Corporate responsibility reporting by large pulp and paper companies

The forest-based industry has a crucial role in global sustainable development because of its unique raw material basis and increasing internationalisation. Using institutional organisation theory as a background this paper analyses corporate responsibility reporting in the world's ten largest pulp and paper companies, representing 25% of global production capacity. The studied companies have their headquarters in Japan, the Nordic countries or North America, and have very different geographical and cultural bases and variable company product portfolios ranging from wood-based products and printing papers to packaging boards and consumer goods. Both quantitative and qualitative economic, environmental and social metrics from the annual and social responsibility reports of the companies were analysed regarding institutionalised, culture-specific and company-specific characteristics. The results showed that regulated financial and environmental reporting leaves little flexibility for company-specific diversification in reporting. Only a few regional characteristics were identified, mainly in social responsibility reporting, while the reporting largely reflected a general North American–Nordic type of corporate responsibility and the globalisation trend of the studied companies. Regardless of the many challenges in the assessment of corporate responsibility, the concepts discussed in this paper are potentially useful tools for helping to achieve sustainable development in the pulp and paper industry.     

Conversion of forests into oil palm plantations in West Kalimantan,Indonesia: Insights from actors' power and its dynamics

Oil palm plantations have been touted as one of the main drivers of deforestation in Indonesia. This paper aims to explain how oil palm companies accumulate power that enables them to control forestland and convert it into oil palm. Specifically, this paper identifies empirical evidence pointing to why oil palm companies emerge as powerful actors in land use conflicts. This paper uses the case of forest lands claimed by different actors – i.e. a timber plantation company, an oil palm company, and local communities – in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Before the decentralisation policy, the interests of timber plantations were principally safeguarded by coercion from the forest ministry. The timber company was also supported by local communities by promising financial incentives to them. Following the decentralisation policy, additional actors get involved in the land use conflicts leading to more complex power interplays. In fact, some forestlands licensed for timber plantations are used by the oil palm company. Oil palm interests resonate with the economic interests of local governments, who use their legal mandates on land use allocation to facilitate the establishment of oil palm. The power of the oil palm company is also enhanced by the support from local communities, to which it handed more financial incentives than those of the timber plantation. It also used dominant information of customary claims and land appropriation by the ministry of forestry, with which it persuades local communities to pressurize government institutions to support oil palm operations.     

我国上市林业公司财务冗余、政治关联与多元化意愿关系实证分析

文中以2001—2016年我国32家上市林业公司为研究样本,检验财务冗余对多元化意愿的影响以及政治关联的调节作用。采用Tobit固定效应方法的实证分析结果表明:财务冗余和政治关联对多元化意愿有显著影响,具体表现在可恢复冗余与多元化程度呈现显著“倒U”型关系;政治关联对于多元化有负向影响;政治关联对于财务冗余与多元化之间的关系具有调节效应,表现在政治关联度高的上市林业公司可利用冗余以及可恢复冗余与多元化的二次项关系显著,并表现出政治关联对多元化意愿进一步的抑制作用;上市林业公司无关多元化意愿大于相关多元化意愿,可恢复冗余与无关多元化呈现显著倒U型关系。     

Value-added strategies and forward integration in the Swedish sawmill industry: positioning and profitability in the high-volume segment

Abstract

The changing market conditions for the Swedish sawmill industry place a focus on a better understanding of the pros and cons of value-added and forward integration strategies. The purpose of this article is to describe and explain recent value-added strategies in the Swedish sawmill industry. The study includes strategies from 13 of the 15 largest sawmill companies for the period between 2002 and 2005, describing a differentiation between value added in primary sawmill production and forward integration into secondary production. It also aims to relate some basic conditions, such as company size, company growth and corporate strategy, to value added and forward integration to profitability. The results show strong positive and significant correlations between forward integration, value added in primary production (somewhat weaker) and unit revenue, and profitability measured as return on investment. There were no strong or significant correlations between size and profitability, playing down the importance of economies of scale (among these already large companies). An interesting result is the much higher profitability of the buying sawmill companies compared with the forest corporations, stressing the importance of both a long-term strategy when investing in value-added activities and ultimately the priorities of ownership.     

