This paper is conceived at a time when new paradigms are sought for the development of a framework to deal with the problem of forest resources degradation. Deforestation in Bangladesh, has reached an alarming rate in...This paper is conceived at a time when new paradigms are sought for the development of a framework to deal with the problem of forest resources degradation. Deforestation in Bangladesh, has reached an alarming rate in recent years. The forest coverage of Bangladesh is one of the lowest and the deforestation rate is the highest of any country in the world. Coupled with the process of deforestation, flawed afforestration programmes have seriously exposed Bangladesh to environmental vulnerability. Considering this situation various strategies should be taken at different levels. The main objective of this paper is to suggest the possible steps that Bangladesh could halt and reverse the trend of deforestation. An extensive literature review and structured interviews of key informants have been used to collect relevant information to understand the reasons and consequences of forest degradation in the country. Based on the information gathered, this paper suggests some positive steps where the Government could be the main mitigating actor by implementing integrated programmes, which will also ensure mass awareness and wider impact.展开更多
Inspired by the green revolution,new energy vehicles(NEVs)provide a fresh,alternative mode of transportation for Chinese consumers mat reduce their reliance on traditional,gasoline/diesel-based cars.However,despite st...Inspired by the green revolution,new energy vehicles(NEVs)provide a fresh,alternative mode of transportation for Chinese consumers mat reduce their reliance on traditional,gasoline/diesel-based cars.However,despite strong government support for NEVs in China,the level of uptake by consumers remains slow.Using Shanghai as a case study,this article provides a much-needed insight into local consumers'motivations to invest in NEVs through a survey of 100 Shanghai residents.Results indicate that current NEV promotion policies do not have a significant impact on the cognitive trade-off of NEV consumption under the"Integrated Consumer Behavior Model,"mainly due to inconvenient charging facilities,technical concerns regarding battery,higher prices,and wait-and-see attitudes regarding the pilot policy environment.Drawing on experiences from Sweden and New Zealand,this research serves to enhance knowledge on consumer attitudes towards NEVs and assist policy makers in developing more effective green consumption promotion campaigns in the future.展开更多
Land policy in China has been changed dramatically in the past two decades. Though the reform of rural farm land and the urban construction land has been launched successively, little has been done about the rural con...Land policy in China has been changed dramatically in the past two decades. Though the reform of rural farm land and the urban construction land has been launched successively, little has been done about the rural construction land by now, which has made a negative impact to the land utilization. This paper fi rst reviews the policy terms about the rural construction land, then gives a brief critique on them under the background of social-economic transformation in China, and discusses the driving forces and implications of institutional changes in the end. We think the further reform on the rural collective construction land is imperative. Firstly, as a production factor, it should be endowed with property attribute, and secondly the use right of rural construction land should be separated from its ownership so that it can be transacted in a competitive market, which will benefi t the building of harmonious society.展开更多
Development zones(DZs)have emerged as a significant policy initiative for promoting regional coordination and facilitating resources allocation.They serve as an organizational framework for fostering industrial agglom...Development zones(DZs)have emerged as a significant policy initiative for promoting regional coordination and facilitating resources allocation.They serve as an organizational framework for fostering industrial agglomeration and driving high-quality development.DZs attract and accommodate resource factors,firms,and projects,thereby functioning as a central catalyst for economic growth.This study utilizes data collected at the“DZ,City and Countrycountry”levels through manual compilation,textual analysis,and innovation measurement.It aims to empirically examine the theoretical rationale and practical preferences for promoting business and investment in China’s DZs.This study considers several factors such as industry attribute,firm attribute,agglomeration theory,and industrial chain layout.Based on our research findings,DZs exhibit distinct preferences.First,industry attribute:DZs align with both national and regional strategic planning and adhere to the industrial endowments of the respective areas.Second,firm attribute:DZs prioritize attracting firms that are productive and innovative,and have an international presence,rather than those that primarily contribute to taxes and job creation.Third,DZs are guided by the agglomeration theory,which suggests that they prefer firms that generate strong agglomeration externalities.Lastly,DZs also consider the industrial chain layout,aiming to attract firms that not only align with their existing industrial strengths but also extend to the upstream and downstream supply chain links.These conclusions are substantiated by the performance of robustness test.The success of DZs in China can be attributed to the five key principles:Adherence to national and regional strategic planning,prioritizing the actual industrial foundation,incorporating the theory of agglomeration externalities,strengthening corporate competitiveness,and expanding industrial chains.展开更多
