江西木材供求经验模型与林业经济和环境政策分析

本文通过已有的研究所得到的局部均衡的木材供求经验模型，用于分析江西的森林资源的环境与经济政策。研究结果表明：市场充分时采用市场价格机制的经济手段调节资源配置要比税费和采伐限额的政府干预手段的效率高。但在目前的条件下，即使集约经营森林资源，适当的税费和采伐限额的措施还是一种合理的选择。     

A CASE STUDY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT AMENDMENTS1

ABSTRACT: A general model of the policy implementation process is utilized to facilitate a discussion of the way Section 208 of PL 92-500 is being carried out on an areawide basis. A study of four “208 areas” in the “New York-Philadelphia corridor” highlights the operation of several variables used in the model. The varying political and socioeconomic conditions in geographic areas which have similar water quality problems are leading to the evolution of vastly different implementing structures, or institutional arrangements. The analysis suggests that these differences may have important implications for the success of the program in each of these areas. A major underlying theme is that such problems are characteristic of the 208 process nationwide and reflect general difficulties associated with managing water quality in a federal system.     

The relationship between perceived risk of being ticketed and self-reported seat belt use

PROBLEM: Twenty-nine percent of Americans failed to use their seat belts in 2000. Efforts to improve safety belt usage can be enhanced by identifying specific factors that motivate belt use. METHOD: Motorist survey data were used to examine the effect of Perceived Risk of being Ticketed (PRT) for a seat belt infraction on self-reported seat belt use. RESULTS: Analyses indicated that individuals and groups of individuals who have higher PRT typically report higher belt usage. Factorial analyses indicated that this perceived risk to belt use relationship holds both within groups with generally high (e.g., upper income) and generally low (e.g. young men) overall self-reported belt use. DISCUSSION: Applications of PRT to improve seat belt use are discussed. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Enforcement of existing laws, perhaps through selective traffic enforcement programs, and strengthening laws to create a higher perception of being ticketed by motorists should increase safety belt use thereby saving lives and reducing cost for individuals, government, and industry.     

Factorial structure of recklessness: to what extent are older drivers different?

PROBLEM: This study tests whether the original factorial structure of a recklessness questionnaire can be maintained for the current Spanish population of older drivers. JUSTIFICATION: Our recent interest in dedicating special attention to senior citizen mobility (Monterde, 2001), is due to the impending increase of the aging population in Western countries; this has led us to reinitiate the psychometric study of the construct validity, revising and including older drivers in the psychometric aspects of those evaluation instruments that will then be used in the Spanish psycho-medical check of drivers and in research. METHODS: Factorial analysis was used to determine validity. RESULTS: There was an appearance of a different psychological pattern in elderly drivers, specifically, a psychological anxiety trait related to the task of driving. Furthermore, interesting data were found about the attitude of this sector toward the "traffic society" and toward some of the measures included in Spanish legislation that affect especially older drivers (such as the psycho-medical check). IMPACT ON INDUSTRY, RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: These results suggest the possible existence of some kind of "compensation phenomenon," which could have influence over the scores obtained and their interpretation. Consequently, the evaluation instruments should be tested and, if necessary, adapted or specifically created for use with this age group.     

Application of the rescue number to the evaluation of remediation technologies for contaminated ground

An improved rescue number, RN_SOIL, which is an indicator for evaluating remediation technologies for contaminated ground that is based on both the risk and the remediation cost, is proposed as a tool of risk communication. The risk posed by contaminated ground is indicated by the figure of treatment priority at time t, FTP(t), which represents the human health risk as the number of people affected by the contaminated ground at time t during the remediation process. The calculation of the value of FTP(t) is based on exposure to contaminants that have migrated through environmental media from the contaminated ground, and is estimated by using a CalTOX model and the Monte Carlo method. The integration of FTP(t) with time, which represents the cumulative number of people affected by the contaminated ground, is used to estimate the performance of individual remediation technologies in risk reduction. The figure of unprocessibility for waste (FUW), which represents difficulties in remediation, is expressed as the remediation cost. FUW is estimated by using actual costs per unit volume of remediated soil. As an overall performance value, the rescue number for each remediation technology for contaminated ground (RN_SOIL) is calculated by multiplication of the integral FTP(t) by FUW. Smaller values of RN_SOIL are judged to indicate a better technology. The rescue index (RI), calculated as the ratio of the reduction of the integral FTP(t) to FUW, indicates the cost-effectiveness of the remediation technologies. Successful estimation of the indices (FTP(t), integral FTP(t), FUW, RN_SOIL and RI) demonstrate the usefulness of these indices in risk communication.Part of this paper was presented at 13th meeting of Japan Society of Waste Management Experts (2002)     

The Wild Kangaroo Industry: Developing the Potential for Sustainability

Wildlife resources the world over have long been subject to harvest and management. As wildlife uses have grown, so too have the need and desire to ensure their sustainability. This new context of sustainability presents opportunities to merge ecological, economic and social elements to foster development. This paper presents the management and harvesting of wild kangaroos as an example of the potentially sustainable use of a natural resource. Some comparisons are drawn between the use of other wild living resources, deer in Europe and crayfish in Western Australia. However, sustainability of kangaroo species and the industry is not just a matter of market economics and ecology, it must also be socially sustainable. The public policy instrument of a statutory advisory board with a marketing function is proposed in order to integrate the cultural and social aspects of kangaroo management with the economic and ecological aspects. Through such integration, full sustainability of a wild resource then might be achieved.     

