SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACCOUNTING APPLIED TO WATER RESOURCE PLANNING1

ABSTRACT The growing social consciousness and concern with human well-being has resulted in numerous water resource use and control programs, the results of which must be measured not in the customary monetary terms, but rather in terms of social and human welfare. Interdisciplinary research offers the greatest promise of yielding fruitful results in establishing planning methodology that would result in a maximum utilization of funds available for water resource programs. Working with the various social science disciplines, accountants have begun research in social measurement thus opening the door to a new field of accountancy known as socio-economic accounting. The development of social accounting systems will improve water resource management by projecting heretofore unmeasureable social values into the management decision making process.     

法经济学视角下构建排污权交易价格机制

通过对我国试点地区排污权交易的实践总结,指出排污权交易价格机制目前尚未真正构建,排污权交易价格在初始分配及市场交换过程中存在市场化程度低、行政管理职能界定不清晰、相关法律法规缺失等突出问题。排污权交易价格机制的特点及学科属性决定了基于法经济学视角构建其价格机制的必要性。从法经济学视角出发结合不同市场特点提出若干完善建议:一级市场中的初始价格制定遵循公平与效率原则、采用成本—收益分析法及完善行政管理职能;二级市场中通过完善排污权交易供求机制推动价格机制的形成、搭建交易平台以及健全相关法律制度促进价格机制的运行。     

生态产品价值实现机制的理论基础：热力学，景感学，经济学与区块链

当前,生态产品价值实现探索实践中面临生态系统服务度量难、核算难、货币化难、交易难等基础性难题,导致生态产品价值核算体系不统一、生态产品市场交易机制不完善、各类生态产品交易平台不规范、绿色金融滞后、绿色发展市场化激励机制不足等问题。本文从最关键的生态产品价值理论出发,梳理生态产品价值实现困境的根源和理论基础,并尝试提出可能的多元核算方法与热力学、景感学、经济学相结合的实践解决路径,形成不同单位的统一核算标的物。通过探索利用区块链、大数据等科技赋能生态产品价值实现,提出构建生态资产加密数字货币化的可能性,并进一步形成不同生态产品的价格形成机制、成本监审制度和价格调整机制,完善生态产品市场交易机制,建立统一的生态产品交易平台,促进绿色金融发展,推动自然资源管理能力现代化。     

论环境资源的有偿使用

本文分析了环境资源的稀缺性及其具有的使用价值,指出只有在资源分配中引入市场的价值规律,才能公平地、有效地使用环境资源,避免掠夺性的占用。文章呼吁研究建立我国环境资源及排污许可证的交易市场。      

WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-CONSCIOUS ERA1

The Sierra Club, which has long fought selected water resource projects that it believes would be environmentally damaging, has come to the conclusion in recent years that much more basic reforms are required in water resources development activities if the demands for environmental quality now evidenced by the American people are to be satisfied. These reforms should not be limited to those that would have a direct effect on the environmental aspects of proposed projects, but also many others long advocated by the economics profession that would have favorable indirect effects. Among the urgent reforms with indirect effects are those involving revision of the procedures used in evaluating proposed projects. These procedures should be revised so that future evaluations will much more accurately reflect the economic and environmental merits of proposed projects. Basic reforms of tax policies are also needed that will eliminate most of the private profit available to those who can persuade the government to increase the value of their land through the construction of water projects. Finally, some additional actions can be taken that will have a direct impact on lessening the adverse environmental impact of water projects beyond the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.     

ECONOMICS AND FEDERAL WATER PROJECTS1

While the science of economics is widely used in Federal water resource development projects, the usual procedure of applying an analytical discipline to arrive at a conclusion is reversed. The “answer” is usually provided ahead of time and economics is assigned the task of justifying the preconceived conclusion. This leads to a series of mitigatory effects in which economics as a science is not allowed to freely function. This article attempts to illustrate some of these “unusual” uses of economics in Federal water projects and note the “answers” we would logically expect from the economic discipline. Even though the theory of economics is often subverted, there are positive aspects to the role of economics in evaluating Federal water projects.     

Strategies to overcome barriers to the development of sustainable agriculture in Canada: The role of agribusiness

Strategies to involve agribusiness in the development of sustainable agricultural systems have been limited by the lack of a comprehensive conceptual framework for identifying the most critical supportive policies, programs and regulations. In this paper, we propose an efficiency/substitution/redesign framework to categorize strategies for modifying agribusiness practices. This framework is then used to identify a diverse range of short, medium, and long-term strategies to be pursued by governments, community groups, academics and agribusiness to support the transition. Strategies discussed include corporate greening, ethical investment, changing the legal status of the corporaton, new business forms and the development of ecological economics.     

POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND COSTS OF INGROUND STORAGE OF IMPORTED WATER1

ABSTRACT: In the near future, groundwater storage of imported water may become increasingly important as sites for surface storage are less available. This article explores the potential economic costs and benefits of groundwater storage. The costs include capital outlays, maintenance costs, land costs, legal costs, energy costs, and opportunity costs. The benefits include land cost savings, prevention of subsidence, aquifer protection, and higher economic use of surface lands that might be covered by a reservoir.