity prices. After providing some elements on the fertilizer market and describing the joint dynamics of corn, wheat and fertilizer prices over the last decade, we analyze an exhaustive sample of listed fertilizer producing companies over the years January 2004–December 2012. We show that their shares generated quite good returns over the whole period and extremely high ones during the years January 2004–December 2007, both in absolute terms and compared to their betas. We also exhibit that these returns display higher sensitivities to major agricultural indexes than to the World Bank Fertilizer Index, making the hedging argument quite compelling.     

Co-Partnership in Forest Management: The Gwira-Banso Joint Forest Management Project in Ghana

The involvement of local communities, as well as the private sector and the government in forest management is now an important principle of tropical forestry policy and practice and a major component of most international forestry aid programmes. This paper present an analysis on the Joint Forest Management Project initiated by two timber companies (Ghana Primewood Products Ltd and Dalhoff Larsen & Horneman) in collaboration with local people in Gwira-Banso of Ghana. Conditions required for enhancing responsibility for and commitment to local forest management, and for an effective local participatory process were also analysed. The study began with the premise that incentives and good communication will enhance participation in joint forest management.The assumption was valid and the results from the survey showed that five broad issues prioritised by respondents to be essential for co-partnership in forest management are communication, financial support, tree planting, multiple land use and benefit sharing. The Project enjoys a great deal of support from the local community, but a number of factors make the continued support of local people a challenging task, including questions of immediate livelihood sources and tenure arrangements. Although this participatory forest management has been implemented over a relatively short period, there is evidence that government and private sectors can successfully involve local people in sustainable management of the forests.     

Genetic Engineering in Agriculture: Who Stands to Benefit?

The use of genetic engineering inagriculture has been the source of much debate. Todate, arguments have focused most strongly on thepotential human health risks, the flow of geneticmaterial to related species, and ecologicalconsequences. Little attention appears to have beengiven to a more fundamental concern, namely, who willbe the beneficiaries of this technology? Given the prevalence of chronic hunger and thestark economics of farming, it is arguable thatfarmers and the hungry should be the mainbeneficiaries of agricultural research. However, theapplication of genetic engineering appears unlikely tobenefit either of these two groups. This technology islargely controlled by the private sector, and itscontinued development hinges on its profitability.Thus, the only likely beneficiaries of the applicationof genetic engineering in agriculture are companieswith the capacity to use it.     

炼化企业热媒水低温余热回收利用方案

对典型炼化企业热媒水的温度、压力、流量及气分、伴热装置的蒸汽使用情况等进行调研,根据低温余热的利用原则,简化低温余热回收利用系统建立步骤,提出适合本企业、有针对性的低温余热回收利用方案。方案实施后,可为企业节省各类蒸汽3.6×105 t/a,年增加经济效益近4 000万元。     

CPI对我国旅游上市公司盈利能力的影响研究

基于2001-2010年CPI与15家旅游上市公司的财务数据,通过最小二乘回归模型和假设检验,分析了CPI变化对我国旅游上市公司盈利能力的影响,比较了CPI对景区类、酒店类、综合类旅游上市公司盈利能力影响的大小.结果发现,CPI对我国旅游上市公司盈利能力的影响是反向的和显著的；CPI对景区类、酒店类、综合类旅游上市公司盈利能力的影响存在差异；综合类高于景区类和酒店类,景区类高于酒店类.根据上述情况分析原因,提出相关建议.     

The impact of privatization approaches on the productivity growth of the water industry: A case study of Chile

The water industry faces the challenge of implementing privatization reforms. This process mainly adopts the following two approaches: the privatization of public water and sewerage services (WSS) and the privatization of water companies’ ownership. This paper investigates the impact of both privatization approaches on changes in productivity in the water industry. In doing so, the Luenberger productivity indicator (LPI) was computed for a sample of Chilean water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) for the period 1997–2013. Unlike the most commonly applied index (Malmquist productivity index), the LPI simultaneously takes into account output expansion and input contraction. The results evidenced that productivity in the Chilean water industry decreased after its privatization. However, in the sub-periods in which the ownership of WaSCs was privatized, the productivity of the water industry increased due to technical improvements. On the other hand, the concession of WWS to private WaSCs involved a regression in productivity. From a policy perspective, regulators and managers of WaSCs at the international level can learn important lessons from the Chilean case to improve the productivity of the water industries in their countries.     

长三角地区石油和化工行业上市公司绿色竞争力的实证研究

企业绿色竞争力是企业在“绿色化”的前提下，与对手相比的一种竞争优势。石油和化工行业是能源和资源的生产和消耗大户．也是众所周知的重污染行业．对石油和化工企业的绿色竞争力进行实证研究具有重要意义。本文以长三角地区的石油和化工行业上市公司为案例。构建基于DEA法的绿色竞争力评价模型．评估了它们的绿色竞争力。实证结果显示：长三角地区石油和化工企业的绿色竞争力还有待加强．在此基础上提出了石油和化工企业提高绿色竞争力的一些具体措施。     

Research on the transmission mechanism of low-carbon policies: an empirical study of agricultural companies

Companies bear primary responsibility for low-carbon economy, thus relevant low-carbon policies should be set properly to guide them and to ensure their low-carbon production effectively. To solve the problems generated during low-carbon development, this article verifies the existence of the transmission path and strength. This verification includes mediating variables of companies’ willingness and capacity to conduct low-carbon production, a transmission mechanism through incentive path and resources protection, and questionnaire data of agricultural companies. Conclusions show that the low-carbon policies have obvious positive effects on willingness of corporation; the basic service-oriented policy has a significantly promoting effect on low-carbon production capacity; and low-carbon production performance is positively influenced by willingness as well as capability. Aiming at a better transmission path, some corresponding recommendations have been put forward in the end.     

旅游上市公司财务危机的突变级数预测模型及实证研究

旅游企业因财务风险导致的经营陷入困境甚至破产清算现象不断增加。为了提供预防企业陷入财务困境的有效措施,基于突变级数法,以2000—2009年沪深两市首次被特别处理的A股旅游上市公司为研究对象,从经营能力和发展能力等方面选取核心财务指标,构建财务预测模型,运用亏损前一年(ST-3)的数据算出预警阀值,以亏损当年(ST-2)数据进行检验。讨论了财务危机发生的原因,通过ST公司与正常公司均值比较得出以下结论:旅游企业陷入财务危机的根源是经营能力不足、现金流量发展水平较低,从而影响了偿债能力、盈利能力和成长能力。