林业上市公司经营绩效评价研究

基于2010～2019年25家中国林业上市公司数据,运用因子分析法,选取13个指标构建林业上市公司经营绩效评价体系,得出了林业上市公司经营绩效评价模型,计算了影响因子以及经营绩效综合得分,判断林业上司公司经营绩效水平.结果表明:排名落后且经营绩效不佳的企业均存在主营业务市场竞争力弱、成本费用控制体系不完善导致利润率低下...     

The Japanese pulp and paper industry: an analysis of financial performance from 1991 to 2001

This article discusses the determinants of profitability expressed as return on capital among Japanese pulp and paper companies. Return on capital is measured as income before tax related to stockholders’ equity. Return on capital has been divided into profit margin and asset utilization rate. The hypothesis is that return on capital can be explained by mill size, productivity, product line, financial situation, and use of wood resources. The dataset consists of 13 larger Japanese pulp and paper companies listed in Pulp &; Paper Statistics. Data on financial performance, production, and use of wood fibers were collected for the period 1991–2001. The average return on equity for the studied companies is 4.2%. Labor productivity has increased quite significantly, from about 600 to 1,000 kg/employee and year. An econometric analysis indicates that the best model fit is found when the asset utilization rate is used as the dependent variable. Significant variables are, among others, asset utilization rate lagged one time period (?), labor productivity (+), capital productivity (?), paper production as a share of total paper and board production (?), total value of assets on the books (?) and solidity (+). This may indicate that the total value of assets on the books is large in relation to the total production of paper, paperboard and pulp.     

景谷县林改后林农融资困境及对策分析

对云南省景谷县197户林农的融资情况进行调查分析,结果表明:林改后林农融资需求强烈,民间融资作用突出,"公司+基地+农户"模式成效显著,林农在林业生产经营中存在融资困境、信贷约束和金融供给与融资需求错位的问题.藉此,从金融机构、林农、林改配套改革和农村金融环境4个方面提出了相应的对策和建议.     

Generation of radial growth stresses in the big rays of konara oak trees

 In previous models the distribution of radial tensile stresses in the tree trunk has been explained as a response to the mechanisms of growth stress generation in the longitudinal and tangential directions. We investigated the contribution of ray tissue to growth stress generation in the tree trunk by the origin of the radial stresses during differentiation of parenchyma cells. Measurements on three konara oak trees (Quercus serrata Thunb.) were carried out comparing the radial residual strain of big oak rays with the radial residual strain of the axial tissues (containing only uniseriate rays). The results indicated that the ray tissue generated tensile growth stress in the radial direction of the trunk (the axial direction of the parenchyma cells). In contrast to previous assumptions, the growth stresses seem to be variable in relation to the individual tissue types. The mechanical advantage of a radially prestraining effect of the rays is discussed for the living tree. Received: October 9, 2001 / Accepted: April 22, 2002 Acknowledgments This research was carried out during a 2-month short-term stay of the first author at Nagoya University. The financial and organizational support by Monbusho Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. Correspondence to:I. Burgert     

Financial Performance of Contract Tree Farming for Smallholders: The Case of Contract Eucalypt Tree Farming in Thailand

Eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.) tree farming is a source of income for many smallholders in developing and emerging countries and critical to the resource supply of many pulp and paper companies. These companies rely on smallholders adopting tree farming, sometimes by offering a contract. This paper reports a study from four regions of Thailand, where smallholder eucalypt tree farming is practiced, which investigated the financial performance of contract eucalypt tree farming for smallholders. A total of 82 contract eucalypt tree farmers and 81 independent tree farmers were systematically selected and surveyed in these regions, using door-to-door personal interviews. Focus groups and key informant interviews were also used to gain in-depth understanding of the issues. An investment appraisal analysis was used to determine and evaluate comparative financial returns from various cutting cycle periods, through computation of the net present value (NPV). There was no evidence that contracts increase the NPV of tree growing. It could be that tree growers entered into a contractual agreement with the expectation of higher benefits and the importance of this expectation diminishes as the crop matures, and tree farmers appreciate the strong market for eucalypt wood in Thailand. Contracts do not increase inequalities in terms of income but they might increase inequalities in terms of knowledge, because farmers with more land have better access to new knowledge provided by the contracting company.     

