Integration of Wireless Sensor Networks into Cyberinfrastructure for Monitoring Hawaiian “Mountain-to-Sea” Environments

Monitoring the complex environmental relationships and feedbacks of ecosystems on catchment (or mountain)-to-sea scales is essential for social systems to effectively deal with the escalating impacts of expanding human populations globally on watersheds. However, synthesis of emerging technologies into a robust observing platform for the monitoring of coupled human-natural environments on extended spatial scales has been slow to develop. For this purpose, the authors produced a new cyberinfrastructure for environmental monitoring which successfully merged the use of wireless sensor technologies, grid computing with three-dimensional (3D) geospatial data visualization/exploration, and a secured internet portal user interface, into a working prototype for monitoring mountain-to-sea environments in the high Hawaiian Islands. A use-case example is described in which native Hawaiian residents of Waipa Valley (Kauai) utilized the technology to monitor the effects of regional weather variation on surface water quality/quantity response, to better understand their local hydrologic cycle, monitor agricultural water use, and mitigate the effects of lowland flooding.     

Do energy efficiency standards hurt consumers? Evidence from household appliance sales

We build novel welfare-based price indices for major household appliances that leverage changes in same-model prices and how consumers substitute between exiting, continuing and new models. We then evaluate how minimum energy efficiency requirements and changing criteria for Energy Star™ labels affected these indices in the U.S. between 2001 and 2011, a period of time when some appliances experienced standard changes while others did not. We find that prices declined while quality and consumer welfare increased, especially when standards become more stringent. We also find that much of the price index decline can be attributed to standards-induced innovation, or cannibalism, not to inter-manufacturer competition. Our results also add to a growing body of evidence that the Consumer Price Index exaggerates inflation due to inadequate account of quality and substitution to new goods.     

Disentangling the effects of policy and payment consequentiality and risk attitudes on stated preferences

Incentivizing respondents to truthfully reveal their preferences in stated preference surveys requires that they believe their survey responses can influence decisions related to the outcome in question (policy consequentiality) and that they will have to bear their share of the coercive cost if the outcome is implemented (payment consequentiality). We investigate the effects of these two aspects of perceived consequentiality on stated preferences in a field survey concerning renewable energy development in Poland. We find that beliefs in policy and payment consequentiality strengthen the respondents’ interest in having the project implemented. However, policy consequentiality decreases and payment consequentiality increases their sensitivity to the project cost, which, respectively, increases and decreases their willingness-to-pay for the project. We conclude that the two aspects of consequentiality should be addressed separately. Additionally, we inquire the theoretically speculated links between the respondents’ perceptions of policy and payment consequentiality and their risk attitudes, and we find no significant relationship.     

Decentralized mechanisms for river sharing

We study decentralized implementation of efficient outcomes through multilateral bargaining in the river sharing problem. We introduce a class of mechanisms in the form of two-stage games in which agents first announce consumption levels and then bargain over monetary compensations. The defining characteristic of a mechanism is the way it assigns bargaining power to agents as a consequence of their locations, inflows, and consumption decisions. We first determine which mechanisms give incentives to always allocate the water efficiently, in the sense that, regardless of the agents' benefit functions, equilibrium play always yields an efficient outcome. Among these, we take an axiomatic approach to single out three mechanisms that guarantee a fair division of the welfare gain obtained through cooperation along the river.     

Negotiating housing deal on a polluted day: Consequences and possible explanations

The topic of air pollution has drawn considerable attention globally. In this paper, we examine the immediate effect of air pollution on a substantial decision, that is, a housing purchase. By linking housing purchasing behavior with the air quality in Beijing, we document market participants' behaviors unexplained by rational economic theories. Our main result suggests that the transaction prices on a severely polluted day are 0.65% higher than those of the days without pollution, other things being equal. This translates into approximately 3.51 million yuan daily increase based on the average transaction volume and price on a typical day in Beijing. The heterogeneity analysis further suggests that this effect is mostly driven by non-local and low income buyers. After ruling out rational explanations, we demonstrate that our empirical results are consistent with salience theory under weak assumptions.     

Prospect theory and energy efficiency

Investments in energy efficiency entail uncertainty, and when faced with uncertainty consumers have been shown to behave according to prospect theory: preferences are reference-dependent and exhibit loss aversion, and probabilities are subjectively weighted. Using data from a choice experiment eliciting prospect theory parameters, I provide evidence that loss-averse people are less likely to invest in energy efficiency. Then, I consider policy design under prospect theory when there are also externalities from energy use. A higher degree of loss aversion implies a higher subsidy to energy efficiency. Numerical simulations suggest that the impact of prospect theory on policy may be substantial.     