时序抽象作为分层强化学习的重要研究内容,允许分层强化学习智能体在不同的时间尺度上学习策略,可以有效解决深度强化学习难以处理的稀疏奖励问题。如何端到端地学习到优秀的时序抽象策略一直是分层强化学习研究面临的挑战。Option-Crit...时序抽象作为分层强化学习的重要研究内容,允许分层强化学习智能体在不同的时间尺度上学习策略,可以有效解决深度强化学习难以处理的稀疏奖励问题。如何端到端地学习到优秀的时序抽象策略一直是分层强化学习研究面临的挑战。Option-Critic(OC)框架在Option框架的基础上,通过策略梯度理论,可以有效解决此问题。然而,在策略学习过程中,OC框架会出现Option内部策略动作分布变得十分相似的退化问题。该退化问题影响了OC框架的实验性能,导致Option的可解释性变差。为了解决上述问题,引入互信息知识作为内部奖励,并提出基于互信息优化的Option-Critic算法(Option-Critic Algorithm with Mutual Information Optimization,MIOOC)。MIOOC算法结合了近端策略Option-Critic(Proximal Policy Option-Critic,PPOC)算法,可以保证下层策略的多样性。为了验证算法的有效性,把MIOOC算法和几种常见的强化学习方法在连续实验环境中进行对比实验。实验结果表明,MIOOC算法可以加快模型学习速度,实验性能更优,Option内部策略更有区分度。展开更多
This paper considers the two-echelon supply chain system which consists of single agricultural producers and retailers,and analyzes the impact of sharing ratio on the option ordering quantity,and retailers and produce...This paper considers the two-echelon supply chain system which consists of single agricultural producers and retailers,and analyzes the impact of sharing ratio on the option ordering quantity,and retailers and producers' expected profits.Studies have shown that in the case of decentralization,when the revenue sharing ratio is between 0 and 0.3,the option ordering quantity of farm produce is a decreasing function of the sharing ratio; when the revenue sharing ratio is between 0.3 and 1,the option ordering quantity of farm produce is an increasing function of sharing ratio; when the revenue sharing ratio is between 0.421 and 1,the agricultural producers and retailers' expected profits are an increasing function of sharing ratio.Finally,through the numerical calculation,the applicability of the conclusions is verified,to provide a reference for the supply chain management practices.展开更多
Dividing aggregate liabilities by GDP is not an appropriate method for calculating the leverage ratio, and may mislead deleveraging operations. In terms of an intrinsic mechanism, an appropriate measure of leverage ra...Dividing aggregate liabilities by GDP is not an appropriate method for calculating the leverage ratio, and may mislead deleveraging operations. In terms of an intrinsic mechanism, an appropriate measure of leverage ratio should be the liability/asset ratio. In their business operations, it is inevitable for real-economy enterprises to incur liabilities arising from business and financial transactions. Therefore, the significance of deleveraging operations is to reduce the leverage ratio below a certain threshold to effectively prevent risks arising from an excessive leverage ratio, rather than to reduce the liability ratio of real-economy enterprises to zero. For real-economy enterprises, a key question is how to adjust their debt structure by reducing current liabilities and increasing mid-and long-term liabilities. The debt structure of real-economy enterprises is primarily determined by their financial structure. Hence, it is essential to adjust the financial structure in order to improve the debt structure of real-economy enterprises and increase the share of direct finance. Various risks exist in the combination of shares and bonds within the banking system, investment-lending linkage and market-based debt-to-equity operations, which are options in reducing the leverage ratio for real-economy enterprises. From the standpoint of giving play to capital market functions, it is advisable to increase the issuance of midand long-term corporate bonds and preferred stock, restrict non-financial listed companies from engaging in financial operations and the shareholders of listed companies from selling shares, encourage equity investment institutions to enhance equity investment in realeconomy enterprises, and further develop the financing function of the stock market.展开更多
It is a social system engineering to solve problems of city agricultural laborers, inevitably concerning series of social phenomenon and the social issues of the city and countryside relations, the government function...It is a social system engineering to solve problems of city agricultural laborers, inevitably concerning series of social phenomenon and the social issues of the city and countryside relations, the government function, the city management, the fair efficiency, the population flows, the labor employment, the social security, and so on. Furthermore, it also involves the profoundly political and economic system reforms, the transformation of government functions, the system perfection, legal administration, the social stability in China. The city government, as the direct superintendent of the agricultural laborers, should adopt the conception of the system engineering to construct a new mechanism of the city agricultural laborers socialization standard management, which has a profound theoretical and practical significance.展开更多
Background: The 11th Annual Conference of Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association was held on July 22-25, 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan. The first author participated in this annual conference where he met the second aut...Background: The 11th Annual Conference of Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association was held on July 22-25, 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan. The first author participated in this annual conference where he met the second author who was invited to deliver two plenary speeches on Corporate Governance and Financial Institution Regulation [1] and Alternative Investments for Financial Institutions [2]. The first author was then working as consultant with i-flex solutions, a subsidiary of Oracle and the second author was Vice President of Strategic Business Initiatives Units at ING Life Insurance in its Taiwan operation. The two authors decided to start collaborating on a research paper titled “Modeling Policyholder Behavior through Insurance Resonant Marts for Pricing Options and Guarantees.” The first version of the paper was submitted for research purposes to ING Insurance Risk Management Global Conference 2007 [3] which was held in Beijing, China. Although it was neither presented nor published, the working draft was constantly updated and revised. In 2015, after eight years of continuous research collaboration, the two authors decided to submit the final version