Integration of Visual Quality Considerations in Development of Israeli Vegetation Management Policy

This article deals with the visual quality of Mediterranean vegetation groups in northern Israel, the public's preference of these groups as a visual resource, and the policy options for their management. The study is based on a sample of 44 Mediterranean vegetation groups and three population groups of local residents, who were interviewed using a questionnaire and photographs of the vegetation groups. The results of the research showed that plant classification methods based on flora composition, habitat, and external appearance were found to be suitable for visual plant classification and for the evaluation of visual preference of vegetation groups by the interviewed public. The vegetation groups of planted pine forests and olive groves, characterizing a cultured vegetation landscape, were preferred over typical Mediterranean landscapes such as scrub and grassed scrub. The researchers noted a marked difference between the two products of vegetation management policy, one that proposes the conservation and restoration of the variety of native Mediterranean vegetation landscape, and a second that advanced the development of the cultured landscape of planted olive groves and pines forests, which were highly preferred by the public. The authors suggested the development of an integrated vegetation management policy that would combine both needs and thus reduce the gap between the policy proposed by planners and the local population's visual preference.     

Environmental Policy Implementation in Rural China: A Case Study of Yuhang, Zhejiang

The rapid growth of rural enterprises has transformed the Chinese countryside. Although rural industrialisation has resulted in increased financial well-being, it has also contributed to decreased environmental quality. While China has strong environmental protection laws, this paper will demonstrate that they are not being effectively implemented in a rural region in Zhejiang Province. This is due to a number of social, political, and economic barriers that prevent agencies from effectively enforcing environmental policies and regulatory mechanisms. This paper investigates the implementation of China's environmental policies through a case study in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province. It demonstrates that the implementation of environmental impact assessment, discharge fees, and limited time treatment is limited by inadequate technology, low finances, limited human resources, poor public environmental awareness, faulty data, inferior agency reports, organizational conflict, relations based on guanxi, and low discharge fee prices.     

Is risk associated with drinking water in Australia of significant concern to justify mandatory regulation?

Presently in Australia there are no mandatory drinking water standards. Here we argue that the risk associated with drinking water in Australia is of a dimension discernible to warrant mandatory regulations. The catchments that supply the major metropolitan areas of Sydney and Adelaide, and the groundwater for the city of Perth have been seriously compromised by the encroachment of development and activities. Melbourne in the past has generally relied on a closed catchment reservoir system; however, population growth in the near future will sequester the full online operation of additional reservoirs, which have multiple land use catchments. In addition to the current landscape circumstances, the management of a water system in itself proposes significant issues of risk. Two critical assumptions that are unique to a mass medium substance like water and dramatically alter the appraisal of risk are: (1) very large numbers of people are potentially exposed, and (2) small changes in contaminant levels may have adverse population outcomes. It is also known that water reticulation systems frequently suffer from contamination problems caused solely by the distribution system, and optimal management of these facilities would best be served by statutory protected transparency and dedicated water quality programs. In 1979, an Australian parliamentary committee stated that an “uncontaminated water supply is” a “basic requirement for the obtainment of good health”; however, recent surveys of Australian water systems show many are not meeting basic water quality criteria, and many communities are not receiving regular monitoring or testing as required by government authorized Australian drinking water guidelines. Exacerbating this situation is the lack of reporting and statutory endorsed standardized procedures to ensure information is properly and promptly recorded and that data are centralized for maximum benefit. The evaluation of risk associated with drinking water in Australia is often hampered by inadequate or incomplete data. Lastly, regional and rural water supplies face a vast array of contemporary problems and experiences that include widespread usage of pesticides and agricultural chemicals. In recent years, the Darling River has experienced the worst algal bloom known to man, and this river system not only supplies a number of regional and rural towns with water, but eventually connects with the River Murray, which supplies the State of South Australia with approximately 50% of its water requirements.     

Public Meetings About Local Waste Management Problems: Comparing Participants to Nonparticipants

One of the more traditional ways to involve citizens in environmental management in the United States is to hold a public meeting. Yet public meetings are also frequently criticized for stereotypical weaknesses, including a concern that citizens who attend public meetings do not accurately represent citizens who do not attend. To examine this concern in the context of local waste management problems, this study investigates whether citizens who attend public meetings differ from citizens who do not attend meetings. In the spring of 1998, residents in two New York communities facing local waste management problems received mailed questionnaires. Those surveyed included citizens who had previously attended state-sponsored public meetings about the waste sites and citizens who lived within one mile of the respective waste sites but had not attended any meetings. A comparison of demographic characteristics showed that, in both communities, citizens who attended meetings tended to report higher incomes and have children living at home. In one community, previous meeting participants tended to perceive greater risks from the waste site. In both communities, participants were less likely to consider certain sources of information about the waste sites, including the state environmental agency, state health agency, and the industries, as credible. Regardless of whether they had previously attended public meetings, respondents who perceived the risks as greater also perceived the sources as less credible. The conclusions suggest some potential challenges to effective communication at public meetings, including overcoming widespread skepticism and heightened concern among audience members.