Temporal displacement of environmental crime: Evidence from marine oil pollution

We provide evidence for temporal displacement of illegal discharges of oil from shipping, a major source of ocean pollution, in response to a monitoring technology that features variation in the probability of conviction by time of day. During the nighttime, evidence collected by Coast Guard aircraft using radar becomes contestable in court because the nature of an identified spot cannot be verified visually by an observer on board of the aircraft. Seasonal variation in time of sunset is used to distinguish evasive behavior from daily routines on board. Using data from surveillance flights above the Dutch part of the North Sea during 1992–2011, we provide evidence for a sudden increase in illegal discharges after sunset across the year. Our results show that even a tiny chance of getting caught and a mild punishment can have a major impact on behavior.     

Assessment of a model of pollution disaster in near-shore coastal waters based on catastrophe theory

In this study, a model for assessing of environmental disasters in near-shore areas was developed using a multi-criteria evaluation method of catastrophe theory. The assessment model involved scenarios of eutrophication, pollution with heavy metals and organic compounds. An evaluation system of the model was composed of seven mesosphere indicators and twenty underlying indicators including water chemistry, water physics, water biology, heavy metals and organic pollutants in water and surface sediments. The model was applied to possibility assessment of environmental disasters in different functional regions of the Dalian Bay in 2001 and 2006. Results showed that the environmental disaster indicators in 2001 were equivalent to the Level 4 standard values of marine functional areas, but the eutrophication disaster indicators were lower than the Level 4 standard values. It is consistent with the occurrence of a large-scale red tide in Dalian Bay in 2001. In 2006, eutrophication remained the dominant problem of the region but organic pollutants, such as oil, were reduced remarkably. This coincided with ongoing local environmental-friendly practices for industries.     

Good news for environmental self-regulation? Finding the right link

We investigate the stock market response to firm disclosure of positive environmental information and the link from that information to environmental outcomes. We classify environmental media releases by informational content and value relevance, and assess the abnormal stock returns of each type of event. While announcements of future environmental activities lead to the largest favorable stock market reactions, there is no guaranteed link from this type of information to environmental outcomes. Further analysis of the abnormal returns shows that the magnitude of the stock market reaction depends on firm financial characteristics across all event types rather than on firm environmental performance. Our results indicate that the ability for voluntary environmental information disclosure to induce environmental self-regulation is limited to the extent that firms are able to follow through with their announcements of planned environmental activities.     

Tourists and disasters: lessons from the 26 December 2004 tsunamis

The 26 December 2004 tsunamis around the Indian Ocean exposed the vulnerability of many coastal communities, including those serving tourists. To draw conclusions regarding disaster risk reduction for tourism in coastal areas, this study surveyed international tourists who survived the tsunami regarding their perceptions and experiences of the disaster. Semi-structured interviews were completed between January and June 2005 of 55 primary interviewees who were international tourists in locations affected by the tsunami. The qualitative data from the interviews yielded commonalities across four main themes with relevance to disaster risk reduction: information and awareness, warning systems, personal preparation, and livelihoods. Three areas are suggested as topics to highlight for further investigation: the connections between sustainable tourism and disaster vulnerability, the role of tourists in disasters, and disaster risk reduction education.     

Does the stock market value the inclusion in a sustainability stock index? An event study analysis for German firms

This paper empirically analyzes the effect of the inclusion of German corporations in the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index (DJSI STOXX) and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) on stock performance. In order to receive robust estimation results, we apply an (short-term) event study approach that is based on both a modern asset pricing model, namely the three-factor model according to Fama and French [24], and additionally a t-GARCH(1,1) model. Our empirical results suggest that stock markets may penalize the inclusion of a firm in sustainability stock indexes. This finding is mainly driven by a strongly negative effect of the inclusion in the DJSI World. In contrast, we do not find significant average cumulative abnormal returns for the inclusion in the DJSI STOXX. This suggests that the inclusion in a more visible sustainability stock index may have larger negative impacts.     

