Local economic development — the changing public/private sector relationship

The paper examines changing approaches to local economic development in the period since 1974. Initially, it proposes an ‘orthodox’ model of local economic development policies which emphasised the provision of a better industrial fabric, and of financial assistance to small, inner city firms. It suggests three recent directions of change in emphasis from this orthodox model: help in the creation of new entrepreneurs; replacement of public sector by private sector action; local authority shareholding in local firms by use of Enterprise Boards. Each approach makes different assumptions about the public/private sector relationship, the last two involve a more explicitly ideological stance on this issue.     

广东省火电厂烟气脱硫装置的经济技术分析

简要介绍了广东省7个火电厂现有的5种烟气脱硫技术装置：海水脱硫、荷电干式烟气脱硫、湿式石灰石／石膏法烟气脱硫、DCL燃煤固硫剂脱硫及烟气循环流化床脱硫技术，对它们的经济、技术性进行了分析比较。     

Waste reduction through variable charging programs: its sustainability and contributing factors

 In this study, we analyzed the sustainability and determinant factors of waste reduction through variable charging schemes. We drew three main conclusions from the study. (1) Waste reduction was achieved by variable charging and was sustained over an average of at least 10 years. The results regarding the sustainability of the price effect were inconclusive. (2) The main factors contributing to the combustible waste reduction achieved through variable charging were two-tier pricing and the price of waste bags. The effect of two-tier pricing programs was positive. (3) Waste paper recycling and variable charging reinforce each other to promote waste reduction. Received: September 3, 2001 / Accepted: January 13, 2002     

A Baumol–Oates approach to solid waste taxation

A national Baumol–Oates tax on waste in Denmark helped achieve a reduction of 26% in net solid waste from 1987 to 1998. The tax, which is levied per ton of waste, was particularly effective as regards the heavier waste streams such as construction waste and garden waste. When it comes to industrial and commercial waste, there are indications that the waste tax is not sufficiently significant to induce changes in behavior, and that except for very waste-intensive enterprises, companies do not seem to be very price sensitive. For household waste, the impact of the tax can be improved where tariffs for garbage collection are weight based, rather than per unit. However, the waste sector is an area in which the price signals are modified and filtered by institutionalized practices in municipal administration, and in which true-cost pricing is not easy to achieve. Hence, the rational choice assumption of environmental economics needs to be supplemented by an institutional dimension to interpret responses to environmental taxes correctly. Received: July 13, 2001 / Accepted: October 2, 2001     

马克思恩格斯经济全球化理论浅析

马克思、思格斯早在19世纪40年代已经前瞻性地论述了经济全球化的思想,他们认为:资产阶级的资本是经济全球化的主体和内在动力,经济全球化的实质是资本的全球化;经济全球化的原因是生产力的发展和技术的进步;经济全球化的趋势是全球社会主义。马克思主义的经济全球化理论为研究当代经济全球化的原因、特征、发展趋势及其对当今世界的影响有着重要意义。     

Air pollution in California: Manufacturing vs. services

Relative to manufacturing, service activities are often considered by planners and officials to generate considerably less environmental pollution. This hypothesis is tested by means of an examination of the economic linkages of both manufacturing and service activities and of the resulting direct and indirect emissions of five air pollutants per dollar of output in the California statewide air basin and in four regional basins within the state. Overall acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis depends in part on the particular pollutant and air basin considered but, most importantly, on the judgement as to what activities are to be considered as service activities.This paper is based on research sponsored by the California Air Resources Board under Agreement A7-143-30.     

