环境管制与煤炭企业竞争力关系的理论研究

随着对煤炭企业环境管制的加强,环境管制与煤炭企业竞争力之间的关系成为广泛关注的热点问题之一.环境管制最根本的目的是在环境保护的基础上维护有效和公平的竞争秩序,因此必须重新构建基于环境管制的煤炭企业竞争力模型,以期提升煤炭企业的长期竞争力,并为煤炭企业的环境战略管理决策提供参考,实现经济效率和社会效益的平衡.     

国内外环境管制问题研究综述

环境领域越来越多的管制法规引发了人们的极大关注,众多学者从不同角度研究了这些管制措施对经济社会以及世界经济和贸易的影响.系统回顾和梳理了国内外学者围绕环境管制与企业竞争力、国际贸易和国际投资、企业环境战略等方面的研究成果,以期为国内学者提供一些研究思路.     

环境管制对企业土壤污染防治策略的影响机制研究

环境管制和企业土壤污染防治行为之间关系的研究对于我国相关法规的制定具有十分重要的意义。本文以情境脚本的方式模拟不同外部压力情形下企业可能的土壤污染防治行为,目的在于了解我国尚未通过的《土壤污染防治法》应以何种制度设计为佳。结果发现,正式环境管制压力中违规罚金对企业的土壤污染防治行为的影响程度较大;在非正式环境管制压力中,消费者与客户压力对企业土壤污染防治行为的影响程度较大。本文最后还对模拟实验研究的结果进行了讨论。     

有色金属企业环保投资对企业竞争力的影响研究——基于环境规制的调节效应与门槛效应分析

基于2014—2020年我国有色金属上市公司的数据,通过构建基准模型、调节效应模型、门槛效应模型,实证检验了企业环保投资对企业竞争力的影响。结果表明:①环保投资对企业竞争力具有显著的促进作用,引入环境规制变量后,发现其对环保投资与企业竞争力之间的关系产生了正向调节作用。②相比于我国非国有企业和西部地区,环境规制对有色金属企业环保投资与企业竞争力之间的正向调节效应在国有企业和中、东部地区企业中更加明显。③以环境规制为门槛变量进行深入分析,发现环境规制存在双重门槛效应,当环境规制大于或等于2.203这一门槛值时,环保投资对企业竞争力的促进作用才会显著。     

环境管制对企业核心竞争力的影响研究——基于污染密集型工业企业的面板数据分析

我国提出要建立系统完整的生态文明制度体系,用制度保护生态环境、约束企业的排污活动、规范企业使用资源的行为。由此可见,政府的环境管制日渐成为企业必须考虑的重要因素。基于1999—2013年五大污染密集型工业企业的面板数据,以环境管制对这些企业核心竞争力的影响进行了实证检验。研究得出,短时期内提高环境管制强度不利于企业核心竞争力的提升,会在一定程度上抑制企业发展。这一结果说明,当前我国工业企业还处于被动式的环境治理阶段,因此政府必须加强环境监管。     

环境库兹涅茨曲线与我国环保产业的发展 基于面板数据回归的实证

摘 要:通过探讨环境库兹涅茨曲线和环保产业竞争力的关系,为我国经济发展和环境污染问题之间存在的矛盾提出解决方案;建立面板数据的回归模型实证分析了我国环保产业竞争力与经济发展的关系;研究表明,我国人均GDP和环保产业竞争力之间不存在明显的相关关系,目前的经济发展仍然是以牺牲环境为代价,未来治理环境污染更需要环保产业的发展,才能促进环保企业提升产品和服务水平的竞争力。     

企业环境管理中政府和企业作用分析

我国的经济发展伴随着日益严重的环境问题。在引起环境问题的诸多因素中,来自企业方面的因素对环境的影响最为深远,因此改善环境首先就需要加强企业的环境管理。在推动企业进行环境管理的各种因素中,既有如政府的管制等外部因素,也有如减少成本、产品差异化等企业自身内部因素。外部因素和内部因素对推动企业环境管理都具有重要作用,但也有其局限性。本文通过政府管制及企业自身因素对驱动企业进行环境管理的作用机制的研究,分析各个驱动因素优缺点,寻求各驱动因素的最佳的组合,促使企业更好地加强环境管理。     

川化股份有限公司循环经济竞争力评估研究

循环经济建设是从根本上缓解资源环境短缺与经济快速发展之间的尖锐矛盾的有效模式。本文对四川省发展循环经济建设成效较显著的试点企业——川化股份有限公司进行基于循环经济的企业竞争力评估。通过建立企业循环经济竞争力评估指标体系,采用数学模糊评估模型,系统分析了企业的基于循环经济的竞争力水平。报告的评估成果显示,经5年的企业循环经济建设,截止2009年,川化股份有限公司基于循环经济的企业竞争力总体处于“强”的水平。     

研发投入、环境管制与中国碳排放强度

基于联立方程模型,运用1997—2016年相关数据,研究了我国研发投入、环境管制对碳排放强度的影响问题。实证结果表明:研发投入在推动低碳技术进步的同时显著降低了碳排放强度;研发投入对环境管制有反向影响,但这种影响十分有限,进一步对碳排放强度的影响可以忽略;环境管制加强会阻碍外资进入,主要体现在流向高污染产业的外资,"污染避难所"效应在我国存在;环境管制加强对促进外资保护我国环境方面发挥了重要作用,同时促进了企业对研发投入的加大,是降低碳排放强度的关键。     

