Rating General Obligation Debt: Implications of Resource Scarcity

This paper contrasts nonguaranteed city debt with taxation and general obligation debt. Drawing upon Bureau of the Census, Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) and Municipal Year Book data, the analysis shows that both per capita tax revenue and outstanding general obligation debt are best explained by background factors such as total population, functional scope, and region, while fiscal strain plays a secondary role. Political structures, in the shape of legal constraints on taxation and debt and of form of government, do not account for patterns of these traditional revenue sources. By contrast, nonguaranteed debt is best explained by a model in which fiscal strain has a paramount role, but with both legal constraints on taxing and regional differentiation contributing significantly to the explanation, at least for data collected prior to 1978. The findings suggest a two-tiered model of the revenue side of fiscal decision making, with historical accommodations to powerful economic and demographic factors dominating taxing and general obligation debt, while nonguaranteed debt serves as a flexible instrument of shorter-term strategy.

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The Determinants of Municipal Debt Policy: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis

Environment and Planning C Government and Policy ◽

10.1068/c160211 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 211-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

R A Cropf ◽

G D Wendel

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

Time Series Regression ◽

General Obligation ◽

Local Officials ◽

Municipal Debt ◽

General Obligation Debt ◽

Pooled Time Series ◽

The Impact ◽

Us Cities ◽

Debt Policy

Cities have started to rely more on debt in recent decades, in large part in response to changes occurring externally. In this paper the authors analyze the impact of important social, political, and economic factors on municipal debt behavior. They examine the 42 largest US cities from 1980 to 1990, using a pooled time-series regression model. It was found that, generally speaking, these factors had the effect of increasing cities' reliance on revenue debt, which is less accountable to the voters than full-faith and credit debt. It is difficult to say whether local officials have consciously pursued a policy of insulating municipal debt decisions from the voters. However, it is clear that these officials are responding to environmental cues that lead them to prefer revenue debt over general-obligation debt by a large margin. Recent research has shown that cities have historically pursued a ‘politics of circumvention’. With the demand for debt increasing as other means for financing local services are constrained the effects on the polity of these preferences warrant serious attention.

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Leveraging a theory of slack: How resource scarcity affects borrowing behavior

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e615882011-122 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Anuj K. Shah ◽

Eldar Shafir ◽

Sendhil Mullainathan

Keyword(s):

Resource Scarcity

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Resource Scarcity and Sustainability—The Shapes Have Shifted but the Stakes Keep Rising

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13105751 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 5751

Author(s):

Alan Randall

Keyword(s):

Environmental Policy ◽

Renewable Resource ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Problem Definition ◽

Planetary Boundaries ◽

Strong Sustainability ◽

Management Concepts ◽

Special Cases ◽

Sustainability Theory ◽

Assimilation Capacity

The objective is to provide an interpretive reading of the literature in resource scarcity and sustainability theory from the nineteenth century to the present time, focusing on shifts that have occurred in problem definition, conceptual framing, research tools applied, findings, and their implications. My reading shows, as one would expect, that the discourse has become more technical and the analysis more sophisticated; special cases have been incorporated into the mainstream of theory; and, where relevant, dynamic formulations have largely supplanted static analysis. However, that is barely scratching the surface. Here, I focus on more fundamental shifts. Exhaustible and renewable resource analyses were incorporated into the mainstream theory of financial and capital markets. Parallels between the resources and environmental spheres were discovered: market failure concepts, fundamental to environmental policy, found applications in the resources sector (e.g., fisheries), and renewable resource management concepts and approaches (e.g., waste assimilation capacity) were adopted in environmental policy. To motivate sustainability theory and assessment, there has been a foundational problem shift from restraining human greed to dealing with risk viewed as chance of harm, and a newfound willingness to look beyond stochastic risk to uncertainty, ambiguity, and gross ignorance. Newtonian dynamics, which seeks a stable equilibrium following a shock, gave way to a new dynamics of complexity that valued resilience in the face of shocks, warned of potential for regime shifts, and focused on the possibility of systemic collapse and recovery, perhaps incomplete. New concepts of sustainability (a safe minimum standard of conservation, the precautionary principle, and planetary boundaries) emerged, along with hybrid approaches such as WS-plus which treats weak sustainability (WS) as the default but may impose strong sustainability restrictions on a few essential but threatened resources. The strong sustainability objective has evolved from maintaining baseline flows of resource services to safety defined as minimizing the chance of irreversible collapse. New tools for management and policy (sustainability indicators and downscaled planetary boundaries) have proliferated, and still struggle to keep up with the emerging understanding of complex systems.