Quantification and valuation of ecosystem services in diverse production systems for informed decision-making

The empirical evidence of decline in ecosystem services (ES) over the last century has reinforced the call for ES quantification, monitoring and valuation. Usually, only provisioning ES are marketable and accounted for, whereas regulating, supporting and cultural ES are typically non-marketable and overlooked in connection with land-use or management decisions. The objective of this study was to quantify and value total ES (marketable and non-marketable) of diverse production systems and management intensities in Denmark to provide a basis for decisions based on economic values. The production systems were conventional wheat (Cwheat), a combined food and energy (CFE) production system and beech forest. Marketable (provisioning ES) and non-marketable ES (supporting, regulating and cultural) ES were quantified by dedicated on-site field measurements supplemented by literature data. The value of total ES was highest in CFE (US$ 3142 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) followed by Cwheat (US$ 2767 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and beech forest (US$ 2328 ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). As the production system shifted from Cwheat - CFE–beech, the marketable ES share decreased from 88% to 75% in CFE and 55% in beech whereas the non-marketable ES share increased to 12%, 25% and 45% of total ES in Cwheat, CFE and beech respectively, demonstrating production system and management effects on ES values. Total ES valuation, disintegrated into marketable and non-marketable share is a potential way forward to value ES and ‘tune’ our production systems for enhanced ES provision. Such monetary valuation can be used by policy makers and land managers as a tool to assess ES value and monitor the sustained flow of ES. The application of ES-based valuation for land management can enhance ES provision for maintaining the productive capacity of the land without depending on the external fossil-based fertilizer and chemical input.     

Climate change policy and water resources in the EU and Spain. A closer look into the Water Framework Directive

Climate change effects are becoming evident worldwide, with serious regional and local impacts. The European Union (EU) has launched and developed initiatives and policies that scratch the surface of water resources impacts. This article presents an introduction of the existing environmental policy and more concisely in the areas of climate change and the interactions with water resources. It also addresses main management tools, and plans linked to policies, recent updates on the Science–Policy Interface, highlighting major results from research and development projects. Establishing appropriate policies to tackle climate change impacts on water is essential given the cross-sectorial and flowing nature and the importance of water in all environmental, social and economic sectors. There are still some pending reviews and updates in the current EU policy and its implementation, as well as at the national level in Spain. This article identifies existing gaps, and provides recommendations on how and where reforms could take place and be applied by decision makers in the water policy sector.     

Feasibility Assessment of Basin Solar Stills

The present study assesses the feasibility of exploiting single- and double-basin solar stills in our daily lives. An investigation is carried out to determine the thermal performance and economic viability of making use of solar stills in water desalination. The climatic conditions of Tehran (35°44?N, 51°30?E) are considered to assess the feasibility of the basins. Transient energy and mass balance equations are utilized for modeling the thermal performance. The equations are solved by using fourth-order Runge–Kutta method in FORTRAN. The daily productivities of single- and double-basin solar stills are found to be 5.22 kg/m² and 7.73 kg/m², respectively, while the effect of different water masses (20–100 kg) on the productivity of each system was found to be optimum at 20 kg/m². The results are compared with experimental work performed under different climatic conditions to examine the validity of the feasibility of basins in general. A life cycle cost analysis performed for Tehran, yields that single- and double-basin solar stills have savings-to-investment ratios of 4.2 and 4.8, respectively, indicating that they are economically feasible.     

长江经济带开发构想与发展态势

长江经济带是我国国土开发和经济建设中极其重要的开发轴线,近年来已经上升为新一轮的国家战略,肩负着参与国际竞争、协调东中西3大区域、推进双向开放、建设生态文明的使命。在国际国内经济社会发展新形势下,长江经济带发展机遇与挑战并存。以流域经济发展为视角,从长江经济带提出的背景出发,回顾了长江经济带战略构想及20世纪80年代以来开发历程,从经济地位、产业集聚、航运建设、岸线开发、沿江交通等5个方面分析了长江经济带发展态势,并重点分析了长江经济带重化工业发展与布局、生态环境影响、港口建设与发展、城市群培育等方面面临的主要问题,最后从改革考核机制、破除行政壁垒、强化流域协调机构与建立流域管理法律法规等方面提出了对策思路,以期为新时期长江经济带开发建设提供参考借鉴。