Citizens’ perceptions of trust relationships in the environmental management process in North Lebanon

This research investigates how trust plays a role in environmental management in North Lebanon, which has suffered repeated episodes of armed conflict in recent times. Previous studies have shown that environmental problems have increased and that the government has been unable to address these, even during periods of relative peace. We examined trust as a factor that contributes to, or hampers, environmental management. Our analysis drew on a survey in 2011 involving 499 citizens. The results demonstrated that, according to citizens, the lack of trust between citizens, and between citizens and the public sector, is a key factor obstructing effective environmental management. The results indicate the level of correlation between how trusting people are; how citizens participate; and how people perceive government legitimacy.     

政府跨区域突发事件应急管理能力评估研究

给出了跨区域突发事件的基本内涵。通过界定跨区域突发事件应急管理能力内涵,运用多因素评估理论,建立了一套用于评估跨区域应急管理能力的指标体系,并采用定性与定量相结合的改进的层次分析法计算各指标权重,提出了多级模糊综合评价法对跨区域应急管理能力进行综合评估。通过实例操作,表明该评估法可行性较好,效果较佳,能够为各级政府跨区域应急管理活动提供决策依据。     

Current Trends in Plant and Animal Population Monitoring

Abstract:  Animal and plant population monitoring programs are critical for identifying species at risk, evaluating the effects of management or harvest, and tracking invasive and pest species. Nevertheless, monitoring activities are highly decentralized, which makes it difficult for researchers or conservation planners to get a good general picture of what real-world monitoring programs actually entail. We used a Web-based survey to collect information on population monitoring programs. The survey focused on basic questions about each program, including motivations for monitoring, types of data being collected, spatiotemporal design of the program, and reasons for choosing that design. We received responses from 311 people involved in monitoring of various species and used these responses to summarize ongoing monitoring efforts. We also used responses to determine whether monitoring strategies have changed over time and whether they differed among monitoring agencies. Most commonly, monitoring entailed collection of count data at multiple sites with the primary goal of detecting trends. But we also found that goals and strategies for monitoring appeared to be diversifying, that area-occupied and presence–absence approaches appeared to be gaining in popularity, and that several other promising approaches (monitoring to reduce parameter uncertainty, risk-based monitoring, and directly linking monitoring data to management decisions) have yet to become widely established. We suggest that improved communication between researchers studying monitoring designs and those who are charged with putting these designs into practice could further improve monitoring programs and better match sampling designs to the objectives of monitoring programs.     

The role of local governments before and during chemical accidents,focusing on changes in hazardous chemical management systems

ABSTRACT

Disaster management spans actions before, during, and after disaster events. Changes in the roles and functions of local governments before a disaster can influence other stages of disaster management. After a chemical spill in 2012, South Korean hazardous chemical management tasks were returned to the central government and local governments’ roles and functions were reduced. To identify associated issues and enhance the hazardous chemical management system, this study analyzed changes in laws and policies and conducted interviews with stakeholders. While the changes helped with centralization, reinforcement, and specification, some loopholes were discovered. The information and human resource capacities of local governments and intra – and intergovernmental relations issues have hindered their active participation before and during chemical disasters. These loopholes can be addressed through institutional enhancements for local governments, such as including them in monitoring hazardous chemical handling facilities, developing codes articulating the division of tasks among departments within them, and providing adequate incentives for them to increase their personnel. This study provides empirical data that informs ongoing debates about the centralization and devolution of disaster management by linking local governments’ ordinary management systems to their disaster management activities.     

加大行政奖惩力度是中国环境绩效改善的主要原因吗?

"十一五"、"十二五"规划时期,中国单位GDP能耗、SO_2排放总量、COD排放总量等节能减排指标均实现了国家规划目标,这与"十五"计划三项指标均未完成形成鲜明对比。现有研究对此的解释存在宏观和微观层面上的不一致。其重要原因在于现有研究将环境绩效改善的原因完全归于行政奖惩所体现的正式制度的作用,而忽视了非正式制度对节能减排绩效的积极影响。本文建构了以包含正式激励和非正式激励的二元委托代理激励模型为基础的分析框架,利用基于717名不同级别官员的问卷数据,采用结构方程方法对上述模型进行了检验。实证结果表明,与约束性指标相关的正式制度中规定的11项奖惩措施所产生的激励对官员的环境治理行为力度并没有显著影响,而体现为顺应中央政府导向和上级领导注意力所代表的非正式制度激励对官员环境治理行为力度产生了显著影响。非正式制度激励对环境治理行为力度的影响存在两条路径。在第一条路径中,官员压力是中介变量,即非正式制度产生对官员压力的影响,官员压力又进一步影响官员环境治理行为。在这一路径中,晋升偏好、服从偏好为正向调节变量,正式奖惩的执行严格程度为负向调节变量。这一路径表明,官员晋升偏好越强、正式奖惩执行严格程度越弱,非正式制度激励对地方官员压力的影响越大;官员服从上级偏好程度越强,官员压力对环境治理行为力度的影响越大。在第二条路径中,非正式制度激励被认为直接影响环境治理行为力度,服务偏好是正向调节变量。这一路径表明,地方官员为人民服务的偏好越强,非正式激励对环境治理行为的影响越大。本文的研究发现调和了环境政策执行领域的理论冲突,为深化对中国"压力型"体制的理解提供实证证据。     