of the paper to the 5th World Congress on Engineering and Technology for scholarly presentation. Aim: The competition in the insurance industry is extremely fierce. Insurance companies are under tremendous pressure to retain and increase their customer base, to offer services at attractive rates and provide returns competitive with mutual funds, equities and banks, to achieve profitability across various lines of insurance, to comply with statutory norms etc. Despite having the best of breeds, such as accountants, actuaries [4], lawyers, underwriters, IT experts, consultants, etc., many insurance companies face severe problems to cope with and survive under such pressures. Insurance companies are now striving towards creating innovative products that can match the expectation of the customers with respect to investment returns and risk coverage at competitive rates, which is a very challenging task. Also it is very important to measure the expectations of the customers keeping in mind that those customers are already owners of other financial products. Pricing always follows the expectations and without proper data support, Model risk is imminent. Even if a product is correctly priced, without understanding the behavior of the policyholder towards various financial products will lead to heavy lapses [4]. The authors describe a new framework called UIRDM Approach (Unified Insurance Resonant Data Mart) for the insurance companies wherein this approach stresses the need to think beyond the insurance boundaries.展开更多
Green building is receiving increased attention in the public sector in the United States.Over the past ten years,public sector organizations have gone from“testing the waters”with green building pilot projects to d...Green building is receiving increased attention in the public sector in the United States.Over the past ten years,public sector organizations have gone from“testing the waters”with green building pilot projects to developing wide-reaching policies that incorporate green building practices and standards as a formal part of capital project decision processes.A variety of approaches have been employed at the federal,state,and local levels that encourage or require green building practices on public sector projects.To date,however,there has been no systematic evaluation of the pros and cons of these policy options to provide a basis for organizations considering how best to construct a program to meet the needs of its specific context.This paper identifies,compares,and contrasts options that have been incorporated as part of green building programs for states and other public sector organization seeking to motivate green building practices in their capital projects and facilities.Three categories of options are considered:Policy,Program,and Evaluation options.The paper evaluates alternatives within each of these categories according to their potential social,environmental,and economic impacts as well as their likelihood of implementation success within the context of public agencies.The findings of this paper contribute a palette of options for policymakers to consider when drafting policies for their organizations,along with program options to be considered by those who must implement the policies.This work contributes a foundation for future research to further understand the relative effectiveness and impacts of policy elements on green building practice within public sector organizations.展开更多
The cost to U.S.consumers of specialty drugs is too high,and cost-sharing obligations are reducing patient access to affordable and life-changing medications.While accounting only for approximately two percent of pres...The cost to U.S.consumers of specialty drugs is too high,and cost-sharing obligations are reducing patient access to affordable and life-changing medications.While accounting only for approximately two percent of prescriptions filled,specialty drugs accounted for nearly 45 percent of the U.S.drug spend in 2018,and this rate continues to rise.This review analyzes the current state of the U.S.specialty drug market and recommends six policy options for decreasing out-of-pocket costs to consumers.A systematic review was conducted,gathering articles from peer-reviewed and government resources published from January 2014 to May 2019 using databases such as PubMed,OVID,and the Congressional Research Service(CRS).Articles were reviewed for unique and relevant information relating to cost specialty drugs,industry trends,underlying legislation and policy challenges,and viable policy options.The findings show that,while the cost of specialty drug prices is growing,the rate of growth is projected to slow to a compound annual growth rate(CAGR)of 4 to 7 percent between 2019 to 2023,as compared to a CAGR of 7.2 percent from 2014 to 2018,largely due to the Food and Drug Administration's approval of 10 new biosimilars in 2018 and early 2019.However,specialty drug spending as a percentage of total spending continues to rise and can cost payers and patients more than USD 3,500 on average per month.We recommend six policy options for reducing consumers'out-of-pocket cost obligations:(1)discourage"pay-for-delay"agreements and patent evergreening;(2)align incentives across the specialty drug supply chain with value-based pricing;(3)tighten orphan drug eligibility or impose a sales tax on drugs if the sales tax exceeds a specified threshold until federal subsidies are recouped;(4)increase transparency in transactions between specialty drug supply chain stakeholders;(5)tax the direct-to-consumer advertising of specialty drugs and use the proceeds to fund public research;and(6)support copay cards and patient assistance programs.While the consensus across the industry is that the out-of-pocket costs of specialty drugs to patients are too high,industry stakeholders must agree about which set of policy options to implement.Lawmakers must explore options for reducing the out-of-pocket costs of specialty medications and gather public input on how to best align stakeholder incentives across the specialty drug supply chain.展开更多
