Since 1999, shutdown policy has been one of the most important industrial policies in China ＇S coal mining industry. There have been many controversies surrounding this policy and its effect on coal mine safety. This...Since 1999, shutdown policy has been one of the most important industrial policies in China ＇S coal mining industry. There have been many controversies surrounding this policy and its effect on coal mine safety. This paper summarizes, analyzes and tests two contradicting views of the effects of shutdown policy on the mortality rate of township-and-village-owned coal mines. One view, or the regulative view, believes that shutdown policy induces firms to increase safety input, thus decreasing mortality. The opposing view, or the property rights view, argues that shutdown policy disturbs property rights stability and actually increases mortality. We built a simple theoretical model to analyze these contrasting rationales. The model uses the difference-in-difference method and provincial panel data from 1995 to 2005 to empirically test the policy＇s effects. Our findings are that shutdown policy significantly decreases output while also increasing mortality in township-and-village coal mines. This result is consistent with the property rights view.展开更多
The paper examines the situation and causes of recent big earthquake and tsunami disasters especially in the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and analyzes the damage to extract lessons on safety of bui...The paper examines the situation and causes of recent big earthquake and tsunami disasters especially in the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and analyzes the damage to extract lessons on safety of buildings and recovery of cities from the view point of building regulations such as the Article 39 of the Building Standard Law. In addition, the Article 8 of the Ordinance of City Planning Law resulted in not so effective against tsunami in March 2011. Control mechanisms of building construction should be integrated into socio-economic, institutional, technical and other policy tools. In order to mitigate earthquake risk, all stages of building construction, from location, planning and construction to maintenance are important. Awareness creation is instrumental for building culture of safety and demands for intervention in disaster mitigation. The demands ultimately help in creating conducive environment for policy intervention, in realizing institutional mechanism of building code enforcement and land use control for the municipal authorities and in creating demand for competent professionals.展开更多
文摘Since 1999, shutdown policy has been one of the most important industrial policies in China ＇S coal mining industry. There have been many controversies surrounding this policy and its effect on coal mine safety. This paper summarizes, analyzes and tests two contradicting views of the effects of shutdown policy on the mortality rate of township-and-village-owned coal mines. One view, or the regulative view, believes that shutdown policy induces firms to increase safety input, thus decreasing mortality. The opposing view, or the property rights view, argues that shutdown policy disturbs property rights stability and actually increases mortality. We built a simple theoretical model to analyze these contrasting rationales. The model uses the difference-in-difference method and provincial panel data from 1995 to 2005 to empirically test the policy＇s effects. Our findings are that shutdown policy significantly decreases output while also increasing mortality in township-and-village coal mines. This result is consistent with the property rights view.
文摘The paper examines the situation and causes of recent big earthquake and tsunami disasters especially in the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and analyzes the damage to extract lessons on safety of buildings and recovery of cities from the view point of building regulations such as the Article 39 of the Building Standard Law. In addition, the Article 8 of the Ordinance of City Planning Law resulted in not so effective against tsunami in March 2011. Control mechanisms of building construction should be integrated into socio-economic, institutional, technical and other policy tools. In order to mitigate earthquake risk, all stages of building construction, from location, planning and construction to maintenance are important. Awareness creation is instrumental for building culture of safety and demands for intervention in disaster mitigation. The demands ultimately help in creating conducive environment for policy intervention, in realizing institutional mechanism of building code enforcement and land use control for the municipal authorities and in creating demand for competent professionals.
