近年来中国边境贸易研究的问题与发展趋势

自古以来,边境贸易是我国对外经济交流的主要方式.近年来对我国边境研究较多,主要集中在我国边境贸易发展的历史总结、政策规范、边境贸易与区域经发展等方面,但对边境贸易与边境安全、边境贸易过程中跨境民族问题和我国边境贸易的优势等方面的研究较少.随着研究的不断深入,针对边境贸易出现了边境地区当地居民参与边境贸易过程、边境贸易与大尺度区域经济发展、"区位论"视角下的边境贸易等新动向.     

Transboundary Groundwater Policy: Developing Approaches in the Western and Southwestern United States1

Hathaway, Deborah L., 2011. Transboundary Groundwater Policy: Developing Approaches in the Western and Southwestern United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):103‐113. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00494.x Abstract: The western and southwestern United States include dozens of groundwater basins that cross political boundaries. Common among these shared groundwater basins is an overlay of differing legal structures and water development priorities, typically, with insufficient water supply for competing human uses, and often, a degraded ecosystem. Resolution of conflicts over ambiguously regulated groundwater has clarified transboundary groundwater policy in some interstate basins, while transboundary groundwater policy in international basins is less evolved. This paper identifies and contrasts approaches to transboundary groundwater policy, drawing from recent conflicts and cooperative efforts, including those associated with the interstate compacts on the Arkansas and Pecos Rivers; the Hueco and Lower Rio Grande Basins shared by New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico; and the Mexicali Basin in California and Mexico. Some efforts seek to fit groundwater policy into existing surface water allocation procedures; some strive for a better fit – incorporating scientific understanding of key differences between groundwater and surface water into policy frameworks. In some cases, neither policy nor precedent exists. The collective experience of these and other cases sets the stage for improved management of transboundary groundwater; as such, challenges and successes of these approaches, and those contemplated in several hypothetical model agreements, are examined.     

Hydropower Relicensing and Climate Change1

Viers, Joshua H., 2011. Hydropower Relicensing and Climate Change. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):655‐661. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00531.x Abstract: Hydropower represents approximately 20% of the world’s energy supply, is viewed as both vulnerable to global climate warming and an asset to reduce climate‐altering emissions, and is increasingly the target of improved regulation to meet multiple ecosystem service benefits. It is within this context that the recent decision by the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject studies of climate change in its consideration of reoperation of the Yuba‐Bear Drum‐Spaulding hydroelectric facilities in northern California is shown to be poorly reasoned and risky. Given the rapidity of climate warming, and its anticipated impacts to natural and human communities, future long‐term fixed licenses of hydropower operation will be ill prepared to adapt if science‐based approaches to incorporating reasonable and foreseeable hydrologic changes into study plans are not included. The licensing of hydroelectricity generation can no longer be issued in isolation due to downstream contingencies such as domestic water use, irrigated agricultural production, ecosystem maintenance, and general socioeconomic well‐being. At minimum, if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is to establish conditions of operation for 30‐50 years, licensees should be required to anticipate changing climatic and hydrologic conditions for a similar period of time.     

An agent based model to simulate structural and land use changes in agricultural systems of the argentine pampas

The Argentine Pampas, one of the main agricultural areas in the world, recently has undergone significant changes in land use and structural characteristics of agricultural production systems. Concerns about the environmental and societal impacts of the changes motivated development of an agent-based model (ABM) to gain insight on processes underlying recent observed patterns. The model is described following a standard protocol (ODD). Results are discussed for an initial set of simplified simulations performed to understand the processes that generated and magnified the changes in the Pampas. Changes in the structure of agricultural production and land tenure seem to be driven by differences among farmers’ ability to generate sufficient agricultural income to remain in business. In turn, as no off-farm or credit is modeled, economic sustainability is tied to initial resource endowment (area cropped). Farmers operating small areas are economically unviable and must lease out their farms to farmers operating larger areas. This leads to two patterns: (a) a concentration of production (fewer farmers operating larger areas) and, (b) an increase in the area operated by tenants. The simulations showed an increase of soybean area, linked to the higher profitability of this crop. Despite the stylized nature of initial simulations, all emerging patterns are highly consistent with changes observed in the Pampas.     

