Multinational corporations and the EU Emissions Trading System: The specter of asset erosion and creeping deindustrialization

This study seeks to investigate the causal effect of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on firms' holdings of fixed assets as an early indicator of industrial relocation, exploiting installation level inclusion criteria of the regulation. To single out companies with particularly low relocation costs, global multinational enterprises (MNEs), we identify ownership structures for the full sample of EU ETS-firms. Matched Difference-in-Differences estimates provide robust evidence that contradicts the specter of an erosion of European asset bases. Baseline results for the manufacturing sector indicate that the EU ETS led to an on average increase of treated firms' asset bases of 12,1%. However, for a particular subgroup of MNEs, this increase is a mere 2.1%. For these companies, the EU ETS may have induced a shift in investment priorities.     

The Antiquities Act,national monuments,and the regional economy

Large, landscape-scale national monuments have long been controversial. It has been claimed that large monuments harm local economies by restricting growth of the grazing, timber, mining, and energy industries. Others have asserted that large monuments aid economic growth by reducing reliance on volatile commodity markets and fostering tourism growth. In this study, we use a synthetic control approach to measure the average causal effect of nine national monument designations on county-level per capita income. We find no evidence that monument designation affected per capita income in any of 20 counties hosting nine large (>50,000 acres) national monuments established under the Antiquities Act (six monuments) or by legislative action (three monuments). The broad economic claims of both advocates and critics of large national monuments have little empirical support. The absence of a designation effect for large national monuments is likely due to the attributes of federal land and the legal constraints under which it is managed.     

Prospect theory and energy efficiency

Investments in energy efficiency entail uncertainty, and when faced with uncertainty consumers have been shown to behave according to prospect theory: preferences are reference-dependent and exhibit loss aversion, and probabilities are subjectively weighted. Using data from a choice experiment eliciting prospect theory parameters, I provide evidence that loss-averse people are less likely to invest in energy efficiency. Then, I consider policy design under prospect theory when there are also externalities from energy use. A higher degree of loss aversion implies a higher subsidy to energy efficiency. Numerical simulations suggest that the impact of prospect theory on policy may be substantial.     

Does subway expansion improve air quality?

Major cities in China and many other fast-growing economies are expanding their subway systems in order to address worsening air pollution and traffic congestion. This paper quantifies the impact of subway expansion on air quality by leveraging fine-scale air quality data and the rapid build-out of 14 new subway lines and 252 stations in Beijing from 2008 to 2016. Our main empirical framework examines how the density of the subway network affects air quality across different locations in the city during this period. To address the potential endogenous location of subway stations, we construct an instrument based on historical subway planning, long before air pollution and traffic congestion were of concern. Our analysis shows that an increase in subway density by one standard deviation improves air quality by two percent and the result is robust to a variety of alternative specifications including the distance-based difference-in-differences method. The total discounted health benefit during a 20-year period from reduced mortality and morbidity as a result of 14 new subway lines amounts to $1.0–3.1 billion, or only 1.4–4.4 percent of the total construction and operating cost.     

Brown backstops versus the green paradox

Anticipated climate policies are ineffective when fossil fuel owners respond by shifting supply intertemporally (the green paradox). This mechanism relies crucially on the exhaustibility of fossil fuels. We analyze the effect of anticipated climate policies on emissions in a simple model with two fossil fuels: one scarce and dirty (e.g. oil), the other abundant and dirtier (e.g. coal). We derive conditions for a ‘green orthodox’: anticipated climate policies may reduce current emissions. The model can also be used to analyze spatial carbon leakage. Calibrations suggest that intertemporal carbon leakage (from 0% to 8%) is a relatively minor concern.     

Government green procurement spillovers: Evidence from municipal building policies in California

We study how government green procurement policies influence private-sector demand for similar products. Specifically, we measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the US Green Building Council?s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard. Using matching methods, panel data, and instrumental variables, we find that government procurement rules produce spillover effects that stimulate both private-sector adoption of the LEED standard and investments in green building expertise by local suppliers. These findings suggest that government procurement policies can accelerate the diffusion of new environmental standards that require coordinated complementary investments by various types of private adopter.     

不同海拔高寒放牧草甸的生态系统呼吸与环境因子的关系

在全球变化的背景下,为了研究藏北高寒放牧草甸的生态系统呼吸和土壤呼吸特征,沿着3个海拔高度（4 300、4 500和4 700 m）观测了2010年7-9月白天的呼吸通量。同时,观测了同期的土壤温度、土壤水分含量、空气温度和相对湿度,在定性分析土壤水分含量和呼吸通量关系的基础上,将其分成低、中和高3个水平,在此基础上,分析生态系统呼吸、土壤呼吸与土壤温度、土壤水分含量、空气温度以及相对湿度的关系。结果表明,空气温度是决定生态系统呼吸和土壤呼吸变异的主导因子;生态系统呼吸、土壤呼吸以及裸地的土壤呼吸的Q10值分别为1.83～3.07、1.54～4.13和1.29～2.89;总体而言,生态系统呼吸和土壤呼吸Q10值随着海拔的升高和土壤水分含量的增加而增大。     

AESTHETIC PREFERENCE FOR WATER RESOURCE PROJECTS: AN APPLICATION OF Q METHODOLOGY1

ABSTRACT Many of the resources generating aesthetic and visual benefits are publically owned and their optimum use and development depends upon public investment. Traditionally, public investment decisions have been couched in economic terms requiring quantitative measurement of benefits and costs. Since many of the benefits these resources provide are not consumed when they are enjoyed, the total contribution of the resource is imperfectly measured in the usual market sense. Thus, if the provision of these public goods is left to the conventional market mechanism, less than socially optimal investment may occur. This study was designed to investigate whether aesthetic preferences related to water projects could be determined, and whether they differ among different groups of people. A Q sort of 44 photographs of a wide variety of water development projects was conducted with two groups, i.e., photographers (aesthetic man) and town assessors (economic man). The resultant analysis identified two significant factors. Factor 1 provided insight into a hypothesis of nature dominant or man dominant scenes. Factor 2 indicated that the respondents had a negative preference for projects which were in varying stages of completion or appeared to be polluted. Preferences were consistent between the two groups tested. The test revealed that people do not necessarily equate only naturalness with aesthetic appeal, but will accept development as aesthetic, provided that it is designed to complement the natural landscape.     

30种离子液体对青海弧菌Q67的毒性效应

应用微板毒性分析法系统地考察了30种具有不同烷基链长度、阴离子基团和阳离子骨架(甲基咪唑、二甲基咪唑和吡啶)的“绿色溶剂”离子液体(ionic liquids,ILs)对一种新型淡水发光菌青海弧菌Q67 (Vibrio qinghaiensis sp. Q67)的毒性效应.非线性拟合结果表明,Logit或Weibull函数可有效地表征30种ILs的剂量-效应曲线,其相关系数R>0.98,均方根误差RMSE<0.053;30种ILs对Q67的毒性差异很大,pEC₅₀值在1.01～5.48之间;ILs对Q67的毒性具有烷基链效应,且烷基链上每增加2个碳原子,其pEC₅₀值增加近1倍;ILs的阴离子基团、阳离子骨架及ILs本身的吸光性不显著影响ILs对发光菌Q67的毒性.     

变性高效液相色谱在大通量筛查基因突变中的应用

应用变性高效液相色谱(DHPLC)对已知序列的含外显子7的斑马鱼p53基因片段PCR产物进行突变检测,结果表明,通过克隆测序方法检测出的点突变,用DHPLC同样可以检出.且对该片段的最优化检测柱温为60℃,其特异性很好,敏感性大于95%.