Economic Environmental Effects Research Articles

Synergetic management of the water-energy-food nexus for cropland ecosystems under climate change: Toward a multistakeholder-based systematic optimization approach

The optimal management of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in cropland ecosystems (CEs) can help promote food security and resource sustainability. However, the intrinsic interactions among multisource energy, water, the yield-formation process, and the economic-environmental effect have not been systematically quantified and determined. This paper constructs a WEF-based cooperative optimization model in CEs under climate-change conditions, which is capable of reflecting the reciprocal transformations and coordinated interactions among light energy, thermal energy and biomass energy in CEs and of balancing the energy/water use efficiency, economy and environmental factors considering the biomass residue potential. The method is tested and implemented on the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. The results show that (1) a cooperative relationship between energy utilization efficiencies and economic benefits was identified. For example, if the utilization efficiencies of light and heat energy increase by 1%, the economic benefits increase by 13.59%, and the biomass energy production potential increases by 10.82%. (2) The aboveground residue can be reused in power generation, carbonization, anaerobic fermentation, feed preparation and sales applications to increase the economic benefits by 3.38%–20.70%. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of multiple renewable energy management and the bound with water and food production, promoting the sustainable development of agroecosystems.

An integrated optimization and multi-scale input–output model for interaction mechanism analysis of energy–economic–environmental policy in a typical fossil-energy-dependent region

With the continuous development of the social giant system, the independence of subsystem boundaries has decreased under the drive of complex relationships and multiple uncertainties. Decision makers are required to consider the interactions between different systems to develop precise policy guidance. Given these challenges, an integrated optimization and multi-scale input–output (OMIO) model is proposed by integrating interval programming, chance-constrained programming, and integer programming into the input–output framework to provide comprehensive policy analysis. The optimized decision variables that carry uncertain information from energy system are identified as connection points to induce changes in economic-environmental effects. A typical fossil-energy-dependent region that mainly relies on fossil fuels, Shanxi Province, China, was used as a case study. It was found that the joint effects of energy system optimization and socioeconomic rebalance will promote the rise of the petroleum product sector, the logistics industry, and tertiary industries, as well as the popularity of electric vehicles. The increase in the use of clean energy and electric vehicles will stimulate GDP growth in the short term, and the emissions of carbon dioxide and air pollutants will be reduced to varying degrees. The study findings can provide comprehensive energy allocation strategies, socioeconomic effect analysis, and climate mitigation results to help fossil-energy-dependent regions better adapt to the requirements of sustainable development under multiple systematic uncertainties.

Bioactive compounds conservation and energy-mass analysis in the solar greenhouse drying of blackberry pulps

Recently, the quality of food solar dried has been associated to solar irradiance, irradiation and UV-light. Different materials used as covering materials in direct solar dryers had different optical properties, thus, different quality should be expected in solar food drying. The objective of this study was to compare two direct solar dryers builder with different covering materials: Direct Solar Drying with Poly (methyl methacrylate) (DSD), and Greenhouse Solar Drying with polyethylene (SGD), based on their three aspects: chemical composition, heat-mass transference, economic-environmental effect. Chemical composition was evaluated as the total phenolic compounds (TPC), flavonoids (TF) anthocyanins (TA) and antioxidant activity (AA) of blackberry pulp (Rubus spp). Dehydrated blackberry pulp contains lower TA than raw samples because TA is sensitive to solar irradiation and UV solar irradiation. TPC, TF and AA averages do not show significant differences among all the drying processes. Evaluation of energy and heat transfer in the evaporative and diffusive periods of the drying technologies led to an assessment of the return of investment period for DSD and SGD technologies for different power sources. The results suggest payback periods between 39 and 121 months, considering only the 6 months of harvest duration without using the solar dryers the rest of the year.

Mean-chance model for portfolio selection based on uncertain measure

This paper discusses a portfolio selection problem in which security returns are given by experts’ evaluations instead of historical data. A factor method for evaluating security returns based on experts’ judgment is proposed and a mean-chance model for optimal portfolio selection is developed taking transaction costs and investors’ preference on diversification and investment limitations on certain securities into account. The factor method of evaluation can make good use of experts’ knowledge on the effects of economic environment and the companies’ unique characteristics on security returns and incorporate the contemporary relationship of security returns in the portfolio. The use of chance of portfolio return failing to reach the threshold can help investors easily tell their tolerance toward risk and thus facilitate a decision making. To solve the proposed nonlinear programming problem, a genetic algorithm is provided. To illustrate the application of the proposed method, a numerical example is also presented.

Low Birth Weight Across Generations: The Effect of Economic Environment

To determine whether economic environment across generations underlies the association of maternal low birth weight (<2,500 g, LBW) and infant LBW including its preterm (<37 weeks) and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) components. Stratified and multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed on an Illinois transgenerational dataset of White and African-American infants (1989-1991) and their mothers (1956-1976) with appended US census income data. Population Attributable Risk percentages were calculated to estimate the percentage of LBW births attributable to maternal LBW. Among Whites, former LBW mothers (N = 651) had an infant LBW rate of 7.1% versus 3.9% for former non-LBW mothers (N = 11,505); RR = 1.8 (1.4-2.5). In multilevel logistic regression models that controlled for economic environment and individual maternal risk factors, the adjusted OR of infant LBW, preterm birth, and intrauterine growth retardation for maternal LBW (compared to non-LBW) equaled 1.8 (1.3-2.5), 1.3 (1.0-1.8), and 1.8 (1.5-2.3), respectively. Among African-Americans, former LBW mothers (N = 3,087) had an infant LBW rate of 19.5% versus 13.3% for former non-LBW mothers (N = 18,558);RR = 1.5 (1.3-1.6). In multilevel logistic models of African-Americans, the adjusted OR of infant LBW, preterm birth, and IUGR for maternal LBW (compared to non-LBW) were 1.6 (1.4-1.8), 1.3 (1.2-1.5), and 1.6 (1.5-1.8), respectively. In both races, approximately five percent of LBW infants with mothers and maternal grandmother who resided in high-income neighborhoods were attributable to maternal LBW. A similar generational transmission of LBW including its component pathways of preterm birth and intrauterine growth retardation occurs in both races independent of economic environment across generations.

Retail Pricing Strategies in Recession Economies: The Case of Taiwan

In a recession economy, consumers tend to be more sensitive about price, and firms have difficulty obtaining necessary resources for effective pricing. However, previous studies into pricing appear to overlook the possible effect of economic environment on the effectiveness of a pricing strategy. By observing the current recession and the resultant price war in Asian countries, the authors examine marketing decisions by retailers in a recession economy. The authors propose a contingent model, based on organizational resources and consumer price consciousness, to guide the examination of the strategy–performance bond. The results show that only resource-abundant retailers are able to use strategies proposed in this study to thrive in a recession. A value-centric strategy outperforms all other approaches.