This statistics-based study shows that in China the urban-rural income gap is contributing more to general income inequality than regional income gaps are. The regional income disparity sets in an east-west plus centr...This statistics-based study shows that in China the urban-rural income gap is contributing more to general income inequality than regional income gaps are. The regional income disparity sets in an east-west plus central contrast while the urban-rural gap is most significantly present in the west and central areas between the cities and the countryside. Rural migrant laborers have helped shrink the urban-rural and regional income gaps. However, when the economy is hit by the global financial crisis to slow, a number of public actions are crucial and urgent to reduce income inequality and enhance social stability. The actions would include an immediate social bail-out and provisions for social security for rural-based migrants currently working in the cities, employment programs targeting low-income group as well as encouraging entrepreneurship.展开更多
In this paper,we consider the price of catastrophe options with credit risk in a regime-switching model.We assume that the macroeconomic states are described by a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite state space...In this paper,we consider the price of catastrophe options with credit risk in a regime-switching model.We assume that the macroeconomic states are described by a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite state space.By using the measure change technique,we derive the price expressions of catastrophe put options.Moreover,we conduct some numerical analysis to demonstrate how the parameters of the model affect the price of the catastrophe put option.展开更多
In the past decade, a new generation of urban cable transport systems has emerged in many countries, most prominently in Latin America, but also in Mediterranean countries like Algeria and Turkey. Apart from being ene...In the past decade, a new generation of urban cable transport systems has emerged in many countries, most prominently in Latin America, but also in Mediterranean countries like Algeria and Turkey. Apart from being energy efficient and highly effective in bridging obstacles of all sorts, aerial ropeways also provide new access to the city for a variety of population groups. This paper displays recent cases of ropeways and gives an insight into the role that this mode can play as a part of sustainable transport systems. Some socio-political aspects are analyzed which make urban cable a politically and economically attractive policy option and conclusions are drawn from existing ropeway operations.展开更多
Dear Editor,In this letter,the multi-objective optimal control problem of nonlinear discrete-time systems is investigated.A data-driven policy gradient algorithm is proposed in which the action-state value function is...Dear Editor,In this letter,the multi-objective optimal control problem of nonlinear discrete-time systems is investigated.A data-driven policy gradient algorithm is proposed in which the action-state value function is used to evaluate the policy.In the policy improvement process,the policy gradient based method is employed.展开更多
Spatio-temporal variability and dynamics in Sahelian agro-pastoral zones make each local situation a special case. These specificities must be considered to guide the dissemination of agricultural options with a view ...Spatio-temporal variability and dynamics in Sahelian agro-pastoral zones make each local situation a special case. These specificities must be considered to guide the dissemination of agricultural options with a view to sustainable development. The territorial scale of municipalities is not sufficient for this necessary contextualization;the scale of the “village terroir” seems to be a better option. This is the hypothesis we put forward in the framework of the Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems program (CRFS), i.e. local context is spatially defined by village terroir. The study is based on data collected through participatory mapping and surveys in “village terroirs” in three regions of Niger (Maradi, Dosso and Tillabéri). Then the links between farm managers and their cultivated land, as well as the spatio-temporal dynamics of local context are analyzed. This study provides evidence of the existence and functional usefulness of the village terroir for farmers, their land management and their activities. It demonstrates the usefulness of contextualizing agricultural options at this scale. Their analysis elucidates the links between “terroirs village” and the specific functioning of the agrosocio-ecosystems acting on each of them, thus laying the systemic and geographical foundations for a model of the spatio- temporal dynamics of “village terroirs”. This initial work has opened up new perspectives in modeling and sustainable development.展开更多
Sustainable practices in the built environment are becoming a more common phenomona as market penetration of green buildings grow. Despite the reported benefits of green buildings, barriers to sustainability still exi...Sustainable practices in the built environment are becoming a more common phenomona as market penetration of green buildings grow. Despite the reported benefits of green buildings, barriers to sustainability still exist. To motivate wider adoption of sustainable built environments, this research studies public policy and its impacts. The study aims to understand the links between public policy, construction playmakers’ (e.g., organizations’, institutions’, business owners’, and developers’) motivation to build green, and growth of sustainable built environments in the United States. As a step forward in this direction, this paper focuses on the case of Michigan and explores construction playmakers’ motivations to build and/or occupy sustainable buildings and how effective current public policy in Michigan is at addressing these motivations.There is little research on the links among legislation, construction playmakers’ motivation to build green, and the growth of sustainable built environment in the United States. This article’s findings show that: 1) green building costs are still the most frequently-reported barrier to green building, 2) property developers are significantly less likely to utilize green building practices than other construction playmakers, 3) single-family residential buildings were the least likely building type to receive green certifications, and 4) construction playmakers report low levels of green policy awareness and use despite the presence of relevant public policies. These findings will provide direction for policy makers and advocates in creating policy that will effectively promote green building construction.展开更多
