EFFECTS OF RATE STRUCTURE KNOWLEDGE ON HOUSEHOLD WATER USE1

ABSTRACT: Socioeconomic determinants of individual household water use were estimated using regressions of these characteristics with actual household water use for winter and summer. Results were disaggregated between those consumers who were aware of an increasing block rate price structure and those who were not. Most of the informed group members believed that this price structure did result in significant reductions in water use. Nevertheless, overall water use was greater for the informed group. The determinants of water use were found to differ between informed and uninformed users as well as between winter and summer. The uninformed users were influenced by a larger set of variables in each season than the informed group. In winter, the informed group members with swimming pools and/or arid landscaping used less water than their uninformed counterparts. Summer water use increased with length of tenancy in home for the uninformed group but not for informed, while increasing with ownership for informed consumers.     

INCOME DISTRIBUTION IMPACTS OF A WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT - BOISE PROJECT,IDAHO, 1950–19701

ABSTRACT: Public investments in water resource development projects are continually under scrutiny in terms of economic, environmental, and social impacts. Results of an analysis of a water development project that supplies irrigation water in Idaho are discussed in terms of the impact on income distribution and income growth 44 to 64 years after the project was initiated. Gini ratios for the rural farm population of these counties were consistently lower than they were for the United States as a whole and for the state of Idaho. In addition, income distributions tended to become more equitable over time in the water project counties. Rural farm population income growth rates were found to be similar to those for the nation as a whole. Some of the reasons for these results may be related to the tendency for income distribution to become more equitable as income increases, and the fact that average farm size is relatively small.     

我国城市生活垃圾处理现状及存在问题分析

对我国城市生活垃圾处理的现状进行了系统调研 ,对存在的问题进行了深入的分析 ,并提出了对策建议。     

1996-2010年云南省旅游总收入差异的时空变化分析

选取1996-2010年云南省16个市州的旅游总收入为研究对象,综合运用标准差、变异系数、泰尔指数、累计比重等方法分析云南旅游总收入的总体差异,探讨近15年来全省旅游总收入在地带间、地带内和市州际的差异及其变动演进.研究表明,时间上云南省旅游总收入呈现绝对差异不断扩大但相对差异在小幅增长后逐步收敛的特征;空间上,云南省旅游总收入差异明显但不平衡特征正在逐步缩小.云南省旅游总收入的差异主要是由于地带间差异和地带内差异共同导致,地带间差异已有所缓和;滇西北、滇西南、滇东南和滇中地区是地带内差异的最重要来源;旅游资源禀赋、旅游基础设施、旅游发展政策和经济发展水平是云南省旅游总收入的时空差异及其变动的的主要原因.     

An Assessment of the Valuation Methods Used to Calculate the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), and Sustainable Net Benefit Index (SNBI)

For some time now, ecological economists have been putting forward a ‘threshold hypothesis’ – the notion that when macroeconomic systems expand beyond a certain size, the additional cost of growth exceeds the flow of additional benefits. In order to support their belief, ecological economists have developed a number of similar indexes to measure and compare the benefits and costs of growth (e.g., the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare and the Genuine Progress Indicator). In virtually every instance where an index of this type has been calculated for a particular country, the movement of the index appears to reinforce the existence of the threshold hypothesis. Of late, a number of observers have expressed concerns about whether these alternative indexes reflect concrete reality or the prejudices of ecological economists. In view of these concerns, this paper closely examines the valuation methods used in the calculation the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, the Genuine Progress Indicator, and the Sustainable Net Benefit Index. It is argued that a consistent and more robust set of valuation techniques is required in order for these alternative indexes to gain broad acceptability.*Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

收入差距是否影响环境质量?——国内外研究综述

近年来,收入差距扩大与环境质量恶化成为许多国家同时面临的问题,也让一些经济学家开始思考,这两者之间是否存在关联。继20世纪90年代环境库兹涅茨曲线提出以来,一些研究发现不仅收入的绝对水平会对环境质量产生影响,收入差距对环境质量也有影响。本文对这一课题的理论研究进行了梳理,发现现有理论中收入差距对环境质量的影响途径主要有三条。第一条途径是消费者途径,即收入差距影响着以消费为主的个人经济行为,进一步影响着社会消费总量和消费结构,及其过程中产生的污染总量。第二条途径是企业途径,即认为收入差距的扩大会削弱环保型产品的正外部性,不利于环保技术的创新活动,对未来环境质量的改善产生动态影响。第三条途径是政府途径,即认为收入差距会影响相关的环境政策方式与强度选择;而且在不同的社会政策决策机制下,收入差距对环境政策的影响也是不同的,现有的社会决策机制分析框架主要有两种——权利权重型社会决策规则和简单多数规则。此外,本文还对现存的主要实证研究进行了总结,发现大多数研究结论都支持收入差距对环境质量存在着影响,但这种影响并不是线性的。一方面,收入差距对环境的影响与研究的污染物种类有关,大多数研究都显示,收入不平等对CO 2排放和土壤污染存在着负向影响,但有关收入差距对空气污染和水污染影响的研究结论并不统一或并不显著。另一方面,这种影响还与经济发展水平相关,在高收入国家与低收入国家是不同的,存在着阈值效应。最后本文总结了针对中国的研究现状,讨论了其在我国的适用性。     

系统聚类分析在农户生态系统类型划分中的应用

应用主成分分析法和系统聚类分析法，对湖北省京山县刘家岭村５０个农户进行了生态系统类型数值分类分析，结果表明，该村农户生态系统可分为农－牧业型、果－农－牧业型和渔－农－牧业型三类，与全村３３８个农户情况相符。     

传统生存方式变迁对农村环境的影响

随着农村社会经济的发展,农户的生存方式开始逐步由传统的生存方式逐步转变为现代的生存方式。在具体的案例研究过程中,我们既可以看到传统生存方式的环境友好的一面,也可以看到传统生存方式变迁过程中农户经济行为变化对于农村环境的不利影响。与此同时,社会经济发展过程中,新的现代生产生活要素的介入,在不断使农户的生活逐步走向现代化的同时,也带来了种种环境问题。总之,农村环境问题的产生既有传统生存方式本身存在的问题,也来自于生存方式变迁过程中新的外部物质的介入,因此,对于农村环境的改善需要同时从这两方面着手,在改善农户生存方式的同时,更要从根本上控制外部的污染物质的介入。     

居民生活垃圾及生活污水产生量的影响因素通径分析

通过构建多元通径分析模型,定量分析中国各地区人口总数、生产总值、居民消费水平和生活供水用水量对生活垃圾清运量和生活污水排放量的直接影响和间接影响。结果表明各地区的生产总值对生活垃圾清运量的直接影响最大。生活用水供水量也对生活垃圾的清运量有一定的直接影响,居民消费水平和人口总数几乎没有直接影响。人口总数对垃圾清运量的间接影响最大,居民生活用水供水量、居民消费水平、地区生产总值对于垃圾清运量都具有不同程度的间接影响。生活用水供水量对生活污水排放量影响最大,地区生产总值和居民消费水平对生活污水排放量也有一定的直接影响,而人口总数几乎没有直接影响。人口总数对生活污水排放量的间接影响最大,其次是地区生产总值、居民消费水平和生活用水供水量对污水排放量也有间接影响。