长三角地区社会福利与经济增长耦合协调时空分异

社会福利与经济增长的耦合协调是城市可持续发展的核心问题之一。以长三角41地市为研究单元,运用熵值法测度社会福利与经济增长指数,进一步借助耦合协调评价模型计算协调度、发展度以及耦合度,并据此进行耦合协调类型划分及其空间关联特征分析。结果表明:1长三角41地市社会福利与经济增长整体趋势波动上升,但近年来受经济下行影响,社会福利随经济增长出现缓慢下降趋势。2社会福利与经济增长指数空间吻合度较高且格局相对稳定。相比社会福利,经济增长首位特征明显,市际差异相对突出。3耦合度具有明显空间分异规律,初步形成"合宁沪杭甬"Z字型耦合协调发展轴带。4安徽省多数地市属于社会福利与经济增长失调衰退类型,亟需平衡二者关系,寻求优化路径,推动社会福利与经济增长向更高层次耦合协调发展类型演进。     

China’s Classification-Based Forest Management: Procedures,Problems, and Prospects

China’s new Classification-Based Forest Management (CFM) is a two-class system, including Commodity Forest (CoF) and Ecological Welfare Forest (EWF) lands, so named according to differences in their distinct functions and services. The purposes of CFM are to improve forestry economic systems, strengthen resource management in a market economy, ease the conflicts between wood demands and public welfare, and meet the diversified needs for forest services in China. The formative process of China’s CFM has involved a series of trials and revisions. China’s central government accelerated the reform of CFM in the year 2000 and completed the final version in 2003. CFM was implemented at the provincial level with the aid of subsidies from the central government. About a quarter of the forestland in China was approved as National EWF lands by the State Forestry Administration in 2006 and 2007. Logging is prohibited on National EWF lands, and their landowners or managers receive subsidies of about 70 RMB (US$10) per hectare from the central government. CFM represents a new forestry strategy in China and its implementation inevitably faces challenges in promoting the understanding of forest ecological services, generalizing nationwide criteria for identifying EWF and CoF lands, setting up forest-specific compensation mechanisms for ecological benefits, enhancing the knowledge of administrators and the general public about CFM, and sustaining EWF lands under China’s current forestland tenure system. CFM does, however, offer a viable pathway toward sustainable forest management in China.     

经济波动与最优城镇化水平和速度研究

城镇化对经济波动具有重要影响,过快和过慢均不利于经济的平稳发展。我国经济新常态客观上要求实施新型城镇化战略,关键是积极稳妥推进城镇化,科学控制城镇化水平和速度。以宏观经济稳定为目标,确定最优城镇化规则,诊断当前城镇化水平和速度,可为落实新型城镇化,稳定宏观经济提供决策参考。本文建立了附加城镇化变量的后顾型宏观经济模型,利用最优控制理论求解基于宏观经济波动最小化的最优城镇化水平和速度决定规则,实证结果表明:我国人口城镇化速度主要对宏观总需求产生影响,而土地城镇化速度既影响总需求也影响总供给;最优城镇化速度规则对总产出缺口负反馈,对通胀缺口正反馈。在此基础上,进一步模拟了1990-2013年间最优人口城镇化、土地城镇化水平以及相应的总产出和通胀波动情况,模拟结果显示:最优城镇化水平和速度规则具有逆经济周期的特征,为保持经济平稳发展,经济过度繁荣时城镇化应减速,经济衰退时应加速城镇化,我国历史上城镇化速度和水平存在较大的优化空间;最优城镇化水平和速度规则会小幅度降低城镇化进程和总产出的平滑性,但会大幅度抑制通胀波动,总体来看使总福利损失下降约三分之一;当前我国人口城镇化水平超前速度过快,土地城镇化水平偏低速度过慢。建议"十三五"期间,政府应该根据宏观经济波动情况适当控制人口城镇化速度,加快推进土地城镇化,提高土地城镇化水平和质量,同时应制定相应的财政政策和货币政策以促进最优城镇化规则发挥其降低宏观经济波动功能。     

Empirical analysis of carbon tariff’s effect on the export structure of China’s manufacturing industry and social welfare based on the GTAP model

In recent years, carbon emissions have gradually evolved from an environment issue into a political and economic one. Carbon tariff has brought about new trade barriers of developed countries, and in order to enhance the industrial competitiveness of developed countries, it will produce unfavorable impact on developing countries. Concentrated on the manufacturing industry, which is the most intensive high-carbon industry in China’s export structure, this article studies the relationship between carbon tariff policy and industry structure of export trade and builds up a relation between climate change and international trade. First, by means of establishing a partial equilibrium model, it applies geometric analysis and mathematical analysis to compute the impact on China’s manufacturing export trade and the consequences of the introduction of the US carbon tariff to China’s manufacturing industry that has already imposed a domestic shipping carbon tax. Furthermore, with the application of the GTAP model, it estimates the overall economic and welfare effects on China’s manufacturing industry if the US and Europe introduce carbon tariff by means of four ways, and then analyzes the influence on China’s manufacturing industry export structure and social welfare as well. The result shows that the introduction of the US carbon import tariff lowers China’s export price and export volume, and the implementation of a domestic carbon tax justifies a higher export price and a lower export volume for China. However, the degree of export reduction is smaller than that under the effect of the US carbon tariff. In the case of developed countries imposing carbon tariff on China’s energy-intensive industries, such as chemical rubber products, oil and coal-processing industry and paper industry, whose export would be reduced, the negative impact on the paper industry is the severest, which will decrease the paper industry’s export ranging from 1.79% to 6.05%, whereas the other industries’ export will increase. Anyhow, it will promote China’s manufacturing industry to adjust the export structure to a certain extent. In addition, it will lead to a decrease in China’s welfare, with a decrease between $2.134 billion and $8.347 billion. Finally, this paper provides information on international coordination, export structure adjustment and green manufacturing adjustment as a reference for the development of China’s manufacturing industry.     

