基于模糊评判法的陕西农村公共物品供给模式选择分析

陕西一直实行"以农补工、优先发展城市、优先发展工业"的倾斜性战略政策,使得城乡在资源分配和社会事业发展等方面存在较大的差距,农村发展处于劣势地位,尤其是农村公共物品未能得到有效供给,其供给主要是采取以政府为主导的模式。研究利用陕西农村1990-2008年的时间序列统计数据,通过构建陕西农村经济发展的9个评判指标并对其分别赋予不同的隶属度,运用模糊评判法,对陕西农村公共物品供给的经济发展阶段进行了定量评判。实证研究表明,自20世纪90年代以来,陕西农村地区整体上处于经济发展的第二个阶段,即经济发展的成长阶段。因此,陕西应主要采取以政府为主导型的农村公共物品供给模式,而私人(市场)供给只能作为农村公共物品供给的少许补充。农村公共物品供给模式应根据经济发展阶段作出选择,以期实现各个时期农村公共物品供给的最优化:考虑不同地区农民的需求意愿,改革"一刀切"的供给模式;扭转农民负担部分公共物品供给成本的局面。     

Trends and issues in land and water resources management: Setting the agenda for change

The classical model of a paradigm shift is used to explore changes that are occurring in public lands and water resources management. Recent policy developments suggest that the traditional paradigm, which is characterized by sustained yield, is in the process of being invalidated. While no new paradigm has been fully accepted, the emerging paradigm does appear to be based on two principles: ecosystem management and collaborative decision making. Implementation of these two principles is likely to require extensive revision of traditional management practices and institutions. Failure to address these issues could result in adoption of the rhetoric of change without any lasting shift in management practices or professional attitudes.     

Environmental democracy in action: The Toxics Release Inventory

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) created by the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act initially received limited attention. During the early years of its implementation, the TRI has become the basis for a national experiment in voluntaristic problem solving among citizens and industry, but that process of environmental democracy hinges on citizens' ability to actually acquire, understand, and apply the new data on industrial toxic emissions. A national study of TRI-using organizations in the public and private sectors reveals that effective citizen access depends in part on the efforts of intermediary public interest groups to bridge individual needs and right-to-know data. Although the TRI has had early success as a supplement to conventional command and control regulation, questions exist about the extent to which state and federal government should or must provide special efforts to make environmental information access work for citizens.     

Initial decision analysis (IDA): a participatory approach for developing resource policies

Initial decision analysis (IDA) is a microcomputer based decision-making technique that is organized so that a rational, step-by-step, procedure can be followed to use existing knowledge to develop resource policies. The IDA process provides a systematic way for participants to define their own problem and to explore jointly alternative solutions. IDA is particularly suited to resolving complex problems involving many groups with conflicting interests. IDA is illustrated with data from the US Forest Service's Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 1985 to 2030 Resource Planning Act Program for the United States. Four policy options are evaluated: maximization of timber production, of grazing, and of wilderness, and a dominant use policy that concentrates timber management on productive sites. Policies were evaluated using a new mathematical satisficing procedure. Mathematical satisficing of simulated policy consequences showed that, for selected performance standards, current RPA policies are superior to the four alternative policies examined.     

The Colorado,USA, Joint Review Process: an initial evaluation of its success as a permit reform by key participants

Colorado, USA, developed the Joint Review Process (CJRP) in 1978 to coordinate the application and review of permits required for major development projects. Since then, the state has used the process on over 20 projects. This study examined whether the CJRP has achieved its primary goals—enhanced coordination of agencies, enhanced public participation, and strengthened communication between agencies and project sponsors— and several related secondary goals. The success of the process was measured through a survey of 54 key people who had been directly involved with the process. Those surveyed included federal and state agency staff, local agency managers, corporate officers, private consultants, and environmental leaders. All groups, with one exception, agreed that the process achieved its primary goals and that it should be retained. Environmental leaders were neutral about whether the process enhanced public participation and about retaining the process. The report concludes with a review of recommended improvements to and applications of the CJRP.     

