Using Insurance to Enhance Nitrogen Fertilizer Application to Reduce Nitrogen Losses to the Environment

The advantage of using insurance to help a farmer adopt a best nitrogen management plan (BNMP) that reduces the impact of agricultural production on the environment is analytically and empirically demonstrated. Using an expected value analysis, it is shown that an insurance program can be structured soas to reduce a farmer's cost of bearing the adoption risk associated with changing production practices and, thus, to improve the farmer's certainty equivalent net return thereby promoting the adoption of a BNMP. Using the adoption of growing-season only N fertilizer application in Iowa as a case study, it is illustrated how insurance may be used to promote the adoption of this practice to reduce N fertilizeruse. It is shown that it is possible for a farmer and an insurance company both to have an incentive to develop an insurance adoption program that will benefit both the farmer and the insurance company, increasing net social welfare and improving environmental quality in Iowa.     

The Kyoto Protocol and non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sinks

Many trace constituents other than carbon dioxide affect the radiative budget of the atmosphere. The existing international agreement to limit greenhouse gases, the Kyoto Protocol, includes carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) and credit for some carbon sinks. We investigate technological options for reducing emissions of these gases and the economic implications of including other greenhouse gases and sinks in the climate change control policy. We conduct an integreated assessment of costs using the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model combined with estimates of abatement costs for non-CO₂ greenhouse gases and sinks. We find that failure to take advantage of the other gas and sink flexibility would nearly double aggregate Annex B costs. Including all the GHGs and sinks is actually cheaper than if only CO₂ had been included in the Protocol and their inclusion achieves greater overall abatement. There remains considerable uncertainty in these estimates, the magnitude of the savings depends heavily on reference projections of emissions, for example, but these uncertainties do not change the overall conclusion that non-CO₂ GHGs are an important part of a climate control policy.     

An Analysis with the CERT Model of the FSU Market Power in the Carbon Emissions Trading Market

This paper aims to assess the consequences of the amendments made to the Kyoto Protocol during COP 7 in Marrakech. The major issue of hot air and CDM transaction costs is examined using the CERT model to show that primary supply regions, typically those with hot air availability, might control the emissions reduction permit supply market and maximise net export revenues of permit supply by withholding 40 to 60% of available hot air credits. The assumption that primary permit suppliers control permit price via a restriction of hot air supply to the market will inadvertently leave a portion of the market share open to non-Annex B CDM supply, despite potentially extreme variance in CDM transaction costs. A summary table of policy implications on the emissions reduction permit market is also included.     

三权分置改革中新型农业经营主体的政策认知及其行为响应——以上海市青浦区为例

农村土地三权分置是现阶段我国农地产权制度的重大创新,其政策逻辑是通过农地产权的细化和明晰促进资源的优化配置,以推动农业转型发展。但是三权分置能否改善人们对土地产权的长期、安全、稳定的预期,改变经营主体的行为方式,依然有待实践的检验。以新型经营主体对政策的认知为切入点,以三权分置实践较早的上海市青浦区为典型案例,在问卷调查和实地访谈的基础上,基于“三权分置改革—主体认知—行为响应”的政策传导机制,应用结构方程模型,研究新型农业经营主体的政策认知程度对其规模经营行为、长期投入行为和向环境友好型农业转型等行为的影响。结果显示：新型农业经营主体对三权分置政策的认知对其三大类生产经营行为的转变均存在显著影响;并且认知程度越深,其实践农业生产方式转型的可能性越大。需要进一步完善配套制度建设、加强三权分置政策的宣传和解释力度,提升农业从业者人力资本水平,为农业转型升级提供内生动力。     

基于区域一体化背景下的长三角环境经济政策优化研究

基于长三角区域社会、经济、环保一体化高质量发展要求,全面调研"三省一市"(上海、江苏、浙江、安徽)2011—2017年环境经济政策出台情况,并开展评估分析。结果显示:长三角区域环境经济政策整体呈现良好发展态势,尤其在财政奖补方面占绝对优势,但各省市差异较为明显,且区域层面联动政策相对欠缺。在此基础上,结合长三角区域环境质量改善目标及污染防治协作深化需求,建议在环保基金、生态补偿、排污权交易、环境信用体系等领域率先开展区域联动试点,并从机制、法律、技术等层面给予保障,探索形成区域环境经济政策共商、共享、共赢模式。     

Plan integration for resilience scorecard: evaluating networks of plans in six US coastal cities

Planning for hazard mitigation is frequently detached from other planning activities that influence development patterns in hazardous areas. Consistent integration of mitigation reduces hazard vulnerability for people and the built environment. We apply a plan integration for resilience scorecard in six US coastal cities to evaluate the integration of local networks of plans and the degree to which they target areas most vulnerable to flooding hazards. We find that plan integration scores vary widely across the six cities, and that some plans actually increase vulnerability in hazard zones. Policies also frequently support mitigation in areas with low vulnerability, rather than in areas with high vulnerability. The plan integration for resilience scorecard can generate information to improve hazard planning by allowing planners to identify conflicts between plans, assess whether plans target areas that are most vulnerable, and better inform decision makers about opportunities to mainstream mitigation into multiple sectors of planning.     

