Do German renewable energy resources affect prices and mitigate market power in the French electricity market ?

Several empirical studies show that renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, typically supplied at low marginal cost, can cause electricity market prices to fall. Recent theoretical research and simulations also highlight the link between the integration of renewable energy and market performance in an oligopolistic energy market. This article looks at these dynamics in the context of cross-border effects between two highly interconnected electricity markets, France and Germany. Using a rich panel dataset for hourly data from November 2009 to July 2015, I estimate the impact of German wind and solar power production on both prices and market power in the French wholesale market. The findings highlight the importance of coordinating energy policies via joint renewable energy support schemes among interconnected European electricity markets.     

可再生能源发电开发利用及经营情况实证分析——以江苏省为例

江苏省是能源消耗大省,又是资源小省,能源需求增长压力大,能源自给率不足20%。突破能源瓶颈,实现经济和社会发展主要有两个途径：一是节能降耗,二是增加供应。大力发展可再生能源,不失为江苏经济可持续发展的战略选择。     

加拿大清洁能源和可再生能源发展现状

尽管加拿大自然资源丰富,但加拿大在发展清洁能源和可再生能源方面还是做了大量工作,有很多值得我们学习借鉴之处.本文着重介绍了加拿大在清洁能源和可再生能源方面的发展战略、科技规划和科技行动、相关计划的实施情况,以及有关作者的体会和建议.     

中国能源转换的税制促进

积极促进能源转换尤其是发展可再生能源是中国应对本国以及全球环境问题的必然选择,税收制度在促进这一转换过程中有其独特的优势。中国应当借鉴国外经验,通过完善能源税制结构、优化税种类别、健全税收优惠政策等措施逐步提高替代能源的市场竞争力,促进能源结构的优化,加快能源转换。     

The effect of sample size on European Union’s renewable energy investment drivers

Macroeconomic modelling results based on relatively varying sample sizes may lead to incoherent results. Such effects have not been adequately understood in the renewable energy literature regarding the European Union (EU). This study focuses on the comparison of results obtained for renewable energy investment drivers (for solar and wind energy investments) on different samples of EU countries, including all EU-27, former EU-15 and 11 high renewable investment EU countries. The study used a random effect panel data modelling approach over the period 1995–2011 for studying the impact of the levelized cost, regulation perception, carbon emissions and climatic condition on wind and solar investments over the three samples. The results demonstrate the importance of trustable regulation schemes to ensure that regulation will not have a significant negative effect on investment, showing also the need to further extend the model to include support schemes as fundamental drivers for investment.     

The impact of more complex family structure upon marital earnings premiums

This article employs a unique data set from Trinidad and Tobago to examine the impact of their more complex family structures upon marital earnings premiums. While family structure includes the single married couple structure common in the US, families in Trinidad and Tobago often have more adults living in the household, multiple married couples living in the same family, and multigenerational families. Marital premiums for family members most likely to invest in labor market production are estimated to increase with more complex family structure. In contrast, estimated marital premiums for members most likely to invest in home production are decreased with more complex family structure. Results suggest that specialization within the larger family help explain the existence of marital premiums.     

Positivist Philosophy of Science and the Methodology of Economics

This paper focuses on the relatively new conduit for the transfer of services from the developed to the developing economies - the growing trend of "medical tourism" where patients travel to low-cost developing countries for health procedures. Previous analysis of this trend tends to focus on either the cost savings for the patients or the revenue potential for the host economies. However, viewing the health sector merely in the monetary terms of transnational trade presents contradictions, which call for re-evaluating yet again the limitations of measuring economic progress merely in monetary terms. This article examines these contradictions based on a case study of the medical tourism industry in India. While health tourism is a potential revenue source, it also competes with the domestic health sector and could transfer some of the health care problems of the developed world to the developing world.     

英国和德国可再生能源产业激励政策和实施效果的比较

英国和德国都是国际上控制气候变化和开发可替代能源的积极倡导者,但目前,两国在可再生能源的开发和利用方面存在较大的差距:截至2012年,英国和德国可再生能源在最终能源消费中的占比分别为4.1%和12.6%;可再生能源的总装机容量分别为15538和76017MW。究其原因,主要是由两国不同的能源政策造成的,英国采取的是类似配额制的可再生能源义务令制度,而德国采用的是固定上网电价机制。事实证明,德国的入网电价体系优于英国的可再生能源义务令,因为它在一定时期内能为可再生能源发电商提供稳定的回报。英国尽管在可再生能源的开发和利用方面落后于德国,但英国自然条件优越,开发利用可再生能源的潜力巨大,加上政府的积极努力,英国可再生能源产业的发展有望得到较大改观。     

Is the fourth industrial revolution relevant to sub-Sahara Africa?