文摘This paper is conceived at a time when new paradigms are sought for the development of a framework to deal with the problem of forest resources degradation. Deforestation in Bangladesh, has reached an alarming rate in recent years. The forest coverage of Bangladesh is one of the lowest and the deforestation rate is the highest of any country in the world. Coupled with the process of deforestation, flawed afforestration programmes have seriously exposed Bangladesh to environmental vulnerability. Considering this situation various strategies should be taken at different levels. The main objective of this paper is to suggest the possible steps that Bangladesh could halt and reverse the trend of deforestation. An extensive literature review and structured interviews of key informants have been used to collect relevant information to understand the reasons and consequences of forest degradation in the country. Based on the information gathered, this paper suggests some positive steps where the Government could be the main mitigating actor by implementing integrated programmes, which will also ensure mass awareness and wider impact.
文摘Inspired by the green revolution,new energy vehicles(NEVs)provide a fresh,alternative mode of transportation for Chinese consumers mat reduce their reliance on traditional,gasoline/diesel-based cars.However,despite strong government support for NEVs in China,the level of uptake by consumers remains slow.Using Shanghai as a case study,this article provides a much-needed insight into local consumers'motivations to invest in NEVs through a survey of 100 Shanghai residents.Results indicate that current NEV promotion policies do not have a significant impact on the cognitive trade-off of NEV consumption under the"Integrated Consumer Behavior Model,"mainly due to inconvenient charging facilities,technical concerns regarding battery,higher prices,and wait-and-see attitudes regarding the pilot policy environment.Drawing on experiences from Sweden and New Zealand,this research serves to enhance knowledge on consumer attitudes towards NEVs and assist policy makers in developing more effective green consumption promotion campaigns in the future.
基金supported by the Special Fund for Land and Resources Research in the Public Interest(Grant No.201311127)
文摘Land policy in China has been changed dramatically in the past two decades. Though the reform of rural farm land and the urban construction land has been launched successively, little has been done about the rural construction land by now, which has made a negative impact to the land utilization. This paper fi rst reviews the policy terms about the rural construction land, then gives a brief critique on them under the background of social-economic transformation in China, and discusses the driving forces and implications of institutional changes in the end. We think the further reform on the rural collective construction land is imperative. Firstly, as a production factor, it should be endowed with property attribute, and secondly the use right of rural construction land should be separated from its ownership so that it can be transacted in a competitive market, which will benefi t the building of harmonious society.
基金sponsored by the General Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)(72073093)the General Project of the Scientific Research Fund of Renmin University of China(21XNA008)the Key Project of the National Social Science Fund of China(NSSFC)(20&ZD118).
文摘Development zones(DZs)have emerged as a significant policy initiative for promoting regional coordination and facilitating resources allocation.They serve as an organizational framework for fostering industrial agglomeration and driving high-quality development.DZs attract and accommodate resource factors,firms,and projects,thereby functioning as a central catalyst for economic growth.This study utilizes data collected at the“DZ,City and Countrycountry”levels through manual compilation,textual analysis,and innovation measurement.It aims to empirically examine the theoretical rationale and practical preferences for promoting business and investment in China’s DZs.This study considers several factors such as industry attribute,firm attribute,agglomeration theory,and industrial chain layout.Based on our research findings,DZs exhibit distinct preferences.First,industry attribute:DZs align with both national and regional strategic planning and adhere to the industrial endowments of the respective areas.Second,firm attribute:DZs prioritize attracting firms that are productive and innovative,and have an international presence,rather than those that primarily contribute to taxes and job creation.Third,DZs are guided by the agglomeration theory,which suggests that they prefer firms that generate strong agglomeration externalities.Lastly,DZs also consider the industrial chain layout,aiming to attract firms that not only align with their existing industrial strengths but also extend to the upstream and downstream supply chain links.These conclusions are substantiated by the performance of robustness test.The success of DZs in China can be attributed to the five key principles:Adherence to national and regional strategic planning,prioritizing the actual industrial foundation,incorporating the theory of agglomeration externalities,strengthening corporate competitiveness,and expanding industrial chains.