企业自愿实施环境管理体系的动因和障碍性因素分析

随着国际国内社会对企业环境问题的日益关注,越来越多的企业开始实施积极的环境管理战略。从政府管制、利益驱动、绿色需求、环境壁垒和社会责任等五个方面阐述了企业自愿实施环境管理体系的动因,同时针对中小企业开展环境管理存在的收益不足、经济约束、技术障碍、思想落后、市场机制不完善等方面的困难进行了剖析,得出企业实施环境管理是基于成本与收益的理性决策。     

Conversion of temperate forests into heaths: Role of ecosystem disturbance and ericaceous plants

Fire and logging in nutrient-poor temperate forests with certain ericaceous understory plants may convert the forests into heaths. The process of disturbance-induced heath formation is documented by using examples ofCalluna in western Europe,Kalmia in Newfoundland, andGaultheria (salal) in coastal British Columbia. In a cool, temperate climate, rapid vegetative growth ofCalluna, Kalmia, and salal following disturbance results in increasing organic accumulation (paludification), nutrient sequestration, soil acidification, and allelochemicals. These are thought to be the main reasons to conifer regeneration failure in disturbed habitats. If continuation in forest is a land-use objective, then temperate forests with an ericaceous understory should not be logged unless effective silvicultural methods are devised to control the ericaceous plants and restore forest regeneration. Preharvest vegetation control may be considered as an option. Failure to control the understory plants may lead to a long-term vegetation shift, from forest to heathland, particularly in nutrient-poor sites. Successful methods of controllingKalmia andGaultheria, however, have yet to be developed. While theKalmia- andGaultheria- dominated heathlands are undesirable in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, a wide range ofCalluna heathlands of western Europe are being conserved as natural and seminatural vegetation.     

Using Paleo Reconstructions to Improve Streamflow Forecast Lead Time in the Western United States

In water stressed regions, water managers are exploring new horizons that would help in long‐range streamflow forecasts. Oceanic‐atmospheric oscillations have been shown to influence streamflow variability. In this study, long‐lead time streamflow forecasts are made using a multiclass kernel‐based data‐driven support vector machine (SVM) model. The extended streamflow records based on tree ring reconstructions were used to provide a longer time series data. Reconstructed data were used from 1658 to 1952 and the instrumental record was used from 1953 to 2007. Reconstructions for oceanic‐atmospheric oscillations included the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and North Atlantic Oscillation. Streamflow forecasts using all four oscillations were made with one‐year to five‐year lead times for 21 gages in the western United States. This is the first study that uses both instrumental and reconstructed data of oscillations in SVM model to improve streamflow forecast lead time. SVM model was able to provide “satisfactory” to “very good” forecasts with one‐ to five‐year lead time for the selected gages. The use of all the oscillation indices helped in achieving better predictability compared to using individual oscillations. The SVM modeling results are better when compared with multiple linear regression model forecasts. The findings are statistical in nature and are expected to be useful for long‐term water resources planning and management.     

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs.     

Neighbourhood characteristics and urban gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area: staffing and voluntarism,food production,infrastructure, and sustainability practices

Urban gardens are important sources of sustenance for communities with limited access to food. Hence, this study focuses on food production in gardens in the Toledo metropolitan area in Northwest Ohio. We administered surveys to 150 garden managers from November 2014 to February 2015 in our attempt to better understand how neighbourhood racial composition and poverty levels are related to staffing and voluntarism, food production and distribution, the development of infrastructure, and the adoption of sustainability practices in urban gardens. The results from 30 gardens are presented in this paper. We used Geographic Information Systems to map the gardens and overlay the map with 2010 census data so that we could conduct demographic analyses of the neighbourhoods in which the gardens were located. Though the gardens were small – two acres or less – up to 46 varieties of food were grown in a single garden. Gardens also operated on small budgets. Food from the gardens was gifted or shared with friends, family, and neighbourhood residents. Gardens in predominantly minority neighbourhoods tended to have fewer institutional partners, less garden infrastructure, and had adopted fewer sustainable practices than gardens in predominantly White neighbourhoods. Nonetheless, residents of predominantly minority and high-poverty neighbourhoods participated in garden activities and influenced garden operations. Volunteering and staffing were racialised and gendered.     

Predicting deer-vehicle collisions in an urban area

Collisions with deer and other large animals are increasing, and the resulting economic costs and risks to public safety have made mitigation measures a priority for both city and wildlife managers. We created landscape models to describe and predict deer-vehicle collision (DVCs) within the City of Edmonton, Alberta. Models based on roadside characteristics revealed that DVCs occurred frequently where roadside vegetation was both denser and more diverse, and that DVCs were more likely to occur when the groomed width of roadside right-of-ways was smaller. No DVCs occurred where the width of the vegetation-free or manicured roadside buffer was greater than 40 m. Landscape-based models showed that DVCs were more likely in more heterogeneous landscapes where road densities were lower and speed limits were higher, and where non-forested vegetation such as farmland was in closer proximity to larger tracts of forest. These models can help wildlife and transportation managers to identify locations of high collision frequency for mitigation. Modifying certain landscape and roadside habitats can be an effective way to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

MANGANESE CYCLE IN IMPOUNDMENT WATER

Manganese entering impounded water will undergo a cyclic transformation. Oxidation precipitates manganese from top waters. At the bottom of the lake, biological activity will render manganese soluble by both intracellular as well as extracellular activity. The study was made to demonstrate that biological reduction and transformation, organometallic complexation, together with the presence of carbon dioxide and the lowering of pH all have some effect on the solubility of manganese. Dissolved manganese may be brought back to top waters during the lake overturn and therefore deteriorates the water quality.     

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.