A Critical Evaluation of Structural Reform Considerations in ‘Rates and Taxes: A Fair Share for Responsible Local Government’

In its landmark report entitled Rates and Taxes: A Fair Share for Responsible Local Government, the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration (2003 Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee On Economics, Finance and Public Administration [‘Hawker Report’] ( 2003 ) Rates and taxes: a fair share for responsible local government , Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra . [Google Scholar]) considered the plight of Australian local government given its very wide terms of reference involving local government's roles and responsibilities, current funding arrangements, municipal capacity, council expenditure, scope for rationalisation, and the findings of the Commonwealth Grants Commission Review (2001 Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC) ( 2001 ) Review of the Operation of Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 , Canberra . [Google Scholar]) of the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. The authors of the ‘Hawker Report’ brought down 18 recommendations, two of which dealt directly with the thorny question of structural reform. This paper seeks to provide a critical assessment of those aspects of the Report that concern structural reform in Australian local government.     

“项目导向”的测绘高技能人才培养途径探讨

通过校企合作,以区域典型测绘工程项目为导向,将测绘工程项目引入人才培养方案中,深化“项目导向”的人才培养模式改革,构建以项目工作任务为载体的课程体系,改革教学内容、教学方法和教学手段,探索测绘高技能人才培养途径。     

Photometric study of Centaur (60558) 2000 EC98 and trans-neptunian object (55637) 2002 UX25 at different phase angles

We present photometric observations of Centaur (60558) 2000 EC₉₈ and trans-neptunian object (55637) 2002 UX₂₅ at different phase angles and with different filters (mainly R but also V and B for some data). Results for 2000 EC₉₈ are: (i) a rotation period of 26.802±0.042 h if a double-peaked lightcurve is assumed, (ii) a lightcurve amplitude of 0.24±0.06 for the R band, (iii) a phase curve with H=9.03±0.01 and G=−0.39±0.08 (R filter) and H=9.55±0.04 and G=−0.50±0.35 (V filter) or a slope of (R filter) and 0.22±0.06 (V filter), (iv) the color indices B-V=0.76±0.15 and V-R=0.51±0.09 (for α=0.1-0.5°) and 0.55±0.08 (for α=1.4-1.5°). The rotation period is amongst the longest ever measured for Centaurs and TNOs. We also show that our photometry was not contaminated by any cometary activity down to magnitude ?27/arcsec². For 2002 UX₂₅ the results are: (i) a rotation period of 14.382±0.001 h or 16.782±0.003 h (if a double-peaked lightcurve is assumed) (ii) a lightcurve amplitude of 0.21±0.06 for the R band (and the 16.782 h period), (iii) a phase curve with H=3.32±0.01 and G=+0.16±0.18 or a slope of (R filter), (iv) the color indices B-V=1.12±0.26 and V-R=0.61±0.12. The phase curve reveals also a possible very narrow and bright opposition surge. Because such a narrow surge appears only for one point it needs to be confirmed.     

Development of local authorities in EU-member states between 1950–2011

The aim of the submitted study was to illustrate the development of the number of local authorities in all current EU states in the long period between 1950 and 2011 comprehensively, and also by particular decades, thus demonstrating the originality and uniqueness of the topic analysed in this context. Thus, we obtain a more detailed picture of the development of the number of local authorities in EU countries, and we can monitor how local authorities within a specific country gradually developed. (The stabilisation of the number of local units and an increase or gradual or sudden drop in local units are shown, for example). A sudden drop in local units can be associated with significant administrative reforms and with the development of large units of the so-called municipalities. When it becomes necessary to merge local authorities, many countries look to other countries where extensive reforms took place in the past for inspiration. However, it must be borne in mind that in a general European context, we cannot apply a universal system of public administration reforms, and solutions in the form of these reforms inspired by other countries may not always be appropriate.     

供给侧改革驱动中国工业绿色发展的动力结构及时空效应

运用熵值法和动态面板的系统GMM估计方法对2000~2015年中国工业绿色发展水平及其供给侧动力结构进行探究,结果表明：中国工业绿色发展水平呈逐年递增趋势,“东中西”依次递减的空间演变格局越发明显;绿色资本与中国工业绿色发展呈“U”型关系,其他5类绿色要素供给对中国工业绿色发展均起到了促进作用;工业绿色发展水平相对较高的东部地区的人口素质、绿色产业以及环境规制等对工业绿色发展的促进作用相对较大,而工业绿色发展水平相对较低的中西部地区的能源结构、技术进步等对工业绿色发展的促进作用相对较大。     

Research Note: Near‐surface layer replacement for sparse data: is interpolation needed?

Near‐surface problem is a common challenge faced by land seismic data processing, where often, due to near‐surface anomalies, events of interest are obscured. One method to handle this challenge is near‐surface layer replacement, which is a wavefield reconstruction process based on downward wavefield extrapolation with the near‐surface velocity model and upward wavefield extrapolation with a replacement velocity model. This requires, in theory, that the original wavefield should be densely sampled. In reality, data acquisition is always sparse due to economic reasons, and as a result in the near‐surface layer replacement data interpolation should be resorted to. For datasets with near‐surface challenges, because of the complex event behaviour, a suitable interpolation scheme by itself is a challenging problem, and this, in turn, makes it difficult to carry out the near‐surface layer replacement. In this research note, we first point out that the final objective of the near‐surface layer replacement is not to obtain a newly reconstructed wavefield but to obtain a better final image. Next, based upon this finding, we propose a new thinking, interpolation‐free near‐surface layer replacement, which can handle complex datasets without any interpolation. Data volume expansion is the key idea, and with its help, the interpolation‐free near‐surface layer replacement is capable of preserving the valuable information of areas of interest in the original dataset. Two datasets, i.e., a two‐dimensional synthetic dataset and a three‐dimensional field dataset, are used to demonstrate this idea. One conclusion that can be drawn is that an attempt to interpolate data before layer replacement may deteriorate the final image after layer replacement, whereas interpolation‐free near‐surface layer replacement preserves all image details in the subsurface.     

地质勘查行业管理制度变迁的路径依赖与创新选择

根据制度变迁和路径依赖理论来分析我国地质勘查行业管理制度变迁中的路径依赖现象,发现我国地质勘查行业管理制度变迁具有强制性、渐进性、滞后性和单一性特征。并因不良惯性的路径依赖陷入非效率的锁定状态,主要表现为：方式手段上重审批轻监管、管理理念上重管理轻服务、体制机制上重政府主导轻市场参与。分析认为,原有管理制度的惯性作用和改革的阻力与动力,是影响地质勘查行业管理制度变迁中路径依赖性的主要因素。地质勘查行业管理改革创新需要从降低改革阻力、克服制度惯性、增加改革动力等三个方面来打破原有管理制度的锁定效应。     

我国大学GIS课程教学改革的思考与研究

通过分析目前国内一些重点大学GIS课程设置和教学现状，就存在的若干问题给予了探讨，并对GIS课程教学改革的思路、课程规划和应对措施等方面进行了分析和研究。     

土地财政剖析

阐述了土地财政的内涵与实质,深入分析了土地财政的形成原因及其利弊得失,提出了土地财政改革的具体设想。