文摘时序抽象作为分层强化学习的重要研究内容,允许分层强化学习智能体在不同的时间尺度上学习策略,可以有效解决深度强化学习难以处理的稀疏奖励问题。如何端到端地学习到优秀的时序抽象策略一直是分层强化学习研究面临的挑战。Option-Critic(OC)框架在Option框架的基础上,通过策略梯度理论,可以有效解决此问题。然而,在策略学习过程中,OC框架会出现Option内部策略动作分布变得十分相似的退化问题。该退化问题影响了OC框架的实验性能,导致Option的可解释性变差。为了解决上述问题,引入互信息知识作为内部奖励,并提出基于互信息优化的Option-Critic算法(Option-Critic Algorithm with Mutual Information Optimization,MIOOC)。MIOOC算法结合了近端策略Option-Critic(Proximal Policy Option-Critic,PPOC)算法,可以保证下层策略的多样性。为了验证算法的有效性,把MIOOC算法和几种常见的强化学习方法在连续实验环境中进行对比实验。实验结果表明,MIOOC算法可以加快模型学习速度,实验性能更优,Option内部策略更有区分度。
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(7093200571102055)+1 种基金Youth Fund Project of Sichuan Provincial Department of Education(13ZB003514ZA0304)
文摘This paper considers the two-echelon supply chain system which consists of single agricultural producers and retailers,and analyzes the impact of sharing ratio on the option ordering quantity,and retailers and producers' expected profits.Studies have shown that in the case of decentralization,when the revenue sharing ratio is between 0 and 0.3,the option ordering quantity of farm produce is a decreasing function of the sharing ratio; when the revenue sharing ratio is between 0.3 and 1,the option ordering quantity of farm produce is an increasing function of sharing ratio; when the revenue sharing ratio is between 0.421 and 1,the agricultural producers and retailers' expected profits are an increasing function of sharing ratio.Finally,through the numerical calculation,the applicability of the conclusions is verified,to provide a reference for the supply chain management practices.
文摘Dividing aggregate liabilities by GDP is not an appropriate method for calculating the leverage ratio, and may mislead deleveraging operations. In terms of an intrinsic mechanism, an appropriate measure of leverage ratio should be the liability/asset ratio. In their business operations, it is inevitable for real-economy enterprises to incur liabilities arising from business and financial transactions. Therefore, the significance of deleveraging operations is to reduce the leverage ratio below a certain threshold to effectively prevent risks arising from an excessive leverage ratio, rather than to reduce the liability ratio of real-economy enterprises to zero. For real-economy enterprises, a key question is how to adjust their debt structure by reducing current liabilities and increasing mid-and long-term liabilities. The debt structure of real-economy enterprises is primarily determined by their financial structure. Hence, it is essential to adjust the financial structure in order to improve the debt structure of real-economy enterprises and increase the share of direct finance. Various risks exist in the combination of shares and bonds within the banking system, investment-lending linkage and market-based debt-to-equity operations, which are options in reducing the leverage ratio for real-economy enterprises. From the standpoint of giving play to capital market functions, it is advisable to increase the issuance of midand long-term corporate bonds and preferred stock, restrict non-financial listed companies from engaging in financial operations and the shareholders of listed companies from selling shares, encourage equity investment institutions to enhance equity investment in realeconomy enterprises, and further develop the financing function of the stock market.
基金Supported by Social Sciences Fund of Heilongjiang Province (06B002)
文摘It is a social system engineering to solve problems of city agricultural laborers, inevitably concerning series of social phenomenon and the social issues of the city and countryside relations, the government function, the city management, the fair efficiency, the population flows, the labor employment, the social security, and so on. Furthermore, it also involves the profoundly political and economic system reforms, the transformation of government functions, the system perfection, legal administration, the social stability in China. The city government, as the direct superintendent of the agricultural laborers, should adopt the conception of the system engineering to construct a new mechanism of the city agricultural laborers socialization standard management, which has a profound theoretical and practical significance.