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Evaluation of China’s Circular Agriculture Performance and Analysis of the Driving Factors

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041643 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1643

Author(s):

Biao Li ◽

Yunting Feng ◽

Xiqiang Xia ◽

Mengjie Feng

Keyword(s):

Rapid Development ◽

Arable Land ◽

Indicator System ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Entropy Method ◽

Agricultural Industry ◽

Evaluation Indicator ◽

Evaluation Indicator System ◽

Per Capita ◽

The Government

Along with industry upgrading and urbanization, the agricultural industry in China has been experiencing a stage of rapid development, on the bright side. On the other side, ecological environment deterioration and resource scarcity have become prevalent. Called by the current situation, circular agriculture arises as a direction for the industry to achieve sustainable development. This study develops an evaluation indicator system for circular agriculture using an entropy method, and evaluates factors that could drive the Chinese agricultural industry to achieve better performance. We employ the method using provincial data collected from the province of Henan, in which around 10% of the total grain in China is produced. It was found that agricultural technology and water resources per capita are positively related to circular performance in agriculture. In contrast, urbanization and arable land per capita are negatively related to circular performance. This article provides support to the government in policy-making related to the improvement of circular agricultural performance.

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Circular Economy Strategies for Equipment Lifetime Extension: A Systematic Review

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031117 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1117

Author(s):

Alessandro Fontana ◽

Andrea Barni ◽

Deborah Leone ◽

Maurizio Spirito ◽

Agata Tringale ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Production Equipment ◽

Environmental Standards ◽

Multiple Strategies ◽

Medium Enterprise ◽

Equipment Lifetime ◽

Selection Of ◽

Lifetime Extension

Even if the economy nowadays is still locked into a linear model of production, tighter environmental standards, resource scarcity and changing consumer expectations are forcing organizations to find alternatives to lighten their impacts. The concept of Circular Economy (CE) is to an increasing extent treated as a solution to this series of challenges. That said, the multitude of approaches and definitions around CE and Life Cycle Extension Strategies (LCES) makes it difficult to provide (Small and Medium Enterprise) SMEs with a consistent understanding of the topic. This paper aims at bridging this gap by providing a systematic literature review of the most prominent papers related to the CE and lifetime extension, with a particular focus on the equipment and machinery sector. A taxonomy was used to define and cluster a subset of selected papers to build a homogeneous approach for understanding the multiple strategies used in the industry, and the standards in maintenance and remanufacturing strategies. As a final research step, we also propose a Strategy Characterization Framework (SCF) to build the ground for the selection of the best strategy to be applied for production equipment life cycle extension on several industrial use cases.

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Environmental impact assessment of organic fraction of municipal solid waste treatment by anaerobic digestion in Sri Lanka

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x211013405 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0734242X2110134

Author(s):

Rasangika Thathsaranee Weligama Thuppahige ◽

Sandhya Babel

Keyword(s):

Anaerobic Digestion ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Municipal Solid Waste ◽

Solid Waste ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Policy Formation ◽