区域龙头企业对地方政府环境规制影响研究

当政府基于公共利益对企业实施规制,政府所代表的公共利益与龙头企业的经济利益冲突时,政府的规制行为与规制效率是否会受龙头企业影响?已有的研究较少涉及这一公共管理的重要问题。本研究从环境规制视角出发,基于1999—2013年的中国31个省级层面的面板数据,结合工业企业数据库微观数据,在省级层面实证检验了当存在利益冲突和规制能力约束时,区域环境规制水平是否会受到龙头企业以规模衡量的能力影响;如是,其方向和机制又是什么。本文研究发现:(1)龙头企业规模越大,区域环境规制水平越严格;(2)龙头企业规模对区域环境规制的影响主要通过两种路径实现,一是龙头企业所在行业的区域经济地位,行业的区域经济地位越重要,越容易引来政府的环境规制关注;二是龙头企业在所在行业的经济地位,某企业在行业的比重越高,越容易引来政府的环境规制关注;(3)龙头企业规模与区域环境规制水平间关系是政府有限环境规制能力有效运用的结果,当政府规制能力不足时,政府在规制中会"抓大放小",重点加强对龙头企业的环境规制;随着政府规制能力上升,企业规模与区域环境规制水平的正相关关系不仅回归系数会逐步下降,而且会在统计上不再显著;最终,当政府掌握充分的环境规制能力后,企业的规模可能会在降低区域环境规制水平上发挥一定作用。本文的研究结果证实当政府与企业存在利益博弈时,政府的利益首先得到满足,仅当政府的利益得到满足后,企业才可能利用其实力影响政府规制以获取规制利益最大化。本文的研究一方面消除了"政商勾结"污染环境的忧虑,另一方面也提示要严格限制政府这只"看得见的手"的利益诉求范围。     

环境监测市场化若干问题的思考

在环境监测市场化内涵辨析的基础上,界定了环境监测市场化包括非公共服务属性的环境监测使市场起决定性作用和公共服务属性的环境监测引入市场机制两层涵义,分析了环境监测市场化中政府与市场的职责和定位,提出了建立健全环境监测市场机制需要重点研究的若干问题。     

Cities and the SDGs: Realities and possibilities of local engagement in global frameworks

City action is critical to achieving global visions for sustainability such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, SDG ‘localisation’ is complex procedure, with divergent outcomes depending on context and diverse city processes. This paper considers the operational challenges faced by city actors in taking on the SDGs, and subsequent implications for initiating local (and global) sustainability transitions. We analyse emergent approaches to SDG localisation within the Asia–Pacific, using a policy analysis framework (transition management) to assess transformation potential. We find that SDG localisation can influence urban sustainability, but effective implementation requires sufficient data, resourcing, and guidance—which are not readily, nor equally available to all city governments. City-to-city peer learning can accelerate SDG uptake, but realising the transformative ambition set out by the SDGs will require an approach to localisation that clearly demonstrates why and how any city government can and should engage with global sustainability frameworks.     

A Quantitative Method for Estimating Probable Public Costs of Hurricanes

/ A method is presented for estimating probable public costs resulting from damage caused by hurricanes, measured as local government expenditures approved for reimbursement under the Stafford Act Section 406 Public Assistance Program. The method employs a multivariate model developed through multiple regression analysis of an array of independent variables that measure meteorological, socioeconomic, and physical conditions related to the landfall of hurricanes within a local government jurisdiction. From the regression analysis we chose a log-log (base 10) model that explains 74% of the variance in the expenditure data using population and wind speed as predictors. We illustrate application of the method for a local jurisdiction-Lee County, Florida, USA. The results show that potential public costs range from $4.7 million for a category 1 hurricane with winds of 137 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour) to $130 million for a category 5 hurricane with winds of 265 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hour). Based on these figures, we estimate expected annual public costs of $2.3 million. These cost estimates: (1) provide useful guidance for anticipating the magnitude of the federal, state, and local expenditures that would be required for the array of possible hurricanes that could affect that jurisdiction; (2) allow policy makers to assess the implications of alternative federal and state policies for providing public assistance to jurisdictions that experience hurricane damage; and (3) provide information needed to develop a contingency fund or other financial mechanism for assuring that the community has sufficient funds available to meet its obligations. KEY WORDS: Hurricane; Public costs; Local government; Disaster recovery; Disaster response; Florida; Stafford Act     

Ohio's Balanced Growth Program: a case study of collaboration for planning and policy design

This paper describes the collaborative planning process for a new landscape planning programme in Ohio that seeks to influence land urbanisation patterns through joint local land use decision making on a watershed basis. The programme was developed through a collaborative process by a state agency-appointed task force that included agency staff and a wide range of stakeholders. The paper describes the process in terms of the collaborative mechanisms, the participants, the programmatic outputs, and the social and organisational outcomes that set the foundation for enhanced watershed quality through better land use decision-making practices. Key collaborations formed during the process were inter-agency collaborations, a non-profit organisation that partnered with the agencies, and that of state agencies with local governments to develop watershed-based land use plans. A most critical outcome was creation of a learning community, through an exploratory research process that used multiple methods of data gathering and consensus-building deliberation. The paper is based on a review of published documents and plans, meeting minutes, participant observation of committee and workgroup meetings and interactive research.