中国高质量发展阶段最优环境保护税率研究

中国开始实施环境保护税法的时间位于从高速增长向高质量发展过渡的时期。环境保护税法规定了大气和水污染物的税率区间,因此实际执行的税率存在优化的空间。虽然征收环境保护税是为了达成环境目标,但是该项税收同样可以服务于经济和社会目标。本文拟对环境保护税这一市场化的环境政策价格工具进行优化,从这一崭新研究视角切入,探讨协调经济与环境关系的原则,以期为实现高质量发展提供理论依据。本文的研究方法基于一个包括企业、政府和消费者的世代交替模型,各经济主体进行分散化决策。企业在生产过程中排放污染,政府向企业征收环境保护税并且治理污染,消费者的内生寿命受到污染存量和人均产出的共同影响。根据市场均衡条件,本文得到描述物质资本和污染存量动态变化的非线性差分方程,在此基础上进行解析证明和数据模拟。研究得到以下三点结论:第一,同一个环境保护税率无法同时实现经济产出最大化和社会福利最大化的目标,这意味着在高质量发展阶段政府需要抛弃以经济增长为中心的政策思路,转而以社会福利最大化为目标确定最优的环境保护税率。政府提高环境保护税率,可以实现由经济产出最大化向社会福利最大化的转变。第二,相较于最大化经济产出的税率,最大化社会福利的环境保护税率在转移路径上会造成各主要变量较小的波动,并用一定的经济产出换取更多的物质资本、更优的环境质量、更长的人均寿命、以及更高的社会福利水平,因此支持了前述政府需要以社会福利最大化为目标确定最优环境保护税率的结论。第三,最大化社会福利的环境保护税率在基准模型中的数值为1.96,但污染物的异质性会影响最优税率的数值。污染物较低的自然扩散速度、较严重的健康损害程度、较高的治理技术水平都会提高最优的环境保护税率。本文提出三点政策建议:第一,通过征收环境保护税最大化社会福利水平。第二,通过提高环境保护税率体现发展理念的转变。第三,促进医疗卫生和污染治理技术进步。     

Work-contingent self-esteem: A boon or bane for worker well-being?

Work-contingent self-esteem (WCSE; the degree to which workers' self-esteem is based on workplace performance) has positive consequences for performance, yet less is known about its consequences for well-being. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on WCSE by examining the mechanisms through which it impacts well-being at work and outside of work. We challenge contingent self-esteem (CSE) theory (Crocker & Park, 2004), which argues that CSE negatively impacts well-being by fostering internally controlled (introjected) motivation and diminishing autonomous motivation, by suggesting that WCSE fosters autonomous and internally controlled motivation and thus has both beneficial and harmful effects on well-being. We also expand CSE theory by suggesting that WCSE can negatively impact well-being outcomes by causing work–nonwork conflict. Results from a time-separated design in a sample of full-time employees supported our arguments, revealing that WCSE impacted well-being at work through both autonomous and internally controlled work motivations. WCSE also had negative effects on well-being at and outside of work through work–nonwork conflict. The beneficial effects of WCSE outweighed its harmful effects on job satisfaction and neutralized its harmful effects for all other outcomes. We discuss theoretical implications for CSE theory, self-determination theory, and work–nonwork issues and note important practical implications.     

Supporting conservationists’ mental health through better working conditions

Biodiversity conservation work can be challenging but rewarding, and both aspects have potential consequences for conservationists’ mental health. Yet, little is known about patterns of mental health among conservationists and its associated workplace protective and risk factors. A better understanding might help improve working conditions, supporting conservationists’ job satisfaction, productivity, and engagement, while reducing costs from staff turnover, absenteeism, and presenteeism. We surveyed 2311 conservation professionals working in 122 countries through an internet survey shared via mailing lists, social media, and other channels. We asked them about experiences of psychological distress, working conditions, and personal characteristics. Over half were from and worked in Europe and North America, and most had a university-level education, were in desk-based academic and practitioner roles, and responded in English. Heavy workload, job demands, and organizational instability were linked to higher distress, but job stability and satisfaction with one's contributions to conservation were associated with lower distress. Respondents with low dispositional and conservation-specific optimism, poor physical health, and limited social support, women, and early-career professionals were most at risk of distress in our sample. Our results flag important risk factors that employers could consider, although further research is needed among groups underrepresented in our sample. Drawing on evidence-based occupational health interventions, we suggest measures that could promote better working conditions and thus may improve conservationists’ mental health and abilities to protect nature.     

Testing genuine savings as a forward-looking indicator of future well-being over the (very) long-run

Genuine Savings (GS) have been much used in recent years as an indicator of a country's sustainability. According to some theorists (e.g. Arrow et al., 2012), under certain conditions a country with a positive level of GS should experience non-declining future utility, given the assumption of unlimited substitutability among all forms of capital (sometimes called “weak” sustainability). This paper reports the first very long-run tests of GS (also called comprehensive investment or adjusted net savings) as a forward-looking indicator of future well-being. We assemble data for British capital back to 1765, and construct several net investment measures which are used as indicators of two alternative measures of future well-being: consumption per capita and real wages. An allowance for a “value of time” due to exogenous technological progress is included in some GS measures, and we demonstrate the importance of this measure and the choice of discount rate over the very long-run. On the whole, our results do not reject the postulated relationship between GS and future well-being, and show GS can be a forward looking indicator of future well-being for periods of up to 100 years.     

