Unpacking the Path‐Dependent Process of Institutional Change for PPPs

In the recent past, several countries and states have begun to use Public‐Private‐Partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development and have attempted to create institutional environments that enable PPPs. Providing an enabling environment for PPPs entails a combination of institutional creation and changing existing institutions relating to project procurement. This paper attempts to understand how path‐dependant institutional change takes place in the context of PPPs and their enabling environments, and why different institutional environments evolve differently, using two cases: the implementation of PPPs in the road sector in the Netherlands and in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. We identify two factors that can be used as predictors of the direction of institutional change: a long‐term orientation towards institutional change and a willingness to learn and modify transitional institutions. Where these factors exist, and thereby provide a goodness of fit, institutional change is likely to occur.     

Path Dependence and Paradigm Shift: How Cetacean Scientists Learned to Develop Management Procedures that Survived the Controversial Whaling Regime

The transformation of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) into a preservationist regime met with extremely fierce opposition from the prowhaling countries and created an unprecedented and famous polarization of the IWC parties into pro and antiwhaling camps, which can be observed even today. In such a bipolar and harsh process, it would be typically argued that scientific advice would be powerless because it would become subject to heightened scrutiny from both camps resulting in endless technical debate. Our case shows that, on the contrary, the advisory scientists learned to successfully develop a scientific management procedure that was accepted by both the pro and antiwhaling camps. The objective of this paper is to explain this process and examine to what extent collective learning in the assessment process affected the political effectiveness of the management procedure and, more broadly thereby, to contribute to the groundwork of analyzing how the scientists participating in the scientific assessments collectively learn. With a view to cross‐fertilization between institutionalism and science and technology study (STS) approaches, we develop an analytical framework and apply it to the international whaling regime to examine the usefulness of it and provide some general lessons to be learned for making learning assessments more effective. The framework was capable of showing that path dependency and paradigm shift were among the key factors of the scientific assessment's increased effectiveness. Overall, the cross‐fertilization between institutionalism and STS appears to be a fruitful way forward for the next generation of scientific assessment studies.     

Energy Abundance or Environmental Worries? Analyzing Public Support for Fracking in the United States

This paper provides an analysis of public attitudes toward fracking use and policies with an eye toward factors that help us account for differing levels of support. Using data from a national survey of American adults, we found that women and people residing in urban areas are slightly more inclined to oppose fracking and to favor more regulation in terms of drilling operations and company chemical disclosure requirements than men or people living in rural areas. Our key findings, however, are that opposition to fracking and support for current or increased levels of regulation are strongly related to Democratic Party identification and to pro‐environmental policy attitudes. We conclude by suggesting that a tendency for people to view fracking as an environmental rather than an energy issue has potentially important implications for the implementation of locally based regulatory requirements.     

试论我国生态文明建设的基本目标和基础工程

人口、资源、能源、环境、生态和灾害是自然界的最基本的物质力量,是影响和制约社会存在和发展的基本条件,其可持续性构成了一切持续性的基础。这样,维持和加强上述因子的可持续性就成为生态文明建设的基本目标和基础工程。我国生态文明建设的基本目标和基础工程是,建设一个人口均衡型社会、资源和能源节约型社会、环境友好型社会、生态安全型社会和灾害防减型社会。在此基础上,我们才能夯实生态文明的自然物质基础。     

划定生态保护红线的战略意义

2011年,国务院首次提出划定生态红线的生态保护策略。划定生态红线并实行永久保护,体现了国家以强制性手段实施严格生态保护的政策导向。该文基于生态红线提出的历史背景,阐述了当前划定生态保护红线的重要意义,并提出了实施生态红线战略的对策建议。     

安徽生态文明建设若干立法问题研究

生态文明建设是中国特色社会主义的重要组成部分。生态文明建设必须走法治之路,在新的历史起点上,仍需从宪法和法律的层面上,对生态文明建设国家立法的战略进行调整。首先要将生态文明建设作为基本国策写入宪法,作为国家发展的大政方针,作为全体人民的共同行为准则。其次要研究构建生态文明建设的法律体系框架。从安徽地方实际看,应抓紧生态文明建设密切相关的若干立法项目研究,要根据立法法的规定,抓紧研究和制定《安徽省生态文明建设条例》,重点研究起草和修改与生态文明建设相关的地方性法规,为安徽生态文明建设提供强有力的法规支撑。     

建立贵州水资源生态补偿机制的问题与对策

贵州省各族人民为保护长江上游和珠江上游的生态环境和水源质量做出了重大贡献。水源保护区的群众相当一部分成为生态贫民。文章针对既要保护水源环境,又要促使水源保护区经济发展和生态贫民致富的难题,探讨和提出建立贵州水资源生态效益补偿机制的对策。     

积极老龄化下的银色创业实践及可行性——基于CFPS(2010-2018)的实证研究

银色创业是积极老龄化背景下,开发老龄人力资源、推动高质量发展的重要命题。本研究基于中国家庭跟踪调研(CFPS)2010—2018年数据,使用探索性分析对我国银色创业状况进行描述,并检验年龄因素、健康状况和受教育水平等个体差异因素,以及外部创业环境因素对银色创业的影响,并重点分析年龄的影响效应。研究发现:第一,银色创业是我国创业的重要组成部分,年龄对银色创业的促进作用大于抑制效应,鼓励和支持银色创业在总体上是可行的;第二,个体健康对银色创业起正向调节作用,但受教育水平对银色创业的影响则比较弱,行业经验和创业经历对银色创业具有更重要的意义;第三,外部创业环境的异质性对银色创业具有重要影响。基于研究结论,建议转变政策导向,建立多层次银色创业体系,推动形成协调的配套经济社会政策体系,让银色创业成为推动创新经济发展的重要力量。     

生态补偿范围及其利益相关者辨析

以生态补偿所要解决的问题本质为出发点,从实现生态服务公共物品非市场化价值、内化生态环境保护行为外部性、以及重新分配生态环境保护利益相关者的权利三方面展开论述,试界定生态补偿的外延,厘清生态补偿的范围。     

浅析经济建设与生态建设的内在联系——以全面实施永续发展战略为视角

党的十八大确立的经济、政治、文化、社会、生态建设五位一体的总体布局,是一个相互联系、相互促进的有机整体。本文认为,生态建设与经济建设是五位一体总体布局中最重要的一对关系。充分理解两大建设之间的内在联系,对全面实施永续发展战略,促进现代化建设各个环节、各个方面全面协调可持续发展等具有重大的现实意义。