文摘Background: The 11th Annual Conference of Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association was held on July 22-25, 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan. The first author participated in this annual conference where he met the second author who was invited to deliver two plenary speeches on Corporate Governance and Financial Institution Regulation [1] and Alternative Investments for Financial Institutions [2]. The first author was then working as consultant with i-flex solutions, a subsidiary of Oracle and the second author was Vice President of Strategic Business Initiatives Units at ING Life Insurance in its Taiwan operation. The two authors decided to start collaborating on a research paper titled “Modeling Policyholder Behavior through Insurance Resonant Marts for Pricing Options and Guarantees.” The first version of the paper was submitted for research purposes to ING Insurance Risk Management Global Conference 2007 [3] which was held in Beijing, China. Although it was neither presented nor published, the working draft was constantly updated and revised. In 2015, after eight years of continuous research collaboration, the two authors decided to submit the final version of the paper to the 5th World Congress on Engineering and Technology for scholarly presentation. Aim: The competition in the insurance industry is extremely fierce. Insurance companies are under tremendous pressure to retain and increase their customer base, to offer services at attractive rates and provide returns competitive with mutual funds, equities and banks, to achieve profitability across various lines of insurance, to comply with statutory norms etc. Despite having the best of breeds, such as accountants, actuaries [4], lawyers, underwriters, IT experts, consultants, etc., many insurance companies face severe problems to cope with and survive under such pressures. Insurance companies are now striving towards creating innovative products that can match the expectation of the customers with respect to investment returns and risk coverage at competitive rates, which is a very challenging task. Also it is very important to measure the expectations of the customers keeping in mind that those customers are already owners of other financial products. Pricing always follows the expectations and without proper data support, Model risk is imminent. Even if a product is correctly priced, without understanding the behavior of the policyholder towards various financial products will lead to heavy lapses [4]. The authors describe a new framework called UIRDM Approach (Unified Insurance Resonant Data Mart) for the insurance companies wherein this approach stresses the need to think beyond the insurance boundaries.
文摘Green building is receiving increased attention in the public sector in the United States.Over the past ten years,public sector organizations have gone from“testing the waters”with green building pilot projects to developing wide-reaching policies that incorporate green building practices and standards as a formal part of capital project decision processes.A variety of approaches have been employed at the federal,state,and local levels that encourage or require green building practices on public sector projects.To date,however,there has been no systematic evaluation of the pros and cons of these policy options to provide a basis for organizations considering how best to construct a program to meet the needs of its specific context.This paper identifies,compares,and contrasts options that have been incorporated as part of green building programs for states and other public sector organization seeking to motivate green building practices in their capital projects and facilities.Three categories of options are considered:Policy,Program,and Evaluation options.The paper evaluates alternatives within each of these categories according to their potential social,environmental,and economic impacts as well as their likelihood of implementation success within the context of public agencies.The findings of this paper contribute a palette of options for policymakers to consider when drafting policies for their organizations,along with program options to be considered by those who must implement the policies.This work contributes a foundation for future research to further understand the relative effectiveness and impacts of policy elements on green building practice within public sector organizations.
文摘The cost to U.S.consumers of specialty drugs is too high,and cost-sharing obligations are reducing patient access to affordable and life-changing medications.While accounting only for approximately two percent of prescriptions filled,specialty drugs accounted for nearly 45 percent of the U.S.drug spend in 2018,and this rate continues to rise.This review analyzes the current state of the U.S.specialty drug market and recommends six policy options for decreasing out-of-pocket costs to consumers.A systematic review was conducted,gathering articles from peer-reviewed and government resources published from January 2014 to May 2019 using databases such as PubMed,OVID,and the Congressional Research Service(CRS).Articles were reviewed for unique and relevant information relating to cost specialty drugs,industry trends,underlying legislation and policy challenges,and viable policy options.The findings show that,while the cost of specialty drug prices is growing,the rate of growth is projected to slow to a compound annual growth rate(CAGR)of 4 to 7 percent between 2019 to 2023,as compared to a CAGR of 7.2 percent from 2014 to 2018,largely due to the Food and Drug Administration's approval of 10 new biosimilars in 2018 and early 2019.However,specialty drug spending as a percentage of total spending continues to rise and can cost payers and patients more than USD 3,500 on average per month.We recommend six policy options for reducing consumers'out-of-pocket cost obligations:(1)discourage"pay-for-delay"agreements and patent evergreening;(2)align incentives across the specialty drug supply chain with value-based pricing;(3)tighten orphan drug eligibility or impose a sales tax on drugs if the sales tax exceeds a specified threshold until federal subsidies are recouped;(4)increase transparency in transactions between specialty drug supply chain stakeholders;(5)tax the direct-to-consumer advertising of specialty drugs and use the proceeds to fund public research;and(6)support copay cards and patient assistance programs.While the consensus across the industry is that the out-of-pocket costs of specialty drugs to patients are too high,industry stakeholders must agree about which set of policy options to implement.Lawmakers must explore options for reducing the out-of-pocket costs of specialty medications and gather public input on how to best align stakeholder incentives across the specialty drug supply chain.
