Evaluation of carrying capacity with particular reference to firewood and fodder resources in Central Himalaya: a case study of Baliya catchment

SUMMARY

The dwindling forests of the Central Himalaya are suffering from serious losses, threatening the subsistence population of the region. This study analyses the rate of consumption of fodder and firewood in a Central Himalayan catchment and estimates the carrying capacity of the catchment for these resources. Estimates indicate that the carrying capacity of the natural ecosystems and agroecosystems, in terms of availability of fodder and fuelwood resources, has already been exceeded.     

A dynamic model for costing disaster mitigation policies

The optimal level of investment in mitigation strategies is usually difficult to ascertain in the context of disaster planning. This research develops a model to provide such direction by relying on cost of quality literature. This paper begins by introducing a static approach inspired by Joseph M. Juran's cost of quality management model (Juran, 1951) to demonstrate the non‐linear trade‐offs in disaster management expenditure. Next it presents a dynamic model that includes the impact of dynamic interactions of the changing level of risk, the cost of living, and the learning/investments that may alter over time. It illustrates that there is an optimal point that minimises the total cost of disaster management, and that this optimal point moves as governments learn from experience or as states get richer. It is hoped that the propositions contained herein will help policymakers to plan, evaluate, and justify voluntary disaster mitigation expenditures.     

Spillover effect of environmental investment: evidence from panel data at provincial level in China

This paper considers pollution density as a function of environmental investment. The higher environmental investment, the lower pollution density. The lower the pollution density is the higher production technology becomes. This is called the spillover effect. We collected China's panel data at the provincial level from 2005 to 2009, and tested the spillover effect of environmental investment. This paper finds that the environmental investment influenced production technology positively. There is a significant positive relation between government expenditure and spillover effect.     

Conservation and social outcomes of private protected areas

Government administered protected areas (PAs) have dominated conservation strategies, discourse, and research, yet private actors are increasingly managing land for conservation. Little is known about the social and environmental outcomes of these privately protected areas (PPAs). We searched the global literature in English on PPAs and their environmental and social outcomes and identified 412 articles suitable for inclusion. Research on PPAs was geographically skewed; more studies occurred in the United States. Environmental outcomes of PPAs were mostly positive (89%), but social outcomes of PPAs were reported less (12% of all studies), and these outcomes were more mixed (65% positive). Private protected areas increased the number or extent of ecosystems, ecoregions, or species covered by PAs (representativeness) and PA network connectivity and effectively reduced deforestation and restored degraded lands. Few PPA owners reported negative social outcomes, experienced improved social capital, increased property value, or a reduction in taxes. Local communities benefited from increased employment, training, and community-wide development (e.g., building of schools), but they reported reduced social capital and no significant difference to household income. The causal mechanisms through which PPAs influence social and environmental outcomes remain unclear, as does how political, economic, and social contexts shape these mechanisms. Future research should widen the geographical scope and diversify the types of PPAs studied and focus on determining the casual mechanisms through which PPA outcomes occur in different contexts. We propose an assessment framework that could be adopted to facilitate this process.     

中国绿色服务政策演进、协同及文本内容分析

绿色服务作为促进绿色产业专业化、高端化、规范化发展的综合性服务业,是保障绿色产业持续健康发展的重要支撑。本文以《绿色产业指导目录》为依据,全面梳理1986年以来我国中央政府颁布的各类绿色服务政策,从政策演进、政策主体关系、文本类型、政策工具结构等方面对我国绿色服务政策进行量化分析。研究发现:(1)我国中央政府颁布的绿色服务政策数量及总力度都越来越大,绿色服务政策的制定已经渡过探索期,进入高质量发展的政策体系全面形成阶段;(2)政策主体牵涉广泛,部际合作现象明显且合作模式较为固定,整体上部际合作增强但又呈现出阶段性的发展特征;(3)政策类型多种多样,但不同形式的政策文件分布不均,多通知、公告类低效力文件,缺乏高效力文件;(4)政策客体结构较为完整,但行业分布不平衡;(5)总体上政策工具类型逐渐多样化,但过度重视管理,供给型、环境型、需求型三大政策工具间存在一定程度的失衡,具体表现为重环境,轻供给和需求。本文建议,应进一步加强部际协调和有效合作,平衡政策工具结构和政策的行业分布,完成绿色服务政策由量到质的升级发展。     

区域环境质量与经济发展关系模型研究

环境库兹涅茨曲线是目前环境经济领域被广泛引用的一个计量模型。针对当前人们大多通过实际观测资料,利用回归分析,估计环境质量转折点,而理论研究相对较少的现状,从社会福利最大化角度出发,通过设定物品消费偏好指数,建立了一个两物品模型。通过数学推理,首先推导出了区域环境最佳投资水平,在此基础上从理论上证明了环境库兹涅茨曲线存在的依据,以及在环境质量最低点和环境质量发生根本性好转的转折点的社会总投资水平。研究表明,环境质量演化过程曲线取决于社会经济发展状况,它与非环境物品生产函数和排污生产函数的技术参数,居民收入水平以及对环境物品和非环境物品的消费偏好,国民收入分配政策等有关,而非仅仅与经济增长状况有关。因此,在经济发展过程中适时地调整产业结构和国民收入分配政策、采用新技术、提倡合理的消费观念等是加速环境质量演化过程的重要措施。     

民营企业改制与乡镇二次创业——以河北省大营镇为例

本文以河北省衡水市大营镇为例 ,分析了大营镇民营企业制度中存在的主要问题 ,提出解决的对策及思路 ,并以此为基础阐述了乡镇二次创业与企业改制的关系     

环保投资增长规律及其模型研究

本文从国内外环保投资的实践入手,分析和总结出环保投资长期增长规律,并依据环境－经济－社会的技术经济关系,建立起“污染平衡方程式”,从理论上对该规律进行了证明,这样旨在为环保投资决策 参考依据,使其科学化和合理化,从而促进环境与经济的协调发展,保证我国可持续发展战略的顺利实施。     

铁路投资的安全效果评价方法探讨

铁路运输是最安全的陆上交通方式,铁路投资相比较其他陆上运输方式可以带来更多的安全效益,对于铁路投资的安全效果一直未得到应有的重视,甚至往往被忽略,从而低估了铁路的投资效果和发挥的重大作用,因此,加强对铁路投资安全效果的研究具有十分重要的现实意义。为此,笔者在综合分析国外研究成果的基础上,定义了铁路投资的安全效果组成,将其区分为减少的资源消耗、减少的伤亡人员及其亲属的身心痛苦、减少的死亡者的生命价值3类,并重点分析了生命价值的测评方法,建立了一套符合中国国情并切实可行的铁路投资安全效果评价方法。     

安全投入问题

论述了生产特征与安全投入的关系以及安全投入的属性、体系和内涵,提出需求和能力决定安全投入的一些建议。