新《环境保护法》对重污染企业盈余管理的影响研究——基于政治成本假说的实证检验

本文利用新《环境保护法》实施这一外生事件,采用双重差分模型,从应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理两个方面实证检验了政治成本对重污染企业盈余管理的影响。研究发现在新《环境保护法》实施后,相比于非污染企业,重污染企业面临更高的政治成本,其进行了显著的向上应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理,向外界传递了企业未来发展良好的信息。上述研究结论经过一系列稳健性检验依然成立。进一步的异质性检验表明:①基于产权性质的分析表明,本文的研究结论在非国有企业的子样本组中更为明显;②基于企业规模的分析表明,小规模重污染企业更倾向于进行向上应计盈余管理,但不同规模重污染企业的真实盈余管理没有显著差异;③基于市场竞争程度的分析表明,高市场竞争环境下的重污染企业更倾向于采取向上应计盈余管理,低市场竞争环境下的重污染企业更倾向于进行向上真实盈余管理;④基于经济发展水平的分析表明,东部地区的重污染企业倾向于向上应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理。本文研究结论与西方的“政治成本假说”并不相符,为中国情境下的“政治成本理论”发展提供了另一种证据,同时为进一步加强新《环境保护法》的环境规制效果提供了决策参考。     

Is there an inverted U-shaped curve? Empirical analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve in agrochemicals

As the largest contributor to water impairment, agriculture-related pollution has attracted the attention of scientists as well as policy makers, and quantitative information is being sought to focus and advance the policy debate. This study applies the panel unit root, heterogeneous panel cointegration, and panel-based dynamic ordinary least squares to investigate the Environmental Kuznets Curve on environmental issues resulting from use of agricultural synthetic fertilizer, pesticide, and film for 31 provincial economies in mainland China from 1989 to 2009. The empirical results indicate a positive long-run co-integrated relationship between the environmental index and real GDP per capita. This relationship takes on the inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve, and the value of the turning point is approximately 10,000–13,000, 85,000–89,000 and over 160,000 CNY, for synthetic fertilizer nitrogen indicator, fertilizer phosphorus indicator and pesticide indicator, respectively. At present, China is subject to tremendous environmental pressure and should assign more importance to special agriculture-related environmental issues.     

The principal–agent model with multilateral externalities: An application to climate agreements

We consider contracting of a principal with an agent if multilateral externalities are present. The motivating example is that of an international climate agreement given private information about the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for emissions abatement. Due to multilateral externalities the principal uses her own emissions besides subsidies to incentivize the agent and to assure his participation. Optimal contracts equalize marginal abatement costs and, thus, can be implemented by a system of competitive permit trading. Moreover, optimal contracts can include a boundary part (i.e., the endogenous, type dependent participation constraint is binding), which is not a copy of the outside option of no contract. Compared to this outside option, a contract can increase emissions of the principal for types with a low WTP, and reduce her payoff for high types. Subsidies can be constant or even decreasing in emission reductions, and turn negative so that the agent reduces emissions and pays the principal.     

Uncertainties in a risk management context in early phases of offshore petroleum field development

The current risk management approach for the Norwegian offshore petroleum industry came into effect in 2001 and has been stable with minor changes for 15 years. Relatively few new installations were slated for development until quite recently, and several new projects have been started in the last few years. The paper considers the risk management approach in the pre-FEED phase and builds on two case studies selected from the most recent cases. These case studies have been evaluated with respect to how uncertainties are considered in the early phase, based on the submission of the Plan for Development and Operation, their evaluations by authorities and the supporting documents. Both case studies involve new concepts for which there is no experience from similar environments and/or water depths. In spite of what could have been expected, the case studies conclude that uncertainties have not been in focus at all during concept development. This appears to be definitely the case for the licensees, but also to be the case for the authorities. Some suggestions are presented for what could have been considered by the licensees and authorities.     

A guide for assessing control room operator performance using speed and accuracy,perceived workload,situation awareness,and eye tracking

