Financing energy efficiency retrofits in Chilean households: The role of financial instruments,savings and uncertainty in energy transition

High firewood consumption for heating produces high levels of pollution in cities in central and southern Chile, with serious consequences for health and quality of life. Energy efficiency measures (EEMs) have been identified as the best strategy to reduce air pollution and maximize social benefits. However, their adoption has been slow. The objective of this article is to investigate household preferences for financial incentives needed to promote private investments in EEMs in Central-Southern Chilean households and study the role of energy savings and the uncertainty about potential savings in the investment decision, with the aim of finding solutions to increase the adoption of these technologies. We use a choice experiment to explore the trade-off between the investment costs, financial instruments, energy savings, and the uncertainty about achieving the theoretical savings provided by engineering and architectural models. The results show that financial instruments play the most important role in this decision, followed by the savings achieved by the retrofit. Householders prefer to finance their investments with a mix of their personal resources and medium-term credits, trying to avoid long-term commitments. Although uncertainty was found to be a significant variable, it seems to play a small role in the investment decision.     

糯扎渡水电站量水堰防渗工程施工关键技术

糯扎渡水电站坝后量水堰在运行过程中为强化量水堰功能,截断坝基渗透水流,实施量水堰防渗工程,形成整体的枢纽工程防渗帷幕体系。本文通过对量水堰防渗工程施工关键技术的总结,介绍了在防渗标准高、施工难度大、工期紧的情况下高效高质完成防渗工程的具体施工方法,可为今后类似水利水电工程施工提供经验和借鉴。     

The Improbability of Fraud in Accounting for Derivatives: A Case Study on the Boundaries of Financial Reporting Compliance

ABSTRACT

This study responds to recent calls in the literature to examine fraud using detailed case studies, extending knowledge beyond individual incentives and capital market reactions towards a more contextualized understanding of the concept. We use an institutional logics perspective to challenge existing assumptions about a universally valid meaning of compliance, fraud, and faithful representation. Presenting the case of the Swedish bank HQ, we show how the interpretation of the accounting standard for option measurement varies across different enforcement bodies because the meaning of compliance is socially negotiated across the institutional logics of markets, financial regulation, and law. The independent decision-making of the different enforcement bodies leads to a systematic variation in the interpretation of principles-based accounting standards without ultimate coordination. To define consistent boundaries of compliance across institutional logics, and thus, to distinguish between fraud and allowable managerial discretion becomes problematic. Faithful representation, in turn, cannot be understood as financial statements reflecting a correct value or as financial statements being prepared in accordance with acceptable practice, as suggested in the earlier literature. Instead, faithful representation itself becomes a contextually bound concept, which can only be defined within an institutional logic.     

Returns to women’s education using optimal IV selection

This paper investigates returns to women’s education by applying an optimal IV selection approach, post-Lasso IV estimation, which improves the first-stage predictive relationship between an endogenous regressor and instruments. Using the 2010 American Community Survey, we find that an extra year of education increases married women’s own income by $4,480 and spouse income by $8,822. Our findings indicate that 53% of the increase in women’s consumption by education is attributed to the marriage market, and thus, we conclude that the marriage market is the primary channel through which education improves women’s well-being. The results demonstrate the advantages of the post-Lasso approach: The resulting two-stage least squares estimator maintains efficiency without increasing finite sample bias and is less subject to the inconsistency problem when some instruments are invalid; This differs from the results using the instrument of birth quarters only, which is mostly applied in studies on returns to education.     

The innovative bureaucrat: evidence from the correctional authorities in Washington State

Bureaucracies are usually regarded as inefficient, wasteful mechanisms. Contrary to this deeply rooted perception of bureaucracy, this paper documents the case of the correctional authorities in Washington State, a bureaucracy that acted with a considerable degree of innovation and professionalism. Their task was to administer a risk assessment instrument that measured the level of risk posed by offenders by way of a numerical score. They used that score to identify the level of supervision offenders were to receive once released into the community. In analyzing the data, I discovered an unusual application of the instrument that resulted in many offenders being bumped to a higher supervision level. Using a regression discontinuity design, I uncover the mechanics of the bumping-up process and I generate an instrument that is cleansed of the manipulation. I find that the manipulated instrument predicts serious recidivism events better than the cleansed instrument, especially when these events involve high-risk offenders, thus providing evidence that the authorities had good reason to undertake the manipulation.     

工作用玻璃液体温度计检定注意事项

在温度计的检定过程中,温度计插入恒温槽中不垂直、读数不准确等因素都将给检定结果带来较大的误差,从6个方面讲述了检定过程中需注意的事项,并提出了相应的解决方法,从而减小了温度计的测量误差,提高了测量准确度。     

Fair value accounting from a distributed cognition perspective

This study offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective on fair value accounting. The growing influence of esoteric financial instruments whose valuation is becoming increasingly complex makes it necessary to focus on actual valuation practices. Based on an extensive review, this paper regards fair value accounting for complex financial instruments as involving processes distributed among actors located inside and/or outside a reporting entity. It also draws attention to collaboration by organizations that apply their external and internal resources to perform complex financial valuations. Furthermore, it demonstrates that cases involving unusual market conditions underline the importance of human interactions to the valuation process.     

高职会计电算化专业的职业技能培养、训练与测评

按高职会计电算化专业技能的特点和性质要求,培养和发展学生的就业与工作能力,只传授专业理论知识是远远不够的,必须把专业基本知识的教学和基本技能的训练结合起来。技能训练可采用课堂讲授法、课后作业法、摸拟训练法、课外辅导法和社会实践法等技能训练方法。并设计采用相对简化的测评方法对学生学习各项技能的正确性和熟练程度进行测评。     

关于真实票据融资与宏观经济运行顺循环关系的数学模型分析

票据市场理论认为,建立在真实交易基础上的票据,由于具有自偿性特点,其贴现融资与宏观经济运行周期之间具有所谓的顺循环关系,这种关系因其可以加剧经济周期效应而受到理论界的重视。近几年来我国票据市场快速发展,一方面对货币市场的发展起到了积极的促进作用,另一方面也因真实票据占比过高、真实票据融资累计发生额激增而面临顺循环问题,尽管其中的负面影响目前还没有非常明显的显现,但从长远看,对顺循环关系的分析研究是十分必要的。     

关于加强我国商业银行操作风险计量的思考

新巴塞尔资本协议进一步强调了操作性风险的重要性。相对于信用风险和市场风险,商业银行操作性风险计量是一个较为崭新的课题。鉴于此,本文围绕操作风险计量这一主题,分析、比较了各种计量方法,并深入探讨了它们在我国的适用性,以期为我国银行在防范操作风险时提供有益的借鉴。