An Empirical Study on Environmental Regulatory Costs &Environmental TFP

This paper examines the cost of environmental regulation and the environmental total factor productivity （TFP） with directional distance function and the Malmquist-Luenberger （ALL） index respectively, using inputs and output data of 36 two-digit industries over the period 1998- 2010. It finds that Chinese industries incur a relatively high environmental regulatory cost and that China has paid a high price fulfilling its promise to emissions mitigation. A comparison between conventional and environmental TFP shows that the two indicators for all industries declined on average, but a hypothesis test reveals insignificant difference between the two. In addition, the rise in environmental TFP is mainly due to technological progress, which is consistent with findings of many researches; analysis demonstrates signs of absolute convergence of environmental TFP.

Analysis of Challenges Related to Poor Environmental Regulatory Framework on Mineral Exploration Projects: A Case of Tanzania

In the United Republic of Tanzania (URT), all environmental issues related to the mining industry are regulated according to two principle Acts: The Mining Act and the Environmental Management Act, and their respective regulations. The current acts were enacted in 2010 and 2004 respectively. Mineral exploration (that includes all on-site activities performed before a mining project is declared feasible) projects in URT appears to be “unforgotten phenomena” in the two major legislative documents, when it comes to environmental considerations. This phenomenon is believed to be causing detrimental effects to the environment. This paper, therefore, analyzes the current environmental regulatory framework on mineral exploration projects in URT and discusses few examples in which mineral exploration projects have caused damage to the indigenous environment. Furthermore, this study reviews environmental regulatory frameworks from other few countries in comparison with existing environmental regulatory framework prevailing in URT.

Spatial effect of environmental regulation measures on industrial structure upgrading from the empirical analysis of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas

This paper investigates the spatial effect of environmental regulation measures on the upgrading of industrial structure in the integrated development strategy of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas.In order to reflect the effect of the environmental regulation and different regulation measures more truly,this paper constructs indices of the environmental regulation measures through the results of policy texts quantification.On the basis of the previous research,this paper divides environmental regulation into the following types:personnel and administrative measures of command and control;market-oriented fiscal,taxation,financial and other economic measures;guidance measures.Spatial panel regression results show that administrative measures of command control and market-oriented fiscal measures have a significant role in promoting regional industrial structure upgrading,but not conducive to the advancement of the industrial structure of adjacent areas.Their roles in promoting and inhibition are counteracted,which causes the total effect of industrial structure upgrading of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding areas are not significant.Personnel measures,financial measures,other economic measures and guidance measures do not have the short-term effect and spatial effect on the upgrading of industrial structure.

Engineering practice of seismic isolation and energy dissipation structures in China

The concepts of seismic isolation and energy dissipation structures emerged in the early 1970s.In China,the first seismic isolation structure was finished in 1993,and the first energy dissipation structure was built at about the same time.Up to 2007,China had more than 600 seismic isolation and about 100 energy dissipation building structures.In 2008,the huge Wenchuan earthquake hit the southwest of China,which triggered a bloom of new seismic isolation and energy dissipation structures.This paper presents the development history and representative applications of seismic isolation and energy dissipation structures in China,reviews the state-of-the-practice of Chinese design,and discusses the challenges in the future applications.Major findings are as follows:Basic design procedures are becoming standardized after more than ten years of experiences,which mainly involve determination of design earthquake forces,selection of ground motions,modeling and time-history analyses,and performance criteria.Nonlinear time-history analyses using multiple ground motions are the characteristic of the design of seismic isolation and energy dissipation structures.Regulations,standardization and quality control of devices,balance between performance and cost,comparison with real responses,and regular inspection are identified as the issues that should be improved to further promote the application of seismic isolation and energy dissipation structures in China.