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: COMBINING NOMINAL GROUP PROCESS AND MICROCOMPUTERS1

ABSTRACT: The growing concern for public participation in water resource decision-making has invited researchers to improve and develop reliable, quick, and inexpensive techniques for measuring public preferences. It is increasingly clear that traditional participation mechanisms, though useful, are no longer sufficient in providing the level of participation desired by many. A combination of microcomputer technology with Nominal Group Process (a step-by-step process ending in ranked recommendations) offers numerous possibilities for active participatory planning. Efforts at participation occurring through a well developed and defined process cannot be successful without a sensitivity to the conceptual, methodological, and pragmatic problems involved. This paper prefaces presentation of an alternative active process technique with discussion of the theoretical basis of participatory democracy and the frustration with practical implementation procedures.     

Seasonal food use by white-tailed deer at Valley Forge National Historical Park,Pennsylvania, USA

Food habits of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were examined from January to November 1984 via fecal-pellet analysis at Valley Forge National Historical Park (VFNHP), which represents an island habitat for deer surrounded by extensive urbanization, in southeastern Pennsylvania. In addition, use of fields by deer was compared to food habits. Herbaceous vegetation (forbs, leaves of woody plants, and conifer needles) was the predominant food type in all seasons except fall. Acorns and graminoids (grasses and sedges) were important food resources in fall and spring, respectively. Use of woody browse (twigs) was similar among seasons. Field use was relatively high during fall, winter without snow cover (<20 cm), and spring when food resources in fields were readily available. In contrast, use of fields was lowest in summer when preferred woodland foods were available and in winter with snow cover when food in fields was not readily accessible. Patterns of food-type use by deer at VFNHP indicate the year-round importance of nonwoody foods and field habitats to deer populations on public lands such as national parks in the northeastern United States.     

PUBLIC INFORMATION AND CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT1

ABSTRACT: Public information, an important contributer to citizen involvement in the governmental decision making process, has traditionally been given a low priority by government agencies. However, citizens are becoming increasingly concerned about governmental decisions that affect their lives and are demanding more information about governmental activities, including information about water resource issues, Because of this active citizen interest and involvement, the role of public information in increasing citizen awareness is becoming more important. Government officials and professionals should recognize that public information efforts also play an important role in achieving increased credibility and respect for their agencies. Once an agency recognizes the importance of public information and decides to initiate a public information program, careful planning is required to develop a program that addresses the needs of both the citizens and the agency. Two of the most flexible and cost effective ways to get information to the publié are through publications and public meetings. Both can be easily adapted to suit the needs of specific audiences and projects. A successful public information program can be carried out at a relatively low cost, but it requires a substantial amount of time and energy. The commitment of time and energy for this purpose is a good investment, however, because an effective public information program can play a significant role in improving the quality of governmental decisions through the increased involvement of the citizenry.     

Opencasting — putting the environment at risk?

Opencast coalmining has been undertaken in Britain since 1942, but national policy towards its role in the energy market has fluctuated, and today there is a growing awareness of its detrimental impact on the environment. This paper explores the changing policy background since 1974 and, through an examination of recent planning appeal decisions, assesses the weight placed on the competing factors underlying the present formulation of government policy. It is submitted that at present government has failed to formulate a coherent policy in terms of land‐use and that the cost of this failure is a continued erosion of the environment.     

Risk management: Time for innovative approaches

Risk management practices under the current environmental regulations is a long, complex process that considers scientific, technologic, and management factors to develop various regulatory standards and pollution control measures. Using the mandatory enforcement approach, sometimes referred to as “command-and-control”, a set of preliminary environmental goals, such as better air and water qualities, were achieved. However, the information-intensive nature of the risk management process and the lack of flexibility in conventional regulatory methods to changing economic and technologic realities of the decade has created interest among risk managers to examine some innovative management approaches. Above all, environmental problems of a global scale require novel management methods while striving to achieve the desired environmental goals. As the principal analytical tool in risk management, quantitative risk assessment exerts considerable influence on the risk management process. Therefore, advances in risk management are closely associated with scientific developments that enhance the risk assessment process, particularly those efforts aimed at improving human exposure and toxicity assessments. Market incentives, information dissemination, creative enforcement practices, and interagency and intergovernmental interactions were identified as the key elements of innovative environmental risk management practices. This paper will present an overview of the emerging innovative risk management approaches.