中国环境污染与地方政府税收竞争——基于空间面板数据模型的分析

随着经济不断发展,环境污染问题日益严峻已引起社会各界的广泛关注。本文通过理论研究表明地方政府间税收竞争对环境污染加剧具有必然影响,一方面税收竞争导致地方政府间相互降低税率;另一方面,税收竞争还影响地方政府的环境政策力度,导致地方政府采用宽松的环境政策。降低税率会使环境污染的负外部性得不到补偿,降低税收效率;放松环境政策则会导致环境政策的"趋劣竞争",都将导致环境污染加剧和环境质量的降低。对2000-2009年中国28个省份的空间面板数据的实证检验则表明:环境污染在地理空间上具有非常明显的空间联动性,环境污染受到相邻地区的溢出效应影响非常明显;税负降低确实促进了工业废水、工业废气及工业废弃物等环境污染排放量的增加,对环境质量的降低具有显著影响;而地方政府执行宽松的环境政策促使工业废水排放量增加,各地方政府倾向于承担较低水平的废水减排努力,出现环境政策的"趋劣竞争",而对工业废气和固体废弃物的排放却起到一定的缩减功能。     

环境污染与经济增长——基于省际面板数据的区域差异研究

由于经济增长导致越来越严重的环境污染,且随着社会对环境质量要求的提高,环境已经成为经济社会的重要稀缺资源,使得在经济活动对环境变化产生影响的同时,环境变化也对经济产生了影响.采用构建产出方程与污染方程的方法,使用1998-2006年中国30个省市6类环境指标的面板数据,通过面板单位根检验、协整检验和Granger因果检验等方法来考察国内东、中、西三大地区的环境污染变量与人均收入之间的关系,并在此基础上进行方程估计.实证结果为三地区的人均收入与环境污染变量之间均存在协整关系,但各地区的产出方程与污染方程的估计结果则存在人口,资本投资,进出口贸易额,外商直接投资,环保投资等方面的差异.表明:①经济增长与环境污染存在双向作用:②经济增长与环境污染之间的关系存在着显著的区域差异.     

财政分权与环境污染关系实证研究

本文基于1994-2012年省际面板数据和通过熵值法计算得到的环境污染综合指数,运用环境投入产出模型对中国财政分权与环境污染之间的关系进行实证分析。研究发现:财政分权与环境污染排放呈负相关。从地区角度来看,意味着我国财政分权度高的东部地区拥有充足的环境治理资金,从而可以有效控制并减少环境污染。此外,随着东部地区大部分污染产业向中西部转移,环境污染排放量进一步减少。与此同时,财政分权度较低的中西地区财政资金相对匮乏,企图通过承接产业转移以发展经济会因为高负荷的环境污染治理成本而难以实现。从环境污染性质来看,研究发现前一期污染排放与当期污染排放呈正相关,即环境污染是一个连续、累积的过程,而合理的财政分权可以促使当地政府及时治理当期污染,从而避免环境污染的"棘轮效应",实现经济社会持续发展。另一方面,我国粗放型经济发展模式使得拉动经济增长的因素也相应影响了环境污染排放。研究表明,扩大出口会加速环境污染排放,而增加进口有利于减少环境污染排放。因此,引进国外先进的最终产品不仅可以替代国内生产的污染,而且其带来的技术效应与示范效应会加快出口部门转型,推动绿色生产。研究还发现,消费并不会导致环境污染排放增加,因此不能"因噎废食"地抑制消费来解决环境污染问题。此外,资本存量的增加将促进环境污染排放,并且资本投入比重变化的速率与环境污染呈倒U型关系,地方政府应该保持一个合理的资本增长速度。     