Ozone Formation ◽

Organic Fraction ◽

Management Options

The management of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) has continued to be a significant challenge in Sri Lanka. Anaerobic digestion is one of the management options of OFMSW. However, it generates unavoidable environmental impacts that should be addressed. The present study focuses to assess the environmental impact of a full-scale anaerobic digestion plant in Sri Lanka from a life cycle perspective. The inventory data were obtained from direct interviews and field measurements. Environmental burdens were found to be in terms of global warming potential (230 kg CO2 eq) ozone formation on human health (6.15 × 10−6 kg NO x eq), freshwater eutrophication (2.92 × 10−3 kg P eq), freshwater ecotoxicity (9.27 × 10−5 kg 1,4 DCB eq), human carcinogenic toxicity (3.98 × 10−4 kg 1,4 DCB eq), land use (1.32 × 10−4 m2 a crop eq) and water consumption (2.23 × 10−2 m3). The stratospheric ozone depletion, fine particulate matter formation, ozone formation on terrestrial ecosystems, terrestrial acidification, marine eutrophication, ecotoxicity (terrestrial and marine), human non-carcinogenic toxicity, mineral resource scarcity and fossil resource scarcity, were avoided due to electricity production. Results show that the direct gaseous emissions and digestate generation should be addressed in order to reduce the burdens from the anaerobic digestion plant. Finally, the results of the study could help in policy formation and decision-making in selecting future waste management systems in Sri Lanka.

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A Perspective on the Application of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Detection and Water Treatment

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11071651 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1651

Author(s):

Cristina Arqueros ◽

Félix Zamora ◽

Carmen Montoro

Keyword(s):

Water Treatment ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Covalent Organic Frameworks ◽

Design Strategies ◽

Free Standing ◽

Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽

Design And Synthesis ◽

Water Detection ◽

Wide Range ◽

Quality Water

Global population growth and water resource scarcity are significant social problems currently being studied by many researchers focusing on finding new materials for water treatment. The aim is to obtain quality water suitable for drinking and industrial consumption. In this sense, an emergent class of crystalline porous materials known as Covalent-Organic Frameworks (COFs) offers a wide range of possibilities since their structures can be designed on demand for specific applications. Indeed, in the last decade, many efforts have been made for their use in water treatment. This perspective article aims to overview the state-of-the-art COFs collecting the most recent results in the field for water detection of pollutants and water treatment. After the introduction, where we overview the classical design strategies on COF design and synthesis for obtaining chemically stable COFs, we summarize the different experimental methodologies used for COFs processing in the form of supported and free-standing membranes and colloids. Finally, we describe the use of COFs in processes involving the detection of pollutants in water and wastewater treatment, such as the capture of organic compounds, heavy metals, and dyes, the degradation of organic pollutants, as well as in desalination processes. Finally, we provide a perspective on the field and the potential technological use of these novel materials.

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The effect of COVID19 pandemic restrictions on an urban rodent population

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-92301-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Miguel A. Bedoya-Pérez ◽

Michael P. Ward ◽

Max Loomes ◽

Iain S. McGregor ◽

Mathew S. Crowther

Keyword(s):

Binary Data ◽

Sampling Interval ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Health Authorities ◽

Before And After ◽

Directional Change ◽

Public Health Authorities ◽

Bait Stations ◽

Rodent Populations ◽

The City

AbstractShortly after the enactment of restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19, various local government and public health authorities around the world reported an increased sighting of rats. Such reports have yet to be empirically validated. Here we combined data from multi-catch rodent stations (providing data on rodent captures), rodent bait stations (providing data on rodent activity) and residents’ complaints to explore the effects of a six week lockdown period on rodent populations within the City of Sydney, Australia. The sampling interval encompassed October 2019 to July 2020 with lockdown defined as the interval from April 1st to May 15th, 2020. Rodent captures and activity (visits to bait stations) were stable prior to lockdown. Captures showed a rapid increase and then decline during the lockdown, while rodent visits to bait stations declined throughout this period. There were no changes in the frequency of complaints during lockdown relative to before and after lockdown. There was a non-directional change in the geographical distribution of indices of rodent abundance suggesting that rodents redistributed in response to resource scarcity. We hypothesize that lockdown measures initially resulted in increased rodent captures due to sudden shortage of human-derived food resources. Rodent visits to bait stations might not show this pattern due to the nature of the binary data collected, namely the presence or absence of a visit. Relocation of bait stations driven by pest management goals may also have affected the detection of any directional spatial effect. We conclude that the onset of COVID-19 may have disrupted commensal rodent populations, with possible implications for the future management of these ubiquitous urban indicator species.

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