The effect of environmental regulation on firms' competitive performance: the case of the building & construction sector in some EU regions

There is a considerable debate on the effects of environmental regulation on competitive performance. Based on survey data, this paper analyzesthe two main research questions, derived from literature, on the links between environmental regulation and competitiveness, by focusing on firms operating in the building and construction sector, i.e.: 1) whether environmental policy stringency affects the competitive performance of firms in the building and construction sector 2) and how a specific form of environmental regulation (direct regulation, economic instruments and soft instruments) affects this performance? By applying a regression analysis, we find that a more stringent environmental regulation, measured by inspection frequency, provides a positive impulse for increasing investments in advanced technological equipment and innovative products and on business performance. Moreover, a well-designed “direct regulation” appears to be the most effective policy instrument for prompting the positive impact of environmental policies on innovation and intangible performance while economic instruments do negatively affect business performance.     

国内外环境管制问题研究综述

环境领域越来越多的管制法规引发了人们的极大关注,众多学者从不同角度研究了这些管制措施对经济社会以及世界经济和贸易的影响.系统回顾和梳理了国内外学者围绕环境管制与企业竞争力、国际贸易和国际投资、企业环境战略等方面的研究成果,以期为国内学者提供一些研究思路.     

Development of a coupled reservoir operation and water diversion model: Balancing human and environmental flow requirements

Maintaining a natural flow regime helps preserve the health of riverine ecosystems. Conventional studies on reservoir operations have focused mainly on identifying optimal operational schemes for satisfying human water demands. To systematically reflect the ecological effects of both natural and human-induced hydrologic alterations, water diversions downstream of the reservoirs should be considered as well. This research focused on a coupled reservoir operation and water diversion (CROWD) model, created through the integration of a reservoir operation model and a water diversion model. The proposed model considers both human and environmental flow requirements, and represents a compromise that balances ecological protection (preservation of the natural flow regime of a river) and human needs (reduced water shortages). In the reservoir operation model, the reservoir space is divided into three zones and different operating rules are developed for directing reservoir operation when water levels are in different zones; in the water diversion model, different water users are assigned different supply priorities with the instream flows no more than the minimum environmental flows having the highest priority; and the two models are coupled by the water mass balance between the two hydraulic facilities. The non-dominated-sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) was used to determine the parameters of the developed CROWD model and the model was applied to support the joint operational management of the Tanghe Reservoir and the Liaoyang Diversion in the Tang river basin, China. The resulting reservoir operation and water diversion schemes indicate that the CROWD model is useful for optimizing the operation of reservoirs and water diversion schemes. Moreover, it helps to analyze tradeoffs between human and environmental water needs, resulting in solutions that reduce the risk of water shortages and minimize ecological integrity disturbances.     

2000-2007年省级区域自然灾害灾情分析

自然灾害是严重影响人民正常生产生活、国家经济持续发展的突发公共事件。区域自然灾害评估对于做好防灾减灾工作有着重要的意义。对区域灾情进行了综合评估,归纳总结了区域灾情分布规律。选择受灾人口、死亡人口、紧急转移安置人口、农作物受灾面积、农作物绝收面积、倒塌房屋、损坏房屋和直接经济损失等8个基本指标参与区域灾情评估,并利用灾情综合指数法构建了灾情指数,其中绝对指数反映了区域灾情的绝对强度,相对指数反映了区域灾情对当地社会经济的影响程度。用灾情指数综合评估了我国东、中、西部三大地带以及省级区域的灾情强度和空间分布规律,认为西部区域受灾程度最大,自然灾害对其的影响程度最深,其次是中部地区和东部地区;文章利用综合灾情的绝对指数和相对指数的对应关系,将我国大陆地区的31个省级单元划分为4类地区,即灾情总量较大且对本地影响较大、灾情总量较大但对本地影响较小、灾情总量较小但对本地影响较大以及灾情总量较小且对本地影响较小等4种类型。文章给出的灾情区域分布规律符合灾害系统理论,特别反映了承灾体的暴露度、脆弱性和抗灾能力是区域灾情强度的决定因素。评估结果与区域实际情况相符,说明所给出的灾情指数评估法是评估区域灾情强弱的合理有效方法。     

环境规制影响资源型城市绿色全要素生产率的途径与政策建议

环境规制对资源型城市绿色全要素生产率是否具有推动作用,通过何种路径驱动以及是否存在城市类型异质性有待进一步理清。本文选取2004—2019年中国113座资源型城市的面板数据,利用非径向、非角度的SBM模型与GML指数对资源型城市绿色全要素生产率进行测算,随后通过构建多重中介效应模型实证检验了科技创新、外商直接投资和产业结构优化在环境规制影响绿色全要素生产率的传导机制及其在城市类型间的异质性。研究表明：（1）从全样本回归结果看,环境规制对资源型城市绿色全要素生产率的作用系数显著为正,产业结构优化和外商直接投资均发挥了显著的正向中介效应,而科技创新表现为间接抑制作用;在非资源型城市中,三类中介效应均不显著。（2）类型异质性检验显示,科技创新在成长型、成熟型城市中发挥了正向中介效应,在再生型城市中表现为间接抑制作用;外商直接投资在衰退型城市中的中介效应值为正,而在再生型城市中表现为负向中介效应;产业结构优化在成长型与成熟型城市中发挥了正向中介效应。（3）对比中介效应结果表明,全样本回归时,产业结构优化、外商直接投资和科技创新的中介效应梯次递减,产业结构优化的中介效应占比接近80%,环境规制的...     

