澳大利亚绩效审计的经验及借鉴

20世纪70年代以来,绩效审计已经成为大部分国家政府审计的主流,在发达国家绩效审计已经占到审计工作总量的2/3。而我国由于起步较晚,国家审计工作目前仍以传统的财务审计为主,绩效审计处于试验和探索阶段。本文介绍了澳大利亚绩效审计的主要经验,结合我国国情,对我国绩效审计工作实践提出几点意见和建议。     

西方发达国家的金融保险制度对我国的启示

存款保险是指为从事存贷款业务的金融机构建立一个保险机构，各成员金融机构向保险机构交纳保险费；而当成员金融机构面临危机或经营破产时，保险机构向其提供流动性资助或者代替破产机构在一定限度内对存款者给予偿付的制度。在国际货币基金组织的183个成员国中，67个国家的存款保险制度是以法律的形式予以明确规定的。事实证明明确的存款保险制度有着不可替代的优势。我国建立金融保险制度应吸取发达国家的经验教训。     

舰船回转过程中内、外侧螺旋桨负荷变化规律的新现象

在许多教科书中,螺旋桨推进双桨船在回转过程中内、外螺旋桨负荷变化规律均有如下叙述:回转过程中内侧螺旋桨负荷远大于外侧螺旋桨负荷.这个结论也被某些实船试验结果所证实.但新近完成的某双桨船的回转试验的多个实测结果表明:外侧螺旋桨负荷远大于内侧螺旋桨负荷.在上世纪90年代国内有人已发现过这一新现象,但当时无人记录和分析以进行研究.本文报告和分析了这一新现象.文章首先简要回顾了以往教科书和某些实船试航回转过程中内、外桨负荷变化规律;然后介绍了某新船回转试验的实测结果,论述了实测结果的可信性.本文着重探讨了导致这一新现象的主要原因,如船体形状、船的运动、内外螺旋桨的运动、桨与船的相互作用和桨与桨的相互作用等.     

Air pollution from ships: Recent developments

All developments on air pollution by ships are fairly recent. Annex VI of the international Marpol-convention, regulating the emissions of CFCs, Halons, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from cargoes, emissions from incinerators and exhaust gas emissions from engines (NO_x and SO_x) entered into force in May 2005. The International Maritime Organization is currently discussing an upgrade of the air pollution issues covered by Annex VI and some that are not in Annex VI, such as greenhouse gas emissions. CO₂ is the most important greenhouse gas emitted by ship. Fuel consumption by the world merchant fleet is expected to grow to between 250–300 million tons per year with corresponding CO₂ emissions of 800–960 million tons per year. In Western Europe land based measures have reduced sulphur emissions substantially, leaving shipping as an important remaining source of these emissions. Average sulphur content of heavy fuel oils is 3%, with a limit of 4.5% imposed by Annex VI. Both the Baltic- and the North Sea have the status of SO_x emission control area, limiting sulphur content to 1.5%.     

Investment strategies in market uncertainty

The nature of the global economy is one of dynamic change. Shipping is a service industry with its demand related to changes in international trade levels and patterns. As a consequence shipping is subject to sometimes unpredictable swings in demand so that the operator is required to make strategic planning decisions while navigating through boom or bust environments. While boom economies generate rising freight rates which are welcomed and encourage investment, ship operators may also have to face falling freight demand and declining freight rates that may have significant impact on profitability, often falling to uneconomic levels for extended periods. In such a period of uncertainty and declining profitability management will make operational decisions to reduce costs. However, shipping lines operate in a market environment so any decisions made to rationalize the trade may have significant long-term competitive implications. For example, traditional micro economic theory might suggest that the prudent strategy to adopt would be to close down the operation and reopen when the market conditions improve. In a world of certainty or when costs of taking this action are zero, this would be a valid strategy. However, because of fear of competitors taking up a line's market share if the shipping company exits, even temporarily, this strategy cannot be valued simply in terms of shut-down and start-up costs. A further consideration is the fact that standard capital budgeting techniques, such as Net Present Value (NPV), cannot incorporate the flexibility to respond to new information and strategic responses explicitly into their investment analysis. This paper will demonstrate the use of Real Option Analysis (ROA) to provide guidelines for decisions about closing operations in adverse market conditions.     

The coastal edge of the Northeast Water polynya in spring 1993

Multidisciplinary, marine ecological observations were conducted at the shallow water edge of the Northeast Water in June, 1993. Although variable in size and shape, a small polynya was constantly present at Eskimonaes, at the fast-ice edge of Ingolfsfjord. A shallow stratified layer developed at the water sufface at negative water and air temperatures—an effect of sea ice melting in cold water early in the season. Nutrients were recorded in considerable quantities, although by mid July NO₃ had become depleted. The chlorophyll and phytoplankton maxima at 8–12 m depth had peak values of 2 mg chl a m⁻³, typical for Arctic algal blooms. The phytoplankton included over 90 species and was dominated by the Fragillariopsis group. Zooplankton was poor in biomass and density, but over 23 taxa were found, with the copepods Oithona similis and Pseudocalanus acuspes being numerically dominant. Sedimentation was approximately 0.2 g dry weight m⁻² d⁻¹ and suspended matter concentrations ranged from 4 to 19 mg l⁻¹. The benthos was represented by hard bottom forms only, with a surprisingly dense cover of macrophytes. Juvenile sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis), brittle stars (Ophiocten sericeum) and amphipods were dominant. Higher trophic levels were represented by benthic feeders, such as eiders and walruses. The area observed was more similar to high Arctic fjord ecosystems than to the offshore central Northeast Water polynya.     

德国铁路电力机车动车概况

简要介绍德国铁路现有电力机车动车的各种系列、数量和主要改进.     

Valuation of externalities through neo-classical methods by including institutional variables

Externalities are uncompensated influences that are not expressed in a market but that affect the production possibilities or the welfare level of third parties. An example is the noise pollution in airport areas. Although air transport is an important source of economic growth and employment in many countries, the social and environmental problems connected with this sector are rising rapidly. Consequently, airports are becoming a matter of concern to many politicians. On what kind of values should they base their decisions as to further growth or consolidation of the current situation? In this paper we discuss two approaches, one based on mainstream, neo-classical, economics, and one based on institutional approaches, more in particular new institutional economics, which can be seen as a development complementary to the mainstream.     

Eddies around Madagascar — The retroflection re-considered

The Agulhas Current with its retroflection and attendant eddy-shedding is the cause of some of the greatest mesoscale variability in the ocean. This paper considers the area to the south and east of Madagascar, which provides some of the source waters of the Agulhas Current, and examines the propagating sea surface height signals in altimetry and output from a numerical model, OCCAM. Both show bands of variability along the axis of the East Madagascar Current (EMC) and along a zonal band near 25°S. Sequences of images plus associated temperature data suggest that a number of westward-propagating eddies are present in this zonal band. The paper then focuses on the region to the south of the island, where ocean colour and infra-red imagery are evocative of an East Madagascar Retroflection. The synthesis of data analysed in this paper, however, shows that remotely observed features in this area can be explained by anticyclonic eddies moving westward through the region, and this explanation is consistent with numerical model output and the trajectories of drifting buoys.