财政分权与环境治理——基于动态视角的理论和实证分析

基于动态视角,对财政分权与环境治理的关系进行理论分析,提出研究假说,并利用1997—2016年的省级面板数据,对两者的关系进行实证检验。理论研究认为:财政分权在不同的经济发展阶段对环境治理的影响不同。当经济发展水平较低时,财政分权对环境治理的影响以负向的替代效应为主,财政分权不利于环境治理;而当经济发展水平较高时,财政分权对环境治理的影响以正向的收入效应为主,财政分权有利于环境治理。实证研究表明:①在样本时期内,整体而言,我国的财政分权不利于环境治理。该结论在通过模型设定、指标选取以及内生性控制等检验后,仍然成立。②随着经济发展水平的不断提高,财政分权对环境治理的负向效应不断减弱。③面板门槛模型的结果表明,当人均GDP达到3.123万元时,财政分权对环境治理的影响才有可能出现拐点。若以环境污染治理投资总额和行政处罚案件数作为被解释变量时,人均GDP分别要达到4.379万元和6.276万元时,拐点才有可能出现。以上发现的政策启示在于:一方面,尽管现阶段我国的财政分权对环境治理存在负向影响,但是这种负向影响仅是阶段性的,不能因为这种阶段性特征,而否定财政分权制度本身;另一方面,由于我国大部分地区仍处在经济发展的中等收入阶段,为了缓解财政分权的负向效应,可能还需要中央政府进行适当的干预以消除地方政府在环境治理方面的扭曲。     

税收竞争对环境污染的影响及传导机制分析

在中国经济高增长的背后,环境污染问题愈发凸显,不利于经济的可持续增长。税收竞争是影响环境污染的主要因素之一,但是学术界研究税收竞争对环境污染的影响及其作用机制的较少。本文按照污染物属性将其划分为外溢性污染物和非外溢性污染物,通过构建一个包含生产者、消费者、地方政府及中央政府的一般均衡模型,刻画了在税收竞争的背景下,地方政府的税收征管效率对不同属性污染物的影响及其传导机制。结果发现当污染物具有外溢性属性时,税收征管效率对该地环境污染的影响通过改变本地及周边地区资本存量渠道实现;当污染物具有非外溢性属性时,降低税收征管效率通过增加该地区资本存量而提高了环境污染。文章首先使用随机前沿模型测算了2007—2014年中国28个省份企业所得税的税收征管效率,并将其作为税收竞争的衡量指标,然后运用系统GMM法证实了所提的假说。研究显示:地方政府的税收竞争增加了本地区的资本存量;税收竞争是将本地资本存量作为其推高外溢性污染物(二氧化硫)及非外溢性污染物(固体废弃物)排放量的一个主要渠道,邻近地区资本存量则是推高外溢性污染物(二氧化硫)的次要渠道。这意味着,要想改善环境质量,中央政府应规范地方政府的税收竞争行为,尽快建立一套科学、有效的绿色GDP评价体系;完善地方转移支付制度;应针对各个地区的污染及经济发展情况利用财政激励手段引入环保、绿色的资本项目;地方政府应减少不利于环境改善的地方财政支出,增加环保投入比重。     

财政分权对环境污染的空间效应

利用2006—2017年我国30个省级行政单位的面板数据,采用空间计量模型对财政分权与环境污染之间的关系进行实证分析,并通过效应分解分别计算出财政收入分权和财政支出分权对环境污染的直接效应、空间溢出效应和总效应。模型估计的结果表明:①财政收入分权与财政支出分权通过直接效应和空间溢出效应两种途径对环境污染产生显著影响,但收入分权与支出分权对环境污染的空间效应具有异质性。②财政收入分权对环境污染具有显著的负向直接效应和负向空间溢出效应,影响系数分别为-5.429和-17.572。提高财政收入分权度不仅有利于减轻本省份环境污染,也对邻近省份的环境污染起到抑制作用。而财政支出分权对环境污染具有显著的负向直接效应和正向的空间溢出效应,影响程度分别为-3.345和1.173。提高财政支出分权虽然有利于减少本省份污染的排放,但在一定程度上引起省际的污染外溢效应,提高邻近省份的污染程度。③从总效应来看,财政收入分权和财政支出分权对环境污染均呈现出显著的负向相关性,影响程度分别为-23.001和-2.172。提高财政分权可降低环境污染水平,有利于环境质量提升。④通过构建不同空间权重矩阵,检验模型的稳健性,结果表明模型估计是稳健可靠的。根据分析结论,可能的启示与建议有:①合理划分中央政府和地方政府之间的财政事权和支出责任,在提高财政支出分权度的同时提高地方政府财政收入分权度,充分发挥地方政府环境治理的积极性和主动性。②继续加大生态环境保护力度,完善绿色经济考核机制,引导地方政府加大对污染治理和环境改善的支出水平及效率。     