基于人群健康的污染产业转移环境效应研究——以广东省陶瓷行业为例

产业转移是经济发展过程中常见现象;产业生产与资源环境之间密不可分的关系决定了产业转移必然引起资源环境状况的变化。为评价产业转移对改善区域整体环境状况的作用,构建了以环境经济损益分析定量评价产业转移的环境效应的方法框架,并以广东省陶瓷行业转移为例,研究了基于人体健康的污染产业转移的环境效应。研究结果显示,一般而言,由于污染排放变化,产业迁出地将产生环境效益,同时承接地将发生环境损失。当产业转移产生环境净效益时,意味着整体区域环境的改善。这种改善主要得益于产业迁出地和承接地之间存在的社会经济特征差异、具有经济技术可行性的污染控制技术的推广以及环境自净能力的合理利用等因素的综合作用。为促进区域协调发展,区域内产业转移过程中,应采取优化产业转移目录、加强环境管理、建立环境信息公开和公众参与制度和统筹协调区域内的污染控制责任和环境利益等环境治理措施。     

Does trade openness improve environmental quality?

The literature on trade openness, economic development, and the environment is largely inconclusive about the environmental consequences of trade. This study treats trade and income as endogenous and estimates the overall impact of trade openness on environmental quality using the instrumental variables technique. We find that whether or not trade has a beneficial effect on the environment varies depending on the pollutant and the country. Trade is found to benefit the environment in OECD countries. It has detrimental effects, however, on sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in non-OECD countries, although it does lower biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) emissions in these countries. We also find the impact is large in the long term, after the dynamic adjustment process, although it is small in the short term.     

裂解GC-MS法检验家用小轿车轮胎橡胶

利用优化的裂解气相色谱-质谱法对家用小轿车常用的16种不同品牌轮胎胎面和胎侧胶进行检验,检出丰富的胶料特征裂解产物和添加剂成分。根据胶料的特征裂解产物,发现轮胎胎面胶多为天然胶、顺丁胶和丁苯胶的并用胶,而胎侧胶则为天然胶和顺丁胶的并用胶,利用检出成分进一步进行分析,可将不同品牌的轮胎橡胶有效鉴别。     

The role of migration and founder effect for the evolution of cooperation in a multilevel selection context

The idea that natural selection can be meaningfully applied at the group level may be more important than previously thought. This perspective, a modern version of group selection, is called multilevel selection. Multilevel selection theory could incorporate previous explanations for the evolution of cooperation including kin selection. There is general agreement that natural selection favors noncooperators over cooperators in the case of an unstructured population. Therefore, the evolution of cooperation by multilevel selection often requires positive assortment between cooperators and noncooperators. The question is how this positive assortment can arise in the ecological meaning. We constructed an individual-based model of multilevel selection and introduced migration and evolution. The results showed that positive assortment was generated especially when a migration strategy was adopted in which individuals respond specifically to bad environmental conditions. It was also shown that the founder effect in the evolutionary process could further facilitate positive assortment by working with migration. We analyzed assortment by using relatedness defined in group-structured populations. The fact that cooperation was achieved by such migration and by the founder effect highlights the importance of sensitiveness to the ecological environment and of fluctuations in group size, respectively.     

An overview of systems analysis methods in delineating environmental quality indices

Environmental quality indices (EQIs) have been developed for a variety of purposes ranging from enforcement of environmental standards, to analysis of trends of environmental degradation or improvement, to scientific research. EQIs currently in use are not organized within an integrated framework and thus it has been difficult to analyze adequately complex, multidisciplinary, large-scale, global phenomena. In this paper we compare four different approaches to developing EQIs within a systems perspective. Our analysis suggests that: (1) non-linear regression models that represent an ecosystem's response to different impacts within a stress-response framework (method of response functions) are useful tools for analysis of environmental data; (2) non-equilibrium thermodynamics models based on the concept of exergy, which represents the free energy a system possesses in relation to its environment, provide a common basis for representing many aspects of ecosystem development and response to environmental impacts as a single measure; (3) diagram models based on the concept of emergy, which represents both environmental values and economic values with a single measure, provide a common basis for integrating economic development and environmental protection values into one index; and (4) complex systems simulation models based on general systems theory, which use the methodologies of systems analysis and simulation to identify, quantify, and interrelate EQIs within a dynamic systems context, provide explicit linkages between causes and effects (vertical integration) and identify cross-linkages among different environmental issues (horizontal integration).     

Electricity consumption: The growth pattern as an ecological indicator

Ecological problems are mainly caused by growth processes. The energy input is a key indicator for ecosystems. In this context, the use of the most valuable kind of energy is of special importance. Economic systems may be considered as special ecosystems. The most valuable kind of energy used in economic systems of industrialised countries is electricity. For some industrialised countries the growth pattern of electricity consumption and its relation to the gross domestic product is considered in this contribution. A linear relation between both indicators for about 3 decades after the Second World War and a coupling of these indicators starting at 1973 has been found. The aim of the contribution is to present this relation and to initiate a discussion about its reason and its interpretation.     