The necessity to elaborate minerals policies exemplified by Romania

Mineral resources represent an integral component within a country’s economy. Despite the fact that the need for raw materials undergoes continuous growth–especially in countries which experience industrial upswing–proper measures to secure the access to domestic mineral resources in the long term have only been applied marginally in a large number of states. This lack of future-oriented legal frameworks–referred to as ‘Minerals Policies’–might lead to a diversity of sectoral problems (eg. dependency on certain raw materials imports). Based on data analysis and subsequent demand forecasting comprehensive national Minerals Policies can be derived in order to anticipate emerging issues and to achieve optimum sustainable management of domestic geological resources. The necessity of such concepts is illustrated by the example of Romania focusing on non-energetic mineral resources.     

Challenges to measuring,monitoring, and addressing the cumulative impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Ecuador

Portovelo-Zaruma, Ecuador is an artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) region with approximately 6000 gold miners working with mercury and cyanide. Although artisanal gold mining (AGM) has taken place in Portovelo-Zaruma for centuries, highly mechanized small-scale gold mining (SGM) processing plants capable of increased throughput began being built in the 1990s. While there are benefits associated with ASGM, there are also negative impacts experienced by the miners and the surrounding communities. To take advantage of ASGM as a poverty-alleviating mechanism while reducing unwanted externalities, the cumulative impacts must be understood. Numerous challenges to measuring, monitoring, and addressing ASGM impacts result from the complexity of the impacts themselves, the nature of the gold mining as an informal industry, and the shortfalls in the current regulatory framework. These are discussed in the context of ongoing, unresolved issues including efforts to address trans-boundary water pollution, management of mining waste, and conflicts regarding priorities, ambiguities, and enforcement of existing regulations and policies. Internationally, interventions to address both AGM and SGM impacts have typically focused almost exclusively on technological changes through the elimination of mercury use. Our analysis suggests that to better address ASGM and their cumulative impacts in Ecuador, it will be beneficial to revisit the legal definitions of AGM and SGM. Additionally, promotion of information-based strategies including educational outreach programs and cross-scale and cross-level mitigation methods may also be beneficial. The success of these strategies to reduce ASGM-related cumulative impacts will depend on sufficient funding and the commitment of stakeholders.     

Issues in extractive resource taxation: A review of research methods and models

This paper provides a conceptual overview of economists′ attempts to learn about the effects of taxes on extractive resources. The emphasis is on research methods and techniques, with no attempt to provide a comprehensive tabulation of previous empirical results or policy conclusions regarding preferred tax instruments or systems. We argue, in fact, that the nature of such conclusions largely depends on, and is limited by, the researcher′s choice of modeling framework. Many alternative frameworks and approaches have been developed in the literature. Our goal is to describe the differences among them and to note their strengths and limitations.     

Landfill diversion in a decentralized setting: A dynamic assessment of landfill taxes

We analyze the process of landfill diversion and its main determinants, by embedding the dynamics in a frame where economic, geographical and policy variables come into play. In addition to structural and economic drivers, we primarily investigate whether the Italian tax has been effective in supporting landfill diversion. Although the Italian landfill tax dates back to 1996, the oldest in the EU, its effectiveness in terms of landfill diversion has not been assessed yet. The complexity primarily derives from the decentralized regional implementation and the absence of a full coherent dataset covering all regions. We merge this new and original data on taxes to an integrated dataset which includes economic, waste and policy variables at regional level over the period 1999–2008. Panel regressions show that the effect of tax is significant, even when taking into account for its possible endogeneity. Regions that have increased such taxes have improved waste disposal performances over time. Landfill taxes are surely not the only instrument policy makers might introduce, but they seem to play a relevant role in the evolution of Italian waste disposal performances.     

江苏省畜禽养殖污染减排措施与政策研究

为提高江苏省畜禽养殖污染治理水平,达到污染减排要求,完成污染减排任务,本文从分析江苏省畜禽养殖业污染产生量、排放量和污染特征入手,对污染治理措施和法律、法规及政策支撑等进行了归纳总结,深入分析了目前治理中存在的主要问题,提出了适合江苏畜禽养殖污染治理的技术模式,以及促进污染减排目标实现的管理机制和保障条件。     

输水水质保障约束下的南四湖流域产业生态化发展研究

在生态文明建设理念的指导下,从南四湖流域的自身特点与现状出发,在总结和借鉴国内外产业生态发展主要经验的基础上,结合南四湖流域自身特点,从管理机制、财政政策、价格税收、技术创新、投资取向、政绩考核等多角度出发,构建了南四湖流域的产业生态政策体系,并从实施目标责任考核、建立流域产业布局规划的协调制度、完善产业结构调整优化的法律法规制度、增强生态产业的科技创新能力、建立流域的政府信息共享与公开机制、建立健全流域水环境执法机构六个方面提出了相应的生态保障措施。