While the 4IR has the potential to impact on all industries and all nations, regardless of their location or state of development, many of the discussions of the 4IR and its impact are focused on advanced economies. What are the prospects and constraints of the 4IR to emerging economies in sub-Sahara Africa? To what extent is the 4IR relevant to sub-Sahara Africa where there is a large informal economy, limited public infrastructure, where technical skills levels are low, and advanced technology can be found in only a few sectors that are dominated by foreign multinational companies and staffed by expatriate workers? What is the relevance of policy development towards the 4IR in the region given its young population profile, and emerging skill shortages in key sectors? The paper draws on secondary literature to highlight the challenges and to identify the policy developments that have been developed in the region.     

Has the capital accumulation in the Asian miracle economies been fuelled by growth?

The Asian growth miracle is often attributed to factor accumulation under the implicit assumption that savings, broadly defined, have been high and increasing due to exogenous forces. Using data for India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan over the period 1870–2011 this article examines the causal relationship between growth and saving. The response of growth to savings is first estimated using instruments to generate exogenous variation in savings rates. The residual variation in growth that is not driven by savings is then used as an instrument to estimate the effect of growth on savings. The estimates show that the spectacular saving rates in the Asian miracle economies have been fuelled by growth, and not the other way around.     

政府基础设施投资与居民收入关系的实证研究

政府支出的目的之一就是改善人民群众的生活条件,增加居民收入。基于中国1980—2009年的时间序列数据进行实证研究,通过协整检验、Granger因果检验和误差修正模型的建立来分析政府基础设施投资支出与城镇居民收入的关系。结果发现政府基础设施投资支出与城镇居民收入具有长期的均衡关系,且政府基础设施投资支出是城镇居民收入的Granger原因（反向不成立）。     

The share of the global energy mix: Signs of convergence?

This paper investigates the convergence behaviour regarding the share of global energy mix, as measured by primary energy consumption. Recent studies that employ stationary tests of panel data suggest that such data support the convergence hypothesis; however, some drawbacks exist, as these studies rely on methods that do not necessarily imply a sufficient condition for convergence. This paper adopts the concept of relative convergence as proposed by Phillips and Sul (2007), which employs a time‐varying, idiosyncratic component. We choose to focus on various sources’ global primary energy consumption and investigate the long‐ run dynamic behaviour by source. The key finding of this paper is that two distinct clubs of convergence of energy can be determined: renewable and non‐renewable energy clubs of convergence.     

意大利能源概况及可再生能源的开发和利用

意大利能源非常短缺,石油和天然气储量严重不足,煤矿已经关闭,核能禁止使用,电力仍需依靠进口。据意大利新技术能源与环境委员会（ENEA）最新统计,2007年意能源对外依存度为85．6％,远远超出欧盟的平均水平。本文详细介绍了意大利传统能源的生产、进口及消费情况,同时对意大利可再生能源的开发利用也做了详尽的分析。     

基础设施投资的经济增长效应

基础设施总投资、交通运输仓储和邮电通信投资以及电力、煤气及水生产与供应投资对产出具有较大、持久的正影响,时滞也相对较短;电力、煤气及水生产与供应投资对产出的正影响更大,并且对交通运输仓储和邮电通信投资也具有较大的正影响。我国基础设施投资效应的这些重要特征,对于我国宏观经济政策的制定、实施时机和基础设施投资领域的选择都具有重要意义。     

Cyclical comovements in energy-related venture capital investments

This article examines the cyclical comovements of venture capital investments in the energy sector and key macroeconomic variables. In particular, we decompose the cyclical component of two venture capital investment series (clean technology and industrial/energy) and several macroeconomic factors including oil prices. A number of important cyclical relationships are documented such as increases in crude oil prices tend to signal future venture capital investment in both energy-related sectors and these investments tend to move concurrently with movements in the overall economy     

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: Multilateralism on the Silk Road

Initial English-language media coverage of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was framed in terms of strategic rivalry between China and the United States and China’s frustration with slow reform to existing multilateral development banks (MDBs). But the United States, not China, turned the AIIB into a battle for global influence, which the United States lost when key allies joined the bank.

China had a positive agenda for establishing the AIIB, particularly as part of its flagship ‘one belt, one road’ regional initiative. By establishing a multilateral lender for Asian infrastructure, China can de-politicize what can be fraught bilateral financing deals as well as boost its image in the region. This requires the AIIB being a truly multilateral institution.

The AIIB will have to meet the standards of other MDBs, particularly for safeguards, procurement and transparency. The bank will be under international scrutiny and AIIB shareholders should build the bank cautiously, initially focusing on co-financing with other MDBs. The AIIB need not mirror existing lenders, but can learn from their experience and improve on their efficiency. The AIIB will be a learning experience for China and could boost its credentials for future multilateral leadership.     

中国低碳能源的发展方向

发展低碳能源是领先世界经济的新机遇。能源低碳化是全球趋势,也是中国的目标,中国发展低碳能源的意义重大。实现低碳化的、有序的能源结构是中国能源战略定位的根本。中国低碳能源发展的战略重点在于：大力发展分布式能源系统;重点加强建筑、交通两大消耗领域低碳能源利用;尽最大可能促进生物质能源的有效利用;全方位推进太阳能、风能、水能和核能的安全利用等等。