财政分权对中国环境污染影响程度的实证分析

财政分权体现了中央政府和地方政府间的财政权力分配关系,它可以通过支出分权度和收入分权度两个指标进行衡量。从理论上分析,大多数研究结论都认为财政分权与污染量排放存在负激励,但是缺乏相应的实证研究。本文利用1998年到2009年的省级面板数据,对中国财政分权与污染物排放规模之间的关系进行了实证分析。本文选取工业废气排放量、工业固体废弃物排放量、工业废水排放量和二氧化硫排放量作为衡量污染物排放规模的指标,选择支出分权度与收入分权度作为解释变量,选择人均GDP、人口密度、城市化水平、外商投资总额、工业化水平作为控制变量。本文还将所有省份按照地理位置划分为东部和中西部两组进行稳健性检验。研究结果表明:以支出分权度衡量的财政分权指标与污染物排放规模负相关,且实证结果具有稳健性,以收入分权度衡量的财政分权指标与污染物排放规模的关系从实证的角度来讲不确定。     

对外贸易对我国环境影响的区域差异研究——基于2000-2008年省际面板数据的分析

为了考察近十年来对外贸易对我国东中西部地区环境质量的不同影响,本文选取了2000-2008年我国30个省、市和自治区的贸易与环境方面的相关数据,利用面板数据模型对东中西部地区对外贸易对二氧化硫排放量的影响进行了实证分析。研究结果表明规模效应加剧了我国的环境污染,技术效应减少了东部地区的环境污染,结构效应增加了东部和中部地区的环境污染但减少了西部地区的环境污染,环境政策有利于减少环境污染。总的来说,贸易开放度的提高对东部环境质量的改善有积极影响,但对中西部地区有负面影响,中西部地区确实存在"污染天堂"的现象。因此对于中西部地区我们需要不断加强环境保护力度,阻止国外污染企业的转移,同时要加快贸易结构调整,逐步降低污染行业的贸易比重,大力促进清洁型、环保型行业的发展,从而降低对外贸易对中西部地区的负面影响,并扩大其积极影响,使对外贸易的正面影响不仅局限于东部地区,也可以惠及中西部地区。     

财政分权、地方政府竞争和碳排放空间溢出效应分析

财政分权和地方政府竞争深刻影响了我国的经济增长、产业结构、技术水平、城市化进程等领域,而这些领域又同碳排放紧密相连。通过理论分析财政分权、地方政府竞争同碳排放的关系,进一步利用空间溢出效应理论进行了实证分析,研究发现:(1)财政分权同碳排放总量水平正相关,财政分权的空间溢出效应为正。某地区财政分权的提高不仅会带来本地区碳排放水平的提高,同时,也会提高周边地区碳排放水平;(2)地方政府竞争在碳排放问题上存在"趋良效应"。某地区地方政府竞争不仅可以降低本地碳排放水平,还可以降低周围地区碳排放水平;(3)财政分权和地方政府竞争的空间溢出效应具有相似性,两者都是主要通过空间溢出效应来影响碳排放总量水平。建议:(1)适当改善财政分权,加快推进财权和事权的统一。(2)充分利用地方政府的"趋良竞争"。中央政府需给出足够强烈的信号促使地方政府维持"趋良竞争"。(3)鉴于财政分权和地方政府竞争都是主要通过空间溢出效应来影响碳排放总量水平,因此,需要重视空间的溢出作用,强化区域合作。(4)充分利用技术水平的空间溢出效应为负的特点,提高技术水平,强化技术水平的空间溢出效应,降低周围地区碳排放水平。     