The characteristics of financing arrangements for the production and marketing of shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) butter in Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana§

Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) butter is an important internationally recognised economic commodity because of its food and medicinal potentials. However, access to finance for small-scale forest enterprises such as shea butter production and marketing remains a fundamental problem, which affects the growth and performance of these enterprises. This study, therefore, assessed the financing schemes and delivery mechanisms available for the production and marketing of the product in Tamale, Northern Region of Ghana. It also identified the financial structures available to shea butter producers, including constraints of the financial delivery mechanisms. Using a social survey, the study purposively selected and interviewed 83 women who engaged in shea butter processing. Of these, 86% were full-time processors of shea butter and 14% were involved in other businesses, such as petty trading, groundnut and rice processing. The study revealed low patronage of financial services as only 18% of the respondents took loans. A high proportion (82%) of the respondents were under contract financing with companies that purchased the shea butter. This financing arrangement made it difficult for the women to expand their activities as they usually were unable to negotiate and receive competitive prices for their shea butter. Non-governmental organisations and some financial organisations were involved in providing technical support services to the producers. However, there was an absence of continuous support services in credit management. The high illiteracy rate (97%) of shea butter producers made it challenging for the women to access formal training programmes to make them aware of opportunities that exist for financing their business. There is the need for targeted collaboration among stakeholders to improve existing financing schemes. In the long term, there should be policies to standardise the activities of the shea butter industry to improve access to credit, which could lead to the sustainable growth of these enterprises.     

Application of the drilling resistance method for annual ring characteristics: evaluation of Taiwania (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Taiwania cryptomerioides</Emphasis>) trees grown with different thinning and pruning treatments

 The effects of various thinning and pruning methods on the density profile and annual ring characteristics of Taiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides Hay.) using the drilling resistance technique were investigated. The results showed that thinning caused wider annual rings than medium thinning or no thinning, and pruning caused narrower annual rings than no pruning. Moreover, the thinning treatment affected annual rings more effectively than the pruning treatment. The average ring density after the thinning treatments showed a trend as follows: no thinning > medium > heavy. This indicates that thinning reduces the average ring density. The average ring density after the pruning treatments showed a trend as follows: medium > no pruning > heavy. However, the differences between thinning and no thinning were not statistically significant. The percentage of latewood in Taiwania after these three thinning and pruning treatments are shown. The results with silvicultural treatments have the order: medium > not treated > heavy, but there are no statistically significant differences among thinning, pruning, and thinning where pruning interactions were observed. Moreover, there were highly significant negative relations between the average ring width and the various ring densities for Taiwania, but the determination coefficients were small. In addition, there was a highly positively significant relation between the latewood percentage and latewood width. Received: November 22, 2001 / Accepted: May 21, 2002 Acknowledgments The authors thank the National Science Council of ROC for financial support through grant NSC-90-2313-B-002-338, and the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute for their contribution (210). Correspondence to:C.-J. Lin     

Plant growth regulation effects of triterpenoid saponins

 To investigate structure–activity relations between the sugar chain structures of triterpenoid saponins and their plant growth regulation effects, several monodesmosidic saponins with betulin as an aglycon were synthesized by chemical and enzymic reactions. Three triterpenoids (betulin, betulinic acid, oleanolic acid) and synthesized betulin glycosides were submitted to germination and growth regulation tests on alfalfa seeds. We concluded the following. Betulin had a slight growth inhibitory effect on alfalfa radicles. Betulin glycosides exhibited stronger effects than betulin, and betulin glycosides with two to four glucose residues as a sugar moiety had the greatest inhibitory activity. These characteristics of growth inhibitory effects were considerably different from those of phenolic compounds so far reported. Some betulin glycosides also showed a significant growth regulation effect on alfalfa hypocotyls. However, hypocotyl growth was less affected than radicle growth for all betulin glycosides. Among the triterpenoids, betulinic acid had stronger growth inhibitory effects on alfalfa radicles than betulin, suggesting the importance of the carboxyl group at the C-28 position for the inhibitory effects of lupane-type triterpenoids. On the other hand, no germination regulation effects on alfalfa seeds were observed for any of the betulin glycosides or triterpenoids examined. Received: October 9, 2001 / Accepted: February 15, 2002 Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by a research grant (Development of Highly Functional Materials by Structural Modification of Carbohydrates) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan. We thank Saori Kudo for her assistance in isolating compounds by chromatography. Correspondence to:S. Ohara     