市场激励型环境规制工具对中国资源型城市高质量发展的影响

基于中国114个地级资源型城市2011—2018年的面板数据,采用熵权法测算各资源型城市的高质量发展指数,并利用系统GMM模型、静态面板门限模型和动态面板门限模型,探讨市场激励型环境规制工具对中国资源型城市高质量发展的影响及其作用机制。结果表明：（1）2011—2018年中国资源型城市高质量发展水平在总体向好的同时也存在一定程度的极差扩大现象,且在空间上呈现出“东高西低”的分布态势;（2）市场激励型环境规制工具对资源型城市高质量发展指数存在显著的正向影响;（3）市场激励型环境规制工具对资源型城市高质量发展的促进作用受到城市低碳生活基础设施水平的调节和制约,存在门限效应。基于实证研究结果进一步分析了相应的政策含义。     

炼化常减压装置挥发性有机物无组织源谱分析

以典型常减压装置中工艺管线无组织逸散VOCs为切入点,选取不同地域的多套常减压装置,参照美国EPA包袋法采样标准,并按照HJ 644-2013标准将气态样品转移到组合三吸附管内,利用气相色谱-质谱仪进行分析检测.结果表明,常减压装置无组织排放的VOCs共含116种物质,以烷烃类、烯烃类和醛酮类物质占主导,其中烷烃类物质占总排放的65%以上.在此基础上,对检出物质占比量进行量化分析,明确了常减压装置VOCs无组织排放因子以2-甲基丁烷、丁烯和苯等物质为主,并检出了微量的萘.相关结论可为炼化企业构建VOCs排放清单提供有力支撑,对于后续精细化管理炼化行业的VOCs排放具有指导意义.     

Flow analysis of major and trace elements in residues from large-scale sewage sludge incineration

Increase of sewage sludge (SS) has led to the construction of more incineration plants, exacerbating to the production of SS incineration residues. However, few studies have considered the mass balance of elements in large-scale SS incineration plants, affecting the residues treatment and utilization. In this study, flow analysis was conducted for major and trace elements in the SS, the fly ash (sewage sludge ash, SSA) and bottom ash from two large-scale SS incineration plants. The elemental characteristics were compared with those of coal fly ash (CFA), and air pollution control residues from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWIA), as well as related criteria. The results showed that the most abundant major element in SSA was Si, ranging from 120 to 240 g/kg, followed by Al (76–348 g/kg), Ca (26–113 g/kg), Fe (35–80 g/kg), and P (26–104 g/kg), and the trace elements were mainly Zn, Ba, Cu, and Mn. Not all the major elements were derived from SS. Most trace elements in the SS incineration residues accounted for 82.4%–127% of those from SS, indicating that SS was the main source of trace elements. The partitioning of heavy metals in the SS incineration residues showed that electrostatic precipitator ash or cyclone ash with high production rates were the major pollutant sinks. The differences in some major and trace elements could be indicators to differentiate SSA from CFA and MSWIA. Compared with related land criteria, the pollutants in SSA should not be ignored during disposal and utilization.     

掘进面出风口风流与风幕调控下的粉尘分布响应曲面优化研究*

为了解决煤矿掘进面风筒出风口参数不能动态变化,而传统风幕全断面控尘效果不理想引起的粉尘浓度高等问题,通过分析风幕和出风口参数对粉尘分布规律的影响,以此得到合理的出风口风流与风幕综合调控方案,降低粉尘浓度。以陕西神木柠条塔煤矿N1212巷道为研究对象,利用Fluent软件建立出风口风流与风幕综合调控的粉尘场有限元模型,设计出风口风流及风幕综合调控响应曲面实验,得到最佳综合调控方案为:风幕射流出口宽度为0.16 m,风幕射流出口速度为6 m/s,出风口口径为0.9 m,出风口右偏角度为3°。搭建相似模拟实验平台来验证最佳综合调控方案,研究结果表明:调控后回风侧行人呼吸处和司机位置处粉尘平均浓度分别降低89%和81%,有效改善掘进面作业环境。     

Linking trophic positions and flow structure constraints in ecological networks: Energy transfer efficiency or topology effect?

In the present work we investigate whether the distribution of energy flows in ecosystems responds to criteria of trophic organization. We analyzed weighted and unweighted food webs estimating, for each node, trophic position (TP), Shannon's index of inflow diversity (H) and individual contribution to the whole average mutual information (AMI). Finally, we performed the same analysis on simulated webs that were constructed using the following criteria: (a) preserving topology and varying link strength; (b) modifying position of links and their intensities.