Page - 22 - in options, Volume winter 2018/2019

Regional Impacts In northwest China the coal industry and agriculture are competing for limited land and water resources. The traditional approach to planning the development of each sector independently is failing, as solutions that optimize the outcome within individual sectors do not necessarily yield an optimal outcome for the overall economy. Researchers from IIASA and the China University of Mining and Technology have linked the agricultural and coal sectors in a new model to find the most cost efficient way of producing enough food and energy while taking constraints on the availability of land and water into account. By capturing the spatial characteristics of sub-regions, the researchers determined how the production sites of coal and various crops could be reallocated to take advantage of different climates and geographies. They also found that implementing water saving technologies makes it feasible to enhance production without increasing water demand. The model was applied to derive the optimal allocation of coal production and agriculture across the Shanxi province in China. The results show that the overall amount of crops and coal that can be produced depends critically on the availability of water. This demonstrates the need to take the variability of water supply into account to find solutions that work reasonably well under all availability scenarios. In many countries, low fertility rates and continuous increases in life expectancy are leading to population aging. In Asia, the four advanced economies of Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea are aging particularly rapidly. New IIASA research on the future workforce in these societies shows that expected negative economic consequences could be alleviated by including more highly educated women in the workforce. The adoption of progressive policies will play an important role in this process. This becomes clear when comparing two scenarios: One in which labor participation rates are kept constant at their 2010 levels over the projected period until 2050, and one in which female participation rates similar to those of Sweden – a role model when it comes to the economic activity levels of women – are assumed. In this second scenario, male participation rates are assumed to reach current Japanese levels by 2050, which significantly increases participation rates of older males. The differences in total labor supply between these two scenarios range from 9% in Japan to 28% in Korea. The majority of the potential gains in workforce are skilled female laborers. If their potential is properly utilized, highly skilled females could account for over 30% of the entire workforce in each society by 2050. This could keep the number of non-working people per working person constant (in Korea and Singapore), or keep the increase at a moderate level (in Hong Kong and Japan). Written by: Melina Filzinger Making food and energy production in China compatible under limited water supply Further info: Gao J, Xu X, Cao G-Y, Ermoliev Y, Ermolieva T, & Rovenskaya E (2018). Optimizing Regional Food and Energy Production under Limited Water Availability through Integrated Modeling. Sustainability 10 (6): e1689 [pure.iiasa.ac.at/15299] Elena Rovenskaya: rovenska@iiasa.ac.at Further info: Loichinger E & Cheng YA (2018). Feminising the workforce in ageing East Asia? The potential of skilled female labour in four advanced economies. Journal of Population Research [pure.iiasa.ac.at/15278] Elke Loichinger: loiching@iiasa.ac.at Written by: Melina Filzinger Feminizing the workforce in aging East Asia ASIA 22 www.iiasa.ac.atOptions Winter 2018/19