Environmental Values and Water Policy

The emergence of water markets has heralded the prospect of increased efficiency in the use of the resource for extractive purposes. However, water markets have not encompassed all elements of demand for the resource. Notably, demands for the environmental public goods provided by river flows have not been revealed in markets. State Governments have instituted regulations requiring ‘environmental flows’ to be quarantined from the market allocation process. This policy has triggered negative responses from irrigators and conservationists. Lobby groups have found that the process of determining environmental flows is a prospective site for rent seeking. To avoid policy being driven by rent seeking, information on the costs and benefits of environmental flows is useful. Whereas the costs of environmental flows are readily assessed through reference to market data on irrigators’ surpluses foregone, the benefits must be estimated through the use of non‐market, stated preference valuation techniques. These techniques — including contingent valuation and choice modelling — remain controversial. Some argue that they should not be used on ethical grounds. Others argue that they cannot be used on technical grounds. These arguments are discussed in this paper, using the context of the water policy debate. The evidence is that stated preference techniques are being used, and applications have been performed in Australia in the context of riverine health. However their use remains restricted relative to the scale of the Australian natural resource management task. Some possible explanations for this limited up‐take are provided along with some suggested ways forward.     

Pottery politics: Late Classic Maya palace production at Motul de San José, Petén,Guatemala

Archeologists often rely heavily on stone monuments, architecture, settlement patterns, and written texts to reconstruct ancient political systems. In this paper we focus on the role of polychrome pottery as both a reflection of and critical component in the production of power relations. We present rare direct evidence of polychrome pottery production recovered from the Maya site of Motul de San José, the presumed Late Classic (ca. 600–900 AD) capital of the epigraphically-recognized Ik’ polity. Our contextual analysis of production debris and tools complement on-going polychrome vessel style and chemical analyses of Ik’ Style polychrome vessels to suggest that Motul de San José’s royal court was an important center in the manufacture of Ik’ Style polychrome pottery. These elaborate vessels indexed the political history, power, and networks of the Ik’ polity. By combining archeological, iconographic, and epigraphic data of polychrome pottery, we shed light on Motul de San José’s internal political-economic dynamics as well as its macro-political alliances and tensions with other polities.     

Fate of the ash hurley in a global economy

The Irish sport of hurling, which pre-dates written history, has traditionally been played with an ash hurley shaped by a local craftsman known as a hurleymaker. Hurleymaking has always been an Irish practice, but now finds itself threatened by a global economy, an inconsistent supply chain, and synthetic manufacturing.     

建立健全城乡基层党组织互帮互助机制的实践与思考——基于青海省海西州德令哈市基层党建的调查

建立健全城乡基层党组织互帮互助机制,是当前推进基层党的建设的一项重要工作任务。本文围绕这一主题,结合青海省德令哈市基层党建工作的实际,就建立健全城乡基层党组织互帮互助机制存在的问题及其对策,进行了有益的思考和探讨。     

被问责官员复出面临的现实困境与理性选择

我国的官员复出机制,面临着非公开化、非责任化、非透明化、社会认同度低的困境。如何有效解决被问责官员复出面临的现实困境,本文从四个方面予以了回答,即完善问责的基础,明晰官员的职责和构建相应问责程序,这是建立被问责官员正常复出机制的前提;转变问责的模式,由＂权力问责＂转变为＂制度问责＂,使被问责官员复出具有制度上的正当性;建立官员复出的回应机制,使体制外的＂权利问责＂与体制内的＂权力问责＂、＂制度问责＂形成完整体系,以减少官员复出的外部阻力;建立多元化的问责主体,以提高官员复出的社会认同度。     

“十二五”时期青海省加快发展绿色经济问题研究

面对全球绿色发展浪潮和新一轮经济转型的机遇和挑战,青海省如何在制定和落实＂十二五＂规划过程中加快推动绿色经济发展,在更高层次上实现经济、社会与生态可持续发展,成为一个亟待研究和解决的重大现实问题。基于此,本文探讨了＂十二五＂时期青海省加快发展绿色经济的新思路、新路径,以期为政府决策提供相关的参考依据。     

近年来中国特色社会主义理论体系研究述评

本文从概念内涵、发展演进、内容架构、基本特征、价值意义等主要方面对近年来中国特色社会主义理论体系研究进行了梳理和评述,在此基础上提出了深入研究中国特色社会主义理论体系应重点关注的四个问题。     

对开拓青海报业市场的几点思考

由于青海省经济相对落后等多方面的原因,青海报业尚未进入产业化运作,无论是管理体制方面,还是经营机制方面,均存在一定的问题。市场化运作是青海报业发展的长远之计。报业要发展,就要突破传统的思维方式,开扩眼界,寻找新的经济增长点,扩大多种经营范围,采取切实可行的措施和办法,以适应市场竞争的需要。     

江苏省县域经济集聚和收敛的空间计量分析

通过探索性空间数据分析和空间计量分析方法,以实际人均GDP为测度指标,对江苏省65个县市的经济空间集聚、增长收敛性以及收敛机制进行讨论。研究发现1993-2009年实际人均GDP显示出越来越高的全局正相关,局部空间相关性也有增强的趋势。空间计量分析结果表明江苏省县域经济存在着β收敛,分时段研究为不同研究时段选择恰当的空间收敛模型后,收敛速度加快。技术扩散收敛机制和资本收敛机制分别在研究区间的前期和后期占主导作用,收敛机制的转变与江苏省在20世纪90年代末开始实行的区域协调发展政策密切相关。     

广州市会展旅游产业集聚过程及形成机理研究

旅游产业集聚有助于提升区域整体竞争力,促进区域经济持续发展和进一步优化旅游产业空间结构。论文在界定会展旅游产业集聚的基础上,揭示了广州市会展旅游产业集聚过程和形成机理。研究发现,广交会推进广州旅游产业集聚发展。广州会展旅游产业集聚过程经历集聚核形成阶段、点轴集聚阶段和网络集聚阶段,在不同发展阶段影响产业集聚主要因素存在显著不同。政府行为推动会展旅游产业集聚雏形形成,激增旅游需求、集聚规模经济、外部经济以及降低交易费用等因素促进产业集聚逐渐向点轴集聚发展。在网络集聚阶段,集聚不规模效应以及琶洲展馆的全面启用造成旅游企业数量趋于稳定。会展旅游产业集聚是以展馆为核心集聚,展馆在城市中空间布局的变化将导致该类集聚空间迁移。