Objectives of public economic policy and the adaptation to climate change

Much can be learned about adaptation by applying structures and methodologies already used in other research fields. This study employs a public economic policy approach to investigate how – or if at all – adaptation should be supported by the public sector. Three different fields of adaptation activity are identified which are especially relevant for government intervention and the study proposes ways in which government intervention could be conducted. The analysis takes into account that developing regions are particularly vulnerable and they have insufficient funds to adequately adapt to climate change.     

Increasing the public benefits of agricultural conservation easements: an illustration with the Central Valley Farmland Trust in the San Joaquin Valley

Agricultural conservation easements (ACEs) involve the significant expenditure of public funds through either tax benefits and/or direct public expenditures. The selection of agricultural parcels for conservation should, therefore, maximise net public benefits to the extent possible within financial constraints and the need for agricultural viability to maintain working landscapes. Some programmes select agricultural parcels for conservation easements based only on agricultural viability and/or land cost, however, without explicit consideration of the many other public benefits often associated with ACEs. This paper illustrates application of a method for increasing the public benefits of agricultural conservation easements through a case study in the northern San Joaquin Valley of California. The method is a strategic planning process that incorporates both a GIS-based quantitative assessment and a more qualitative assessment. Such an approach is a supplement to – rather than a substitute for – the more science-based Landscape Evaluation and Site Evaluation (LESA) approach developed by the US Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and cost-minimisation approaches that emphasise economic considerations. However, we show that public land use planning and regulatory policies are essential for agricultural conservation. Acquisition strategies in isolation will not be successful without complementary public regulatory policies.     

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Treated Wastewater Use for Agriculture in Water Deficit Regions1

Al-Juaidi, Ahmed E., Jagath J. Kaluarachchi, and Ungtae Kim, 2010. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Treated Wastewater Use for Agriculture in Water Deficit Regions. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(2):395-411. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00409.x Abstract: Coastal regions such as the Gaza Strip of Palestine with limited freshwater supply suffer significantly due to the rapid depletion of water levels, seawater intrusion, and increased water demands. In such regions, use of treated wastewater (TWW) is a viable option if public health issues are addressed. The goal of this paper is to address the use of TWW in agriculture while considering net benefit, economic efficiency of water use (EEWU), environmental goals, and public health risks. The proposed methodology considers public health risk assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis to assess the beneficial use of TWW in agriculture. The methodology was demonstrated for the Gaza Strip. The health risk assessment suggests that increasing the elapsed time between irrigation and consumption and switching from surface to sprinkler and drip irrigation are practical measures to reduce public health risks. The optimization and decision analyses show that proper allocation of freshwater and TWW and distribution of land area by crop type can significantly increase the net benefit and EEWU. In most cases, net benefit increased by 44%, groundwater use reduced 29% while increasing the EEWU by threefold compared with the existing conditions. The multi-criteria decision analysis with weighted goal programming can develop flexible management options that considers a given decision-maker preference. When groundwater abstraction for agriculture reduced from 57 to 36 Mm³ as per decision analysis, the corresponding area below mean sea level decreased by 58% indicating significant aquifer recovery.     

土地征收中公共利益的界定

土地征收中的公共利益在现行立法中的表述具有极大的模糊性,从土地征收、土地征收中界定公共利益的若干原则及可行性方案等几个方面进行论述,以期解决这个司法审查和行政执法中棘手的问题。     

输变电建设项目环境影响评价的认识与实践

结合输变电环境影响评价工作实践,从输变电环评的法律、法规出发,阐述了输变电环评工作的重点内容,在此基础上论述了输变电建设项目环评中应执行的法律、法规、产业政策与清洁生产、规划相符性、环境功能区划、公众参与等“6＋2”原则,并结合实践进行了分析,提出了输变电建设项目环境影响评价中应注意的环境保护目标、公众参与等主要问题。     

公共场所特大火灾事故调研及对策分析

通过调研国内近10年来有代表性的30起公共场所特大火灾事故,对公共场所火灾事故的发生场所、原因进行了详细分析,提出几点降低公共场所火灾事故风险,减少群死群伤事故危害的对策,以期为公共场所重大火灾事故预防工作提供有益参考.     