Social consequences associated with the use of various optimization methods in the protection of air quality

The fundamental tactics employed by the EU against air contamination, which are intended to maintain concentrations at a level that does not exceed the permissible values, usually entail considerable expense. To reduce this to a minimum, the procedure of economic optimization of air quality can be applied. When performed for a heavily polluted industrial city, it shows that it is possible to maintain concentrations below the threshold of air quality standards with relatively moderate expenditure. These evaluations also reveal that variations in population density distribution call into question the conventional wisdom that uniform air quality standards provide the best protection against air contamination for a whole region. On the contrary, an optimization that forces a drop in concentration to be evenly spread over the population, without reference to air quality standards, may lead to more efficient protection of human health and make no difference to overall expenditure.     

Climate change adaptation at different levels of government: Characteristics and conditions of policy change

Climate change adaptation strategies that aim to minimize harm and maximize benefits related to climate change impacts have mushroomed at all levels of government in recent years. While many studies have explored barriers that stand in the way of their implementation, the factors determining their potential to mainstream adaptation into various sectors are less clear. In the present paper, we aim to address this gap for two international, six national, and six local adaptation strategies. Based on document analyses and 35 semi‐structured interviews, the 14 case studies also explore in how far the factors facilitating climate change adaptation are similar across levels of government or level‐specific. Although located at three different levels of government, we find that the 14 adaptation strategies analyzed here represent “one‐size‐fits‐all governance arrangements” that are characterized by voluntariness and a lack institutionalization. Since adaptation strategies are relatively weak coordination hubs that are unable to force adaptation onto sectoral policy agendas, they rely mainly on sectoral self‐interest in adapting to climate change, largely determined by problem pressure. We conclude that one‐size‐fits‐all governance arrangements are rarely adequate responses to complex challenges, such as climate change. Although climate change adaptation depends more on framework conditions such as problem pressure than on administrative or governance features, the findings presented here can help to understand under what circumstances adaptation is likely to make progress.     

中国履行斯德哥尔摩公约淘汰硫丹的社会经济影响

通过构建化学品风险管理SEA(社会经济影响分析)方法学,结合中国硫丹生产、使用及替代技术状况的调研,对中国履约淘汰硫丹的社会经济影响进行了分析. 结果表明:中国5 a淘汰情景下的总成本为5 007.2×104元,其中产业经济成本为4 852.2×104元,管理成本为155.0×104元,沉没成本约为651.0×104元;10 a淘汰情景下的总成本为2 748.5×104元,其中产业经济成本为2 507.6×104元,管理成本为240.9×104元,而沉没成本约为651.0×104元. 硫丹淘汰对现有硫丹原药生产企业会产生一定的经济及化工生产链影响,但总体经济影响不大. 对履约淘汰硫丹的主要利益攸关方、就业影响和消费者福利等因素的分析表明,除对硫丹长期集中使用的棉花种植者构成一定的短期影响外,中国履约淘汰硫丹产生的社会影响较小. 其中,5 a淘汰情景比10 a淘汰情景可减少约2 000 t硫丹环境排放量,具有更显著的环境和健康效益. 因而,建议中国采用5 a淘汰情景履约淘汰硫丹,研究成果可为国家硫丹履约行动计划的制订和实施提供参考.      

An investigation of safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified and non-certified organizations

Many organizations worldwide have implemented Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 in their premises because of the assumed positive effects of this standard on safety. Few studies have analyzed the effect of the safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified organizations. This case–control study used a new safety climate questionnaire to evaluate three OHSAS 18001-certified and three non-certified manufacturing companies in Iran. Hierarchical regression indicated that the safety climate was influenced by OHSAS implementation and by safety training. Employees who received safety training had better perceptions of the safety climate and its dimensions than other respondents within the certified companies. This study found that the implementation of OHSAS 18001 does not guarantee improvement of the safety climate. This study also emphasizes the need for high-quality safety training for employees of the certified companies to improve the safety climate.