环境质量对中国城镇居民健康支出的影响

将工业二氧化硫排放量作为环境质量的代理变量,对中国各个地区分别建立面板数据模型,研究中国城镇居民医疗保健支出与居民收入和环境质量之间的长期均衡关系,并基于面板误差纠正模型来分析医疗支出对各影响因素的短期调节效应。实证结果表明,环境质量对医疗支出影响的长期弹性在我国东部、中部和西部各地区均为正值,说明环境污染的加剧导致人们健康状况的恶化,从而促进了医疗支出的增长。因此,做好环境保护工作应该具有长久坚持的意义。但是,从短期来看,环境质量对医疗支出的影响却为负值,这一结果解释了当前有些地区和部门在短期内会以牺牲环境为代价来换取经济的暂时发展,由此更加突显了做好环境保护工作的艰巨性与紧迫性。另一方面,居民收入对医疗保健支出影响的长期弹性和短期弹性均大于1,表明提高城镇居民收入水平对于改善居民健康状况具有显著作用,由此说明我国当前实施的工资增长机制、提高医疗补助政策具有其针对性和适宜性。     

WSSD 2002, Latin America and Brazil: Biodiversity and Indigenous People

Latin America comprehends notable variations in terms of natural environment, availability of natural resources, living standards, and demographic patterns. Latin America is a mosaic of cultures, post- and pre-Columbian. The rich variety of life forms discovered and described by chroniclers and traveling naturalists in the Neotropics contributed to the proposal, in mid-XVIIIth century, of a new system of classification and a scientific code of nomenclature for all organisms. Biodiversity was, for many centuries, a source of resources to be exploited in natura. In scientific circles, its inventory became the domain of taxonomists. But modern technology showed how important the miriad of life forms really are as sources of chemical molecules to be engineered as drugs and reassembled as novel manufactured products. We are on the brink of a new agricultural and medical revolution, thanks to the techniques of genetic engineering, which will lead eventually to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.In this essay, the Brazilian environmental and social heterogeneity will serve as an example to illustrate some key points, which have influenced sustainability policies. The Amazon deforestation and indigenous knowledge (IK), subjects often associated with areas of high biodiversity, are usually the focus of environmental debates. The importance of IK in integrating development, reducing poverty and sustainability are considered together with the intellectual property rights of native populations.In the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Implementation Plan, a few paragraphs were dedicated to Latin America, because of the pre-existing Action Platform on the Road to Johannesburg 2002, approved in Rio de Janeiro in October 2001. This paper calls attention to the need to draw up specific environmental policies for a region which shows an extremely high cultural and biological diversity, associated with a high availability of forests and water, among other resources.     

Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future

Integration of indigenous knowledge and ethnoscientific approaches into contemporary frameworks for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources will become increasingly important in policies on an international and national level, both in countries that are industrialised and those that have a developing status. We set the scene on how this can be done by exploring the key conditions and dimensions of a dialogue between ȁ8ontologiesȁ9 and the roles, which ethnosciences could play in this process. First, the roles of ethnosciences in the context of sustainable development were analysed, placing emphasis on the implications arising when western sciences aspire to relate to indigenous forms of␣knowledge. Secondly, the contributions of ethnosciences to such an ȁ8inter- ontological dialogueȁ9 were explored, based on an ethnoecological study of the encounter of sciences and indigenous knowledge in the Andes of Bolivia, and reviewed experiences from mangrove systems in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, and from case-studies in other ecosystems world-wide, incl. Australia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Senegal, South-Africa and Tanzania.     

