INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS IN COMMUNITY DECISION-MAKING: A CASE EXAMPLE FROM SOUTHERN ARIZONA1

ABSTRACT: While there is increasing recognition of the need to consider institutional factors in water resources decision-making, there are few specific methods available to use in actually conducting an institutional analysis. The lack of such methods has spurred interest in going beyond begging water resource agencies to conduct institutional analyses to developing more refined tools to use in the analysis process. However, as more complex systems of analysis are developed, it is important not to lose sight of the value that less objective and participatory approaches to institutional analysis may have in solving institutional problems. Improving the techniques and tools of institutional analysis should not mean developing complex methods or models that can only be manipulated and understood by the trained analyst. The advantages and disadvantages of full participation by stakeholders in the institutional analysis process are discussed by describing the efforts of a local community organization in Tucson, Arizona, to study the need for a basinwide management entity.     

我国基本农田保护制度的政策评价与完善研究

我国基本农田保护制度的变迁是典型的供给主导型制度变迁。本文从我国基本农田保护制度的概念与内涵谈起,分阶段分析了我国基本农田保护制度的形成与发展的演变过程,重点对改革开放后的基本农田保护制度绩效进行了评价与分析。并对我国现阶段基本农田保护失控的原因进行了制度层面上的分析,最后给出相关政策建议。     

第二代农民工及其市民化研究

农民工市民化是基于乡城劳动力两阶段转移的“中国路径”而提出的现实课题。第二代农民工不仅是一个在社会经济特征和个人特征方面与第一代农民工有着诸多显警不同的流动群体。而且也是最有市民化意愿和亟需市民化的群体。基于现有理论的局限性和中国特殊的现实提出了农民工市民化的命题并深入探讨了其内涵。进而在此基础上考察了第二代农民工的特征、第二代农民工的市民化进程及其面临的挑战。最后就第二代农民工市民化的进程环节和制度创新提出了针对性的对策建议。     

Organizational adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices in India: integrating institutional theory and corporate environmental responsibility

Organizations are increasingly engaging in socially and environmentally sustainable initiatives. This paper focuses on the institutional isomorphism mechanisms to analyse the organizational adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices like eco-design, source reduction, and environmental management practices. This paper empirically examines the role of institutional influence in the organizational adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices among firms in India. The results of this study confirm the significance of the three institutional isomorphism mechanisms in influencing sustainable responses, but not all mechanisms influence the organizational response equally. In particular, the results show a strong influence of self-regulatory normative isomorphism on the implementation.     

Adapting participatory processes to fine-tune conservation approaches in multiactor decision settings

Conservation decisions are typically made in complex, dynamic, and uncertain settings, where multiple actors raise diverse and potentially conflicting claims, champion different and sometimes contradictory values, and enjoy varying degrees of freedom and power to act and influence collective decisions. Therefore, effective conservation actions require conservation scientists and practitioners to take into account the complexity of multiactor settings. We devised a framework to help conservation biologists and practitioners in this task. Institutional economic theories, which are insufficiently cited in the conservation literature, contain useful insights for conservation. Among these theories, the economies of worth can significantly contribute to conservation because it can be used to classify the types of values peoples or groups refer to when they interact during the elaboration and implementation of conservation projects. Refining this approach, we designed a framework to help conservation professionals grasp the relevant differences among settings in which decisions related to conservation actions are to be made, so that they can adapt their approaches to the features of the settings they encounter. This framework distinguishes 6 types of agreements and disagreements that can occur between actors involved in a conservation project (harmony, stricto sensu arrangement, deliberated arrangement, unilateral and reciprocal compromise, and locked-in), depending on whether they disagree on values or on their applications and on whether they can converge toward common values by working together. We identified key questions that conservationists should answer to adapt their strategy to the disagreements they encounter and identified relevant participatory processes to complete the adaptation.     

