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.     

Sustainable development: the challenge of implementation

This paper focuses on efforts to produce an operational definition of the concept of ‘sustainable development’ as articulated by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). ‘Sustainability’ has become an increasingly significant environmental issue; the problems in articulating a workable concept will differ among nations and international organizations attempting to define the term. Additionally, the term encompasses the varied fields of ecology, philosophy, and economics; every discipline imparts its own bias. Various definitions are provided and the significance and difficulty of developing an operational definition of Sustainable development is discussed. For example, sustainable development has become a ‘needs'-oriented term, an entitlement that priority should be given to the needs of the world's poor. Some argue that living standards which go beyond the basic minimum are sustainable only if consumption standards everywhere have regard for long-term sustainability. Scientifically, sustainability involves replicability and regeneration through an unforeseeable future. When prices reflect social cost and there are no externalities, optimal choices will be made between present and future consumption. Much of the debate involving sustainability involves deep-rooted fears or phobias, e.g. resource depletion, ‘energy crises’ and ‘timber crises’.     

减灾工作的经济学认识

论述了减灾中的经济学问题。文章指出,为了实现减灾与经济发展相结合,应强调重视减灾投入效益,实现减灾产业化。     

Environmental economic,political and ethical integration in a common decision-making framework

This article develops a decision-making framework for environmental management that integrates technical, economic, political and legal, and ethical decision levels. It attempts to show how these decision levels can be ordained, integrated and interconnected and postulates a hierarchic concentric sphere system that proposes an environmental management model for long-term solutions. This model can be used as a check list for environmental management decision-making and also as a guide for environmental conflict resolution where environmental problems necessitate several levels of decision making. It integrates various environmental ethical positions and evaluates political decisions into a comprehensive, broadly applicable multidisciplinary approach. The objective of this decision-making model is to interconnect into a simplified sequence different levels of environmental management processes in order to account for sustainability, efficacy, efficiency and the acceptability of environmental management processes in the long term. This is done by observing when an environmental problem needs to be solved within a certain sphere of solutions and when it requires wider frameworks, how these can be established and how this process proves that solidarity is the widest and most reasonable sphere.     

地方政府工业用地低价出让行为经济合理性分析——基于广东省地级市层面的实证研究

以广东省为例,利用2007-2012 年地级市层面的面板数据,采用面板数据因果检验及回归分析等方法,实证分析了地方政府工业用地低价出让财政激励的内在逻辑。同时,从财务和价值两个维度,对地方政府工业用地低价出让行为的经济合理性进行了判断。研究结果表明:① 地方政府工业用地低价出让具备引资功能,通过土地要素换资本要素的方式能够获取投资的流入;② 资本净流入对地方政府税收和商住用地出让金增长具有明显的正向作用,投资引入将导致地方政府预算内、外财政收入的增长;③ 工业用地低价出让行为普遍具有财务上的合理性,并非不惜成本的非理性竞争;④ 工业用地低价出让行为不具备价值上的合理性,价值损失可视为地方政府以土地要素换资本要素这种引资竞争方式的成本。基于研究结论,论文建议为纠正地方政府工业用地低价出让行为可从两方面入手:一是调整中央-地方政府间的财权-事权结构;二是改变以财政收入增速的相对绩效为重点的政绩考核方式。     

江苏省循环经济建设的实践与探索

根据江苏经济发展的奋斗目标，从分析江苏经济环境的实际出发，阐述了江苏发展循环经济建设的必要性，总结了全省开展循环经济建设工作经验，分析了循环经济建设工作存在的问题。     

土地利用结构变化及其生态服务功能响应——以广东省湛江市为例

为了分析土地利用结构变化对生态系统服务价值的影响,以湛江市为例,利用1996-2005年土地利用变更调查数据,采用谢高地等提出的生态系统服务价值当量因子表,分析了生态系统服务价值对土地利用结构变化的响应.结果表明,湛江市在1996-2005年间土地利用结构的多样性和均匀度增加而优势度降低;生态系统服务价值有较明显变化,但不规律,表现出时增时降的波动态势;生态系统服务价值与土地利用多样化指数、多样性指数、优势度指数、均匀度指数等没有明显的相关性.     

矿业环境治理的经济学分析

当前，我国矿山环境问题突出。重点分析了矿山开采环境问题的特殊性，这些特殊性包括矿业对地域区位的依赖性、破坏的大量不确定性以及不可逆性。根据特殊性，讨论了环境经济学的适用性。不确定问题转化为确定性问题或者风险问题依赖于技术层面学科（如矿山环境影响评价和矿山环境地质学等）的支撑。最后指出随着这些技术学科的发展，矿山环境问题就会更精确地纳入成本——效益分析框架，从而发挥更大的作用。     

"三河三湖"流域重污染行业经济和污染贡献率剖析

应用"污染贡献率"这一指标,分析了"三河三湖"流域COD和氨氮排放的重污染行业以及地区分布,指出了各流域COD和氨氮排放的控制重点.同时分析了各流域重污染行业的"经济贡献率",最后结合行业的污染贡献率和经济贡献率以及行业在地区所占的比例,提出了几点重要的结论.     

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON U.S. WATER SUPPLIES1

ABSTRACT: A greenhouse warming would have major effects on water supplies and demands. A framework for examining the socioeconomic impacts associated with changes in the long-term availability of water is developed and applied to the hydrologic implications of the Canadian and British Hadley2 general circulation models (GCMs) for the 18 water resource regions in the conterminous United States. The climate projections of these two GCMs have very different implications for future water supplies and costs. The Canadian model suggests most of the nation would be much drier in the year 2030. Under the least-cost management scenario the drier climate could add nearly $105 billion to the estimated costs of balancing supplies and demands relative to the costs without climate change. Measures to protect instream flows and irrigation could result in significantly higher costs. In contrast, projections based on the Hadley model suggest water supplies would increase throughout much of the nation, reducing the costs of balancing water supplies with demands relative to the no-climate-change case.