Cleavage in the understanding of sustainability: Sustainable pulp industry versus sustained local livelihood

Abstract

“Sustainability” is used as a catchword, with different meanings depending on the actor. This paper examines how the term “sustainability” is used by the Brazilian pulp maker Veracel Cellulose, and other major cellulose pulp producers in South America, and the cleavage between the companies and the local communities in their understanding of the term sustainability. The analysis was based on annual or sustainability reports from companies in Brazil (Aracruz, Fibria, Suzano and Veracel) and Chile (Arauco and CPMC), and Nordic Stora Enso and UPM. The main emphasis is on Veracel for 2008 and 2009, which is contrasted with a letter to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) from the local Bahian NGO, CEPEDES. Although the companies use “sustainability” as a catchword, in the actual reporting the wording “environmental and social responsibility” is preferred. A new reporting standard, GRI, encourages a narrower focus on selected business-related indicators, rather than a broader view in accordance with the Brundtland and Rio definitions. The cleavage between business- and a livelihood-oriented understanding of “sustainability” reflects a difference in understanding of the underlying concept of “development”. To ensure long-term sustainability of company operations, sustainable business development of the pulp and paper industry should include local livelihood perspectives to a greater extent than at present.     

Community Forestry in the State of Uttarakhand,India: Not Meeting the Needs of the Villagers

This community forestry case study examines village forest councils (van panchayat) in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand. We describe forest stocking levels of 20 community forests and address the question of whether these forests are in a position to provide commodity resources, such as fuelwood and fodder, on a sustainable basis. In addition, we report on the perceptions of the villagers on whether their respective community forest is meeting their fuelwood and fodder needs. At the biophysical level, none of the community forests were in a position to provide fuelwood and fodder on a sustainable basis. Most forests did not have adequate overstory stocking, and there was no evidence of deliberate management to improve the situation. Interviews with 400 villagers (20 in each village) supported the field findings. Villagers unanimously reported that their respective community forest was inadequate in supplying commodity needs. Furthermore, they wished the Forest Department would provide more technical and financial assistance to guide them with forest management needs. Women are a critical part of community forestry as they are the primary gatherers of fuelwood and fodder. Although the perceptions of women toward forest management issues are important, our interviews with female villagers indicate they play a passive role in decision-making. Decentralization in natural resources management sounds good at the theoretical level as it provides villagers with some authority and autonomy, but it cannot be effectively implemented without professional guidance coupled with resources. The villagers are ready and willing to improve the situation, but they do not have the resources to make change unilaterally—they need professional and financial support from the Forest Department.     

黑龙江城镇化进程中经济增长对废气排放的影响研究

以黑龙江省2001 ～ 2010年经济发展和环境保护相关数据为基础,采用环境库兹涅茨拟合曲线对黑龙江省经济增长与废气排放关系进行实证分析,结果表明2001 ～ 2010年黑龙江省废气排放量呈现先上升后下降的趋势,年均增长率显著低于经济的增长速度,废气排放并未与经济同步增加,今后一段时期随着经济的发展,废气排放量呈现下降趋势,说明黑龙江省环境治理取得一定的效果,但尚未形成突出优势,在二氧化硫和烟尘的排放方面仍需进一步加强.     

Small-scale planted forests in Zululand,South Africa: an opportunity for appropriate development

Forestry in South Africa is sharply divided between commercially driven private enterprise which controls 1.3 million ha of plantation forests, and government and nongovernment organizations which promote a variety of social forestry programs. One area of crossover is that of small-scale (1–2 ha) commercial woodlots being promoted by private timber companies as an additional source of fiber for their pulpmills, but grown and managed by individual farmers. Inputs, such as plants and fertilizers, as well as expertise in the form of extension foresters, are provided by the company, whereas the farmers supply the land and the labor. The company guarantees to buy the timber at the time of harvest. Under such arrangements, the risk is spread between the farmers and the company; the farmers assume most of the risks of production, and the company takes on the marketing risks. The possibilities for appropriate and sustainable development do exist under such a program, but issues involving both ecological and social sustainability must be addressed. This paper suggests that four key characteristics are needed to achieve appropriate development in Zululand. These characteristics are participation, flexibility, empowerment, and commitment. When compared to the current arrangement, the company would have to make a fundamental paradigm shift to achieve these goals. However, the long-term support of the farmers, and ultimately more fiber in the mills, would be the reward. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Profiles of forestry contractors and development of the forestry-contracting sector in Sweden