The protective effect of job satisfaction in health,happiness, well-being and self-esteem

The purpose of this article is to analyze the possible effects of job satisfaction on mental and physical health, happiness, subjective well-being and self-esteem. A total of 971 Portuguese-speaking adults participated in this study. Most participants reported high rates of satisfaction with their colleagues, the nature of their work and leadership, while reporting dissatisfaction with regard to salaries and promotions. Results indicated the existence of the protector effect of job satisfaction for health, happiness, subjective well-being and self-esteem, in addition to reinforcing the importance of maintaining a positive evaluation of one’s work. As a practical implication, the results may suggest that the effects of personnel management policies which emphasize job satisfaction could potentially lead to improvements in levels of health, happiness, subjective well-being and workers’ self-esteem, all of which are factors that can potentially improve organizational performance. The study also considered its limitations and the possibility for future investigation.     

千年生态系统评估项目的后续计划——将知识转化为行动的全球战略

千年生态系统评估项目(MA)的后续计划是在MA的基础上,拟于近期启动的一项将知识转化为行动的全球战略计划。该后续计划提出了通过阻止和扭转生态系统服务的下降趋势来改善人类福祉状况的愿景,其总目标是争取把生态系统服务要素融入到各级公共部门和私营机构的决策当中,使其成为决策制定过程不可或缺的重要组成部分。这一总目标包括4个阶段目标：① 深入研究生物多样性、生态系统功能以及生态系统服务和人类福祉之间的内在联系,建立与完善生态系统服务方面的知识库,并开发将生态系统服务要素融入到经济社会发展决策当中所必需的有效工具;② 加强决策者的能力建设,并通过他们把生态系统服务要素融入到公共部门和私营机构的各级决策当中;③ 制定基于各种行动计划的传媒策略和教育手段,充分地将MA的成果提交给决策者及有关各方,最大程度地发挥MA的影响;④ 谋划未来的全球生态系统评估,探讨开展第2次全球生态系统评估的需求、对策及有关机制。     

Defining the balance point between conservation and development

In the face of the current global ecological crisis and the threats it poses to human survival and security, the fundamental solution is to resolve the deep contradiction between conservation and economic development. We considered the 3 key and basic questions of why to protect, how much to protect, and where to protect natural areas. Human survival depends on functioning ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. In this regard, conserving core biodiversity conservation priority areas (BCPAs) can provide maximum conservation benefit. The goals of protected area (PA) systems globally and nationally must be clearly defined so as to sustain the survival and development of people and to coordinate and balance other objectives with this goal at the center. There is an urgent need to study, calculate, and define the extent of the natural world to ensure the well-being of people. We call this area over which natural areas of land and sea extend across the world or a country nature proportion (N%). Especially, a minimum area that ensures human survival should be protected, and we suggest that this area should cover core BCPAs so that it can achieve the maximum conservation benefit. These recommendations could be applied at global or national levels. The Chinese government proposes “developing a protected-area system composed mainly of national parks,” and it has unified the administration of PAs into a central management authority. At this key time in the reform of the PA system, should this proposal be adopted, conservation will garner the greatest social consensus and support, and planning at the national level for BCPA coverage will be improved. We believe these recommendations are critical for China and other countries and extremely important for the world because they will pave the way toward a balance between nature conservation and human development as the projected human population reaches 10 billion by 2050.     

Self-perceived mental well-being amongst Malaysian dentists

Purpose. To assess Malaysian dentists’ perceptions of their mental well-being. Methods. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on a conceptual framework of mental health and well-being model. Two aspects were assessed, namely the physiological (two domains) and the psychological (six domains). Participants were asked to rate their experiences of the aforementioned aspects using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from all the time to never. Results. The response rate was 81%. Most of the dentists (61.7%) perceived having positive mental well-being. Under the physiological aspect, most respondents reported that they were ‘generally happy’ (93.3%), but about 30% stated they were ‘stressed physically and emotionally’. Of the six domains under the psychological aspect, positive well-being was observed in the ‘sense of coherence’ and ‘behavioural stress’ domains. Participants who were above 40 years old, married and had children reported having a more positive mental well-being when compared with their counterparts. Conclusion. Overall, most Malaysian dentists perceived having a positive mental well-being. It is crucial, however, to closely monitor and initiate early interventions for those with negative symptoms to ensure the safe practice of dentistry.     

Direct and indirect effects of weather experiences on life satisfaction – which role for climate change expectations?

This paper deals with the effect of (1) damage experience from extreme weather events and (2) expectations concerning future climate change on subjective well-being (SWB). We use data from a large representative survey carried out amongst German households. The effect of experienced weather events on the SWB of the heads of households is significant only in the case of heat waves; the same cannot be said for storms, heavy rain, and floods. Concerns about future climate change in households have a substantial negative impact on current SWB. In addition, we divide the impact of experience into direct and indirect effects of damage, deduced from the impact of experience on expectations regarding future climate change. Both direct and indirect effects of weather experiences are quantified. It becomes apparent that the indirect effect is significant, but small when compared to the direct effect.     

A Review of the Elements of Human Well-Being with an Emphasis on the Contribution of Ecosystem Services

Natural ecosystems perform fundamental life-support services upon which human civilization depends. However, many people believe that nature provides these services for free and therefore, they are of little or no value. While we do not pay for them, we pay significantly for their loss in terms of wastewater treatment facilities, moratoriums on greenhouse gases, increased illnesses, reduced soil fertility and losses in those images of nature that contribute to our basic happiness. Little is understood about the well-being benefits of the natural environment and its ecosystem services. The interwoven relationship of ecosystems and human well-being is insufficiently acknowledged in the wider philosophical, social, and economic well-being literature. In this article, we discuss an approach to examine human well-being and the interactions of its four primary elements-basic human needs, economic needs, environmental needs, and subjective well-being-and ecosystem services.