Environmental conditions influence egg color of reed warblers <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acrocephalus scirpaceus</Emphasis> and their parasite,the common cuckoo <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cuculus canorus</Emphasis>

The outer layer of the eggshell in birds is in many cases covered by pigments that are assumed to be genetically determined traits with a negligible environmental component. To test the hypothesis that spring environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and rainfall) may affect bird egg pigmentation, we measured by spectrophotometry and photography egg coloration and spottiness on reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus L.) clutches parasitized by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus L.) collected over a period of 24 years and preserved in the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. In addition, we investigated whether spring environmental conditions may influence the coevolutionary relationship between the cuckoo and its host via changes in cuckoo–host egg matching. Generalized mixed models revealed that reed warbler eggs were more brilliant in those springs with a higher rainfall and tended to be bluer and greener in springs with a lower relative temperature. On the other hand, cuckoo eggs were bluer and greener in springs with a higher rainfall. Cuckoo–host egg matching in blue-greenness and spottiness was better in springs with a higher rainfall. These results provide support for the existence of an environmental component on bird egg coloration and suggest that environmental factors may potentially affect the outcome of important features of the arms race between cuckoos and reed warblers.     

不同政策情景下农业土地利用效应模拟分析

农业土地利用政策的实施能够很大程度上影响区域农业生产方式和发展路径.构建了一个土地利用政策效应的多准则分析框架,并以上海市淀山湖地区作为案例区,从社会、经济和生态方面建立综合评价指标体系,应用情景分析方法,采用TechnoGIN模型作为评价工具,分别对基础情景、基准情景和3种不同政策干预情景下的农业土地利用效应进行了模拟和评价.结果显示,测土配方施肥政策使农民提高了施肥的钾氮比,同时对提高水稻产量起到了一定的作用,但对氮的总投入量及淋失量的降低作用较为微弱.而精细养分管理技术在使投入的钾氮比更为合理的同时,也降低了氮的总投入量及淋失量,但过多的劳动力投入需求限制了这一技术的推广和普及.适度规模经营政策的主要作用是减少劳动力使用量,为农民提供更多的外出就业机会.该研究的方法框架可为评估和预判不同农业政策的土地利用效应提供理论支撑.     

Determination of metal accumulation in deposited street dusts in Amman, Jordan

Street dust samples (120 in total) were collected under stable weather conditions during the hot, dry season (August and September) of 2004 from six different localities (industrial, heavy traffic, medium traffic, light traffic, low traffic and rural) in greater Amman, the capital of Jordan. The concentrations of Fe, Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn and Ni in the dusts were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The high concentrations of Pb, Fe and Zn in the street dust samples were related to both anthropogenic (industrial sources combined with traffic sources) and natural sources. Surprisingly, the concentrations of Cd in the dusts were low. Correlation coefficient analysis and principle component analysis identified three main sources of these elements and the corresponding distributions. The elements Pb, Zn, Cd, Fe, Cu and Ni were mainly derived from industrial sources, with Pb and Zn additionally derived from traffic sources. The street dusts were found to have highly elevated levels of Zn, particularly along the main trunk roads, indicating that the Zn in the street dusts may be derived from traffic sources, especially vehicle tyres. The concentrations of metals in the different street dust samples were found to vary depending on the density of traffic.     

North–south trade in reusable goods: Green design meets illegal shipments of waste

In a stylized model of international trade, firms in the North indirectly export second-hand products to a representative firm in the South to be reused as intermediate goods, with potential trade gains. The level of reusability of waste products – or green design – is a crucial choice variable in the North. This is because, in the presence of imperfect international monitoring, non-reusable waste can be illegally mixed with reusable waste. I explore the driving forces for illegal waste movement, with a particular focus on local waste regulations such as the EU׳s Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. Under mild conditions, it is shown that increasingly stringent regulations in the North can induce Northern firms to reduce product reusability. Consequently, the flow of non-reusable waste to the South increases, magnifying the pollution haven effect.     

Implementing second-best environmental policy under adverse selection

A key obstacle to practical application of mechanism design theory to regulation is the difficulty of obtaining consistent beliefs regarding information that theoretical models assume to be commonly held. This article presents a solution to this problem by developing an easily implemented empirical methodology with which the government can use available data to develop beliefs regarding the technology and distribution of types in a regulated sector characterized by hidden information. Results are used to calibrate a second-best land conservation mechanism and evaluate its cost relative to simpler alternatives.