Paradoxical ozone associations could be due to methyl nitrite from combustion of methyl ethers or esters in engine fuels

We review studies of the effects of low ambient ozone concentrations on morbidity that found a negative coefficient for ozone concentration. We call this a Paradoxical Ozone Association (POA). All studies were in regions with methyl ether in gasoline. All but one study carefully controlled for the effects of other criterion pollutants, so the phenomenon cannot be attributed to them. One was in southern California in mid-summer when ozone levels are highest. Because ozone is created by sunlight, the most plausible explanation for a POA would be an ambient pollutant that is rapidly destroyed by sunlight, such as methyl nitrite (MN). A previously published model of engine exhaust chemistry suggested methyl ether in the fuel will create MN in the exhaust. MN is known to be highly toxic, and closely related alkyl nitrites are known to induce respiratory sensitivity in humans. Support for the interpretation comes from many studies, including three linking asthma symptoms to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and the observation that a POA has not been seen in regions without ether in gasoline. We also note that studies in southern California show a historical trend from more significant to less significant ozone-health associations. The timing of those changes is consistent with the known timing of the introduction of gasoline oxygenated with MTBE in that region.     

Household water in rural asia: a case study of the construction of a piped water system in Bangui,Ilocos Norte,Philippines

In early 1980 an extension agent was assigned to the rural municipality of Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines to work on development projects – in particular the improvement of the supply of safe water for drinking and sanitation. After many months of visiting spring sites and meeting with community leaders, a small part of the municipality was selected to build a gravity fed piped water system. Although the system took many months to plan, identify funding and construct, the 600 community members were ultimately rewarded with house to house connections that enabled them to achieve per capita water consumption levels above the minimum levels recommended by the World Health Organization. Of course, money was critical to ensure the project’s success, but many other factors played an equally critical role. For instance, without the active participation of the community and the unwavering support of the community leadership the project would not have survived the initial planning stage. Also, the extension agent played a critical role by acting as a conduit between funding agencies, the Bureau of Public Works and the community. The primary lesson to be learned from this experience is that the success of rural development projects is largely driven by the synergy between the community, technical support, financial support, and agents of change such as extension agents. If any of these ingredients had been lacking, the project result would likely have been far different.     

Distributions of personal VOC exposures: a population-based analysis

Information regarding the distribution of volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations and exposures is scarce, and there have been few, if any, studies using population-based samples from which representative estimates can be derived. This study characterizes distributions of personal exposures to ten different VOCs in the U.S. measured in the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Personal VOC exposures were collected for 669 individuals over 2-3 days, and measurements were weighted to derive national-level statistics. Four common exposure sources were identified using factor analyses: gasoline vapor and vehicle exhaust, methyl tert-butyl ether (MBTE) as a gasoline additive, tap water disinfection products, and household cleaning products. Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylenes chloroform, and tetrachloroethene were fit to log-normal distributions with reasonably good agreement to observations. 1,4-Dichlorobenzene and trichloroethene were fit to Pareto distributions, and MTBE to Weibull distribution, but agreement was poor. However, distributions that attempt to match all of the VOC exposure data can lead to incorrect conclusions regarding the level and frequency of the higher exposures. Maximum Gumbel distributions gave generally good fits to extrema, however, they could not fully represent the highest exposures of the NHANES measurements. The analysis suggests that complete models for the distribution of VOC exposures require an approach that combines standard and extreme value distributions, and that carefully identifies outliers. This is the first study to provide national-level and representative statistics regarding the VOC exposures, and its results have important implications for risk assessment and probabilistic analyses.     

Long-term increase in climatic dryness in the East-Mediterranean as evidenced for the island of Samos

The Eastern Mediterranean region is among the regions which were predicted to become drier under IPCC climate scenarios. Here, we document a gradual reduction of rainfall and tree growth and the loss of rural springs during the last decades of the twentieth century. Years with severe drought are associated with very low tree growth (dendrochronology) and dry falling of springs as evidenced by interviews with local stakeholders. The paper discusses the consequences of accelerating drought on natural vegetation and agriculture and points at the interaction with fire dynamics and economy, both likely to enhance the drought effect.     

