Responses of grazing households to different levels of payments for ecosystem services

Introduction:Payments for Ecosystem Services(PES)programs have been implemented globally to protect ecosystems while securing the well-being of affected people.Reasonable payment standards are key to successful PES programs.Although some approaches are available for determining payment standards,few studies have applied them for grassland conservation with location indicators and socioeconomic contexts properly considered.Methods:Using China’s first pilot Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy(GECP)as an example,we analyzed the effects of payment levels,other natural and socioeconomic factors on herders’willingness to participate in the GECP in Damao County in Inner Mongolia where grassland degradation is happening at an alarming rate due to overgrazing and cropland expansion.Outcomes:Our results show that households with lower herding income,older age,higher education,larger grassland areas,and worse social relationships are more inclined to participate in the GECP.Conservation payment level,as well as natural and socioeconomic contextual factors,significantly affect the response of herdsmen,and a reasonable grassland payment standard with a 95%policy compliance rate should be 8.8 yuan mu-1.Discussion and Conclusion:Our findings can inform governments to develop effective PES programs to balance the need of human well-being improvement and grassland conservation in China and beyond.

State-Fueled Energy:Quantitative Comparison of State-Led Overseas Energy Financing in China and Japan

China and Japan own the largest policy banks—state-owned financiers—in the world.Policy banks have recently drawn international attention as the Export-Import Bank of China(CHEXIM)and China Development Bank(CDB)play an important role in China5s overseas economic activities.This paper examines the extent to which the CHEXIM and CDB behave similarly to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation(JBIC),their Japanese counterpart in energy loan approvals.Combining third-party data from a new database of Chinese overseas energy finance and various matching databases,this paper proposes a fixed-effect model to compare the determinants of the CHEXIM,CDB and JBIC's overseas energy loans from a comparative perspective.Like their Japanese counterparts,Chinese banks exhibit a certain degree of concern for the recipient'domestic economy but also exhibit riskseeking tendencies.Contrary to claims that China5s policy bank is a tool to gain geopolitical advantage,geopolitical concerns and energy security do not appear to be determinants of the CHEXIM's overseas finance decisions.