A behavioral rebound effect

Pro-environmental behaviors are an important avenue for mitigating environmental impacts. Technological improvements are also a vital tool for reducing environmental damage from consumption. However, their benefits are partially offset by the direct rebound effect, whereby a consumer rationally responds to an increase in resource use efficiency by consuming more. This paper investigates whether technological improvement might also reduce behaviorally motivated mitigation of environmental damage. A behavioral rebound effect operates through two channels. First, pro-environmental effort is reduced after a decrease in marginal environmental damage. Second, moral licensing reduces pro-environmental effort further when technological change is endogenous. I develop a novel real effort laboratory experiment to identify these behaviors. I find a positive behavioral rebound effect. I also find evidence consistent with moral licensing, which is strongest among subjects with a higher degree of pro-environmental attitudes and beliefs. Subjects’ baseline level of pro-environmental effort is driven by beliefs about social norms.     

真菌漆酶在树脂D380上的固定及固定化漆酶的性质

为寻求一种廉价高效的漆酶固定化方法,以树脂D380为载体、戊二醛为交联剂,结合吸附法和交联法固定真菌漆酶,并研究固定化漆酶的性质。最优固定化条件：1g载体在20mL0．7％的戊二醛溶液中交联2h后,加入2mL稀释酶液和5mLpH为4的醋酸一醋酸钠缓冲溶液,在25℃下吸附反应6h,最终获得的酶活回收率为65．94％。固定化漆酶的最适温度为20℃,最适pH为4,在4℃下保存14d仍保持约80％的酶活力。自由漆酶和固定化漆酶的Km值分别为1．207mmol／L和1．616mmol／L,说明固定后漆酶对底物的亲和力有所下降。     

D/UL作为絮凝控制指标的研究

借助反应器分散模型,把絮凝池内水流状况和絮凝效果与D/UL联系在一起,提出D/UL可以作为絮凝控制指标。经过小试和中试,对比分析其他絮凝控制指标,结果表明,D/UL能反映絮凝池内部比如死角、短路等状况,可以作为衡量和比较絮凝工艺是否合理的指标;絮凝池适宜的D/UL值在0.06～0.08之间,最佳值在0.07左右,其混合阶段的值一般在0.20～0.30之间。D/UL具有准确、易操作的特点,为絮凝池的设计和运行提供了新的依据。     

Evaluating the effect of vehicle impoundment policy on illegal construction and demolition waste dumping: Israel as a case study

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste dumped alongside roads and in open areas is a major source of soil and underground water pollution. Since 2006, Israeli ministry for environmental protection enacted a policy of vehicle impoundment (VI) according to which track drivers caught while dumping C&D waste illegally have their vehicles impounded. The present study attempted to determine whether the VI policy was effective in increasing the waste hauling to authorized landfill sites, thus limiting the number of illegal unloads of C&D waste at unauthorized landfill sites and in open areas. During the study, changes in the ratio between the monthly amount of C&D waste brought to authorized landfills sites and the estimated total amount of C&D waste generated in different administrative districts of Israel were examined, before and after the enactment of the 2006 VI policy. Short questionnaires were also distributed among local track drivers in order to determine the degree of awareness about the policy in question and estimate its deterrence effects. According to the study’s results, in the district of Haifa, in which the VI policy was stringently enacted, the ratio between C&D waste, dumped in authorized landfill sites, and the total amount of generated C&D waste, increased, on the average, from 20% in January 2004 to 35% in October 2009, with the effect attributed to the number of vehicle impoundments being highly statistically significant (t = 2.324; p < 0.05). By contrast, in the Jerusalem and Southern districts, in which the VI policy was less stringently enforced, the effect of VI on the above ratio was found to be insignificant (p > 0.1). The analysis of the questionnaires, distributed among the local truck drivers further indicated that the changes observed in the district of Haifa are not coincident and appeared to be linked to the VI policy’s enactment. In particular, 62% of the truck drivers, participated in the survey, were aware of the policy and 47% of them personally knew a driver whose vehicle was impounded. Furthermore, the drivers estimated the relative risk of being caught for unloading C&D waste in unauthorized sites, on the average, as high as 67%, which is likely to become a deterrent on its own. Our conclusion is that the VI policy appears to have a deterring effect on truck drivers, by encouraging them to haul C&D waste to authorized landfill sites. As we suggest, the research methodology implemented in the study and its results may help policy makers in other regions and countries, which experience similar environment enforcement problem, to analyze policy responses.