International consensus principles for ethical wildlife control

Human–wildlife conflicts are commonly addressed by excluding, relocating, or lethally controlling animals with the goal of preserving public health and safety, protecting property, or conserving other valued wildlife. However, declining wildlife populations, a lack of efficacy of control methods in achieving desired outcomes, and changes in how people value animals have triggered widespread acknowledgment of the need for ethical and evidence‐based approaches to managing such conflicts. We explored international perspectives on and experiences with human–wildlife conflicts to develop principles for ethical wildlife control. A diverse panel of 20 experts convened at a 2‐day workshop and developed the principles through a facilitated engagement process and discussion. They determined that efforts to control wildlife should begin wherever possible by altering the human practices that cause human–wildlife conflict and by developing a culture of coexistence; be justified by evidence that significant harms are being caused to people, property, livelihoods, ecosystems, and/or other animals; have measurable outcome‐based objectives that are clear, achievable, monitored, and adaptive; predictably minimize animal welfare harms to the fewest number of animals; be informed by community values as well as scientific, technical, and practical information; be integrated into plans for systematic long‐term management; and be based on the specifics of the situation rather than negative labels (pest, overabundant) applied to the target species. We recommend that these principles guide development of international, national, and local standards and control decisions and implementation.     

Discrimination and bias in the vegan ideal

The vegan ideal is entailed by arguments for ethical veganism based on traditional moral theory (rights and/or utilitarianism) extended to animals. The most ideal lifestyle would abjure the use of animals or their products for food since animals suffer and have rights not to be killed. The ideal is discriminatory because the arguments presuppose a male physiological norm that gives a privileged position to adult, middle-class males living in industrialized countries. Women, children, the aged, and others have substantially different nutritional requirements and would bear a greater burden on vegetarian and vegan diets with respect to health and economic risks, than do these males. The poor and many persons in Third World nations live in circumstances that make the obligatory adoption of such diets, where they are not already a matter of sheer necessity, even more risky.Traditional moral theorists (such as Evelyn Pluhar and Gary Varner whose essays appear in this issue) argue that those who are at risk would beexcused from a duty to attain the virtue associated with ethical vegan lifestyles. The routine excuse of nearly everyone in the world besides adult, middle-class males in industrialized countries suggests bias in the perspective from which traditional arguments for animal rights and (utilitarian) animal welfare are formulated.     

Exploratory behavior and the welfare of intensively kept animals

Exploratory behavior is considered under the following categories: (1) extrinsic exploration in which the animal seeks information about conventional reinforcers such as food, (2) intrinsic exploration which is directed toward stimuli which may have no biological significance, further divided into inspective and inquisitive exploration. In the former the animal inspects a particular object; in the latter, the animal performs behavior to make a change in its environment, rather than merely responding to a change. Extrinsic exploration is synonymous with the ethological term, appetitive behavior. It is shown that much of the behavior indicative of frustration reported in intensively housed animals occurs when the appetitive component of a drive rather than the consummatory component, is prevented. Consideration of inspective exploration is necessary for good husbandry practice, for fear is an important competing response. Inquisitive exploration has not been widely investigated in infraprimate species, but the authors present several possible examples in the species of common agricultural animals. However, they suggest that the propensity to show this type of exploration may vary between closely related species. In environments barren to the extent of stifling exploration, animals may develop apathy, and its relevance to animal welfare is discussed.     

THE DETERMINATION OF AN OPTIMAL POLICY FOR PROTECTING GROUND WATER QUALITY1

ABSTRACT: An analytical framework is presented that identifies the tradeoffa that a regional authority desiring to enhance ground water quality is confronted with as it strives to balance the preferences of farmers and households while endeavoring to maximize net regional welfare. The basic rule developed indicates that the regional authority must choose a policy whereby any increase (decrease) in regional income is just equal to the decrease (increase) in net benefits to households.     

On sustainability and social welfare

This paper proposes to define sustainability in terms of leaving it possible for future generations to sustain certain defined targets. It is shown that variants of genuine savings and the ecological footprint can then serve as indicators of sustainability. The link between sustainability and intergenerational welfare is examined, and it is shown how to incorporate indicators of sustainability into a social welfare measure, including risk in the analysis.     

Welfare Balance of Different Interest Groups During Rural-urban Land Conversion

Rural-urban land conversion is currently a common social economic phenomenon during the process of economic development and rural urbanization in China. Rural-urban land conversion is positively effective as far as social and economic benefits are concerned （Yang, 2002）, but its negative effect is also evident, resulting in such problems as low efficiency of rural land configuration and loss of social welfare. Consequently, farmers should also have an equal chance to enjoy the social welfare enhanced by land conversion. Based on the theories of welfare economy, this paper puts forward policy suggestions by discussing the welfare changes of various interest groups, builds the model of welfare distribution, and analyzes the conditions of maximizing social welfare. The absolute and opposite value of social welfare is closely related with the speed of rural-urban land conversion, and governments should give farmers and collectives fair compensation to make up for the utility loss caused by land expropriation, which are conclusions drawn from this paper. This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for regulating targets and evaluation criteria, realizing the mechanism and implementation of public polices during rural-urban land conversion.