How Do Groups Solve Local Commons Dilemmas? Lessons from Experimental Economics in the Field

The use of experimental settings to observe human behaviour in a controlled environment of incentives, rules and institutions, has been widely used by the behavioural sciences for sometime now, particularly by psychology and economics. In most cases the subjects are college students recruited for one to two hour decision making exercises in which, depending on their choices, they earn cash averaging US$ 20. In such exercises players face a set of feasible actions, rules and incentives (payoffs) involving different forms of social exchange with other people, and that in most cases involve some kind of externalities with incomplete contracts, such as in the case of common-pool resources situations. Depending on the ecological and institutional settings, the resource users face a set of feasible levels of extraction, a set of rules regarding the control or monitoring of individual use, and sometimes ways of imposing material or non-material costs or rewards to those breaking or following the rules. We brought the experimental lab to the field and invited about two hundred users of natural resources in three Colombian rural villages to participate in such decision making exercises and through these and other research instruments we learned about the ways they solve - or fail to - tragedies of the commons with different social institutions. Further, bringing the lab to the field allowed us to explore some of the limitations of existing models about human behaviour and its consequences for designing policies for conserving ecosystems and improving social welfare.     

Comparative analysis of the effect of predator odor on morphological and physiological parameters of adult male Campbell hamsters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phodopus campbelli</Emphasis>) and dwarf hamsters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phodopus sungorus</Emphasis>)

The effect of long-term exposure to natural excretions of the European polecat on the morphological parameters and hormonal status of adult male Campbell hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) and dwarf hamsters (Ph. sungorus) was studied. Exposure to volatile components of natural excreta of a potential predator did not have any significant effect on hamsters. The combined influence of volatile and nonvolatile components of the polecat’s excretions caused physiological stress in Ph. campbelli, while in Ph. sungorus, on the contrary, an increase in thymus weight and the plasma testosterone level was recorded.     

Human exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), as evidenced by data from a duplicate diet study, indoor air, house dust, and biomonitoring in Germany

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are used as flame retardants in a wide variety of products. As part of the Integrated Exposure Assessment Survey (INES), this study aimed to characterize the exposure of an adult German population using duplicate diet samples, which were collected daily over seven consecutive days, and indoor air and house dust measurements. Our study population consisted of 27 female and 23 male healthy subjects, aged 14–60 years, all of whom resided in 34 homes in southern Bavaria. In these 34 residences the air was sampled using glass fiber filters and polyurethane foams and the dust was collected from used vacuum cleaner bags.The median (95th percentile) daily dietary intake of six Tetra- to HeptaBDE congeners was 1.2 ng/kg b.w. (3.3 ng/kg b.w.) or 67.8 ng/day (208 ng/day) (calculated from the 7-day median values of each study subject). Concentrations in indoor air and dust (cumulative Tri- to DecaBDE congener readings) ranged from 8.2 to 477 pg/m³ (median: 37.8 pg/m³) and 36.6 to 1580 ng/g (median: 386 ng/g), respectively. For some congeners, we identified a significant correlation between air and dust levels.The median (95th percentile) blood concentration of total Tetra- to HexaBDE congener readings was 5.6 (13.2) ng/g lipid. No significant sex differences were observed, but higher blood concentrations were found in younger participants. Using a simplified toxicokinetic model to predict the body burden from exposure doses led to results that were of the same order of magnitude as the measured blood concentrations.Based on these measurements and given our exposure assumptions, we estimated for the total tetra- to heptabrominated congener count an average (high) comprehensive total daily intake of 1.2 ng/kg b.w. (2.5 ng/kg b.w.). Overall, our results suggest that dietary exposure is the dominant intake pathway at least in our study population, responsible for 97% (average intake) and 95% (high intake) of the total intake of an adult population.