Abstract

Contractors perform the majority of forestry activities in Sweden, yet little is known about the development of their company structures and strategies. By analyzing data from the Swedish Forest Agency's yearly survey to forestry contractors for 2006–2009 and comparing the results with previous data for 1993–1998, we examined the current profiles of Swedish forestry contractors and their recent development. For 2006–2009, responses were received from 700 to 770 forestry contractors, corresponding to ca. 20% of the estimated total number of Swedish forestry contractors. In 2009, 60% of contractors were mainly performing logging activities, whereas 30% were mainly performing silvicultural activities. Between 1993 and 2009, the number of contractors increased by ca. 80%, while the number of forestry working contractors and their employees increased by 157%. These increases were mainly due to increased silvicultural activities. Although one-person enterprises still dominate among Swedish forestry contractors, most logging work is performed by small-sized enterprises, whereas most silviculture work is performed by large-sized enterprises. Our study suggests that there is an increased dependency upon contractors and forestry contractors have become more diversified, but still specialized, in the type of work they perform.     

Why Brazilian companies are certifying their forests?

The paper examines the two forest certification schemes in Brazil, the Brazilian Program of Forest Certification (Cerflor) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), from the private sector perspective. The main focus is to test the relevance of three mechanisms—market, learning, and signaling—suggested by Overdevest and Rickenbach (2006), to explain forest certification adoption by Brazilian companies. Furthermore, companies' familiarity with certification systems, external influences on pursuing forest certification, and companies' intention to recertify their forests are investigated. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggests that signaling and learning mechanisms lead to better and more transparent forest management, explaining the movement towards certification, but market incentives do not play an important role in the adoption of forest certification. An importance and performance analysis (IPA) demonstrates that companies do not see any return in terms of a better price for certified products; however, certificate holders indicated overall high satisfaction with market access. Interestingly, a high performance was found for non-economic benefits such as public confidence, improvement of forest management and practices, improvement of management systems and performance, self-discovery of non-conformance, and better public, landowner, and supplier communication. International consumers and shareholders were considered the most important groups influencing companies to seek certification and FSC was reported to be the most familiar scheme. Generally, companies were pleased with certification and indicated their intention to recertify.     

我国林业类上市公司资产减值与盈余管理分析

随着经济环境的日益复杂和技术条件的不断变化，资产减值准备成为会计界关注的焦点之一。2006年2月15日财政部发布的《企业会计准则第8号——资产减值》对资产减值准则进行了全面的修改和完善，但在具体运用中仍为盈余管理留下了较大的空间。针对我国林业类上市公司特点，探讨林业类上市公司利用资产减值准备进行盈余管理的现状、原因，并提出治理对策。     

How financial compensation changes forest owners' willingness to set aside productive forest areas for nature conservation in Denmark

Abstract

Agri-environmental schemes' ability to increase the provision of environmental goods has been questioned because such schemes may pay landowners for something they would have done anyway. Contributing to this discussion, the aim of this paper is to investigate how financial compensation changes forest owners' declared willingness to set aside productive forest areas for nature conservation. The study is based on a survey of forest owner attitudes and ownership objectives in Denmark. First, it was analyzed how forest owners' declared willingness to set aside productive forest area for nature conservation changed when they were offered financial compensation. The majority of forest owners (64%) increased their willingness to set aside forest when offered financial compensation, whereas for others, compensation resulted in no change or, for a few respondents, even decreased the willingness. Hence, financial compensation may help to increase the provision of environmental goods but it is necessary to be aware of groups not motivated by financial incentives. Secondly, a binary logit model showed that the greatest likelihood of financial compensation increasing the motivation for setting aside forest is observed for owners who are young, female, live in the western part of Denmark and own farmland. Policy makers can use such information to target subsidy schemes at particular groups.