中国省级土壤污染防治基金设立思考与探索

设立基金是国内外解决土壤污染治理与修复资金不足的通用做法,是新时期绿色金融促进绿色发展的重要措施。土壤污染治理与修复具有投入大、周期长和收益低等特点,设立土壤污染防治基金可充分发挥财政资金的引导、增信和激励作用,是“污染者付费”原则下的重要补充。本文在系统梳理国内外土壤基金资金来源、使用范围、监督管理等特征的基础上,立足于《中华人民共和国土壤污染防治法》和《土壤污染防治基金管理办法》中的土壤污染防治基金制度框架,针对基金运作模式、启动与支持范围、项目储备与前期研究、制度体系构建等方面提出了省级土壤污染防治基金设立及其优化建议。本文表明,土壤污染防治基金制度是新时期国家生态环境保护和治理理念更新的重要体现,该制度的有效落地对解决当前突出的土壤污染问题意义重大;在上位法的框架下,对基金模式、使用、运行、监督和绩效评估等方面进行细化和规范,有效融合金融财政和土壤污染防治要素,系统构建土壤污染防治基金制度体系将有效促进该政策的顺利落地。本文可为土壤污染防治基金制度的完善和实施提供参考与借鉴。     

Mitigating Industrial Pollution Along the Atlantic Coast of Cameroon: An Overview of Government Efforts

Summary This paper presents an overview of the initiatives that have been formulated by the government of Cameroon to address the problem of industrial pollution. It also prescribes robust recommendations that could be employed to save the Atlantic coast of Cameroon from industrial pollutants. After the participation of Cameroon in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the government took a significant step to overhaul its institutional framework, legal framework and policy framework vis-à-vis the regulation of industrial pollution. Under the auspices of the United Nation Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Gulf of Guinea Large Marine Ecosystem Project aimed at sustaining the health of the Atlantic coast of Cameroon by ensuring treatment of industrial wastes, oil spills, sewage and heavy metals was implemented (1995–1999). Based upon careful analysis, however, the paper argues that these efforts have had little or no discernable impacts and that industrial activities along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon are still a major threat to safety, health and the environment. With a considerable number of hurdles that still persist, sufficient environmental improvement in industrial pollution along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon is far-fetched. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that marked environmental improvement can be obtained if: (i) competent personnel are appointed in ministries that play an active role in mitigating industrial pollution (ii) research partnerships are forged with local universities (iii) industrial machinery and equipment are improved (iv) inter institutional conflicts are addressed (v) a more collaborative forum between stakeholders is established (vi) adequate monitoring is instituted. The provisions of this paper form the foundation of an ongoing research being conducted by the authors at Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany.     

环境执法在环保垂改中的基本路径与主要任务

为积极稳妥推进全国省以下环保机构监测监察执法垂直管理制度改革试点工作,本文紧紧围绕《关于省以下环保机构监测监察执法垂直管理制度改革试点工作的指导意见》精神,以环境执法改革为主体主线,从环境执法的总体方向、基本路径、主要任务三个方面进行政策分析解读,给各地在环保垂直管理制度改革试点工作中有效推进环境执法改革,提供改革路径指引和参考。     

流域管理与区域管理矛盾研究——以丹江口水库流域为例

根据南水北调中线水源地丹江口水库流域水资源及其管理现状,辨析出其主要矛盾为流域管理与区域管理的矛盾。按行政区划为单元的分级分部门水资源管理体制、水利系统内部流域管理机构与地方水利部门管理职能的交叉、相关行政执法部门受本级政府行政领导而仅在业务上接受上级部门指导的制度,以及地方发展经济的压力,这些因素共同造成两者的矛盾。在此基础上,提出了完善该流域水资源管理的若干建议,以确保中线调水的成功和该地区的可持续发展。     

中国新时代自然资源治理体系的理论构想

基于生态文明、高质量发展和国家治理新时代的战略需求,以及国内外自然资源治理发展趋势,对中国新时代自然资源治理的指导思想、基本理念、理论体系、基本原则和目标体系等进行系统解析,对包括调查勘查评估、统计监测核算、开发利用治理、保护修复治理、保障储备治理、市场交易治理、安全预警治理和国际合作治理等在内的中国新时代自然资源治理框架体系进行系统刻画,对包括公平正义制度、资产产权制度、节约集约制度、有偿使用制度、保护修复制度、市场交易制度、统计核算制度、多元储备制度、国际合作制度和治理监督制度在内的中国特色自然资源治理制度体系进行系统解构。研究结论与观点对于提高中国自然资源治理体系与能力现代化建设水平具有重要参考价值。