基于公众安全防护的含硫气井分级监管建议

通过对我国含硫气井安全生产监管现状的调研,对比国外含硫气井安全监管的作法,分析了我国含硫气井安全生产监管工作中公众安全保护方面存在问题。基于含硫气井公众危害程度分级方法,结合我国实际情况,从公众安全防护的角度,提出了实施含硫气井分级监管的若干建议。本文的研究结果,可以为我国含硫气田安全监管工作进一步完善提供参考。     

空气污染、空间外溢与公共健康——以中国珠江三角洲9个城市为例

空气污染对居民公共健康的影响,引起了人们高度的关注。但大多数学者研究从样本的独立性出发且不考虑内生性问题,忽视区域之间空间相关性,所得结论和政策建议需谨慎对待。为了弥补上述不足,本文基于Grossman中国宏观健康生产函数,选取2001—2014年中国广东省珠江三角洲9个城市作为样本,选择以PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)作为空气污染的代理指标,在充分考虑空间效应和严格假设检验的基础上选择合适的空间计量经济学模型,对此进行实证研究。主要研究结果显示:空气污染对居民的公共健康带来了负面影响,即PM_(10)和PM_(2.5)每增加1%,导致哮喘疾病和内科门诊等疾病人数不断上升,且影响都比较大,尤其是对哮喘疾病的影响分别为0.2236%和0.2272%。经济增长对公共健康均有显著的促进作用,影响最大;其它财政医疗支出、卫生技术人员和人口密度等要素对居民公共健康的影响较小。由于空气污染的负外部性,研究还发现,区域之间空气污染的"溢出效应"对领域居民公共健康存在显著的影响,说明忽视空间自相关性的存在,会使得空气污染对公众健康的估计产生偏差。从长期看,空气污染对本地居民公共健康的直接效应都显著为正,PM_(2.5)间接效应显著为负,但PM_(10)间接效应并不显著。因此,各级政府除了在源头上治理污染物的排放,提高公共健康水平外,还应该打破各自为阵的行政垄断,应该作为一个整体,实现跨区域环保合作,共同治理和制定公共卫生政策等。这对区域之间协同减排和保护居民公共健康具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

生产性公共支出、空间溢出效应与区域经济差距——基于多地区动态一般均衡模型的分析

改革开放以来,中国东、中、西部地区经济差距不断拉大,政府为协调区域经济发展水平,逐渐将生产性公共支出向较不发达的中部和西部地区倾斜。为了全面地评估这种财政政策的效果,在传统一般均衡分析的基础上将生产性公共支出及其空间溢出纳入宏观经济分析框架,构建了一个多地区动态一般均衡模型,并用该模型模拟了现实经济中区域生产性公共支出政策及其调整对区域经济和宏观经济的冲击,得到的结论是:(1)当前生产性公共支出空间分布基础上,新增生产性公共支出分散于各个地区,会继续扩大区域经济差距;(2)新增生产性公共支出集中于较不发达的地区时,由于较低的基础设施边际生产力和较弱的空间溢出效应,全国人均产出不能达到最大水平,但可缩小区域经济差距;(3)新增生产性公共支出集中于较发达的地区时,由于较高的基础设施边际生产力和较强的空间溢出效应,全国人均产出可达到最大水平,但同时拉大区域经济差距。由此得到的政策启示是:在现有生产性公共支出的区域分布基础上,以缩小区域经济差距为目标的次优的财政政策将新增的生产性公共支出向西部和中部等较不发达地区倾斜,靠直接刺激效应促进当地产出增长;以效率优先为准则的财政政策选取较发达地区为生产性公共支出目的地,因为较发达地区通常具有较高的基础设施边际生产力和较强的空间溢出效应。     

中国地区间跨界污染治理的两阶段多边补偿机制研究

近年来,以雾霾、河流污染等为代表的跨界污染问题严重影响了我国经济社会的可持续协调发展。本文将跨界污染治理视为典型的地区间外溢性公共品,从公共经济学的视角出发,分析了我国地区间跨界污染治理的种种困境,并通过构建两阶段多边博弈模型,探讨了补偿机制的可行性。本文首先构建了一个跨地区的污染模型,通过中央政府干预或不干预的博弈分析发现,当污染存在地区内部及跨地区的外溢性时,如果中央政府不介入而由企业自行设定产出水平,那么企业的污染排放水平将超过社会有效率的水平。在此基础上,本文进一步构建了一个两阶段多边补偿机制博弈模型,即由中央政府设计一个地区内部企业与居民之间以及跨地区之间的补偿机制,来解决以上的无效性问题。结果显示,当企业支付的补偿金额取决于居民设定的补偿系数,而居民得到的补偿金额又取决于企业设定的补偿系数时,相互影响的博弈关系使得企业和居民从自身的利益出发,将补偿系数设定在企业污染对于居民边际损害的水平,从而企业生产水平会达到有效状态,两阶段多边补偿机制实现了有效的污染排放。本文在庇古税思想的基础上,通过放松庇古税对外部性相关信息的强假设,构建了一个两阶段多边补偿机制,即由企业缴纳庇古税后,中央将征收的庇古税补偿给居民,这样不仅内部化了企业污染给居民造成的负外部性,还进一步平衡了地区间的跨界污染治理问题。