基金adapted from the key research project titled "Harmonious Society and Social Equity Policy Options" conducted by the research team of the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS)
文摘This statistics-based study shows that in China the urban-rural income gap is contributing more to general income inequality than regional income gaps are. The regional income disparity sets in an east-west plus central contrast while the urban-rural gap is most significantly present in the west and central areas between the cities and the countryside. Rural migrant laborers have helped shrink the urban-rural and regional income gaps. However, when the economy is hit by the global financial crisis to slow, a number of public actions are crucial and urgent to reduce income inequality and enhance social stability. The actions would include an immediate social bail-out and provisions for social security for rural-based migrants currently working in the cities, employment programs targeting low-income group as well as encouraging entrepreneurship.
基金supported by the Jiangsu University Philosophy and Social Science Research Project(Grant No.2019SJA1326).
文摘In this paper,we consider the price of catastrophe options with credit risk in a regime-switching model.We assume that the macroeconomic states are described by a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite state space.By using the measure change technique,we derive the price expressions of catastrophe put options.Moreover,we conduct some numerical analysis to demonstrate how the parameters of the model affect the price of the catastrophe put option.
文摘In the past decade, a new generation of urban cable transport systems has emerged in many countries, most prominently in Latin America, but also in Mediterranean countries like Algeria and Turkey. Apart from being energy efficient and highly effective in bridging obstacles of all sorts, aerial ropeways also provide new access to the city for a variety of population groups. This paper displays recent cases of ropeways and gives an insight into the role that this mode can play as a part of sustainable transport systems. Some socio-political aspects are analyzed which make urban cable a politically and economically attractive policy option and conclusions are drawn from existing ropeway operations.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61922063,62273255,62150026)in part by the Shanghai International Science and Technology Cooperation Project(21550760900,22510712000)+1 种基金the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project(2021SHZDZX0100)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities。
文摘Dear Editor,In this letter,the multi-objective optimal control problem of nonlinear discrete-time systems is investigated.A data-driven policy gradient algorithm is proposed in which the action-state value function is used to evaluate the policy.In the policy improvement process,the policy gradient based method is employed.
文摘Spatio-temporal variability and dynamics in Sahelian agro-pastoral zones make each local situation a special case. These specificities must be considered to guide the dissemination of agricultural options with a view to sustainable development. The territorial scale of municipalities is not sufficient for this necessary contextualization;the scale of the “village terroir” seems to be a better option. This is the hypothesis we put forward in the framework of the Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems program (CRFS), i.e. local context is spatially defined by village terroir. The study is based on data collected through participatory mapping and surveys in “village terroirs” in three regions of Niger (Maradi, Dosso and Tillabéri). Then the links between farm managers and their cultivated land, as well as the spatio-temporal dynamics of local context are analyzed. This study provides evidence of the existence and functional usefulness of the village terroir for farmers, their land management and their activities. It demonstrates the usefulness of contextualizing agricultural options at this scale. Their analysis elucidates the links between “terroirs village” and the specific functioning of the agrosocio-ecosystems acting on each of them, thus laying the systemic and geographical foundations for a model of the spatio- temporal dynamics of “village terroirs”. This initial work has opened up new perspectives in modeling and sustainable development.
文摘Sustainable practices in the built environment are becoming a more common phenomona as market penetration of green buildings grow. Despite the reported benefits of green buildings, barriers to sustainability still exist. To motivate wider adoption of sustainable built environments, this research studies public policy and its impacts. The study aims to understand the links between public policy, construction playmakers’ (e.g., organizations’, institutions’, business owners’, and developers’) motivation to build green, and growth of sustainable built environments in the United States. As a step forward in this direction, this paper focuses on the case of Michigan and explores construction playmakers’ motivations to build and/or occupy sustainable buildings and how effective current public policy in Michigan is at addressing these motivations.There is little research on the links among legislation, construction playmakers’ motivation to build green, and the growth of sustainable built environment in the United States. This article’s findings show that: 1) green building costs are still the most frequently-reported barrier to green building, 2) property developers are significantly less likely to utilize green building practices than other construction playmakers, 3) single-family residential buildings were the least likely building type to receive green certifications, and 4) construction playmakers report low levels of green policy awareness and use despite the presence of relevant public policies. These findings will provide direction for policy makers and advocates in creating policy that will effectively promote green building construction.