In the petrochemical industry, control room operators must address safety-critical alarms and other tasks using complex interfaces. This study developed a guide for assessing human performance using standard human factors measurement tools, and tested the sensitivity of those tools with two interface designs (i.e., gray and black) at three levels of workload (i.e., easy, medium, and difficult). The guide measures human performance through speed and accuracy, perceived workload using two standard instruments (i.e., NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT)), situation awareness through the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT), and gaze through eye tracking coordinates. Twelve engineering student participants completed one simulation session at each of the three workload levels using one of two interface designs. Workload was manipulated through the number of simulated events (failures) in each session. Overall, the speed and accuracy measures, workload ratings, and eye tracking showed sensitivity to differences in workload level, and situation awareness showed sensitivity to the interaction between workload level and interface type. None of the tools were sensitive to interface type alone. Accuracy was highest under easy workload. Time per failure decreased at higher workload levels. Perceived workload ratings from the SWAT increased as workload increased, but workload ratings from the NASA-TLX were not different across workload levels. When workload increased, situation awareness remained steady for the gray interface but decreased sharply for the black interface, illustrating an interaction effect. Finally, the percentage of time spent looking at different areas of the screen during steady-state periods differed among workload levels. The tools in this guide can be used in the petrochemical industry to make design decisions for control room interfaces when workload levels are a concern.     

Environmental consequence analysis for resource depletion

Resource depletion is of concern to both present and future generations in terms of access to resources. It is a prominent impact category within life cycle assessment (LCA) and sustainability assessment. This paper examines existing resource depletion approaches and indicators in the context of natural gas depletion, and their limitations in modelling the wider environmental consequences of resource consumption. Some existing models assume substitution of scarce fossil fuels with an alternative fossil fuel or mix, but do not consider all of the subsequent change in impacts. An additional methodology is proposed to measure the impact changes when fossil fuel substitution occurs as a result of scarcity. The methodology will demonstrate the effect of resource scarcity for individual processes but also multiple processes which operate at different levels of resource consumption with varying degrees of impacts. The methodology is applied to a scarcity situation of natural gas in Australia, where black coal is substituted for gas. It is first applied to natural gas consumed for electricity generation only. In the second case, the methodology is applied to the substitution of natural gas for both electricity generation and hydrogen production. The varying impacts on emissions to air and water, together with solid waste generation and water depletion, as a result of the substitution are used to reflect the consequences of fossil fuel depletion. The indicators also provide information on the impacts of substitution in each product, thus enabling users to prioritise products based on the impacts produced during natural gas allocation.     

Detection and quantitation of trace levels of low molecular weight halocarbons (LMHs) associated with commercial sodium humate

Examination of vapor above commercial sodium humate and above 10wt% aqueous humate solution by gas chromatography (GC) revealed the presence of chloroform and trichloroethylene. Further examination of the aqueous humate by the purge and trap procedure confirmed the association of chloroform and trichloroethylene with the humate. GC/mass spectrometry analyses of methylene chloride extract of the humate established the association of LMHs with the humate. Improved headspace capillary GC technique showed that the humate contained not only chloroform, trichloroethylene but several other LMHs in the range 190 to 4000ng·kg^‐1.     

Toxic substances: Measures and measurements†

The formulation of a sound policy for environmental protection and toxic substances control requires knowledge of the presence and concentration of environmental contaminants. For this reason monitoring programs have been set up in the Netherlands for water, drinking water, and air pollution. The Netherlands system for air pollution, monitoring of the substances SO2, NOχ, CO, O₃ is now fully automated. Some examples will be given to show the acquisition and management and interpretation of air pollution measurements.

Various smaller projects, supported by the Department of Health and Environmental Protection include measurement of indoor air‐contaminants, contaminants in soil and hazardous waste sites, and contaminants in biotic samples such as for instance PCB's in eels and seals and mussels. Moreover a Coordinating Committee regularly collects measurements from various sources in the Netherlands regarding pesticide residues and contaminants in food.

For cost‐effective monitoring the accuracy of the measurements must be chosen with regard to the biological effect concentration of the pollutant. The necessity of proper control measurements to establish background levels and the necessity of ring‐tests to increase interlaboratory reproducibility is discussed. In cost‐effective monitoring the minimum number of measurements, which are necessary to check the effect of environmental protection measures, must be defined through proper sampling.     

Human resilience and environmental degradation: The eco-cultural link in the Sahel

The relationship between human resilience and environmental degradation was studied in the Sahel. The strongest predictors of human resilience were rate of environmental degradation, avoidance, problem solving and locus of control. Compared to pastoralists, agriculturalists were more stressed and marginalized. Women in all groups scored higher on marginalization and stress than men.     

Prices vs quantities with multiple pollutants

We examine the choice of policy instruments (price, quantity or a mix of the two) when two pollutants are regulated and firms' abatement costs are private information. Whether abatement efforts are complements or substitutes is key determining the choice of policies. When pollutants are complements, a mixed policy instrument with a tax on one pollutant and a quota on another is sometimes preferable even if the pollutants are identical in terms of benefits and costs of abatement. Yet, if they are substitutes, the mixed policy is dominated by taxes or quotas.